Nice offseason for the Hawks

[tmac13]

As the offseason draws near its close I was looking at the positives and negatives and I have to admit I think the Hawks are a better team now than they were at the end of last year. We all got very frustrated at how the Hawks played hardball with Chillz and Smoove but in the end I think we did pretty well. The Chillz situation was a unforseen error on Sunds part. I simply don't think any GM would have imagined a Greek team stepping in and throwing so much cash around. After that point I think Sund has done everything right. We resigned Smoove for a song. We signed 2 veteran backups in Evans and Flip that can contribute. We signed 2 young bigs in free agency that have nice potential that are the equivalent of late 1st or early 2nd round picks in Morris and Othello.

We have a solid starting 5. We are one of a handfull of NBA teams where it is reasonable to expect double digit scoring from all 5 starters. We have nice rebounders and shotblocking from our bigs. We have veterans who know how to win in our backcourt. We have a 3 that has progressed every year and should turn in 17 or 18 a game this year even though some here consider him a bust. Our bench is the deepest that it has been in years. Flip and Evans provide scoring and good defense. Both of them are capable of lighting it up from time to time. Zaza takes alot of knocks here but he is very capable. Two years ago he was a 12/7 starting center. If he accepts his role he can get alot of minutes and give us a nice 3 man rotation up front. I think Hunter may be the steal of the offseason. He played in the slow it down system at Ohio State and really couldn't show his entire game. In both Orlando and in the summer leagues he has been practically the best looking rookie around. I think he can be solid in backing up the 3, 4 and possibly even a little 5 if we are in a pinch. Morris is coming home and may finally get a chance to live up to his talent. I think he can be a Nazr Muhammed type player. All and all I am impressed by Sund so far. Thoughts?

[Diesel]

As the offseason draws near its close I was looking at the positives and negatives and I have to admit I think the Hawks are a better team now than they were at the end of last year. We all got very frustrated at how the Hawks played hardball with Chillz and Smoove but in the end I think we did pretty well. The Chillz situation was a unforseen error on Sunds part. I simply don't think any GM would have imagined a Greek team stepping in and throwing so much cash around. After that point I think Sund has done everything right. We resigned Smoove for a song. We signed 2 veteran backups in Evans and Flip that can contribute. We signed 2 young bigs in free agency that have nice potential that are the equivalent of late 1st or early 2nd round picks in Morris and Othello.

We have a solid starting 5. We are one of a handfull of NBA teams where it is reasonable to expect double digit scoring from all 5 starters. We have nice rebounders and shotblocking from our bigs. We have veterans who know how to win in our backcourt. We have a 3 that has progressed every year and should turn in 17 or 18 a game this year even though some here consider him a bust. Our bench is the deepest that it has been in years. Flip and Evans provide scoring and good defense. Both of them are capable of lighting it up from time to time. Zaza takes alot of knocks here but he is very capable. Two years ago he was a 12/7 starting center. If he accepts his role he can get alot of minutes and give us a nice 3 man rotation up front. I think Hunter may be the steal of the offseason. He played in the slow it down system at Ohio State and really couldn't show his entire game. In both Orlando and in the summer leagues he has been practically the best looking rookie around. I think he can be solid in backing up the 3, 4 and possibly even a little 5 if we are in a pinch. Morris is coming home and may finally get a chance to live up to his talent. I think he can be a Nazr Muhammed type player. All and all I am impressed by Sund so far. Thoughts?

Just to clarify...

Sund mucked up the deal for Chillz.

All the players we have we could have gotten with Chillz here.

I'm going to have to be impressed by Flip.

I'm not mad at Hunter or Morris, but I was hoping for a vet big.

[macdaddy]

Just to clarify...

Sund mucked up the deal for Chillz.

All the players we have we could have gotten with Chillz here.

I'm going to have to be impressed by Flip.

I'm not mad at Hunter or Morris, but I was hoping for a vet big.

yep. We should still have Chillz and at a bargain rate. He was ready to sign but the team wasn't. That's a screw up.

I like the optimism though. I'm a little more middle of the road. We're depending on guys that haven't proven reliable yet. If they don't break out then we're on a 7 or 8 man rotation (only 3 in at pf/c) and praying no one gets hurt.

