Andrew Bynum Gaining Interest From Hawks

[DawnOfThemBirds]

I would not mind it if he comes in on a deal that favors the Hawks if he does not play much.

Also if he promises not to show up looking like this:

Edited July 8, 2013 by DawnOfThemBirds

[buckeye242424]

I don't understand. If we signed Bynum, is Milsap playing the three??? Makes no sense, unless one of them comes off the bench. While a healthy Bynum, with Horf, and Milsap starting.... Well, hell, I dunno, could Horf move to a three? He's been on record as he wants to start shooting three's? He has the mid-range jumper. He's prollly athletic enough to do a decent job guarding three's....as much as Korver can at least.

[GThawks3]

I don't understand. If we signed Bynum, is Milsap playing the three??? Makes no sense, unless one of them comes off the bench. While a healthy Bynum, with Horf, and Milsap starting.... Well, hell, I dunno, could Horf move to a three? He's been on record as he wants to start shooting three's? He has the mid-range jumper. He's prollly athletic enough to do a decent job guarding three's....as much as Korver can at least.

No way Horf plays the 3...if Bynum was healthy I would think Millsap would come off the bench.

[Sothron]

It is funny, I don't remember when I posted it but one of my old sources did tell me back then that Bynum was a plan b option to meet the salary cap floor on a short term deal. Looks like we may do it. I'd rather give Bynum a one or two year deal and hope he stays healthy than sink a four year deal in a black hole like Ellis or Jennings.

[Mutombolievable]

Can we put something in there that would pay Bynum more money if he plays X amount of games instead of Y amount? He gets X amount if he is an All-Star as opposed to Y amount? And so on?

[Dragitoff]

I don't understand. If we signed Bynum, is Milsap playing the three??? Makes no sense, unless one of them comes off the bench. While a healthy Bynum, with Horf, and Milsap starting.... Well, hell, I dunno, could Horf move to a three? He's been on record as he wants to start shooting three's? He has the mid-range jumper. He's prollly athletic enough to do a decent job guarding three's....as much as Korver can at least.

Obviously Bynum would have to be healthy enough to play, but I'd see Millsap coming off the bench if that were to happen. Of course, the entire team may die of shock if Bynum stayed healthy enough to contribute, but that's beside the point. With Bynum's injury history, you'd want him playing limited minutes. With 96 minutes split between the 4 and the 5, I could see a minutes distribution like this....

C-Bynum (32), Horford (16)

PF-Horford (20), Millsap (28)

I could even see Millsap get a few minutes here and there at SF depending on matchups.

[RWF]

Brandon Jennings

John Jenkins/Lou Williams

Kyle Korver

Al Horford/Paul Millsap

Andrew Bynum

Would be interesting if nothing else.

[buckeye242424]

No way Horf plays the 3...if Bynum was healthy I would think Millsap would come off the bench.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right. Just throwing it out there. But, I don't think Milsap signed here to come off the bench. Just a hunch....which means we Bynum could be all rumors anyway.

[Wretch]

Is it possible Ferry is planning on tanking without it looking like he wants to tank? Or after Chris Paul and Dwight not coming here, there really aren't any great options to make us contenders.

I wouldn't think so. GM's that we think "tank", most of them anyway, are just looking to rebuild. The smart ones simply toss the team into "development" status and keep netting young assets. They don't fill in "holes" in the lineup with specialists. The whole point is to simply get young talent and let them play. Bringing in veteran guys like Korver and Millsap, to go with Horford and Lou...and then going after players like Ellis and Bynum? That means the goal is to win now. Not necessarily contend now, but be competitive. I'm 100% certain this team will be competitive this year with a floor of about 6-8 seed and a ceiling of 1 or 2 games in the second round.

As for Bynum...If we're not tossing it in the can, I say why not? Put him on a short deal with protection against his knees and see what we could do. His "healthy" numbers are awesome actually.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Wretch

[DrReality]

Bynum's minutes will likely be limited wherever he plays. Millsap is versatile and would do great if we play small ball. 'Short term deal on him is no different than signing a guard for the short term while we hope we have young guys develop.

