2010 the Free Agent Feeding Frenzy

[gsuteke]

A half dozen or so teams will be clearing space for not only 1, potentially 2 max contracts.

As all of you who don't sleep under a bridge know Lebron James will be the #1 target out there. Who's #2? Amare Stoudamire? Chris Bosh? That's not my concern.

What is my concern is the potential "consolation prize."

Joe Johnson's contract will also be up in 2010 making him an Unrestricted FA. After all the losing we've endured, after the chemotherapy the franchise went through after/during making that trade sending the Fat Frenchy plus a couple of 1st rounders the the Suns.....

Will the Hawks be competitive enough to keep Joe Johnson in the fold in 2 years?

I peronally see the Hawks as a minimal top 4 team in the East come the 2010 season if not next year.

Your thoughts?

[mudderfudder77]

A half dozen or so teams will be clearing space for not only 1, potentially 2 max contracts.

As many as 18 teams could have the cap space to sign 1 max FA in 2010.

[tonegully]

if the hawks want to keep the little bit of fans we have. We will resign jj at any cost. I wonder if JJ wants to stay in atlanta

[gsuteke]

if the hawks want to keep the little bit of fans we have. We will resign jj at any cost. I wonder if JJ wants to stay in atlanta

Here's the problem. You can't write a blank check. What we can offer is league mandated.

The only advantage we have is a 6th year, which at JJ's age may not be an advantage. He'll be pushing 30 around the time that deal is signed.

It all comes down to this. Does Joe want to keep playing in Atlanta?

[cowa]

Here's the problem. You can't write a blank check. What we can offer is league mandated.

The only advantage we have is a 6th year, which at JJ's age may not be an advantage. He'll be pushing 30 around the time that deal is signed.

But we can offer 10% raises as opposed ot the 8% the other teams can give. bottom line is he can't get more money elsewhere.

I think the questions should be "could we get any complementary pieces from other teams trying to shed extra dollars? Or extra players?"

[Packfill]

A half dozen or so teams will be clearing space for not only 1, potentially 2 max contracts.

As all of you who don't sleep under a bridge know Lebron James will be the #1 target out there. Who's #2? Amare Stoudamire? Chris Bosh? That's not my concern.

What is my concern is the potential "consolation prize."

Joe Johnson's contract will also be up in 2010 making him an Unrestricted FA. After all the losing we've endured, after the chemotherapy the franchise went through after/during making that trade sending the Fat Frenchy plus a couple of 1st rounders the the Suns.....

Will the Hawks be competitive enough to keep Joe Johnson in the fold in 2 years?

I peronally see the Hawks as a minimal top 4 team in the East come the 2010 season if not next year.

Your thoughts?

Won't the Hawks also have to resign Horford in 2010? He will be restricted which makes it easier to bring him back, but that doesn't mean it will be inexpensive.

The good news is the team has two years to worry about this.

[Wurider05]

All this talk about two seasons from now is driving crazy. Really who gives a care if Lebron/Bosh etc goes to New York or not. We have to pretty good teams and basketball right now and everyone (cnn, espn, realgm) is talking about where Lebron is going to be in two years. That is the problem with the NBA they promote stars instead of games and that is why ticket sales are going down.

As for JJ he is what I call a skill player. He isn't athletic and he isn't fast but he knows how to play the game and has superior b-ball skills and can shot the rock. He is the kind of player that ages well in the NBA because when you are not the fastest anymore or can jump the highest you have to have something to fall back on. Hell Tim Duncan might play until he's 40 years old.

[Diesel]

Bottom line is that Atlanta needs to negotiate with JJ now and resign him in the offseason.

Whatever Joe wants...

If he wants to get rid of a teammate.

If he wants to keep a teammate..

If he wants to go after a FA..

This should be the making of whatever Joe Wants.

[Traceman]

Bottom line is that Atlanta needs to negotiate with JJ now and resign him in the offseason.

