Can You Handle The Truth?

[mattlanta]

Can you handle the truth?

By Sekou K Smith | Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 01:18 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

SMYRNA - The hate-infested waters that this space has become in recent weeks in easily the most disappointing development of the summer.

Even more disappointing that Josh Childress bolting for Greece without the Hawks receiving any compensation.

And even more disappointing than Josh Smith and the Hawks being nowhere near terms on either a new contract or deal to send him elsewhere, a week into the month of August.

Even our so-called friends have taken the low road (Lang Whitaker of SLAM magazine fired off a salvo of his own a few minutes ago admonishing me for the hands-free approach to the blog the past few days).

But I’ll present you the same dilemma that I will to him and anyone else stressing these Hawks and their feared next move in a summer that will seemingly never end, can you handle the truth?

Can you handle the truth about how and why the Josh Childress situation melted down the way it did? (Botched negotiations forced him to consider an option no one expected and he pounced.)

Can you handle the truth about why the Josh Smith situation remains unsolved? (The Hawks want him at $9 million a year and Smith wants more, something along the lines of what Emeka Okafor, Monta Ellis and Luol Deng have signed for. And until one side is willing to bend, nothing will happen.)

Can you handle the ugly truth about your favorite team? (That right or wrong, the past four years the Hawks have become the team that spends basically the entire summer conducting business that shouldn’t take nearly as long but always does when they are involved.)

Some of you keep asking for updates when the ugly truth is there is no news to update. And that old adage about no news being good news doesn’t apply.

No news means that nothing has changed since last week, save for the release of the Hawks’ 2008-09 schedule (a brutal opening stretch will set the tone for the season, per usual).

Chop it up however you want, but NOTHING HAS CHANGED! The stalemate continues (or as one insider told me Wednesday afternoon, “nothing’s changed from July 1st until today”). For all the back and forth of the past couple weeks the sad truth is Brett Favre will have a new team before Josh Smith’s situation is resolved.

The Hawks are gambling with house money right now, have been since the playoffs ended. You judge for yourself if they’ve handled things right. Folks are going to continue to argue both sides but trying to find a consensus is pointless, because no one here seems willing to be swayed.

And why should you?

If you’ve been riding with a certain side to this point, there’s no sense in trying to switch sides now. Even if it has become painfully obvious that

As for my main man Lang, Mike, oldmike, some sense, JOE, ant banks and some of you other folks wanting me to comment on stuff written about the Hawks on other sites or just comment for the sake of commenting, I won’t waste your time analyzing someone else’s analysis of a situation everyone around here knows infinitely better.

The perceptions about the Hawks as a franchise have most certainly become a reality in cybersapce and to the talking heads that comment on such things. Writers, on air personalities and other “so-called” pundits from national publications haven’t wavered in their skewering of the Hawks from Billy Knight’s regime to Rick Sund’s new administration.

They are not feeling the Hawks and the way they do business.

Can you handle that truth?

As for the schedule, aside from that opening stretch it’s no more brutal than it has been in any of the past four seasons that I can tell.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Hawks are ending yet another streak this season with their Dec. 17 EPSN game against the Celtics, the first meeting between the two since the playoff spat.

Six years between nationally televised regular season games is unfathomable. How the NBA and its network partners have been able to get away with that in one of the nation’s top 10 media markets is nothing short of stunning.

The schedule makers could have really spiced things up and had the Hawks open in Boston on ring ceremony night before an ESPN audience. That would have made for a crazy intense opening night for both teams.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...you_handle.html

[mattlanta]

The truth is... our owners are just flat out terrible.

[exodus]

(The Hawks want him at $9 million a year and Smith wants more, something along the lines of what Emeka Okafor, Monta Ellis and Luol Deng have signed for. And until one side is willing to bend, nothing will happen.)

I wonder how the company men here will try to spin this.

[Deeman]

The truth is... our owners are just flat out terrible.

They are just cheap pricks that don't respect their players.

[Packfill]

I wonder how the company men here will try to spin this.

I don't blame Smith for not taking $9 million. Yes he has holes in his game but so do Ellis (shooting guard in point guard body), Okafor (injuries) and Deng (injuries). No reason they should get more then him.

[Admin]

I wonder how the company men here will try to spin this.

What is there to spin? It's not like that is anything new. It's the same stuff he has been saying for a while. It may be accurate, it might not be, but either way it's nothing new.

[jhay610]

I dont believe I can handle the truth, no. There has to be middle ground somewhere here.

[Admin]

I don't blame Smith for not taking $9 million. Yes he has holes in his game but so do Ellis (shooting guard in point guard body), Okafor (injuries) and Deng (injuries). No reason they should get more then him.

Overpaying (if that's what they believe they would be doing) just because other teams have overpaid for their RFAs is not good business sense. If they honestly believe that Smith is only worth 9 million per then it would be foolish for them to overpay him just to make him happy since that would set a dangerous precedence in regard to our future RFAs.

[HawksFan87]

Well they can expect low ticket sales and everything else, Smoove deserves 72 mil period.... A group of idiots...

Edited August 6, 2008 by jsmoovefan

[DJ_Money]

If there's nothing new for Sekou to report, then he's really got nothing to write about on this one...

Maybe he could work a bit harder, but hell, the way the AJC is going...he probably doesn't have much of a budget to work with. I'm sure if he asked for gas money to drive up to Chapel Hill and check in on Marvin, the AJC would probably shut him down...

