DO you applaud Billy Knight??

[Diesel]

In this offseason that with blanketed with Uncertainty...

BK was able to:

Draft Diaw/Hansen

Trade Grob for Cap Space.

Resign JT at a bargain price.

Resign Glover at a Bargain Price.

Sign Nailon.

Sign Sjack at a Bargain price.

Do you applaud?

_____________________________________________________

Beyond this line is Diesel's second guessing.

1. Why draft Diaw when Howard was still available?

2. I actually like Hansen.

3. The Big Dog for Nothing trade was wrong. I would have much rather traded Big Dog for something or just keep him. If we could have traded Big Dog/Theo for Deke/RJ... I would have done it.

4. He was gangsta in how he handled the JT affair. He let JT just go out and sign a bad contract. Then matched it. Gansta.

5. The Glover resign was pretty good.

6. To heck with Nailon. Why not resign DJ? I think DJ has a better upside than Nailon AND DJ fits with what we need more than Nailon. I have a feeling that Phoenix will cut DJ. When it happens, we should release Nailon and pick up DJ.

7. Good deal. Sjack is closer to what we need than anybody who was left. I just don't see him as close to a savior.

[Weez]

"1. Why draft Diaw when Howard was still available?"

because we also needed a ballhandling swingman with passing abilities...Howard seems somewhat one dimensional, primarily as a scorer, which wasn't, and still isn't, what this team needed as it's "primary" concern in the draft...most rooks don't score anyway.

"2. I actually like Hansen.":

Jury's still out. If done over again with hindsight, we'd still draft him I suppose, but I doubt we'd sign him to a deal...

"3. The Big Dog for Nothing trade was wrong. I would have much rather traded Big Dog for something or just keep him. If we could have traded Big Dog/Theo for Deke/RJ... I would have done it. "

Who would trade for Dog? Not that many really. Seriously...they would ahve this year, with his contract ending next, but not many would have traded players of worth for him this summer, esp. not NJ who prefers to run, which is exactly what Dog can't do...

~with new ownership in place (one way or another), we're starting on somewhat of a new slate...and we wouldn't have gotten SJax if Dog were still here...

"4. He was gangsta in how he handled the JT affair. He let JT just go out and sign a bad contract. Then matched it. Gansta."

Gangta perhaps, but it worked out...and we did offer him a 50 million dollar 6(or 7) year deal but he turned it down...M. Miller didn't...still, we got him at a price we could afford

"5. The Glover resign was pretty good. "

at that price, yep

"6. To heck with Nailon. Why not resign DJ? I think DJ has a better upside than Nailon AND DJ fits with what we need more than Nailon. I have a feeling that Phoenix will cut DJ. When it happens, we should release Nailon and pick up DJ."

No one's even mentioned that we have absolutely no idea how DJ's fairing, how his recovery is going, what his prognosis/risks are/ how he looks on the court...we've heard NO reports, nothing...

While some info would've been ncie, you've got to assume that there are reasons that we didn't resign him. Hopefully those were basketball reasons...and props to DJ for having a new employer right now

"7. Good deal. Sjack is closer to what we need than anybody who was left. I just don't see him as close to a savior"

agree. it was a fantastic signing, all things considered...which is how I feel about the summer...pretty good, all things considered. Ownership debacle handcuffed us for a long time, but perhaps kept us from making some stupid/desperate FA moves...

[Traceman]

season.

1. Diaw was a reasonable pick considering our draft position and our needs at the time he was drafted. Remember, Dog was still here when Diaw was drafted. His lack of scoring ability meant little at the time. I would have probably taken Barbosa at #21 but if Diaw is able to become what we all hope he can become, he is a better fit. Hansen was a good pick for where he was taken although I probably would have taken a flyer on high school Center James Lang.

2. I don't think Knight (or Stotts) had anything to do with the Dog trade. I think the opportunity presented itself and Kasten pulled the trigger on the deal. The move makes plenty of sense from a business standpoint but not many GMs or coaches will make a move like that unless they have a longterm agenda and Knight and Stotts were still interim at the time.

3. I give Knight a lot of credit for the way he handled the JT situation. The 7 yr/$50 million offer to JT was VERY reasonable and Knight was able to match a Utah offer to JT that gives the Hawks more flexibility in the long run.

