Mike Bibby, resign or let walk? Also future moves.

[LouieB]

I'm new to the forum, this is my first post. I never post on message boards mostly due to not having the time but I do read all my local sports blogs/boards. I recently found this board while on the Atlanta Falcons site and someone posted a link, so glad to find a Hawks fan forum. I'm a HUGE JJ fan and also Al Horford I love his hustle I think he's going to be a great player. Very excited about the playoffs I think Miami's a much better matchup for us and I think we advance in 7 games. Now for my actual comment LOL.........

I've read a few posts here about wanting to get rid of Mike Bibby or atleast letting him walk this off-season..... I've got very mixed feelings about Bibby, I think it's gonna be hard to replace Bibby w/ a better option at point. Bibby hits some big shots for us, he runs the break really well and is a smart player. He's a defensive liabillity when we play teams with aggressive point guards or when he switches off but I think he hits a lot of big shots for us and I'm not sure if we can replace his clutch shooting. Like all jump shooters he has off nights but I'm not sure why so many want him out? In the interviews I've read and seen on NBA TV he seems to like it here and especially likes his teammates, I'm sure he knows his skill set has fallen some and will have to take a pay cut in free agency, I bring him back.

I also think we lock up Joe, Flip, Marv and go out and get a big man some how some way. We need someone who can throw people around and defend/rebound on both ends like Kendrick Perkins does for Boston. Without him they're not nearly as physical. That guys a load. I just hope the ownership doesn't sit on it's hands this off season. The Atlanta Hawks are actually close to being a real contender. Just my opinion what do you guys think

LB

[gsuteke]

Welcome to the board.

In respect to letting Bibby go, I haven't seen many answers provided in case the Hawks do just that. Acie Law isn't running this team.

We all complain about Bibby (myself included) but there ain't exactly alot of players standing behind him right now.

[MaceCase]

Nice to have another newbie like me on here. I have similar views to you in regards to Bibby being that I've always loved his game but in regards to the hawks future i feel that option A should be letting him walk and looking to the draft, trades, or even testing some restricted FAcy. My reasoning behind this is Joe Johnson, between the fact he averages 40 minutes, is the team's primary ball handler, scorer, distributor and is also counted on to guard the other teams top guards, I feel there's not going to be much of a player left to resign come '10. Someone, anyone who can be counted on to be the primary ball handler and take some of the offensive and defensive duties off of Joe while even being capable to get him some easy looks is what we need since Bibby is a better off the ball guard. I understand that there may not be anyone out there that can come in and immediately produce on par with Bibby but I'm willing to accept that, the rest of the team is talented enough, and after this upcoming playoff run, experienced enough to pick up any slack left by Bibbs absence. The Hawks should be able to manage finding someone solid with upside at the point. In regards to Marvin 1) I'm a fan 2) he's a definite resign considering that he's a core member of the rebuilding project and contributes. Many can argue either way but management, if they intend on keeping this team competitive, need to show some sort of design or loyalty to their core players now if they expect others to resign later. The Joshes last summer were met by an utter lack of enthusiasm when it came to resigning them. Albeit Chill's deal in the end with Greece was over the top, Smoove spent too much time waiting around in the summer for a deal. Being fair with Marvin could go a ways to getting Joe and later on AL to resign. So...*phew* essay...my only other idea is possibly making a run at Rasheed Wallace in FAcy, in my head it sounds perfect, Woody's signed through the year so why not bring in someone he's familiar with, Sheed is old (read: cheap) yet still has plenty in the tank to be effective off the bench at both the offensive and defensive ends backing up both frontcourt positions, Detroit is in upheaval and the Hawks are up and comers, and above all else i think he'd be a tremendous mentor to both Smoove and Al and whatever project big we draft considering there are'nt any veteran big men or coaches sitting on the bench.

[mattlanta]

You are right, he gives up way too many points on defense. It often seems like he gives up twice as many points on D as he scores himself on offense. I would like us to really evaluate Bibby this playoffs, but if he doesn't do so well, we should trade Law/Claxton for Kirk Hinrich and then draft a PG (Lawson, Collison) to bring off the bench.

BTW, good post, and welcome to the Hawksquawk. Looking to hear more from you LouiB. (To you as well MaceCase).

[DrReality]

We need to keep him if we can afford it. Depends on what he wants. It would be good to keep him a few more years until we can get a young pg to take over.

I'd also love to have a bruiser, but there aren't many of them around. Usually bigs that come out of college are underdeveloped physically, but the real issue is their attitude. Think the closest guy in the draft to have that attidue is Blair, but he is undersized. We are close if we can keep what we have together and add a piece or two.

