Damn wait till you hear what Chad Ford had to say about the Hawks

[Admin]

Positive spin: The team is playing its best basketball right now and will likely surpass the Celtics in the East. The Hawks don't have any glaring holes and have great chemistry.

Negative spin: There's a good chance the Hawks will be outbid for Joe Johnson this summer. There are just too many teams with too much cap room. Some team will jump the gun and offer the max for him, and the Hawks will likely be unwilling to match. I don't blame them for holding on to him, but it likely means they'll lose him for nothing this summer.

Is it just me or did he basically write an entire bit about the Hawks that was not only non-assholean but he was actually very complimentary of the team. Even the negative spin wasn't as bad as I expected, considering he could have easily made a comment about our owners being too cheap to make a trade or whatever.

[NineOhTheRino]

Good news for Hawks fans is that 9 times out of 10 Chad Ford is WRONG!

[niremetal]

Good news for Hawks fans is that 9 times out of 10 Chad Ford is WRONG!

When was the 1?

[mrhonline]

My intuition tells me he's exactly right, though.

(See Lewis, ReShart).

[HawkItus]

He is probably right. Especially with the news that we won't be having an end to the partners squabble until the end of the year. Belkin owes 25.6 million. You factor that in with losses and court cost the other owners are shouldering. I can't see them paying Joe the max with Horford on deck.

[jerrywest]

Is it just me or did he basically write an entire bit about the Hawks that was not only non-assholean but he was actually very complimentary of the team. Even the negative spin wasn't as bad as I expected, considering he could have easily made a comment about our owners being too cheap to make a trade or whatever.

I don't like him, but I don't think he said anything wrong here. Even his prediction has a good probability of coming true. Undoubtedly, Joe will get 5 year max offer from at least one desperate team. Will we go 6 years and top that? Joe will use his huge leverage to get a 6th year out of Sund.

[WraithSentinel]

Ownership was about to drop $100 million on the Thrashers in re-signing Kovy. They can turn around and use that money to keep JJ. I am not sure how teams can outbid us when we got the 6th year in our backpocket.

[jerrywest]

I can't see them paying Joe the max with Horford on deck.

Horford seems to ooze confidence lately. If he plays like this, he will become max deserving very quickly.

[mrhonline]

Ownership was about to drop $100 million on the Thrashers in re-signing Kovy. They can turn around and use that money to keep JJ. I am not sure how teams can outbid us when we got the 6th year in our backpocket.

I will go ahead and "out" myself here and admit I'd rather let JJ go in a S&T than pay him $100M over six years.

[jerrywest]

Ownership was about to drop $100 million on the Thrashers in re-signing Kovy. They can turn around and use that money to keep JJ. I am not sure how teams can outbid us when we got the 6th year in our backpocket.

6th year + we can give 12% raise as opposed to 10% by other teams. I'd rather give him 5 years with 12% raise. He'll be too gimpy in his 6th year.

[mrhonline]

6th year + we can give 12% raise as opposed to 10% by other teams. I'd rather give him 5 years with 12% raise. He'll be too gimpy in his 6th year.

If you compare his minutes played with similar players (Carter, Finley, Rose, etc.), he'll be gimpy by his 5th year, much less the 6th year.

[jerrywest]

I will go ahead and "out" myself here and admit I'd rather let JJ go in a S&T than pay him $100M over six years.

We won't be under the cap for a long time. He has much more choices than we do. Ain't no replacing JJ until we hit the lottery when Horford/Smoove grows old.

[jerrywest]

If you compare his minutes played with similar players (Carter, Finley, Rose, etc.), he'll be gimpy by his 5th year, much less the 6th year.

Possible. With those minutes he could break down even before that. We just don't have any other option.

[HawkWeisErrr]

Max for a 20 PPG scorer with no emotion, leadership, or clutch abilities? WOW! I really should have played through that shoulder injury in HS and dumped my GF.

[tbhawksfan]

I can see why Sund didn't look for the S&T now; we're going to make a run. Good timing, excellent ball and who knows...finals. This summer is S&T time. Let some other team give him the big contract in exchange for some good talent. Hawks window will look better in a couple of years with such a deal.

[uga2006]

JJ is a damn good player and though he doesn't get respected by some on this board the players in the league know he's good. There's a reason why guys like Flip and Crawford have career years with us and that's because having JJ gives them better looks. He's not a max player but he's pretty close. Even though I would be weary to give him 6 years I really can't see his game decline that much. Hard to find a 6'7 240 guy who is a real good jumpshooter yet can back down most teams opposing 2 guards and have the skill set he has. If he leaves then the Hawks won't be nearly as good and I have a feeling in 2-3 years this team could be dominant.

[Eddielives]

Max for a 20 PPG scorer with no emotion, leadership, or clutch abilities? WOW! I really should have played through that shoulder injury in HS and dumped my GF.

LOL! Nice line. I agree that Joe is overvaluing himself if he thinks he is a max player. In fact, it is guys like Joe wanting money max money that is going to make a lockout inevitable.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Eddielives

[gsuteke]

The Hawks already maxed Joe once, why wouldn't they do it again? They can offer more money by like 10% if they need to.

He ain't worth the money IMO but we're gonna have to pay it because of the CBA rules.

I guess the point is I don't understand where Ford is coming from when he says Atlanta will be outbid for Joe since they've shown they're willing to offer him the max once before.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hopefully, this fan base will get it, once the playoffs come around. Talking about who they will and will not pay. All it'll take is for us to get to the EC Finals ( and JJ to be a major reason for that ), for the talk of "we shouldn't pay this guy "x" millions of dollars.

For those of you worried about JJ's game declining, whose game is he most like . . . . Vince Carter or Paul Pierce?

Thought so.

JJ is one of the most well conditioned athletes in the NBA. And he plays a low-impact style of game. The style that could keep him playing at a relatively high level for at least the next 5 years.

Contrary to popular belief, that dude is actually getting BETTER as a basketball player. Since he now has help ( in the form of Crawford and the improvement of Smith and Horford ), he's not seeing teams double and sometimes even triple teaming him as much. This allows him to go one on one. Yeah, peple hate that . . . until he makes a shot . . which happens a lot more than people give him credit for. That guy is Kobe-lite, in the amount of difficult shots he makes.

And even if his game does decline, you're still talking about a guy who has enough basketball skills and shooting ability to be a solid #2 or an efficient #3 guy, IF he has a ggod PG who can feed him the ball in the right spots.

If over the life of a 6 yr deal, JJ gets us to at least 1 NBA Final, and very close on one or two more occasions, If he's one of the key guys in helping us win a title . . . that max contract is PAID IN FULL, as far as I'm concerned.

But if Chicago gets their hands on him, WE'RE SCREWED, unless we find a star ( borderline superstar ) player to replace him . .. plus hope Horford and Smoove play at an All-Star level . . . plus hope Crawford won't be dramatically affected by JJ's departure ( or if he can play off the "new" star ).

If JJ and Derrick Rose team up, they're overtaking us. That's a poor man's Jordan and Pippen right there.

[mrhonline]

The Hawks already maxed Joe once, why wouldn't they do it again?

Because:

1. He'll be well past his prime at the conclusion of this one

2. It'll likely cost them almost 1/3rd more money over the length of the five-year deal.

3. They actually have other talent on the roster this time.

4. JJ's contract will prohibit them from making other moves.