IF....

[Diesel]

Hypothetically.

If we somehow landed D-12 Dwight Howard for Horford, Filler, and picks...

and the deal was on the table to get CP3 for Smoove/Teague...

would you do it?

Here's my basis for asking the question... Does Atlanta want a big three or does Atlanta just want to build a buddy system?

[macdaddy]

I don't understand. Who wouldn't do this?

[capstone21]

I don't think anyone in the league would refuse to have Howard, CP3 and JJ on the same team

[IheartVolt]

boy dreams are nice , but then you have to land back to earth

[Diesel]

I don't understand. Who wouldn't do this?

I'm not too sure that i would do this?

Teague is looking starterish.

Smoove at PF with Howard at C.

I don't want Magnum Rolle as starting pF.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Diesel . . stop it.

LOL @ not sure you would do this. This is the same logic that Cleveland used with keeping J.J. Hickson, reasoning that giving him up for Amare was "too much". So instead, they kept JJ and added Antwan Jamison.

You could round out that lineup with Magnum Rolle at PF and Pape Sy at SG, if we had a big 3 of Howard - Paul - Johnson.

Of course you'd do this.

Hell . . . the Heat had Joel Anthony and a broke down Mike Bibby starting for them, and they made it all the way to the NBA Finals.

[Diesel]

Diesel . . stop it.

LOL @ not sure you would do this. This is the same logic that Cleveland used with keeping J.J. Hickson, reasoning that giving him up for Amare was "too much". So instead, they kept JJ and added Antwan Jamison.

You could round out that lineup with Magnum Rolle at PF and Pape Sy at SG, if we had a big 3 of Howard - Paul - Johnson.

Of course you'd do this.

Hell . . . the Heat had Joel Anthony and a broke down Mike Bibby starting for them, and they made it all the way to the NBA Finals.

So... What happened in Miami again?

History is a fine teacher. Miami got their big three and couldn't put enough pieces around them to build a team,. Just imagine if Miami wouldn't have gone for Bosh? It's not like Haslem didn't fit in.

So with us...

With Teague, JJ, Smoove, and Howard... I am OK not having Paul... Those four gives us defensive dominance. Morever, Teague is a player!

[GameTime]

No way that I trust Sund to do this. But of course.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So... What happened in Miami again?

History is a fine teacher. Miami got their big three and couldn't put enough pieces around them to build a team,. Just imagine if Miami wouldn't have gone for Bosh? It's not like Haslem didn't fit in.

So with us...

With Teague, JJ, Smoove, and Howard... I am OK not having Paul... Those four gives us defensive dominance. Morever, Teague is a player!

What happened in Miami is that they went from a team that had one superstar that couldn't carry his team past the 1st round . . . to a team with 2 superstars and a very good 3rd player that took them all the way to the NBA Finals. That's what happened in Miami.

If Miami couldn't get Bosh, they'd STILL have a championship caliber team, because they probably never trade Michael Beasley to Minnesota. And even if they did, they simply would've given the young guys like Dexter Pittman more time. They may have even brought Jarvis Varnado into camp, and tried to develop him. Plus they'd still have all of those scrub big men like Big-Z, Dampier, and Juwan Howard to throw at people. That team easily wins 50 games even without Bosh. The only question would be if they won the SE Division or not.

Also remember that the guy initially on Miami's radar before the Lebron + Bosh packaged emerged, was Carlos Boozer.

Miami had enough pieces to field a team, because in the NBA, the most important thing you need are two or three very good players to carry your team. You can dang near fill in the rest of the pieces with specialty players and developing rookies. I guess the next thing you'll tell me is that you wouldn't trade this current Atlanta Hawks roster for the current Miami Heat roster?

So let me get this straight . . . you'd be willing to bypass CHRIS PAUL because Jeff Teague played well in 5 playoff games? Not SUPERSTAR WELL, but decent for an NBA PG?

Really?

Diesel . . this is that "Loser/Welfare Mentality" that you've always talked about on this board. You'd rather keep "hope alive" in a young promising player like Teague, that to get a sure fire HALL OF FAME player that is still in his prime like Paul? This is the mentality that keeps people hoping that Josh Smith turns into this bonafide All-Star player. The mentality that thinks that Al Horford can turn into Patrick Ewing or Karl Malone. The same mentality that keeps people defending Marvin.