Edited August 27, 2008 by macdaddy

[Wretch]

I like the additions that we made. I like that we got Smoove back and in a round about way...got him for a good price. I guess.

I am not encouraged by the hiring of a puppet GM.

I HATE the fact that Mike Woodson has been brought back.

Chill was an important part of our team and his negotiations were not handled very well. Not good for the team and not good for our image around the league.

Did I already say that I hate that Woodson is back?

Overall, it wasn't a terrible summer. Though, if we did not have the drama surrounding our off season dealings...then we would have had nothing at all IMO.

C- (...failing grade brought up by SOME signs of life in our management).

[TruJerz]

I agree with everything you said but I still think for us to be contenders in the EAst, we need to add another proven Big man but I really dont see none left. Mutombo would of been nice! what about Lorenzo Wright?? would yal want him back??

[coachx]

yep. We should still have Chillz and at a bargain rate. He was ready to sign but the team wasn't. That's a screw up.

I like the optimism though. I'm a little more middle of the road. We're depending on guys that haven't proven reliable yet. If they don't break out then we're on a 7 or 8 man rotation (only 3 in at pf/c) and praying no one gets hurt.

How could we have had Chilz at a "bargain" rate ? I thought Sund offered him close to $6.5 mill per year on the first day of free agency and Chillz declined it. $6.5 mill per year for Chillz sounds fair but is definately not a bargain to pay for a 6th man.......Is it ?

Please enlighten me. I have been out of commission for a while due to a surgery and may have missed some info if it came out within the last 2 weeks.

[tmac13]

How could we have had Chilz at a "bargain" rate ? I thought Sund offered him close to $6.5 mill per year on the first day of free agency and Chillz declined it. $6.5 mill per year for Chillz sounds fair but is definately not a bargain to pay for a 6th man.......Is it ?

Please enlighten me. I have been out of commission for a while due to a surgery and may have missed some info if it came out within the last 2 weeks.

Supposedly Chillz was ready to sign the Hawks original offer but they wanted him to wait until they handled other business. He didn't like waiting so he went and found another offer. Its mostly he said she said stuff.

[tmac13]

Just to clarify...

Sund mucked up the deal for Chillz.

All the players we have we could have gotten with Chillz here.

I'm going to have to be impressed by Flip.

I'm not mad at Hunter or Morris, but I was hoping for a vet big.

If we had resigned Chillz I seriously doubt we add Evans and maybe even Flip. Its true we could have technically afforded them but I doubt the ASG would have freely spent money to back up the same positions.

[exodus]

Sund didn't have a lot to work with this offseason so i didn't expect much. However it is hard for me to say it was a good offseason when our biggest aquisition was Mo Evans and we didn't really address our big man needs. I am not to optimistic about Morris and the other stiff.

I didn't like the way the Smith deal was handled but fortunately Memphis bailed us out. If they hadnt stepped up Smith might still be unsigned. We should have to rely on other teams to do our negotiating for us.

Plus rehiring Woody was a major blunder.

[HawkItus]

I don't think you can judge the off season until after training camp. The reason being we have to see how this team plays with the new acquisitions. Who gets injured. Who improved. Although guys like Speedy and Acie were in town, we don't have any idea how Horford and Smith, or even Marvin have progressed. It's quite possible the player development guy assigned to each had a positive or negative report that affected the moves we made this summer.

[DrReality]

I like the optimism as well, but I think we will sink or rise with our gelling as a team. We have to come up with better chemestry that we've had and that will take a while to figure out.

[frankthetank966]

I agree. Great post. The J-Chill incident was unfortunate but the Hawks had the chance to step in and try and lure him into staying. I just think they weren't truly interesting in overpaying him. Either way Sund has made some nice signings, I just think he needs to get another solid backup if we want to be a contender for the top 4 in the East.

[Guest Walter]

All and all I am impressed by Sund so far. Thoughts?

