Al Horford wants another big man

[HawksFan87]

Perkins would be a tremendous asset to our team. He'd actually give us a chance against Orlando. But we're obviously not going to get Perkins and I doubt we're able to find anyone near his caliber.

I don't know about all that, we still wouldn't have anyone to stop Nelson..

[Jody23]

and what would you do ?

I'd take a step back and look at the situation objectively. I would'nt be swayed by the individual stats and accomplishments as they don't tell the whole story. I'd look at how the team matched up against the teams that matter in the conference during the past playoffs. If the answer is not good, then I think you explore moving in another direction. By no means do I think you just give one of these guys away. But, by moving one, you could strengthen your team in another area. I agree that it's not an easy problem to solve, but avoiding or ignoring the issue is not an option for this team.

[coachx]

Its not a popular opinion but I'm leaning more and more toward trading Smoove for the big guy we need. That opens up the PF for Al and we aren't going to get a quality big without giving up something.

Smoove /#24

for

Okefor/Collison

Okefor is 6th in the entire NBA in Overall Rebound Pct. at 18.4% (Best Hawk is Horford at 18th with 16.4 %)

Okefor is 12th in Block Pct. at 4.1 %. ( Best Hawks is Smoove in 11th place at 4.6%)

Okefor has now played in all 82 games 3 years in a row. The injuries are no longer a concern.

Collison is solid young PG with natural PG skills and defensive ability. Natural PGs who can play defense don't grow on trees. Especially ones who are 23-24 years old.

Smoove's talent would be maximized with Paul.

I'm not sure why the Hornets do it b/c it leaves a huge void at C. They would be saving $5 mill in salary though. Smoove is a crowd pleaser to sale tickets. N.O. will fall in love with him at 1st.

Familiar names at C:

Biedrins body is so thin and fragile he scares me. According to his birthdate he is only 22. I'm not sure if that is his real age or not.

I don't see the Clipps getting rid of Kaman. Thjey want to see how he and Griffin look next to each other.

Haywood probably is not affordable consiering our cap situation. He will have 10 MLE offers at least. We could be 1 of them but the chances are not good.

Cheap Free Agent Options That would help at C

J. Anthony is a bench big I like. He is only listed at 6'9'' but has extrememly long arms and is strong. He was 2nd in the entire NBA in Block % at 6.7%. Despite playing only 16.5 minutes per game he finished with 1.4 blocks per game. He would be a nice presence for 16 mpg.

He has a player option and will likley opt put. The Heat have plenty of cap room.

? Anyone else ?

Up & Comers

I doubt the Clipps want to move D. Jordan or the Wizards want to move McGee. (McGee was 1st in the NBA in Block % by the way).

Last Resort

That leaves cheap veterans like Nazr Mohammed, K Thomas, etc.

Centers are so hard to find.

Edited May 18, 2010 by coachx

[coachx]

I'd take a step back and look at the situation objectively. I would'nt be swayed by the individual stats and accomplishments as they don't tell the whole story. I'd look at how the team matched up against the teams that matter in the conference during the past playoffs. If the answer is not good, then I think you explore moving in another direction. By no means do I think you just give one of these guys away. But, by moving one, you could strengthen your team in another area. I agree that it's not an easy problem to solve, but avoiding or ignoring the issue is not an option for this team.

I meant name some names.

Enough of the small talk already.

[Jody23]

I meant name some names.

Enough of the small talk already.

Chandler

Kaman

Okafor

Camby

Heywood

Jefferson

Thabeet

Marc Gasol

McGee

Pryzbilla

These are all names I like off the top of my head. There are probably other options. Either way the Hawks go, I don't think you rely on one guy to solve the dilemma.

[Joker]

Smoove /#24

for

Okefor/Collison

Okefor is 6th in the entire NBA in Overall Rebound Pct. at 18.4% (Best Hawk is Horford at 18th with 16.4 %)

Okefor is 12th in Block Pct. at 4.1 %. ( Best Hawks is Smoove in 11th place at 4.6%)

Okefor has now played in all 82 games 3 years in a row. The injuries are no longer a concern.

Collison is solid young PG with natural PG skills and defensive ability. Natural PGs who can play defense don't grow on trees. Especially ones who are 23-24 years old.

Smoove's talent would be maximized with Paul.