4. I think the Glover signing was more a function of the lack of demand for Glove than anything special Knight did but he is back so he does get a little credit for that.

5. The jury is out on Nailon but given the low risk nature of the contract, I think it was a solid move. You know I LOVE DJ and if Phoenix were to cut him, I'd LOVE to se us bring him back here on IR.

6. Jax was the best FA left and a guy that we targeted at the end of the season. We likely would have went after him at that price even if the Dog trade had never happened. Getting him here at a bargain price was a good move.

7. You left out signing JV. That is the one move Knight made that I just don't get and the one reason I don't give him an A. I know Indy has a chance to be good but Kenny Anderson LOVES Atlanta and I can't help but think if we had pursued him more diligently, we could have convinced him to come here over Indy for the same money. Even if we couldn't have, I would have taken Rafer Alston or Mike Wilks for the same money.

[Diesel]

I think the Vaughn signing was done because Dickau is hurt and has been gimpy....

BUT....

Why not Anderson?

Thats a good question. The Vaughn Signing did pressure JT to take an offer from Utah. However, what would an Anderson signing meant?

I think We got Vaughn a lot cheaper.

I think Anderson is a lot better.

I just don't know Trace. Maybe it was because of Money and the uncertainty of what we would have to pay JT....

I mean JT turned down a 7 yr 50 million dollar offer.

Bringing in KA, could have signaled that we were looking to trade JT... Instead, we bring in Vaughn as JT insurance.

[Gray Mule]

Wasn't Vaughn the player who missed so many of his

first shot attempts that they began taking bets as to when

he would finally hit one??

After the first one finally fell, he did O.K. and gave the

Hawks some decent minutes, if I remember correctly.

He ain't great but he ain't that bad either and the price

is right. I'm hoping he will give us decent minutes from

the point all season. I believe he is capable of that.

After all the Hawks and the Hawks orginization went

thru this off season, I believe we came out at the end

in decent shape.

With a full coaching staff in the beginning of the

pre-season, with the Head Coach here to start things,

and the players we have, things don't look nearly as

dark as they did a month or so ago.

I'r ready to run them out on the floor and see what

they look like against competition.

Go Hawks!!

[beav]

I agree that Vaughan was most certainly cheaper. But Vaughan is certainly a better defender than Kenny and given Dickau and Terry's deficiencies I'm sure that might have factored in as well.

Plus JV seemed to be pretty well liked and respected around the team.

[Weez]

Yeah, Vaughn did miss the first 22 shots or something that season, much to the highlarity of ESPN...and then went on to shoot something like 47% from the field that year (go look it up, it was solid)...

Anderson, the pipe dream, the quintessential pg that never was...what would he have done to chemistry here? we're far from a playoff certainty...would he tempt us to move JT back to the sg too much? shake JT's confidence? want to start?

Vaughn, with DD apparently gimped again, provides us with a cheap, solid bu pg that is just that, a bu pg, no more, no less. he does well when in, can shoot and handle, only play pg...and really isn't a threat to start, but isn't a bad bu, even for decent number of minutes...

[Hawksman]

Knight was great this offseason.

[chickenhawk]

I agree that our offseason was all in all pretty good. We got two solid draft picks, the two best on the board at the time. I disagree in that Barbosa and Lang would have been better picks. Barbosa knows virtually no English and the language barrier would be a huge deterrent in him trying to learn the offense. Sure, he could learn English over time, but his performance would be affected. Lang is like 350 lbs. and, while a good rebounder, is very raw. He may not make the Hornets squad. I'm glad we dumped GRob but I would've liked to get a body in return. Props to BK for re-signing JT and Glove at a decent price. JV was a decent acquisition, but I agree that either Rafer or Kenny would've been a better signing. SJax was another good pickup considering who was out there. The kid has lots of potential and if he can improve his ball handling and defense will blow up. I still think we need a better center though, would've liked to see us sign Drobnjak. Anyways, I give BK a B+.

[Traceman]

with Indy. I could be wrong about that but that is what I recall being reported. If that is the case, Indy will only have to pay around $688,000 of the $1,070,000 that Anderson will make. The league will pick up the rest. If Anderson did sign a vet minimum deal, he will cost Indy no more than JV will cost us.