Message to Chris Paul and Dwight Howard from a hawks fan:

[Randy]

I don't much care about either one of them. Howard is a prima donna and Paul gets injured a lot. And no matter what else happens, they are not coming here anyway.

[TheFuzz]

(( Ding !! ))

Horford + Lou + Jenkins + two 1st round draft picks = around 20 million

The cap holds on Smith and Devin Harris alone total over 29 million

Both CP3 and D12 will get max deals, totaling about 37 - 40 million together in the first year

Even if you renounced everyone else's contracts, we'd only have about 11 million under the salary cap to sign both CP3 and D12. To sign both of those guys, we'd have to cut ALL of our free agents . . . including Smith and Jeff Teague.

So Horford, Lou, Jenkins, two 1st round draft picks, CP3 and D12 = between 57 - 60 million . . . hopefully the salary cap is at least that high, otherwise, we can only afford one of them.

At this point, we are now over the salary cap, and can only add a MLE level player, a LLE level player, and some rookie and vet minimum guys to fill out the roster.

Would Harris or Korver come back for a MLE level contract? 2 yrs - 10 mill . . ( can't have them both, because both will probably will get a deal close to MLE type money from someone else. So pick one )

Would Ivan come back if we gave him the LLE ( Bi-Annual )? 2 yrs - 4 million . . ( which basically doubles what he's making right now )

Fill out the rest of the roster with vet minimum guys and non-drafted/cut rookies.

We already have Lou at the MLE. Didn't realize the LLE was that small. Spot on nonetheless.

[nitte]

I would be (pleasantly) shocked if either of CP3 or Howard signed here due to the fact that we can offer them only a shorter and cheaper contract. Both of these guys have injury history and they are getting their last huge contract. They won't risk 25-30 millions.

Other than that due to cap, it is not possible to sign Smoove, Teague, Harris, Korver along with CP3&Howard while keeping Horford. Besides, I think Smoove at small forward is not a good fit due to his poor outside shooting and slow feet to defend athletic small forwards (like we have seen with Melo recently).

If a miracle happened and we signed both CP3 and Howard, ideal line up would be:

Howard/Zaza (draft pick)

Horford/Ivan/Mike Scott

Korver/Stephen Jackson

Lou/Jenkins

CP3/(a veteran or draft pick)

Salaries (approximately):

Howard: 18

CP3: 18

Horford: 12

Lou: 5

Korver: 5

Jenkins: 1.5

Total: ~60 millions

These salaries already eat the salary cap. We cannot sign Teague, Harris or Smoove. I would love that lineup with superstars, good role players and shooters all over the team. One can dream right?

[Q45T]

I wonder how D12 feels about stayin' in LA after Kobe's torn achilles ... just something to think about.

[yungsta]

The reality is no major free agents are coming here we have to deal with that. We have ways to go as a franchise to have superstars to even consider coming here.

They all want to go to big market franchises or franchises with a winning traditional. We arent either of those.

Edited April 13, 2013 by yungsta

[tonegully]

Man if Howard stays there he is a fool. Kobe's down. They have no money to reload. But if that extra 20 million is worth not competeing for a championship so be it

[JTB]

I would be (pleasantly) shocked if either of CP3 or Howard signed here due to the fact that we can offer them only a shorter and cheaper contract. Both of these guys have injury history and they are getting their last huge contract. They won't risk 25-30 millions. Other than that due to cap, it is not possible to sign Smoove, Teague, Harris, Korver along with CP3&Howard while keeping Horford. Besides, I think Smoove at small forward is not a good fit due to his poor outside shooting and slow feet to defend athletic small forwards (like we have seen with Melo recently). If a miracle happened and we signed both CP3 and Howard, ideal line up would be: Howard/Zaza (draft pick)Horford/Ivan/Mike ScottKorver/Stephen JacksonLou/JenkinsCP3/(a veteran or draft pick) Salaries (approximately):Howard: 18CP3: 18Horford: 12Lou: 5Korver: 5Jenkins: 1.5Total: ~60 millions These salaries already eat the salary cap. We cannot sign Teague, Harris or Smoove. I would love that lineup with superstars, good role players and shooters all over the team. One can dream right?

Trust me guys if cp3 and d12 really decided to come here it will be their will to want to compete! If they want money they will likely stay with their teams not even looking in what free agency has to offer. Point I'm making is that the best team these two can have a legit chance at winning a championship is with the hawks.....maybe I'm in denial...but I look at it like this....this can is their last BIG payday comin up but it's also their last chance to put theirselves on a possible championship contending team. I don't care what anybody says...the lakers and clippers do not look like championship teams and they probably won't because they have no real cap to make any huge adjustments.If cp3 and d12 really want a championship they take a pay cut, smith takes a pay cut and I know he will with two guys playing aside him that are stars, and others take a pay cut. It's not anything hard its simple! Now will that happen? I don't know how bad these players want it but if they want to win and with the new cap rules they have to know that somewhere along the line they will have to take a pay cut to form better teams around them.Lebron was smart not to take all the money from Cleveland and chase championships. Howard and cp3 says it but do they really mean it?.....that's the question.....You guys look at this differently then I do I see some players willing to take pay cuts right now to win a championship if cp3 and d12 were to come play in the ATL and take pay cuts. There are some hawks players that will follow that same plan just like the Miami players. Smith, Harris, Korver, Zaza would all take pay cuts to be apart of such a special team. Now I'm not sure about Teague and Ivan but the vets getting close to their 30s? No probCp3 and d12 have a choice to make ....they need to remember the teams that are around them when making that choice! I know the new cap rules will help from teams getting 3 superstars and all but the heat, okc, nets, etc has already been created.Paul is the only real superstar on the clippers who happens to play with N athletic freak and Howard is on a team of all old superstars. These guys aren't injury prone they play when they need to. If they want to win a championship no matter where they go they will decide to take a pay cut for their teams point blank simple as that.

