Rick Sund on 680 the Fan/Rude Awakening

[Atlantaholic]

Lets just put this in the never ending amazing Diesel archives that range from an infatuation with the likes of Stephon Marbury, Eddie Curry, Shelden Williams, to Jianlian Yi etc Now the apple of his eye is a near 40 year old broken down center who turned Phoenix, a porsche at the time into the same clunker that Dallas turned into after the Jason Kidd trade! Word of advise my brother, stick to what you do best which is getting drunk on Marvin haterade! And leave the general managing to the guys who have improved this team every year for the past 4 years!

I would not blame Phoenixes downfall on Shaq... They would be even worse with Marion. Both Dallas and Phoenix just got old. It happens. They had 4-5 good years but their players have aged while younger teams have gotten better. Having said that getting Shaq would make no sense... The man must have maybe one more year left in him and will command an ungodly salary.

[Atlantaholic]

D's goal is to argue, not really make a trade.

I'll go for Bosh. Lebron would be huge, but it won't happen.

I think a change of cities for Bosh would do him a world of good.

Ugh. I am such a big Lebron hater... Him and Pierce are to stars I wouldn't even be happy about having

[TheNorthCydeRises]

(( Here are highlights from Rick Sund's interview on 680:

1) He kept Woody for continuity and believe he made the right choice (ugh)

I agree

2) He still believes the team has a lot of growing within (Horford, Smith and Marvin still improving)

I agree. Acie has to improve as well, for this team to reach its maximum potential.

3) Joe said this is the happiest he's ever been playing basketball

That's great. He needs to go ahead and sign him to an extension next year, before he hits the FA market

4) Bibby/Flip/Mo coming to Hawks have been good for Hawks...also, it's been good for their career

Unfortunately, I think one of either Bibby or Flip is gone next year. Safe money is on Bibby, move Acie into the starting lineup, but play Flip most of the minutes at the point. Bibby's performance in the playoffs will determine if we retain him. If Flip plays well, he may be this summer's version of James Posey, with the money he may be able to command.

5) Josh/Woody deal blown out of proportion. He said blow ups happen, but they have to learn to keep it in house

I agree. And Josh must learn that he is the player. Players will always lose in a battle like that, unless he's the star player. Even Iverson lost his battles with Larry Brown

6) His projection for the team at this stage was to have a winning record at home and win 15-17 games on the road. He's happy where we are, but wants to reach the 17 game goal. He said the elite teams win 20+ on the road. Solid playoff teams win 15-17. He believes we are in that playoff bracket.

My projection before the season was to try to win 30+ home games, and at least 16 - 20 road games. Pretty much on schedule

7) Said tough decisions in Free Agency are ahead. He said due to the economy, the salary cap will be down and the luxury tax will too. He said he can't go into specifics, but they have to "slice the pie" in a way where they can have depth. He also said (in general terms) you may be better off letting talent go to get a superstar. He said this team has good chemistry.

In other words . . . Bibby is definitely gone, and we'll try to re-sign Flip for what ( 5 mill a year? )

8) Said he shouldn't get the bulk of the credit for what the Hawks are doing. He said the pieces were in place. However the Hawks specifically got him, so he could "connect the dots" on the team. He also acknowledged he was not the first choice of the Hawks.

Yes and no. The fact that it was he that brought us both Flip and Mo, to replace Chill, is probably one of the best moves made by a GM this season.

9) Talked about understanding opposing teams will get calls on their home court. However, he is concerned when refs gives calls to opposing players in Phillips Arena (mentioned Lebron's game at Phillip's where we lost by a point for an example.)

LOL . . no ish. Fans need to put more pressure on the refs, and let them know exactly when they make a bad call.

10) He didn't know if our magic number is 1 or 2 games. He says you have to take into consideration tie breakers, etc. He said it wasn't an exact science.

We'll be in the playoffs by this time next week, so it's all good. Just gotta make sure we don't drop all 3 of these games, with Miami having to play Indy and Chicago on the road, and Milwaukee at home. A 3-loss by us, and a 3-win scenario by Miami, would put them right back in the mix to get that #4 spot

[Diesel]

1. To have that cap space, you would have to renounce Bibby, Zaza, Childress, Murray, and all of your exceptions. That means you only have the minimum salary to sign any of them.

