Did we pull the chute to soon?

[HawkItus]

z - Chicago- Worse y - Miami x - Indiana- Didn't get better y - Boston- Maybe worse x - Atlanta - could of been better with Horf x - Orlando- x - New York x - Philadelphia It is not out of the question we could have had the 2nd best record. I'm glad we moved on, but if any year was a run it again year, this was it.

Edited July 24, 2012 by sultanofatl

[Guest]

No, we were going nowhere fast. The Hawks would still be limited by what players they could sign to effectively help. The CORE ran its course. The only way I would have been somewhat OK with maintaining the status quo would be with a different coach on board.

[Diesel]

z - Chicago- Worse y - Miami x - Indiana- Didn't get better y - Boston- Maybe worse x - Atlanta - could of been better with Horf x - Orlando- x - New York x - Philadelphia It is not out of the question we could have had the 2nd best record. I'm glad we moved on, but if any year was a run it again year, this was it.

I think you're on to it right here. We won the equivalent of 60 games without our allstar C. Our coach proved that he could get good stuff from bench players on vet min. contracts. Last year, we didn't get Horf back until the 3rd game of the Boston Series and let's not forget that Smoove got hurt and sat out a game. It's funny that people want to judge last year as if we had everything working the whole time. We didn't. And yet we were still very competitive. Ferry has come in made a big splash but what has he done really? We still have the same problem spots we have had. We have a lot of "financial" freedom but financial freedom has never won a ball game and IN Atlanta, Financial Freedom doesn't mean a whole lot unless you are willing to overpay. My guess is that: Unless we get D Howard or John Jenkins becomes the second coming of Reggie Miller, we are destined to spend the next few years recovering to get back to this... Next year, we might do something like Sign Harden for 100 Million dollars or something like that. or maybe max out Smoove.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

I don't think so. Ferry only did what fans have wanted done for a couple of years... Get rid of JJ's ridiculous contract and dump duck butt. We also wanted the team to take a better stand when it came to scouting and player development. Why waste another year with the core that everyone agreed had pegged out? Just to get to the ECF and lose to Miami? Ferry is making moves to put the Hawks into championship contention and there is no better time than the present to do so. I have loved all of the moves so far. I question the Korver trade, but I like Korver's game and I know he'll be an asset for us. If anything, with all of these teams having a bit of a drop-off, it'll just put on a mask to the Hawks season performance for Dwight to see and make him think that there is a contender in Atlanta if he is on the team.

[MrMeltdown]

Yes, we did. I still think it would have been easier to get Dalembert, Camby, or some mobile C that could block some shots, finish, and rebound rather than count on FA's choosing to come here or Josh Smith or Al Horford being a #1 option or even Jeff Teague stepping up to a 17 pts 7 assists guy.TeagueJoeJoshAlDalembert or CambyCalled for it for years and never got it.

Edited July 24, 2012 by MrMeltdown

[Vol4ever]

I think all the eggs have been thrown into the DHoward deal. Notice that the Hawks have not looked at any big men at all. Then again maybe Ferry thinks that Horford and ZaZa are the big men for this team, but I dont believe he thinks that way.I believe the DHoward deal will come down sometime in August. In regards to free agents?CP3 - Maybe if we get Dwight or other major upgrade in the frontcourt.Harden and Ibaka - they are going nowhere, they will get the best deal with OKC.If the Hawks do not get Howard or Gasol, we are stuck in mediocrity for the nexr 5 years minimum.

[macdaddy]

z - Chicago- Worse y - Miami x - Indiana- Didn't get better y - Boston- Maybe worse x - Atlanta - could of been better with Horf x - Orlando- x - New York x - Philadelphia It is not out of the question we could have had the 2nd best record. I'm glad we moved on, but if any year was a run it again year, this was it.