[Dragitoff]

One thing to note on Bynum is even if he missed the majority of the season, if he could somehow get healthy for the playoffs and be in "game shape", you just never know. Getting into the playoffs at least gives you a shot at winning a championship. We'd have a big body to challenge Hibbert and Horford lining up against West. Then against Miami, we'd have someone who could dominate the Heat in the post similar to Hibbert this year. Against Brooklyn, we'd have big guys to match up with their big 2. New York can eliminate themselves with ISO Melo. You just never know. Wouldn't it be fitting for Bynum to lead us to a title over the Rockets and the man who turned us down for them? lol! Poetic Justice!

Edited July 8, 2013 by Dragitoff

[NCHawksFan]

I wouldn't think so. GM's that we think "tank", most of them anyway, are just looking to rebuild. The smart ones simply toss the team into "development" status and keep netting young assets. They don't fill in "holes" in the lineup with specialists. The whole point is to simply get young talent and let them play. Bringing in veteran guys like Korver and Millsap, to go with Horford and Lou...and then going after players like Ellis and Bynum? That means the goal is to win now. Not necessarily contend now, but be competitive. I'm 100% certain this team will be competitive this year with a floor of about 6-8 seed and a ceiling of 1 or 2 games in the second round.

As for Bynum...If we're not tossing it in the can, I say why not? Put him on a short deal with protection against his knees and see what we could do. His "healthy" numbers are awesome actually.

I agree. I think we are putting a team that would be 6-8 seed. Bynum if he can play at all would be a huge help. If not, then we probably could fall into the lottery. Either way, we are still a couple of years and a couple Big Free agents or lucky draft picks from being in contention.

[pimp]

Millsap would come off the bench, then he would start at Pf , if/when Bynum get hurt.Millsap is a team player.He gets 30 minutes a game , I'm sure starting wouldn't matter.

[Guest]

One thing to note on Bynum is even if he missed the majority of the season, if he could somehow get healthy for the playoffs and be in "game shape", you just never know. Getting into the playoffs at least gives you a shot at winning a championship. We'd have a big body to challenge Hibbert and Horford lining up against West. Then against Miami, we'd have someone who could dominate the Heat in the post similar to Hibbert this year. Against Brooklyn, we'd have big guys to match up with their big 2. New York can eliminate themselves with ISO Melo. You just never know. Wouldn't it be fitting for Bynum to lead us to a title over the Rockets and the man who turned us down for them? lol! Poetic Justice!

And wait all year like Philly - 1st it was December, then January, then after the all-star break.

Having said that: a 2 year team option based contract is all I would hope Ferry offers if he is indeed interested.Ferry will be unable to insure his contract, so make it so he can cut bait after one season if it doesn't work.Additionally, if the plan is to play Horford at PF by acquiring Bynum, Ferry also has to get a reliable back-up because Bynum will definitely not play 82 games and more likely not even play 60 games.

[NJHAWK]

Allan Henderson, Speedy Clankston, been there done that F&&K NO.

Edited July 8, 2013 by NJHAWK

[Wretch]

I agree. I think we are putting a team that would be 6-8 seed. Bynum if he can play at all would be a huge help. If not, then we probably could fall into the lottery. Either way, we are still a couple of years and a couple Big Free agents or lucky draft picks from being in contention.

I do the same thing every year when I look at the Hawks...I just draw a mental untouchable line under the top teams. This year I would say that's Miami, Chicago (with a healthy Rose), and Indiana. I'm pretty sure that's 3/4's of the ECF's and will be for the foreseeable future. We're not up there, but he way I look at it, you aim for these teams if you want any shot at all at the conference finals.

Below that is the dreaded "middle of the pack." New York and Brooklyn, I put at the upper middle (although BKN is looking really strong with those vets). Worst case scenario, that's 5 teams that are likely better than us - WORST CASE that is. With only 5 teams that could potentially be better than us, that leaves 3 playoff spaces available. Are we worse than three of these teams:

Philly

Toronto

Detroit

Washington

Cleveland

Charlotte

Orlando

LOL...not a chance. That's why I'm just not seeing a tank job here. The real danger though is one of these teams "striking gold" and vaulting to the top or upper middle. Happens all the time and if it does...then it'll probably be a young team that's good for a LONG time.