I'm not sure why the Hornets do it b/c it leaves a huge void at C. They would be saving $5 mill in salary though. Smoove is a crowd pleaser to sale tickets. N.O. will fall in love with him at 1st.

Familiar names at C:

Biedrins body is so thin and fragile he scares me. According to his birthdate he is only 22. I'm not sure if that is his real age or not.

I don't see the Clipps getting rid of Kaman. Thjey want to see how he and Griffin look next to each other.

Haywood probably is not affordable consiering our cap situation. He will have 10 MLE offers at least. We could be 1 of them but the chances are not good.

Cheap Free Agent Options That would help at C

J. Anthony is a bench big I like. He is only listed at 6'9'' but has extrememly long arms and is strong. He was 2nd in the entire NBA in Block % at 6.7%. Despite playing only 16.5 minutes per game he finished with 1.4 blocks per game. He would be a nice presence for 16 mpg.

He has a player option and will likley opt put. The Heat have plenty of cap room.

? Anyone else ?

Up & Comers

I doubt the Clipps want to move D. Jordan or the Wizards want to move McGee. (McGee was 1st in the NBA in Block % by the way).

Last Resort

That leaves cheap veterans like Nazr Mohammed, K Thomas, etc.

Centers are so hard to find.

Centers are hard to find, true. This is such a bad move. Okafor biggest problem is the fact that he isn't a center needs to play next to a Josh Smith or KG who are anchors on defense that will make his job a lot easier. If Horford is a PnR PF, why put a tweener like Okafor with limited athleticism as his partner. We are much better off with Smith at PF than Okafor at center.

Edited May 18, 2010 by nbasuperstar40

[Joker]

Chandler -On Decline

Kaman - Not on the block

Okafor- On Decline and not a good fit

Camby- - Not on the block

Heywood- Too expensive and will be wanted by many teams including Dallas again.

Jefferson- Not a center, is just like Horford as being out of position.

Thabeet- Our best option

Marc Gasol- - Not on the block

McGee - - Not on the block

Pryzbilla - Possible

These are all names I like off the top of my head. There are probably other options. Either way the Hawks go, I don't think you rely on one guy to solve the dilemma.

That's my take.

[Sothron]

As always I like to remember how much Knight hated Pryz on a personal level and literally gave him away for nothing to Portland. Thanks for depriving us of a solid defensive big man who can board and block shots.

[coachx]

Centers are hard to find, true. This is such a bad move. Okafor biggest problem is the fact that he isn't a center needs to play next to a Josh Smith or KG who are anchors on defense that will make his job a lot easier. If Horford is a PnR PF, why put a tweener like Okafor with limited athleticism as his partner. We are much better off with Smith at PF than Okafor at center.

I would never do Okafor for Smoover straight up..........though it works according to realgm. They would have to throw in Collison to convince me.

Okefor blocks shot at amlost the same rate as Smoove but is a much better post defender on bigger players then is Smoove. Smoove is more of a help defender. Okefor is a man post defender.

The other half of the trade is a young solid PG in Collison. He is not just a throw in. I was very impressed with his play as a rookie. He was thrown right into the fire after Paul's injury and produced with not just leadership but monster games. The kid is ready to take over a starting job some where. He is a very good defender too.

I doubt Sund would do it since he drafted Teague before Collison but there is no doubt which is the better PG right now. Teague is 2 years younger though.

Edited May 18, 2010 by coachx

[NJHAWK]

That's my take.

What makes anyone think they are already prepared to give up o Thabeet? I cant see them giving up on a big drafted that high, that early. Especially considering he doesnt make a whole lot for big men.

[RedDawg#8]

Im in favor of trading Smoove for a center, mainly because of despite his physical superiority, he is very limited mentally and it continues to show.

I really like Javale McGee, esp in the last game we played them in Was

I really like the physical attributes of DeAndre Jordan, dude is like Dwight Howard-lite at this point in his career, they would be fun going up against one another and next to Horford we would have a formidable front line.

Those would be my top 2 centers to trade for if we could get them and a throw in player for Smooth. They both bring MORE size as well as athleticism to our center position.

[mrhonline]

Nene might be available. He'd be my #1 target.