So, to recap -

Marvin + Mo + Claxton -for- one year of Shaq

After the trade you have no perimeter players other than JJ and Law:

Law/1st rounder/?

JJ/?

Smith/2nd rounder

Horford/?

Shaq/?/Morris

You have only the vet minimum to sign at least two backup wings, a reserve PG, and two backup bigs. And, your PG rotation is Acie Law and a rookie. You're going to have a hard time convincing me that team is better than Cleveland, Boston, or LA.

That's renounce or resign right?

I mean, in your argument, you speak as if a Shaq trade has to be done before we resign our players. True, some of them will be renounced... but like I said, after you resign Flip, Zaza, and maybe a much cheaper Bibbs or a cheaper PG, you can then look to renounce and trade for Shaq.

[Diesel]

So thinking Shaq is a bad move makes one dumb and not bright enough to comment on the conversation?

Did you quote it and not read it???

[Diesel]

Nothing is wrong about being in the minority, that's usually were I reside, but Shaq to Atlanta is about as likely to happen (and for good reason) as MJ coming out of retirement. It simply doesn't make any sense on either side. At all.

So it doesn't make sense for a team with A Pf starting at Center to go after the best Center over the last 20 years?

It doesn't make sense for a team that has been media and fan starved to go after one of the biggest media and fan draws the league has ever seen?

I'm trying to understand your point DSinner, but it just seems like you're being argumentatitve without consideringwhat I'm saying. Now, had you said that it would be a financial strain for next year... You would have a point and then we could talk about marketing, gate, and television contract revenue vs. Luxury tax. But you didn't bring that up. You just said blankly that it doesn't make sense. Maybe it makes too much sense?

[GameTime]

How does Bosh make us a better team than Shaq does?

And for the record I think both ideas are bad for the Hawks. But the Shaq decision is not nearly as bad as all you all are saying.

[atlien]

How does Bosh make us a better team than Shaq does?

And for the record I think both ideas are bad for the Hawks. But the Shaq decision is not nearly as bad as all you all are saying.

Umm Bosh is 25, averages 20/10 with a FG% of around .500 and FT% of around .800.

Shaq is 37 and very much on the downside of his career (dont get me wrong, he's still good... but he clearly is deteriorating).

I just think a Bosh/Horf tandem is better than a Smoove/Horf one.

[atlien]

So it doesn't make sense for a team with A Pf starting at Center to go after the best Center over the last 20 years?

It doesn't make sense for a team that has been media and fan starved to go after one of the biggest media and fan draws the league has ever seen?

I'm trying to understand your point DSinner, but it just seems like you're being argumentatitve without consideringwhat I'm saying. Now, had you said that it would be a financial strain for next year... You would have a point and then we could talk about marketing, gate, and television contract revenue vs. Luxury tax. But you didn't bring that up. You just said blankly that it doesn't make sense. Maybe it makes too much sense?

Diesel, Shaq is 37.

[Diesel]

Diesel, Shaq is 37.

Uhm..

It's a 1 year deal. One of the main things about getting Shaq is that at the end of the year, his 20 Million dollars will come off our books and we will have the money to sign JJ... rather than us sign players and look at JJ and not be able to match what another team may give because it puts us in luxury tax. Moreover, we would be able to extend Horf also.

Some of you need to realize that 2010 is coming. There's going to be a whole lot of teams with a whole lot of money to spend. I want to be in a position where we have Money and we have a team that FAs would want to play for...

The move for Shaq takes us from being a team that is just waiting for something good to happen to being a team that makes something good happen. Similar to what Boston did a few years ago.

[atlien]

Uhm..

It's a 1 year deal. One of the main things about getting Shaq is that at the end of the year, his 20 Million dollars will come off our books and we will have the money to sign JJ... rather than us sign players and look at JJ and not be able to match what another team may give because it puts us in luxury tax. Moreover, we would be able to extend Horf also.

Some of you need to realize that 2010 is coming. There's going to be a whole lot of teams with a whole lot of money to spend. I want to be in a position where we have Money and we have a team that FAs would want to play for...

The move for Shaq takes us from being a team that is just waiting for something good to happen to being a team that makes something good happen. Similar to what Boston did a few years ago.

