Confirmed: We gave out the worst contract of the offseason

[niremetal]

niremetal- by my numbers in the 2008-2009 season when the Magic went to the finals they had a salary of 73,970,842 and the luxury tax line was 71.1 million. I could be easily convinced that the numbers I have are wrong but where did you hear that the Magic didn't pay the tax that season?

'08-'09 Taxpaying Teams: Knicks ($23.7), Mavs ($23.6), Cavs ($13.7), Celtics ($8.3), Lakers ($7.2), Blazers ($5.9), Suns ($4.9)

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q16

[spotatl]

Hrm. wonder where I am off. Normally incentives aren't enough to make the numbers off htat far but Larry is certainly the authority.

Edited July 9, 2010 by spotatl

[niremetal]

Hrm. wonder where I am off. Normally incentives aren't enough to make the numbers off htat far but Larry is certainly the authority.

My guess is that Nelson got a huge pay bump for unexpectedly making the ASG that year. We'd need a similarly unexpected leap in performance from Teague/Marvin/JorCraw to make the next level.

Edited July 9, 2010 by niremetal

[Jungle Jack]

I totally agree with what was written. The Hawks have never been good enough to be considered an elite-level franchise to attract players who they didn't have to overpay to show up, nor have they been historically bad enough to draft a franchise-changer. And when they have, well, no sense in going down that street again. As I've stated a million times on this board, the Billy Knight-error (spelled correctly) will haunt this franchise for years to come. All I have to say on that is if a competent guy had been in charge instead of BK, we would've been in waaaaaaayyyyyyyy better position to counter what the Heat did the last two days. I mean, seriously; what was the use of losing for all of those years, only to be handed a glue guy off the bench (see Childress, Joshua), a career question mark (see Williams, Marvin), and a guy whose wife is a better player than he is (see Williams, Shelden)? All the resources used to bring in Bibby, resign him while he's running on petro fumes, draft Teague, Stoudamire, and Law, not to mention the hideous contract given out to Claxton could've easily been used on bringing in a big man or upgrading a bench that badly needs it sans Crawford if (insert point guard here) was chosen several years ago. That's not an opinion; that's a fact.

I guess it's just frustration setting in. Year after year passes by and seems that we're really no closer to an ECF, let alone an NBA Finals being hosted in this town now than when I was seven years old (that's 30 years ago for those keeping score). I've seen teams come and go and even the most downtrodden franchises (see Nets, New Jersey) and expansion teams have gone further in the playoffs than ours have. I know that they still have to play the games but need I remind those of what the Celtics did after acquiring KG and Allen a couple of years ago; they were one knee injury and a good 4th quarter away from winning two titles in three years. No 18th pick coming off the bench is going to do what the 'Big 3' did in Beantown, let alone what the Brand New Heavies will do in Miami. South Beach will be packed every night and likely celebrating deep playoff runs for the next half-decade while we're stuck wondering if we can really get a high 2nd round pick for Marvin or Mo Evans.

With that said, they had no other option but to overpay to keep JJ here. He had the Hawks in between a rock and a hard place and he knew that going into free agency. If you think things appear bleak with the Miami triangle entrenched in our division, imagine what life would've been as a Hawk fan if JJ was in Chicago or NYC right now. Forget about winning 45 games; we'd be talking about 35-40 wins max going into a likely locked-out 2011-12 season.

I just wonder. When will our day come? When will our team sit at the head of the table instead of fighting the Bucks for the scraps left on the floor? Two of our division rivals have 2-3 max level players on their rosters while we're pining for way-past-their-prime guys to spend the MLE on because of historically bad moves that were made years ago. I know Horford and Smith are young and can improve but that line is getting really old, really fast; especially considering that we have to see those two teams eight times a year.

Hello,

I agree with the core of your Post, but we have been indeed bad enough to warrant a game changing Draft Pick when we went 13-69 and got the #2 Draft Pick and choose Marvin over Chris Paul or Deron Williams. And of course there was choosing Shelden Williams at 5.

It is strange, when not a single pundit or many of the Posters here (myself included), did not think that the Hawks were even in the conversation to sign JJ. The ASG steps up and now the National Media is killing us. In all of these conversations about the Eastern Conference, we are not even spoken of. That is beyond insulting as we retained our core and were the 3 Seed last year with one of the youngest teams in the League.

I just do not get the total lack of respect for this team. Yes, JJ got a Max Contract. However, Amare got paid 100 Million with 2 suspect Knees and 1 good Eye whereas JJ has had no major injuries. I just do not understand how the positive momentum this Team has made has been totally forgotten about.

Cheers,

JJ

Edited July 9, 2010 by Jungle Jack

[Dejay]

Hello,

I agree with the core of your Post, but we have been indeed bad enough to warrant a game changing Draft Pick when we went 13-69 and got the #2 Draft Pick and choose Marvin over Chris Paul or Deron Williams. And of course there was choosing Shelden Williams at 5.

It is strange, when not a single pundit or many of the Posters here (myself included), did not think that the Hawks were even in the conversation to sign JJ. The ASG steps up and now the National Media is killing us. In all of these conversations about the Eastern Conference, we are not even spoken of. That is beyond insulting as we retained our core and were the 3 Seed last year with one of the youngest teams in the League.

I just do not get the total lack of respect for this team. Yes, JJ got a Max Contract. However, Amare got paid 100 Million with 2 suspect Knees and 1 good Eye whereas JJ has had no major injuries. I just do not understand how the positive momentum this Team has made has been totally forgotten about.

Cheers,

JJ

Well, when your team is beat in record-setting fashion in the second round, it's mighty hard to convince the pundits that you are to be taken seriously. The way they went out against Orlando (at home, no less) is how also-ran who backdoored into the 8th seed should get beaten by Jordan's Bulls, the Showtime Lakers, or Bird's Celtics. It's not how a healthy 3rd seed should get beat by a 2nd seed. A ton of folks were already convinced that the team wasn't a serious enough contender in the East and that's just here locally, not to mention around the country where they don't eat, sleep, and breathe Hawks basketball. And as I stated in my post, even when they were bad enough to get a high draft pick, the opportunity was blown by BK on Childress and the Williams boys.

This team has lost fifteen straight games in the second round, the last ten by double digits. I dare you to find another team in the league, hell, in pro sports, with such a dubious distinction. That pretty much tells the story as to why folks in town stay away unless Kobe or Lebron is in town.

[Guest]

Hrm. wonder where I am off. Normally incentives aren't enough to make the numbers off htat far but Larry is certainly the authority.

Didn't the Magic take on salary with the Alston trade? I am thinking there may be an issue with prorating the contracts in your numbers.