[Admin]

Welcome to Hawksquawk LouieB and Macecase!

Regarding Bibby I'd love to have a better defensive PG and players being set up for easy scores more consistently but I do hope that we keep him (at a greatly reduced price) next year. I think we all have a short memory on how long it had been prior to Bibby before we had a PG who even had the ability to throw a perfect alley oop or who could find players for easy buckets. It doesn't happen nearly enough but every time it does happen I am reminded of how long we waited for a PG like Bibby who has the ability to do the things he does.

[cam1218]

You always want to upgrade at every position but I don't think there are many guys out there that we can realistically require that would be better than Bibby. I don't know the free agent list of the top of my head but the only guy I can think of is Nash? Dolfan is right though, think back to early last year when we had Lue and A. Johnson running the point for us. If you think we play a lot of 1-1 basketball w/ poor ball movement now, that was ALL we seemed to do w/ those two running the show. So if there is a way to improve--do it, but we can't just let Bibby walk as we have nobody on our roster that is capable of being a starting caliber PG on a playoff team right now.

[khaos7]

If you can't find an improvement over Bibby or a comparable talent, you keep him at a reasonable price. That simple. He has his shortcomings. However, the swagger of the team changed when he arrived. That's reflected in our record.

I'd love to have Jarret Jack, a healthy TJ Ford, or Kirk Hinrich in here as a replacement. That said, if we can't get younger, cheaper and/or better, keep him. We don't know what we have in Acie (partially due to him, his health and Woody). I don't feel comfortable giving him the wheel yet.

[LouieB]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree w/ most everything said here. My whole thing w/ Bibby is he's clutch no 2 ways about it. I agree we're better off younger and faster but, I think he means a lot to our core players like Joe, Smoove, and Horford (who has made it known how much he enjoys playing w/ Bibby). Bibby rewards our bigs for running the floor and rarely throws a bad ooooop......

As far as our future. I hope ownership keeps our core guys, all we need is 1 or 2 more pieces and who knows what can happen.

By the way, I listen to ESPN radio all day while working. The Herd would be my favorite show, none of the shows said a word about the Hawks/Heat series today. Maybe they'll break it down later this week, it's got to be the most competitive series in the EAST by a mile.

Thanks again, enjoy reading all your posts.

Go Hawks.

LB

[mattlanta]

You always want to upgrade at every position but I don't think there are many guys out there that we can realistically require that would be better than Bibby. I don't know the free agent list of the top of my head but the only guy I can think of is Nash? Dolfan is right though, think back to early last year when we had Lue and A. Johnson running the point for us. If you think we play a lot of 1-1 basketball w/ poor ball movement now, that was ALL we seemed to do w/ those two running the show. So if there is a way to improve--do it, but we can't just let Bibby walk as we have nobody on our roster that is capable of being a starting caliber PG on a playoff team right now.

Free agent PGs I'd rather have over Bibby:

Raymond Felton

Ben Gordon

Jarret Jack

TJ Ford (high chances of him being traded away)

Ramon Sesssions

I wouldn't want Nash. He plays worse D than Bibby. No point in signing him here.

[coachx]

Good topic.

This has been discussed at least once every 2 weeks. A couple of months ago I was all for giving Bibby between $8 and $9 mill per year. Hopefully a front loaded contract, like we gave Speedy, where his contract declines in price as he ages and his game declines.

Now I am more in the $6 mill to $7 mill range with Bibby.

I do not want to sign him for a contract more then 4 years. I fear it will take at least 4 years to get him back.

Bibby is a unrestricted free agent....so we do not have the right to match another teams offer sheet. B/c of this a decision on Bibby will likely be made much quicker then on Marvin due to Marvin's restricted free agency status.

My preference would be drafting Eric Maynor or Ty Lawson.........even if we have to move up to get them. If we stay at #19 Collison should fall to us on a pretty cheap contract to fit under the cap. He would be a nice "yin" to Bibby's "yang as Collison is superb defender at the PG position.

I like all 3, of the named collegiate PGs, more then Raymond Felton, Jarrett Jack, or Sessions. This is a deep PG draft and I want to take advantage of it.

Of the FA PGs available I like Jack the most. However, so do the Pacers and will likely match any reasonable offer for Jack. He won the startgin jobn over Ford. Ford's injury history of (narrowing spine) scares me away from him.

Edited April 14, 2009 by coachx

[bumpyphish1]

Good topic.