Personally, I don't care how we get there. We just need to find a way to crack the top.

[Guest]

OMG....Sekou Smith of NBA.com already is ranking the EAST teams: Where do the Hawks rank? #7

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/07/08/the-new-playoff-order-the-east/

Paul Millsap. DeMarre Carroll. Kyle Korver. And maybe Monta Ellis? That’s not exactly the kind of superstar haul Hawks fans were expecting when the franchise made it clear that they were going to put that $34 million-$40 million in cap space to good use by chasing Howard and Chris Paul. Those dreams were dashed immediately. Howard gave the Hawks a courtesy meeting when he knew all along that there was absolutely no chance he was coming back home to chase rings. And the minute Doc Rivers went to the Clippers, the dream of making up for passing over Paul in the 2005 Draft (for Marvin Williams) was dashed. Still, the Hawks should have a nucleus of the aforementioned players added to Al Horford, Lou Williams and John Jenkins, a group capable of securing one of the final three playoff slots in a top-heavy Eastern Conference. New coach Mike Budenholzer will have his work cut out for him with a mismatched roster that Horford will have to anchor from the center position he was hoping to escape with the addition of a quality center in free agency (Andrew Bynum and restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic are still out there …). And there is till an unsettled point guard position to deal with. Restricted free-agent point guard Jeff Teague is rumored to be the target of the Milwaukee Bucks, who have a restricted free agent of their own in Brandon Jennings that might interest the Hawks. The franchise has a string of six straight playoff appearances going right now. They should have the necessary parts to make it seven straight.

Not sure how he can rank a team that is not complete.

Edited July 8, 2013 by JayBirdHawk

[Dragitoff]

And wait all year like Philly - 1st it was December, then January, then after the all-star break.

Having said that: a 2 year team option based contract is all I would hope Ferry offers if he is indeed interested.Ferry will be unable to insure his contract, so make it so he can cut bait after one season if it doesn't work.Additionally, if the plan is to play Horford at PF by acquiring Bynum, Ferry also has to get a reliable back-up because Bynum will definitely not play 82 games and more likely not even play 60 games.

That's all I was advocating for him as well. I do find it funny that people are automatically assuming Rose will be back in MVP form so let's pencil Chicago in as a 2 or 3 seed, but Bynum coming back is completely out of the question. Yes, they are completely different players, but if Rose could be expected back in top form, is it really that hard to expect Bynum back the same? They both have spent more time out than in over their careers and Rose's is more mental now than anything. Look at baseball players who have gotten the "yips" as they call it. It's nothing more than mental where they can't make routine throws any more.

[Guest]

That's all I was advocating for him as well. I do find it funny that people are automatically assuming Rose will be back in MVP form so let's pencil Chicago in as a 2 or 3 seed, but Bynum coming back is completely out of the question. Yes, they are completely different players, but if Rose could be expected back in top form, is it really that hard to expect Bynum back the same? They both have spent more time out than in over their careers and Rose's is more mental now than anything. Look at baseball players who have gotten the "yips" as they call it. It's nothing more than mental where they can't make routine throws any more.

The difference is Rose had an ACL injury, Bynum just has bad knees.

[Dragitoff]

The difference is Rose had an ACL injury, Bynum just has bad knees.

I'm not a doctor (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), but it seems like it would essentially be the same concern either way. Rose's game is built around speed and cuts. Bad ACL injuries can limit those types of movements. Bynum is a big body and bad knees can cause problems with that as well. Both have their concerns. DeJuan Blair slipped to the second round despite having lottery talent because of no cartilege in either knee. He's had a pretty good NBA career so far. Not steller, but good especially considering his size for the position he plays. It just shows that players can come back and play well, especially if they're young. Bynum's will to play is certainly the biggest unknown since he just doesn't seem interested in anything other than collecting a check.