Is the Rick Sund honeymoon coming to an end?

[gsuteke]

People here were apprehensive about Rick Sund when he was hired, and rightfully so. His record in Seattle left alot to be desired.

He showed up here and did fairly well in his 1st season. He lost Childress to a European club which was unprecedented so he gets a pass there. Then he waiting on signing Josh Smith and although we all were quite wary (and often critical) of how Sund handled those negotiations he wound up getting Josh at a fair price with a little cajoling from Memphis.

He knew the club needed a Veteran presence so he brought in Flip Murray and Mo Evans on short, inexpensive contracts.

This season he packages 2 worthless commodities that were burning holes in the Hawks bench in Claxton and Law for Crawford. That was a nice move by Sund and it was well timed in hindsight. Sund got Crawford before Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando started to reload.

Sund then drafted Teague after an unprecedented run at PG before the Hawks' pick came up. The jury is still out on Teague but if he's a bust like Acie Law we'll have absolutely no depth at the PG position.

Sund then resigned Zaza and Bibby to reasonable contracts. Who here outside of a complete Bibby hater isn't happy to have him on your team for 6 million?

Then comes Sund's achilles heel to this point. BIGs. Since when has that NOT been the Achilles Heel of the Atlanta Hawks?

The Hawks have little to no depth at the PF position and will be in serious trouble at the Center position if Horford or Zaza miss any time at all this season.

I just looked at a thread that said Tim Thomas signed with the Mavs. I'm telling you guys I see the writing on the wall. If Joe Smith wanted to come to Atlanta he would have signed that contract already. He's waiting for another team to make him an offer.

If the Hawks go into next season with this roster as it is today with only a few project bigs that won't see the floor next season I ask you this -

Is the Rick Sund honeymoon coming to an end?

Edited July 28, 2009 by gsuteke

[AnakinJoe]

I think next summer will be key to determine Sund's tenure as our GM. It feels like we will struggle to re-sign both Marvin and Joe to long-term deals. So let's see how he replaces a core player. But I'm not thrilled that we may go into the season with nothing more than an upgraded Flip & Acie and potentially no improvement in the front court.

[NineOhTheRino]

If this is the team he plans to win with the yes the honeymoon is over.

[jy23]

I would like to see alot more activity when it comes to going after bigs but I wouldn't say that he's doing a bad job, I think that after next summer we can really judge him and the kind of team he's tryna build.

[xhawk]

There was no honeymoon...I believe that we expected results right away.

Sund always, always does project big man. Look at his draft record and the Morris signing. We can be upset at his moves, but not surprised.

[MaceCase]

I won't pass any judgment on Sund until I see what he does with Joe next summer and after that decides which one of our frontcourt players he'll have to move or let go to make us a legitimate contender.

[DrReality]

I think that because of the economy the honeymoon has been over for everyone, owners, GMs, coaches, players, et al. And the fans.

[mrhonline]

He kept Smith at a decent price, ditched Law and Claxton for a superior player in Crawford, drafted Teague, re-signed Zaza, re-signed Bibby, and is in talks with Marvin.

What are we supposed to be so terribly unhappy about? Are your attention spans REALLY this short?

[exodus]

I don't see a real problem. He has made some moves that could be considered safe or status quo but i haven't seen him make any moves that i thought of as bad. I would liked him to have moved more quickly in some cases but then again it is really easy for me to spend the owners money.

In order for the Hawks to be legit contenders they need more than just another backup big. They need another star. Judging from previous quotes I am sure he is aware of this.

I haven't seen him do anything that i can really criticize him for other than dragging his feet on the Smith deal. This summer could have easily been a disaster but at this point that possiblity isn't in the picture any more and it isn't even august yet.

Edited July 29, 2009 by exodus

[TheDude]

He kept Smith at a decent price, ditched Law and Claxton for a superior player in Crawford, drafted Teague, re-signed Zaza, re-signed Bibby, and is in talks with Marvin.

What are we supposed to be so terribly unhappy about? Are your attention spans REALLY this short?

while i see where you are coming from in the fact that he's done very well so far in my opinion, i don't feel their criticism is unwarranted. it is a fact that we needed to upgrade our big man depth this offseason (compared to previous seasons) and if anything it's gotten slightly worse (loss of solo)....granted there IS still time to pick up a big man, but if you look around you will notice the room of available big men is getting uncomfortably bare....plus we seem to have put all our eggs in one basket (joe smith) and that basket seems content to waiting for the next suitor as long as he can.

we have time, we have time and there are vet big men out there (hakim for example)....but honestly we are dangerously on the edge here of losing out and going into the season as having randolph morris and othello hunter our backups...while they have both gotten better it seems, i don't feel they are championship caliber backups and we shouldn't DEPEND on them and fully expect to move forward as a team....

[mrhonline]

What I'm seeing here is a disagreement between what many think Solomon Jones was worth and what I think he was worth.

I'm not a Solo fan. I saw him as decent end of the roster material a few years back, but I am of the opinion there are still plenty of players out there of the same or greater value.

I would've liked to have added Wilcox at 2 years, $6M, but I can see what he chose Detroit (playing time). I didn't want Gooden (terrible defender) and knew from the beginning the Hawks had no chance at the other top big FA.

I'm not sure who else everyone wanted Sund to sign. Andersen would have been nice, but not in terms of post defense or leadership.

[Gray Mule]

Crawford - Hawks traded for him as a replacement for Joe Johnson who will be traded for that elusive "Big"

everyone is still searching for.

Gasp! Oh no! Sund can't do that!