Even though i'm 100% on board with the trades we made I think there is truth to this. The east is in disarray and I don't fear anyone but the Heat at this point. Still I think it had to be done. As much to provide hope as anything else. Its sad but that's the way the NBA had gotten. People would rather have hope, potential, and flash than good basketball. Still I think our team is very good and I expect the trade deadline to shore us up.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

And if Ferry would have came in, stuck to the status quo and rode the core out another season, everyone would have been in arms that we actually didn't replace Sund. And if the core would have had success at reaching the ECF, then ownership and the fanbase would have wanted to ride the core out another year... Then, at the end of it all, we would have just wasted the prime years of Smith, Horford, and Teague on ZERO championships. Ferry is making the right moves and everything, from Dwight picking up his option to JJ being traded to BRK, for Dwight to come home so that the Hawks can make a real, legit run at the Finals. I have faith in DF.

[Sothron]

As much as I love Joe it was time to trade him to get out of that contract. There's two teams in the league with billionaire owners who literally don't give a rat's ass about the luxury tax: the Nets and Knicks. We got out of Joe's contract and picked up a first rounder. I wish we had gotten one clear starter as well but I can live without that. Joe's deal would keep us deadlocked with an ownership that is frugal and would never amnesty him to not only pay him that crazy deal but also fill out the rest of the cap space.So no, we didn't pull it too soon. We have no chance with that old team of winning a ring and now we got an early start on a rebuild or a chance to go get superstars. You can't ask for a better return than that.

[frosgrim]

I'm with the crowd of it wasn't too soon to pull the plug. The team was stale both on the court and at the box office. No one was interested in watching this team.We now have possibility. It will be interesting to see what reality possibility turns into.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The real truth of the matter is that people ( and management ) are dead set on keeping Josh Smith around here. Because of that, the team really couldn't be re-made unless he or JJ were traded.Regardless of what people think about Pau Gasol, he would've been a guy to swap for Smith, and this team wouldn't have lost a beat . . . and possibly could've gotten better due to us having a legit high and low post scorer. You roll with that team for one year, and see what happens. If it fails, you sell off Gasol and/or JJ, and start from scratch.PG - TeagueG - JenkinsF - JohnsonPF - HorfordC - Gasol6th - ZazaF - IvanG - BlakeC - BensonF - free agentOr say we kept Smith, and just pulled off the Devin Harris for Marvin Williams tradePG - TeagueG - JohnsonF - Smith ( for those of you who want to play him at SF so bad )PF - HorfordC - Zaza6th man - HarrisG - JenkinsF - IvanC - BensonF - free agentEither of those trades keeps us right there in contention. But we chose to trade JJ. That's cool. But we ended up trading him for scraps, which doesn't help this team THIS year. It may help us in the future ( due to "cap space" and "flexibility" ), but it doesn't help us now. The fact that Ferry didn't at least get Marshon Brooks in the deal for JJ, is a failure on his part. The fact is that the ASG not only wanted to get out from under JJ's contract, they wanted to drastically reduce the payroll for this year and for years to come.

[Gray Mule]

Atlanta is not getting a Super Star. Dwight Howard will not come to Atlantaon a long term basis. Forget about him. He is not the answer to all ourproblems.As great as he is, Atlanta's Hawks have always managed to hold him downand he hasn't had that many great games VS the Hawks.Fans act as if he is the only center in the NBA and assume we could win it allif only we had him. Super, Super, Super. Really? Explain why his presentteam hasn't won the ring every year since he's been there.Diesel should be so happy that Marvin is gone that he has sweet dreams every night.His nightmare life ended when Marvin left.JJ, as great as he was and still is, would have soaked up all the payroll for the Hawksand we don't have super Billionaire owners to absorb that and go on. Brooklin does.To move on up, Hawks needed more than Joe Johnson to grow any at all.I know that we all love those "what if" thoughts. Give us CP3 and Superman and nothingcan stop us. The unsinkable Titanic! Both are recovering from injuries. They are, as Ali wouldsay, "The Greatest!" 100% healthy, they are both great.Get them both here, then find that neither are really healthy and will never be again. Not sayingthat they would be, but still playing that "What If" game. We just thought that we had a lottied up with Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams. Just wait until the payroll hit for these twocomes to light. All the remainder of the roster will be D-League players!Now, back to reality. Atlanta will be better. Wait and see. Our final roster has not been set.And, if it is set, more moves before the trade deadline will be made. Don't be taken in byall that empty payroll we have coming next season. It means nothing if no one is willingto take our money. Atlanta can't afford to have a bad year. If we are winning, the Highlight Factory is the placeto be. But, if we're not winning and playing exciting basketball, why would anyone want tocome here? They won't. Therefore, we've got to have a great season - - and we will!!GO HAWKS!

