There Should be a Public Outcry from the Fans!

[LastDon]

Im very disappointed in the Atlanta Spirit group and their lack of Interest in Erick Dampier when u take into consideration that the 31st pick was sold which killed all opportunities for the team to get a center prospect... Tiber Pleis, Hassan Whiteside, Dexter Pittman were excellent prospects that the team could have used. The 3 mil was supposed to be used to upgrade the center position and IMO this money hasn't been used because guys like Etan and Powell are 4s.. Damp is about to sign for the vet min with toronto so I know that he would except the vet min from us.

Damp is better than zaza, collins, powell and thomas.. The hawks arent serious about winning...

[Diesel]

Im very disappointed in the Atlanta Spirit group and their lack of Interest in Erick Dampier when u take into consideration that the 31st pick was sold which killed all opportunities for the team to get a center prospect... Tiber Pleis, Hassan Whiteside, Dexter Pittman were excellent prospects that the team could have used. The 3 mil was supposed to be used to upgrade the center position and IMO this money hasn't been used because guys like Etan and Powell are 4s.. Damp is about to sign for the vet min with toronto so I know that he would except the vet min from us.

Damp is better than zaza, collins, powell and thomas.. The hawks arent serious about winning...

Damp is old, big and Slow. Maybe that's not the direction that LD wants to go.

Just because we don't have a 7 footer don't mean that we take any tom d*ck or harry that comes along.

[LastDon]

Damp is old, big and Slow. Maybe that's not the direction that LD wants to go.

Just because we don't have a 7 footer don't mean that we take any tom d*ck or harry that comes along.

Damp would immediately become the hawks primary backup center...Zaza has a ok offensive game but I think he is one of the worst post defenders in the nba. I love his hustle but it jus doesnt cut it against legit 7 foot centers. That additional post defense would make us a contender. I dont think Damp is a guy that would complain about minutes and would be the perfect fit for our team. Im totally baffled by the perception of you hawk fans that stay in atlanta.. Most of u say Damp's a bum which makes it easy for the spirit group to continue to be cheap...

[Vol4ever]

Damp would immediately become the hawks primary backup center...Zaza has a ok offensive game but I think he is one of the worst post defenders in the nba. I love his hustle but it jus doesnt cut it against legit 7 foot centers. That additional post defense would make us a contender. I dont think Damp is a guy that would complain about minutes and would be the perfect fit for our team. Im totally baffled by the perception of you hawk fans that stay in atlanta.. Most of u say Damp's a bum which makes it easy for the spirit group to continue to be cheap...

Most are just drinking the Spirit koolaid.

[Brokentree]

Dampier was part of another team making an extraordinary amount of money for the last season of his contract. The Hawks could not trade for him and at the time did not know if he would be traded or waived. If he was waived they had no guarantee that he'd want to sign here. Etan Thomas was available cheap and he was signed. Dampier was waived a week or two later and we already had 4 players that could spend time at center signed.

All the talk at the time Dampier was waived was him signing with Miami. Were we supposed to not sign any centers and wait until now to see if Dampier would sign with us for the minimum? Keep in mind that people were signing minimum contracts left and right with Miami to try and get a championship. Were we supposed to watch some other team sign Etan Thomas and just expect that Dampier would choose the Hawks? How would we feel if we didn't sign Etan and Dampier went and decided to play for Toronto or Houston anyways?

The longer he takes to decide on a team to play for the more happy I am that we're not involved with him. The preseason has already started. He hasn't decided who he wants to play for yet. Does he just hate training camp? Is he holding out until the last minute to try and get more than a minimum contract from someone? Is he waiting for injuries to hit some team to drive up his value? The fact that he didn't sign with Miami and the fact that he hasn't signed with any other team implies to me that he is seeking something more than a minimum contract. The more I talk about it the more I think he is waiting for a team like the Hawks to use part of their mid-level to sign him. The Hawks have what? 3m roughly they can still offer before the luxury tax kicks in? Just say no Sund.

[niremetal]

The Hawks have what? 3m roughly they can still offer before the luxury tax kicks in? Just say no Sund.

More like $600k. (See here, bearing in mind that the luxury tax line this year is $70.3M and that Brock, Marsh, and Delk will almost certainly be cut). Basically, signing anyone other than a rookie at this point would put them into the tax. This is why I was irked by the signing of both Collins and Thomas, since we are now screwed if we're hit by multiple injuries at a position other than center.

Agreed on Dampier - there's a reason teams aren't exactly lining up to get him. Dampier is bad already and getting older and worse. He would be duking it out with Collins and Thomas for 3rd string center if he were here. Frankly, I would rather have Collins and Thomas than Dampier on the roster, since Collins and Thomas are at least situationally useful (Collins against Shaq/Bynum/Howard, and Etan when you need a Magloire/Foster "knock someone o.n his azz" type). So no thank you.

Edited October 6, 2010 by niremetal

[macdaddy]

I like how around here Pryzbilla is treated like he's Wilt and we should trade all stars for him yet Dampier is considered equal to Etan Thomas and Jason Collins. I don't care that we aren't getting him but provided he's healthy he would be the #2 center on the Hawks by a long shot.