Yeah history is a teacher alright. NBA teaches us if you have a top 5 dominant big man . . a top 5 point guard . . and a top 5 wing, you're probably going to go DEEP into the playoffs, if not win a championship.

[Diesel]

So let me get this straight . . . you'd be willing to bypass CHRIS PAUL because Jeff Teague played well in 5 playoff games? Not SUPERSTAR WELL, but decent for an NBA PG?

Really?

Diesel . . this is that "Loser/Welfare Mentality" that you've always talked about on this board. You'd rather keep "hope alive" in a young promising player like Teague, that to get a sure fire HALL OF FAME player that is still in his prime like Paul? This is the mentality that keeps people hoping that Josh Smith turns into this bonafide All-Star player. The mentality that thinks that Al Horford can turn into Patrick Ewing or Karl Malone. The same mentality that keeps people defending Marvin.

Yeah history is a teacher alright. NBA teaches us if you have a top 5 dominant big man . . a top 5 point guard . . and a top 5 wing, you're probably going to go DEEP into the playoffs, if not win a championship.

Let's make it even straighter. I would be willing to bypass Paul if we had D-12, Smoove, and Teague... Here's why. Depth. I like Paul a lot. But right now, that's putting a lot into 1 basket and he may not make that much of a difference. We're talking the most dominate big in the game. We're talking a defensive duo that would block more shots than any combo of players ever. Sure, we don't have Paul's playmaking. However, what's he going to do.. drive and dish right? That's what Teague has shown that he can do. You put Teague in a situation where he has Joe, D-12, and Smoove around him on that drive and Teague just might lead then NBA in assists.

Here's why I would take CP3:

Fill up the seats.

Awesome play making and scoring.

Great defense.

Here's what i like about keeping Smoove:

Strong defensive play maker.

improves every year.

The heart of the team.

Here's what I see in Teague:

Speed.

Confidence gaining.

Integrated into the team.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Let's make it even straighter. I would be willing to bypass Paul if we had D-12, Smoove, and Teague... Here's why. Depth. I like Paul a lot. But right now, that's putting a lot into 1 basket and he may not make that much of a difference. We're talking the most dominate big in the game. We're talking a defensive duo that would block more shots than any combo of players ever. Sure, we don't have Paul's playmaking. However, what's he going to do.. drive and dish right? That's what Teague has shown that he can do. You put Teague in a situation where he has Joe, D-12, and Smoove around him on that drive and Teague just might lead then NBA in assists.

Here's why I would take CP3:

Fill up the seats.

Awesome play making and scoring.

Great defense.

Here's what i like about keeping Smoove:

Strong defensive play maker.

improves every year.

The heart of the team.

Here's what I see in Teague:

Speed.

Confidence gaining.

Integrated into the team.

So let's compare the lineups . . and I'll just throw in a free agent into the mix at PF

Hawks without Paul

PG - Teague

G - Johnson

F - Marvin

PF - Smith

C - Howard

Hawks with Paul but without Smith or Teague

PG - Paul

G - Johnson

F - Marvin

PF - Chuck Hayes

C - Dwight Howard

By simply adding Chuck Hayes to this squad, I've now added a guy who is even a better rebounder than Josh Smith . . an a guy who averaged 15.5 ppg and 10 rebs vs the Hawks frontline last year.

You don't have to worry about Chuck drifting outside to shoot jumpers, trying to be a PG, or like Suge Knight once said about Diddy, "trying to be all in the videos . . all in the record . . dancing". You get none of those personality extras from Chuck that you get from Josh ( like the pouting when he doesn't get a call, or the occasional loafing when he doesn't get his way, or the arguing back at his coach ). Nope . . . all you'll get is a guy who will work his butt off.

And on a team with 2 superstars and an all-star, those are the type of guys that you need.

Your team would still have a question mark at PG, at SF, and consistency issues at PF.

My team would only have a question at SF, because Hayes is going to do exactly what he's known to do at PF.

The point is that with 3 stars on the team, you can dang near pick and choose what type of specialty player you want to fill the open spots.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were a Sam Cassel injury away from taking down the Lakers in 2003 - 04. And here was their starting lineup

PG - Cassell

G - Trenton Hassell ( perimeter defensive specialist )

F - Spreewell

PF - Garnett

C - Ervin ( not Magic ) Johnson ( defensive center comparable to Jason Collins )

And that team was poised to take down this squad

PG - Payton

G - Kobe

F - Devean George

PF - Malone

C - Shaq