[JTB]

And to add its like this guys....ANY REAL PLAYER WHO WANTS TO WIN KNOW ITS NOT ABOUT MONEY. THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME DECISION.I recall so many players saying they would have created a big 3 earlier in their careers....kg, pierce, ray Allen, Vince carter, t Mac, Steve Francis, etc. it's about winning at the end of the day weather it's the hawks or not it's about taking a pay cut and winning it all.

[Jody23]

Trust me guys if cp3 and d12 really decided to come here it will be their will to want to compete! If they want money they will likely stay with their teams not even looking in what free agency has to offer. Point I'm making is that the best team these two can have a legit chance at winning a championship is with the hawks.....maybe I'm in denial...but I look at it like this....this can is their last BIG payday comin up but it's also their last chance to put theirselves on a possible championship contending team. I don't care what anybody says...the lakers and clippers do not look like championship teams and they probably won't because they have no real cap to make any huge adjustments.If cp3 and d12 really want a championship they take a pay cut, smith takes a pay cut and I know he will with two guys playing aside him that are stars, and others take a pay cut. It's not anything hard its simple! Now will that happen? I don't know how bad these players want it but if they want to win and with the new cap rules they have to know that somewhere along the line they will have to take a pay cut to form better teams around them.Lebron was smart not to take all the money from Cleveland and chase championships. Howard and cp3 says it but do they really mean it?.....that's the question.....You guys look at this differently then I do I see some players willing to take pay cuts right now to win a championship if cp3 and d12 were to come play in the ATL and take pay cuts. There are some hawks players that will follow that same plan just like the Miami players. Smith, Harris, Korver, Zaza would all take pay cuts to be apart of such a special team. Now I'm not sure about Teague and Ivan but the vets getting close to their 30s? No probCp3 and d12 have a choice to make ....they need to remember the teams that are around them when making that choice! I know the new cap rules will help from teams getting 3 superstars and all but the heat, okc, nets, etc has already been created.Paul is the only real superstar on the clippers who happens to play with N athletic freak and Howard is on a team of all old superstars. These guys aren't injury prone they play when they need to. If they want to win a championship no matter where they go they will decide to take a pay cut for their teams point blank simple as that.

I'll admit, the points you make about Howard and Paul and their current situations make alot of sense. I don't think the Clippers are legit title contenders and if they don't perform at a title contender level in the playoffs, Paul will think hard about signing long term with them. If an opportunity to play with a healthy Dwight Howard and others presents itself, he's definitely going to consider it.

[yungsta]

if they want to team up together they would go to dallas cause of the great ownership who let it be known for the years past hes all about winning no matter the cost.

[MaceCase]

if they want to team up together they would go to dallas cause of the great ownership who let it be known for the years past hes all about winning no matter the cost.

That doesn't mean that he has the magical ability to circumvent the salary cap. That and I don't know why Cuban gets this Steinbrenner rap so much when he's let Nash and nearly the entire championship core go over finances. He cultivates this image of being a mad spender when really his moves are quite calculated.

[JTB]

That doesn't mean that he has the magical ability to circumvent the salary cap. That and I don't know why Cuban gets this Steinbrenner rap so much when he's let Nash and nearly the entire championship core go over finances. He cultivates this image of being a mad spender when really his moves are quite calculated.

That is very true and one of the reasons I'm giving the hawks a legit shot at this. Fans have seen this franchise take bad dives with awful gms and terrible ownership but I believe this time in free agency is prob the biggest opportunity to turn this franchise around! And it's a because of Ferry being our gm and the ASG giving Ferry complete control of the franchise. I'm trusting ferry to get this done or put great efforts in trying to get it done. I atleast want to see effort in getting these superstars.It should be noted that mark Cuban said himself that he believes Howard would end up here. He gave the hawks or I should say ferry big props on how we set our selves up well with the cap and everything .

[TheFuzz]

And to add its like this guys....ANY REAL PLAYER WHO WANTS TO WIN KNOW ITS NOT ABOUT MONEY. THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME DECISION.I recall so many players saying they would have created a big 3 earlier in their careers....kg, pierce, ray Allen, Vince carter, t Mac, Steve Francis, etc. it's about winning at the end of the day weather it's the hawks or not it's about taking a pay cut and winning it all.

We are not getting CP3, Dwight AND Smoove, not unless each of them takes like a 10,000,000 paycut, especially if we hold onto Horford. We just can't do it unfortunately. We can add 2 of them to Horford if they want, but not all 3.