OK, so to get Shaq (a 1-year rental of Shaq), we'd have to trade for him. Let's see a trade where we send out enough cash and assets to make it happen... and then how that situates us for the summer of 2010 (you have a valid point that trying to have a ton of cap room in 2010 is a legit strategy). My thing is, I don't think you can come up with a scenario where we are better off doing that.

For instance, you say "where we have a team FAs would want to play for". But, in your scenario, we gut our team to get Shaq, who has said he will retire after this contract. I just don't see how gutting our team for a 1-year rental of Shaq does anything for our prospects in the summer of 2010 (when our team would be Shaqless). We would have cash, but we would likely suck.

[mookie10]

Woody would run Shaq into the ground...I don't know if he would ever sub him out!

[AHF]

OK, so to get Shaq (a 1-year rental of Shaq), we'd have to trade for him. Let's see a trade where we send out enough cash and assets to make it happen... and then how that situates us for the summer of 2010 (you have a valid point that trying to have a ton of cap room in 2010 is a legit strategy). My thing is, I don't think you can come up with a scenario where we are better off doing that.

For instance, you say "where we have a team FAs would want to play for". But, in your scenario, we gut our team to get Shaq, who has said he will retire after this contract. I just don't see how gutting our team for a 1-year rental of Shaq does anything for our prospects in the summer of 2010 (when our team would be Shaqless). We would have cash, but we would likely suck.

Here is the Diesel scenario - trade Marvin + filler (Speedy, Mo, etc.).

Then in 2010 we are better because Marvin is gone and we have more cap space.

[Dsinner]

You guys talk as if getting the most dominant low post player of the last 20 years is a joke... Is something we can do without?

Please tell me you are not this dumb???

If you don't see the benefit that having Shaq would have on:

Our sad low post.

Marketing.

National recognition.

Fan attendance.

Free agency...

then you are really not bright enough to comment on the conversation.

Did you quote it and not read it???

Huh?

[Peoriabird]

Uhm..

It's a 1 year deal. One of the main things about getting Shaq is that at the end of the year, his 20 Million dollars will come off our books and we will have the money to sign JJ... rather than us sign players and look at JJ and not be able to match what another team may give because it puts us in luxury tax. Moreover, we would be able to extend Horf also.

Some of you need to realize that 2010 is coming. There's going to be a whole lot of teams with a whole lot of money to spend. I want to be in a position where we have Money and we have a team that FAs would want to play for...

So we gut the team for shaq for one year to resign Joe in 2010? I hope someone else is following this because I sure as hell can't!

[Peoriabird]

Here is the Diesel scenario - trade Marvin + filler (Speedy, Mo, etc.).

Then in 2010 we are better because Marvin is gone and we have more cap space.

Unless we sign Marvin for 20 million per season there would have to be a hell of a lot more fillers than Speedy and Mo just to get Shaq!

[Dsinner]

Uhm..

It's a 1 year deal.

Diesel you say that like it's a good thing. You're risking a lot for one year.

[Peoriabird]

Diesel you say that like it's a good thing. You're risking a lot for one year.

I can't understand why people hate this team so much! This might be a 50 win team with a front line 2 23 year old and a 22 year old. I can't imagine why that is such a bad thing.

[mrhonline]

That's renounce or resign right?

I mean, in your argument, you speak as if a Shaq trade has to be done before we resign our players. True, some of them will be renounced... but like I said, after you resign Flip, Zaza, and maybe a much cheaper Bibbs or a cheaper PG, you can then look to renounce and trade for Shaq.

Well, it's not really an argument. It's a reality.

If you want to trade using cap space, it would HAVE to be done before re-signing other players. If you want to re-sign players first, your trade suggestion wouldn't work under the CBA.

[bumpyphish1]

"SNT Marvin, Mo, Acie, Capspace for Shaq. Then see if we can resign Bibs on the cheap, Flip, Zaza,... and maybe even Chillz. Draft Collison."

Diesel, you are officially freaking retarded! I would love to meet you just to find out what kind of idiot you really are. That's the kind of stuff you trade for Shaq in his prime, not after an aberration contract year when the guy has maybe two years left, tops.

Do you really take your own ideas seriously? Are you 14?