Whatever Joe wants...

If he wants to get rid of a teammate.

If he wants to keep a teammate..

If he wants to go after a FA..

This should be the making of whatever Joe Wants.

I agree. We need to offer him a max extension and just be done with it. He may not be Kobe, LeBron or D Wade but he is a terrific player who will be an All Star for the forseeable future. Also, he has shown in the past that he doesn't take kindly to not being offered what he thinks he's worth WHEN he thinks it should be offered to him. No need to let him think we might not think he is worth the max when one of those teams with max money will certainly be throwing it his way in 2010 if we don't.

[exodus]

I agree. We need to offer him a max extension and just be done with it. He may not be Kobe, LeBron or D Wade but he is a terrific player who will be an All Star for the forseeable future. Also, he has shown in the past that he doesn't take kindly to not being offered what he thinks he's worth WHEN he thinks it should be offered to him. No need to let him think we might not think he is worth the max when one of those teams with max money will certainly be throwing it his way in 2010 if we don't.

JJ knows he is going to get paid. I agree we should pay whatever it takes because without him we are back in rebuilding mode.

But i would think he will wait and see what kind of offseason moves the Hawks make before deciding anything. He has seen quite a few front office screw ups during his time here. If he doesn't think the Hawks will be legit contenders in the next few years he might bolt regardless of what we offer.

I don't see why he would have any inclination to rush his decision although i certainly think the Hawks should make a big offer quickly for the reasons you mentioned.

[bronnt]

This is going to get tiresome.

This is over a year and a half from now. ESPN has been hyping this up already, and even today the headline on ESPN.com is "Where will he land?" (over a photo of LeBron James).

They're building this story up worse than that Brett Favre saga over the summer. By January 2010, ESPN won't even be watchable anymore. They will talk about free agency so long before there's any reportable news that everything will already have been said 1,000 times, and yet they will continue to say the same things.

Can't we at least pretend like there's almost two full season to play out before this becomes an issue?

Edited November 26, 2008 by bronnt

[coachx]

All this talk about two seasons from now is driving crazy. Really who gives a care if Lebron/Bosh etc goes to New York or not. We have to pretty good teams and basketball right now and everyone (cnn, espn, realgm) is talking about where Lebron is going to be in two years. That is the problem with the NBA they promote stars instead of games and that is why ticket sales are going down.

As for JJ he is what I call a skill player. He isn't athletic and he isn't fast but he knows how to play the game and has superior b-ball skills and can shot the rock. He is the kind of player that ages well in the NBA because when you are not the fastest anymore or can jump the highest you have to have something to fall back on. Hell Tim Duncan might play until he's 40 years old.

Excellent point on JJ ageing well.

I just have to disagree with your arguement about why ticket sales are going down. I would say the economic recession has more to do with it.

Edited November 26, 2008 by coachx

[mudderfudder77]

But we can offer 10% raises as opposed ot the 8% the other teams can give. bottom line is he can't get more money elsewhere.

I think the questions should be "could we get any complementary pieces from other teams trying to shed extra dollars? Or extra players?"

I think its 10.5%

[gsuteke]

It's an internet message board. We talk about stuff here.

I think it's relevant. I'm not throwing any bombs here.

[Diesel]

This is going to get tiresome.

This is over a year and a half from now. ESPN has been hyping this up already, and even today the headline on ESPN.com is "Where will he land?" (over a photo of LeBron James).

They're building this story up worse than that Brett Favre saga over the summer. By January 2010, ESPN won't even be watchable anymore. They will talk about free agency so long before there's any reportable news that everything will already have been said 1,000 times, and yet they will continue to say the same things.

Can't we at least pretend like there's almost two full season to play out before this becomes an issue?

The reason for it is quite clear. Teams plan ahead. Teams make moves with an eye toward the future. You have to look at the trades and say.. that team is positioning themselves... and everybody is expecting NY to be in a good situation by 2010.