Really? Think about it.

The new "BIG" is a starting center. Zaza is his backup. Then, there are roster spots open for some big guys

to back them up, since we move our present center to PF. He can return to center to cover in an emergency.

Now, we decide what to do with the rest of the players. Who starts - - Where - - And who backs them up.

Sure, that's not going to happen. Imposible! Really?

Just something to think about. Stranger things have happened before. Think about the idea before you

fall into the deep end of the pool and can't swim out.

:tongue:

[coachx]

Crawford - Hawks traded for him as a replacement for Joe Johnson who will be traded for that elusive "Big"

everyone is still searching for.

Gasp! Oh no! Sund can't do that!

Really? Think about it.

The new "BIG" is a starting center. Zaza is his backup. Then, there are roster spots open for some big guys

to back them up, since we move our present center to PF. He can return to center to cover in an emergency.

Now, we decide what to do with the rest of the players. Who starts - - Where - - And who backs them up.

Sure, that's not going to happen. Imposible! Really?

Just something to think about. Stranger things have happened before. Think about the idea before you

fall into the deep end of the pool and can't swim out.

:tongue:

I think Crawford is a safety net incase JJ takes off to NY or some where else next off season in his UFA year. This year he will be top 3 in 6th man voting.

JJ has an expiring deal. The only teams that would trade for JJ would have to be winners b/c JJ is not going to resign his last big contract at 28 with a loser and I doubt winning teams are going to give up an allstar or borderline allstar center.

Edited July 29, 2009 by coachx

[gsuteke]

I see posts saying everyone is fine with Sund, however I believe HS will be out in full force with it's pitch forks if Sund doesn't dig up some depth at the 4 and 5 this offseason because there will be injuries.

Who here is looking forward to seeing Randolph Morris out there with Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal?

[exodus]

I see posts saying everyone is fine with Sund, however I believe HS will be out in full force with it's pitch forks if Sund doesn't dig up some depth at the 4 and 5 this offseason because there will be injuries.

Who here is looking forward to seeing Randolph Morris out there with Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal?

Not me but i am not looking forward to seeing Horford or Zaza up against them either.

[gsuteke]

Not me but i am not looking forward to seeing Horford or Zaza up against them either.

Good point

[Traceman]

People here were apprehensive about Rick Sund when he was hired, and rightfully so. His record in Seattle left alot to be desired.

He showed up here and did fairly well in his 1st season. He lost Childress to a European club which was unprecedented so he gets a pass there. Then he waiting on signing Josh Smith and although we all were quite wary (and often critical) of how Sund handled those negotiations he wound up getting Josh at a fair price with a little cajoling from Memphis.

He knew the club needed a Veteran presence so he brought in Flip Murray and Mo Evans on short, inexpensive contracts.

This season he packages 2 worthless commodities that were burning holes in the Hawks bench in Claxton and Law for Crawford. That was a nice move by Sund and it was well timed in hindsight. Sund got Crawford before Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando started to reload.

Sund then drafted Teague after an unprecedented run at PG before the Hawks' pick came up. The jury is still out on Teague but if he's a bust like Acie Law we'll have absolutely no depth at the PG position.

Sund then resigned Zaza and Bibby to reasonable contracts. Who here outside of a complete Bibby hater isn't happy to have him on your team for 6 million?

Then comes Sund's achilles heel to this point. BIGs. Since when has that NOT been the Achilles Heel of the Atlanta Hawks?

The Hawks have little to no depth at the PF position and will be in serious trouble at the Center position if Horford or Zaza miss any time at all this season.

I just looked at a thread that said Tim Thomas signed with the Mavs. I'm telling you guys I see the writing on the wall. If Joe Smith wanted to come to Atlanta he would have signed that contract already. He's waiting for another team to make him an offer.

If the Hawks go into next season with this roster as it is today with only a few project bigs that won't see the floor next season I ask you this -

Is the Rick Sund honeymoon coming to an end?

He may have made a few missteps here or there (depending on how you feel about the Childress/Smoove negotiations) but all in all, he has managed the situation well. Half the folks on here who are complaining about what he has done so far would have overpaid Smoove and Childress and then traded Marvin or Bibby for an underachieving big like Sam Dalembert. They would have also had the team well over the luxury tax and trying to figure out how to resign JJ and Horford.

As things stand now, if he can get Marvin resigned and if he can convince Joe Smith to sign after already resigning Bibby & Zaza and trading for Crawford, I think the off season will have been a TREMENDOUS success. In addition to those things happening, I'd like to see him add a vet 3rd guard who can play PG, a vet 3rd C (ahead of Morris) and a swingman to fill out 14 spots on the roster.

Horford/Zaza/(Ben Wallace, Chris Mihm, Robert Swift, Jarron Collins)/Morris

Smoove/Smith

Marvin/Mo/(Stackhouse, Gerald Green, Des Mason)

JJ/Crawford

Bibby/Teague/(Flip, Luther Head, Bobby Jackson, Brevin Knight)

Note - I'd only be willing to offer the vet minimum to any of the guys we signed after Smith who wanted multi-year contracts as I would want to preserve my money fot JJ.

Edited July 29, 2009 by Traceman

[gsuteke]

Once again Rick Sund adds another notch to his belt in Atlanta

[capstone21]

Once again Rick Sund adds another notch to his belt in Atlanta

I think Sund has done an excellent job. He has signed players to very reasonable contracts and has been able to recognize and go after and grab players (like Mo and Flip) that bring good chemistry for the team.

He just needs to get that elusive backup big now.