Edited July 24, 2012 by Gray Mule

[TheNorthCydeRises]

As much as I love Joe it was time to trade him to get out of that contract. There's two teams in the league with billionaire owners who literally don't give a rat's ass about the luxury tax: the Nets and Knicks. We got out of Joe's contract and picked up a first rounder. I wish we had gotten one clear starter as well but I can live without that. Joe's deal would keep us deadlocked with an ownership that is frugal and would never amnesty him to not only pay him that crazy deal but also fill out the rest of the cap space. So no, we didn't pull it too soon. We have no chance with that old team of winning a ring and now we got an early start on a rebuild or a chance to go get superstars. You can't ask for a better return than that.

My thing about JJ's contract is that it would become more tradeable as the years progressed . . IF . . his production and efficiency didn't just fall off the face of the Earth. Despite people trying to claim that JJ is in "rapid decline", his play this year spoke to anything but the contrary. He actually had his 2nd most efficient year as a Hawk. And the only reason why his PPG average was down, was because his usage and shot attempts were down. Because JJ doesn't rely on extreme athleticism to do his thing on the court, JJ's game will decline slowly, and be a player somewhere between what Paul Pierce and Michael Finley was at 32 years old. And playing beside Deron may just keep him at borderline All-Star level for the next 3 years. And that's the real tragedy. The fact that we couldn't acquire a high quality, leader type PG after we missed on Deron and Paul, will be the legacy of "The Core". Knight and Sund failed to bring in the type of PG to truly take this team to the next level. And they refused to trade one or two of "the core" to make that happen.

[Sothron]

My thing about JJ's contract is that it would become more tradeable as the years progressed . . IF . . his production and efficiency didn't just fall off the face of the Earth. Despite people trying to claim that JJ is in "rapid decline", his play this year spoke to anything but the contrary. He actually had his 2nd most efficient year as a Hawk. And the only reason why his PPG average was down, was because his usage and shot attempts were down. Because JJ doesn't rely on extreme athleticism to do his thing on the court, JJ's game will decline slowly, and be a player somewhere between what Paul Pierce and Michael Finley was at 32 years old. And playing beside Deron may just keep him at borderline All-Star level for the next 3 years. And that's the real tragedy. The fact that we couldn't acquire a high quality, leader type PG after we missed on Deron and Paul, will be the legacy of "The Core". Knight and Sund failed to bring in the type of PG to truly take this team to the next level. And they refused to trade one or two of "the core" to make that happen.

Trust me, I think most of us will spend years wondering "what if..." had we drafted Deron or Paul or Iggy or Aldridge or Roy or...well you get the picture. BK absolutely killed this team and its going to take Ferry to bust it down and start mostly all over again to do it the right way.

[niremetal]

My thought: What if we had Ferry hear 3 years ago and gave him the task of being a buyer rather than a seller in the All-Star market? If he could unload JJ's contract, he probably could have gotten us in the mix for Deron Williams. And a team with Deron, JJ, and Horford is a contender.Was it too late this summer? I don't know. Personally, I would have seen what fish we could have gotten to bite on Josh instead of JJ. Maybe we could have signed Nash and pried away a guy like Al Jefferson. But the "percentage play" at this stage in the franchise game is to unload and position us to rebuild. Can't really fault Ferry for doing exactly that.