Not impressed. Not depressed. Rehiring Mike Woodson? Mistake. I think it'll last only part of a season. Not resigning Chillz? An impossible to forsee Greek Mega-offer. I don't care if Childress was willing to sign earlier, blah, blah, blah...He wouldn't have done or gone elsewhere (for nothing) if it were not for such a ridiculously (stupid) offer from overseas. Given this was precedent, Sund could not prepare for this. I like the Evans and Flip signings. I'm fine with the JS negotiations. We got what we want at a reasonable, market-set price. Sund did not get an acceptable big man IMO.

I'm simply at a loss why we resigned Woodson with so many good coaching prospects out there.

Note: Sund couldn't make this team a contender regardless of what he did. It's fatally flawed. Not enough top talent and positional and skill set deficiencies.

[Swatguy]

I'm simply at a loss why we resigned Woodson with so many good coaching prospects out there.

What better prospects?

[hawkman]

Not impressed. Not depressed. Rehiring Mike Woodson? Mistake. I think it'll last only part of a season. Not resigning Chillz? An impossible to forsee Greek Mega-offer. I don't care if Childress was willing to sign earlier, blah, blah, blah...He wouldn't have done or gone elsewhere (for nothing) if it were not for such a ridiculously (stupid) offer from overseas. Given this was precedent, Sund could not prepare for this. I like the Evans and Flip signings. I'm fine with the JS negotiations. We got what we want at a reasonable, market-set price. Sund did not get an acceptable big man IMO.

I'm simply at a loss why we resigned Woodson with so many good coaching prospects out there.

Note: Sund couldn't make this team a contender regardless of what he did. It's fatally flawed. Not enough top talent and positional and skill set deficiencies.

You're right about the fact that the team from overseas overpaid for Chillz, but it should never have gotten to that point. He was ready to sign for little over the MLE and then we told him to wait. That's just not good business. But overall, I think Sund has done a pretty decent job. Woodson has one half of the season, maybe less than that, to get this team going. It's a gamble, but we'll find out once and for all if he has what it takes. No more 0-whatever starts to begin the season and no more of these horrible stretches where we struggle against the Bobcats or Grizzlies or he's immediately shown the door.

[Swatguy]

Woodson has one half of the season, maybe less than that, to get this team going. It's a gamble, but we'll find out once and for all if he has what it takes. No more 0-whatever starts to begin the season and no more of these horrible stretches where we struggle against the Bobcats or Grizzlies or he's immediately shown the door.

Are you in management?

[hawkman]

Are you in management?

Ha! I wouldn't claim that publicly even if I was. But we all know that this is how things are going to go down if we sputter coming out of the gate. I'm not being negative, just honest.

Edited August 28, 2008 by hawkman

[Swatguy]

Ha! I wouldn't claim that publicly even if I was. But we all know that this is how things are going to go down if we sputter coming out of the gate. I'm not being negative, just honest.

Of course that was a stupid question on my part. It kinda rubs me when fans feel/think entittled to make statements of ultamatum.

Woody got a two year contract. But thode who did not agree with it want to shorten it to 4 months. It is akin to Belkin making the claim to have draft picks taken from the team. It is akin to hoping the Hawks fail to get Woody fired. It is Stupid if you are a Hawk's fan.

The Hawk fan should rally behind the leader for the good. But some of you guys just want to be right. It is selfish.

[Iman]

I'm optimistic about the upcoming season. I don't really think losing Chillz will hurt much due largely to our original glut of SF's anyways. I know how we use them, but really when you get down to it JJ, Marvin, and Smoove are all practically SF's. The botched drafting of Marvin vs a PG helps us here. And people forget Chillz has been rumored to a foot problem that might effect his career. His inside play was fun to watch but his lack of outside shooting probably contributed to Smoove taking too many outside shots and to our poor floor spacing.

Our players will improve, but I don't think this offseason was a success because I don't think we did enough to get us out of the first round of the playoffs. A new Coach or a good bigman probably would have gotten us to a homecourt advantage first round IMO. As it is, the only way I see us getting a top4 seed is if an allstar or two goes down to injuries on Toronto, Detroit, Orlando, Cleveland, etc.

If we win a round in the playoffs I'd consider keeping Woodson and maybe even Bibby depending on how much he was responsible, etc. Hopefully if we don't win a round, both will be gone.

[Swish]

What better prospects?

Avery Johnson and Flip Saunders to name two guys 100% better than Woodson.