As for Josh...

I'm sure he's enjoying his summer, aside from the not having the security of a long-term deal yet. I'm sure his agents have him under strict orders not to touch a basketball or do any kind of physical activity until a deal is signed.

Unfortunately, him sitting on the couch eating ice cream doesn't help him improve his game at all...maybe the ASG will realize this at some point. Maybe it's better to pay market value and get Josh back into a gym. But I doubt it...

[Packfill]

Overpaying (if that's what they believe they would be doing) just because other teams have overpaid for their RFAs is not good business sense. If they honestly believe that Smith is only worth 9 million per then it would be foolish for them to overpay him just to make him happy since that would set a dangerous precedence in regard to our future RFAs.

Do you honestly believe that Smith is only worth $9 million if comparable or lesser players are signing contracts for more money? Seriously, the market has spoken and talented young players with holes in their game are worth $10 million dollars to most NBA franchises.

[Vol4ever]

I wonder how the company men here will try to spin this.

Amen brother, just sit back and watch the spin!

[Vol4ever]

Overpaying (if that's what they believe they would be doing) just because other teams have overpaid for their RFAs is not good business sense. If they honestly believe that Smith is only worth 9 million per then it would be foolish for them to overpay him just to make him happy since that would set a dangerous precedence in regard to our future RFAs.

I don't question them only wanting to pay 9 million a year. I don't think he is worth the money either BUT they ASG has so screwed up this thing that they look like a bunch of dumbasses and that remains my issue with them.

Apparently, Philly, the Clipps, GS, and others don't think he is worth the money either.

At this point the Hawks do hold the cards, but they don't have a clue when to deal!

[exodus]

Overpaying (if that's what they believe they would be doing) just because other teams have overpaid for their RFAs is not good business sense. If they honestly believe that Smith is only worth 9 million per then it would be foolish for them to overpay him just to make him happy since that would set a dangerous precedence in regard to our future RFAs.

If they honestly believe that Smith is only worth $9 million then they are idiots.

Smith is the second best player on the team. Even if they did slightly overpay him how does it set a dangerous precedent? That makes no sense. He outperformed his rookie contract by a mile.

There is a dangerous precedent being set. The other Hawks players and free agents around the league are looking at how the Hawks are handling Smith and it will certainly come into play when they decide whether or not they want to play here.

The Hawks spent $3.5 million/yr for Blo Wright. They spent $6 million/yr for Speedy. Overpaying easily replacable scrubs is a much bigger problem than taking care of your core players.

[wfhawkfan]

I don't question them only wanting to pay 9 million a year. I don't think he is worth the money either BUT they ASG has so screwed up this thing that they look like a bunch of dumbasses and that remains my issue with them.

Apparently, Philly, the Clipps, GS, and others don't think he is worth the money either.

At this point the Hawks do hold the cards, but they don't have a clue when to deal!

No other 1st tier RFA got offered anything, yet their teams are still signing them to market value deals. Meanwhile, we offer the same deal we offered Smoove last year and he had a better year, but then again I guess that is why we are the hawks.

[Admin]

Do you honestly believe that Smith is only worth $9 million if comparable or lesser players are signing contracts for more money? Seriously, the market has spoken and talented young players with holes in their game are worth $10 million dollars to most NBA franchises.

I didn't say that I believe he was only worth 9 million. I'm just saying that if that's all the ASG believes he is worth then they would be stupid to overpay him just to make him happy. That would start a dangerous trend.

[HawkItus]

No spin, but its easy to spend some other guys money. Plain and simple. If they think 9 million is fair then I say stick to your guns. But, my caveat is this.....if you realize he absolutely won't budge go do something about it. Take a chance on Aldridge or go get somebody like Iverson for a year. Make something happen before, like in the Chillz negotiations, somebody else makes something happen and your left holding the bag.

[Admin]

The Hawks spent $3.5 million/yr for Blo Wright. They spent $6 million/yr for Speedy. Overpaying easily replacable scrubs is a much bigger problem than taking care of your core players.

Perhaps that is part of the notion that they are trying to fix. Maybe they don't want to be known as a team that overpays for players.

I don't consider Smoove to be an easily replaceable scrub and he's certainly part of the core, but I DO NOT believe he is worth $12 million. I think he's worth $11 million but that's pushing it.

The problem is that if the ASG values him at x dollars, and he wants y dollars, and they give it to him, it could start a dangerous trend where our upcoming RFAs just wait it out until the ASG agrees to pay them whatever they believe they are worth.

[Admin]

No spin, but its easy to spend some other guys money. Plain and simple. If they think 9 million is fair then I say stick to your guns. But, my caveat is this.....if you realize he absolutely won't budge go do something about it. Take a chance on Aldridge or go get somebody like Iverson for a year. Make something happen before, like in the Chillz negotiations, somebody else makes something happen and your left holding the bag.

Agreed! I'd definitely like to see one (or both) of the sides take some action on this. Burying their heads in the sand (both sides) and ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

My only hope for this situation is looking back to how the Sund negotiations went with Rashard Lewis a few years back when he had to wait until September but still got a big 7 year deal.

[exodus]

I didn't say that I believe he was only worth 9 million. I'm just saying that if that's all the ASG believes he is worth then they are stupid.

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