Edited July 25, 2012 by niremetal

[PureGreatness]

No it was time to move on. We can't keep doing the same thing year in and year out hoping to get lucky. Changes had to be made. Why waste the next 5 or 6 prime years of Smith, Horford and Teague? Makes no sense.When you're the home team in the first round of the playoffs but EVERYBODY AND THEIR MOMMA IS PICKING THE AWAY TEAM IN 5 OR 6 GAMES AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY RIGHT then theirs a problem. Changes HAD to be made.

[Admin]

The real truth of the matter is that people ( and management ) are dead set on keeping Josh Smith around here. Because of that, the team really couldn't be re-made unless he or JJ were traded. Regardless of what people think about Pau Gasol, he would've been a guy to swap for Smith, and this team wouldn't have lost a beat . . . and possibly could've gotten better due to us having a legit high and low post scorer. You roll with that team for one year, and see what happens. If it fails, you sell off Gasol and/or JJ, and start from scratch. PG - Teague G - Jenkins F - Johnson PF - Horford C - Gasol 6th - Zaza F - Ivan G - Blake C - Benson F - free agent Or say we kept Smith, and just pulled off the Devin Harris for Marvin Williams trade PG - Teague G - Johnson F - Smith ( for those of you who want to play him at SF so bad ) PF - Horford C - Zaza 6th man - Harris G - Jenkins F - Ivan C - Benson F - free agent Either of those trades keeps us right there in contention. But we chose to trade JJ. That's cool. But we ended up trading him for scraps, which doesn't help this team THIS year. It may help us in the future ( due to "cap space" and "flexibility" ), but it doesn't help us now. The fact that Ferry didn't at least get Marshon Brooks in the deal for JJ, is a failure on his part. The fact is that the ASG not only wanted to get out from under JJ's contract, they wanted to drastically reduce the payroll for this year and for years to come.

Not getting an undersized SG isn't that big of a deal and certainly not enough to say Ferry failed.

[clicklandshopping]

As much as I love Joe it was time to trade him to get out of that contract. There's two teams in the league with billionaire owners who literally don't give a rat's ass about the luxury tax: the Nets and Knicks. We got out of Joe's contract and picked up a first rounder. I wish we had gotten one clear starter as well but I can live without that. Joe's deal would keep us deadlocked with an ownership that is frugal and would never amnesty him to not only pay him that crazy deal but also fill out the rest of the cap space. So no, we didn't pull it too soon. We have no chance with that old team of winning a ring and now we got an early start on a rebuild or a chance to go get superstars. You can't ask for a better return than that.

I'm really divided but the best long term solution was this. I don't think we will be winning a championship in the next 5 years when Joe's contract would've been up, but we won't be starting over and will be closer to one.

[clicklandshopping]

Yes, we did. I still think it would have been easier to get Dalembert, Camby, or some mobile C that could block some shots, finish, and rebound rather than count on FA's choosing to come here or Josh Smith or Al Horford being a #1 option or even Jeff Teague stepping up to a 17 pts 7 assists guy. Teague Joe Josh Al Dalembert or Camby Called for it for years and never got it.

I always thought the same thing, but we will never know and we must move forward. Regretting the past will never get us to where we need to be in the future. The one good thing to Ferry's plan is we can always continue to fix our needs. Now let's see how well he fixes a few glaring holes he created.

[DarnShadyRefs]

Yes, we did. I still think it would have been easier to get Dalembert, Camby, or some mobile C that could block some shots, finish, and rebound rather than count on FA's choosing to come here or Josh Smith or Al Horford being a #1 option or even Jeff Teague stepping up to a 17 pts 7 assists guy.

Teague

Joe

Josh

Al

Dalembert or Camby

Called for it for years and never got it.

If we had been able to get one of those bigs, I would have been onboard with keeping the core. But how were we going to get one of those quality bigs (they dont come cheap) with barely any cap space for a measly bench filled with vet mins? Once again, all this ties back to how much of a hindrance Joe's contract was. If Sund or Joe would have considered giving him less money in the sixth year of that max contract, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Once again I don't blame Joe for getting paid. its is what it is and we must look ahead and put ourselves in position for the future.