I'd like to discuss Leon Smith's potential

[TheDude]

What do you think his potential is if he works hard at it? He's one of those high schoolers that had alot of potential and now SEEMS to have gotten his act together. Do you see him having the potential of say a Kevin Garnett? What about maybe a Jermaine O'Neal? They are the closet ones I can think of due to their size. I see his rebounding, block shot ability being the same but I'm not sure about the scoring. By the way, how tall is Leon?

I think he could be a superstar if he got his groove together.

[jaywalker72]

Him not being on any of the summer rosters looks to be a very bad sign for Leon Smith.

This likely means that he has not done the things he needed to do over the offseason to improve his game and impress the Hawks.

Being that his contract is non-guaranteed and the Hawks are nearing the max roster allotment, it would not surprise me at this point if the Hawks are close to letting him go...

[Traceman]

that he's not on our summer league roster. Leon's days may very well be numbered.

[jaywalker72]

AtlantaCham over on the RealGM board for wondering why he wasn't on the roster....

A complete oversight on my part, as well...and you can bet that will be a popular question on Ask the GM and I will CERTAINLY not whiff on that question again when I go down to Philips this week for the workouts....

[hds428]

That's a shame. Leon seemed to have a pretty good game and was showing some good things on the floor in the last few games last year. I'd hate for him to be the guy that we're talking about three to five years from now as the one that slipped away, but it would be better to pass on him if he can't do what he needs to do. That kind of mentality has a bad way of spreading itsself around to other players even if it's not cancerous it's still playing with fire.

[Blunt91]

Someone on this board had stated that Leon was missing some of his workouts this summer. I believe it was BlackHawk Down. He stated one of the player's mother had told them that Leon won't even get up to go to practice even if one of the players comes to his apartment.In a way I sort of believe this story, sometimes a person slips back to there old habits,especially when they are young like Leon.

[TheDude]

well that sucks..the kid could do well...you know, i wish i had the physical attributes to have that potential. to know that if i worked hard at my game(not paperpushing game but a basketball game for petes sake) then i could potentialy be a star in the nba..

what a waste if he doesn't do it.

[Snaggle]

I posted that Leon hadn't shown up for practices. Coming from a players' mom I believe it to be true. In fact the way I heard it was that there were several occasions where this happened. They would bang and bang on his door. Either he didn't answer or he would walk out on his balcony and say something to the affect that "I'm sick, man." I believe she even went so far as to say that coaches had tried also.

[TheDude]

Leon has some issues to deal with.. Sounds like an Demetrius Underwood situation to me. He needs to get his groove together.

[ATLien_]

Man this is to bad, because I had high hopes for Leon. Everytime I think of Leon I think of when they put him in and one of our players shot a hard brick, and Leon grabbed it out the air with one hand and slammed it home. I was like wow.

You know I think firing Mahorn may have been a bad move because he Leon had no slip ups when he was here. They were always reporting how Mahorn really liked him and had been spending extra time with Leon. You don't think Leon resented them firing Mahorn his mentor do you? I have a feeling when Mahorn left that was probably the begining of the end for Leon.

Why did we fire him anyway?

[Admin]

I think the deal with Mahorn was that he wouldnt accept another position with the team, so he quit........but I dont think he was fired right? I am not all that thrilled that Mahorn left, but honestly we were still pretty soft in the middle. He didnt seem to make Nazr any tougher.

[ATLien_]

Yea but trying to make Nazar hard is like trying to stop George W. from looking like an idiot. It ain't happening. I personally feel like Leon has tons of talent, and Mahorn was his mentor. If I was a problem child and you took away the person I looked up to, I think my problems would most likely start coming back.

I'm not making excuses for Leon I am only trying to speculate the source of the problem.

[Guest]

I'm stealing this from a poster over at the RealGM site (so if you're on this board, I apologize)...

Leon has missed most of his summer workouts and therefore, is not prepared to play in the summer league. We encouraged him all summer to get ready, but unfortunately, he has not prepared.

Pete Babcock

-----Original Message-----

From: Corey Robinson [mailto:crobinso@nmrs.com]

Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 2:16 PM

To: 'askthehawksgm@turner.com'

Subject: Ask the Hawks GM

Mr. Babcock,

Thank you for your continued work to make the Hawks NBA Champions. I know

the team is a good ways from reaching that goal, but I trust every move you

make is with the intentions of getting us closer. My question is two-fold:

Why is Leon Smith not playing in the Summer League? Is he still with the

team? Thanks. C. Robinson

[Guest]

I take this to be a very bad sign for our front court woes. I think we all had hopes for Leon, but it appears he has let himself go ago. If I remember correctly, his contract was not guaranteed this year...I'd love to have some more details on that. If so, then I think we'll cut him (changes cap very little but does free up a roster spot). I have a feeling that, barring a major trade of some description, that Hanno will be the one taking that extra slot...and it makes trading away any front court player that much riskier. New Depth Chart:

PG: JT 6’2, 176/ Dickau 6’0, 190/

SG: DJ 6’9, 215*/ Glover 6’5, 228/ E. Davis 6’5, 195

SF: Newble 6’7, 215/ Kukoc 6’11, 235/ Crawford 6’9, 235

PF: SAR 6’9, 230/ Hendu 6’9, 240/ Mottola*6’11, 247

C: Ratliff 6’10, 230/ Nazr 6’10, 250

Total Players on Roster: 13

Average Age of Starting Lineup: 25.6 Of Team: 27

Oldest Player: E. Davis (edging Toni by a nose)

[jaywalker72]

It will likely resolve the roster issue we were about to have by signing Ira Newble....

I wouldn't expect Hanno to make the club, barring a trade that would free up a couple of spots.

The Hawks staff are pretty high on Udonis Haslem and Bryant Notree, and Chris Carr has to be considered if no other deals are worked out...

[TheDude]

i like haslem..not sure about the others... I really like Rodney White. There was a post about it earlier. I think this kid has skills. He seems to be showing them now in the summer league. He'd be a nice pickup for SF but he may demand more playing time than could be provided to split with ira and dj..

the kid does have skills though.

leon leon leon leon leon...man, you've got to step up..

[DJ_Money]

Well, we tried. If Leon isn't focused on becoming a solid NBA player, there's nothing we can do.

It does free up a spot for Ira, but it does leave us very thin in the front court. If we don't sign Hanno or someone from the summer league team (Haslem), we are very close to having a big hold in the PF/C positions. If Theo or Nazr go down, God help us if Hendu has to be our BU C.