This has been discussed at least once every 2 weeks. A couple of months ago I was all for giving Bibby between $8 and $9 mill per year. Hopefully a front loaded contract, like we gave Speedy, where his contract declines in price as he ages and his game declines.

Now I am more in the $6 mill to $7 mill range with Bibby.

I do not want to sign him for a contract more then 4 years. I fear it will take at least 4 years to get him back.

Bibby is a unrestricted free agent....so we do not have the right to match another teams offer sheet. B/c of this a decision on Bibby will likely be made much quicker then on Marvin due to Marvin's restricted free agency status.

My preference would be drafting Eric Maynor or Ty Lawson.........even if we have to move up to get them. If we stay at #19 Collison should fall to us on a pretty cheap contract to fit under the cap. He would be a nice "yin" to Bibby's "yang as Collison is superb defender at the PG position.

I like all 3, of the named collegiate PGs, more then Raymond Felton, Jarrett Jack, or Sessions. This is a deep PG draft and I want to take advantage of it.

Of the FA PGs available I like Jack the most. However, so do the Pacers and will likely match any reasonable offer for Jack. He won the startgin jobn over Ford. Ford's injury history of (narrowing spine) scares me away from him.

Great post, coachx. I agree with your point of view almost to a T. Jack would be great but yeah, the Pacers seem to like him a lot.

Don't forget about Patty Mills for a PG in the draft. I doubt mgmt is smart enough to get him but I think he may be the 2nd best PG in the draft. I want no part of Collison but I understand your yin/yang analogy. He is a defender for sure but I think he is a mediocre NBA talent. We have been hearing his name for years as a prospect. Why did he stay this season? Surely not to win a title.

Why can't Thomas Dimitroff be our GM?????

[Wurider05]

I say let him walk. Defensively we can't afford him anymore. I think that AL/Horf/Marv will be able to pick up the slack offensively. Hell I say let the Acie/West two headed monster hold down the pg spot. It is not like Bibby is playing floor general anyway, hell the number of assist that we get out of that position should increase and the defense will increase ten-fold. really what do we have to lose. Jarrett jack would be a good fit but I still don't think that we have seen what Acie can truly offer us!!!

[HamHawk]

I say we let him walk, give Acie his shot. I don't see him breaking out huge, but it's like Wurider said, "Defensively we can't afford (Bibby) anymore. We have athletic talent with scoring potential. Let them "pick up the slack". . . .if there is any to be picked up.

[Wurider05]

No more rookies/draft picks. we need to stick to drafting bigs. We have been young for too long!!!

[Popeye]

I think we all have similar opinions on this...

I would only want him back if:

We get him on a short contract, no more than 3 years or front load his contract..

[bumpyphish1]

The draft PG crop just got deeper. Jonny Flynn is declaring.

Now thats,

1) Ty Lawson (we have no chance)

2) Patty Mills

3) Jonny Flynn

4) Eric Maynor

5) Darren Collison

Deep PG class indeed.

[Admin]

I'm very interested to see what Ben Gordon is going to sign for. He's not the playmaker that Bibby is (when Bibby is playing well) but he's a much more consistent scorer, younger, and better defensively. He'd be a truly killer scoring PG to pair with JJ and I think he'd fit the role of what Woody likes from his PG to a T. I highly doubt he'll get more than what Bibby is making now which means we could simply replace Bibby with Gordon while still decreasing payroll a bit and he's a FA so we wouldn't have to give up any draft picks or worry about Chicago matching.

[AHF]

I'm very interested to see what Ben Gordon is going to sign for. He's not the playmaker that Bibby is (when Bibby is playing well) but he's a much more consistent scorer, younger, and better defensively. He'd be a truly killer scoring PG to pair with JJ and I think he'd fit the role of what Woody likes from his PG to a T. I highly doubt he'll get more than what Bibby is making now which means we could simply replace Bibby with Gordon while still decreasing payroll a bit and he's a FA so we wouldn't have to give up any draft picks or worry about Chicago matching.

I hope Sund vets that scenario for sure. At the same price, give me Gordon over Bibby at this point in their careers because by the 2010-11 season I am not sure Bibby is going to have much left in the tank.

[buckeye242424]

I hope Sund vets that scenario for sure. At the same price, give me Gordon over Bibby at this point in their careers because by the 2010-11 season I am not sure Bibby is going to have much left in the tank.

Let's see how much Bibby has left in the tank during the playoffs. His future with Hawks depends solely on the next few weeks. I think the organization will determine what the future is for Bibby in Atlanta based on how he plays in the playoffs.