Biedrins (not a true center, but a good rebounder) and Dalembert (supposedly defends Howard well) are other options. There's a small chance you could lure Ben Wallace, but I'm doubtful. Jermaine O'Neal?

There's always a blockbuster Bynum trade to consider...or Gortat if you wanna deal directly with the enemy.

[NineOhTheRino]

Interesting quote from Al:

"We probably need another solid big [man], in order to have any kind of chance to do anything special,” said Hawks forward/center Al Horford.

I hope he' telling this to management as he's obviously watching the playoffs.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/hawks-gm-rick-sund-528857.html

Seems there's a disconnect here because I've heard Rick Sund say that Al is OK at the 5 several times on local radio. Either Sund is not watching these games or he has his head in the sand.

.

Edited May 18, 2010 by NineOhTheRino

[Jody23]

Seems there's a disconnect here because I've heard Rick Sund say that Al is OK at the 5 several times on local radio. Either Sund is not watching these games or he has his head in the sand.

.

I'm starting to worry that Sund just doesn't get it.

[NineOhTheRino]

Sund is the GM and we are all just message board people with day jobs. Most of us don't have time to investigate which guy is possible or which guy plays Howard the best. All I know is that Sund needs to make something happen if he honestly expects different results.

Woody's gone so that card has been played. Not many GM's get the opportunity to fire multiple coaches. From this point on all the heat should be on Sund.

Edited May 18, 2010 by NineOhTheRino

[niremetal]

I'm truly perplexed at why people think Perkins would be a defensive upgrade over Horford at the 5. Perkins is not taller and is not significantly stronger than Horford. The difference is more that the Celtics resisted the temptation to double team Howard on every possession. He's a slight upgrade defensively, but not a huge one - and a big step down offensively.

Getting an upgrade to Zaza isn't the missing piece we need to beat Orlando.

Edited May 18, 2010 by niremetal

[High5]

I'm truly perplexed at why people think Perkins would be a defensive upgrade over Horford at the 5. Perkins is not taller and is not significantly stronger than Horford. The difference is more that the Celtics resisted the temptation to double team Howard on every possession. He's a slight upgrade defensively, but not a huge one - and a big step down offensively.

Getting an upgrade to Zaza isn't the missing piece we need to beat Orlando.

Perkins has roughly 35 pounds on Horford and 15 on Howard. He's able to keep Howard away from the basket. Horford isn't. I love Horford but there are a few centers he just can't match up with.

[AHF]

Seems there's a disconnect here because I've heard Rick Sund say that Al is OK at the 5 several times on local radio. Either Sund is not watching these games or he has his head in the sand.

Is Al calling for himself to be moved out of the center position or is he calling for more quality frontcourt depth? It looks like he is calling for depth to me. Look at the teams left playing and their 6'10''+ quality depth:

Orlando: Gortat, Howard, Anderson

Boston: KG, Wallace, Perkins

LA: Bynum, Gasol, Odom

Pho: Amare, Frye, Lopez

Atl: Horford, Zaza

Not only is Zaza our #2 and last quality 6'10+ big man, he is worse than every #3 big man on the list (he is only close to Rasheed - worse WS numbers but equal PER. The defense gives Sheed the edge.)

[coachx]

Is Al calling for himself to be moved out of the center position or is he calling for more quality frontcourt depth? It looks like he is calling for depth to me. Look at the teams left playing and their 6'10''+ quality depth:

I think he would welcome either. He just wants help.

We could end up going the LLE route and getting Craig Smith and a guy like Nazr Mohammed. Maybe Petro since Sund has a history with him.

Nothing sexy about that but I think they would give us more then the Collins / Joe Smith duo. We could get a starter quality PF with the MLE (Haslem / Gooden) but not a starter quality C with the MLE. I'm not sure if either of them would really help contain Howard like a center would but they would improve the team.

The only way we get a real starter quality center is to trade a real starter or the 6th man of the year. Too bad the Hawks don't have any scrubs on expiring contracts like last year (Speedy / Law) where we could turn expiring contracts into real talent (Crawford trade).

[mrhonline]

I really think a deal with Denver for Nene isn't out of the realm of possibility. Could the Hawks work something out around Zaza+Childress?

Philly has been trying to move Dalembert since he was signed to that ridiculous deal. Figuring out something that matches up with what they want will be tough, though.