what the BLEEP are we gonna do with antoine? and..

[flava]

Mavs to deal Walker to Hawks

12:17 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 3, 2004

By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News

Antoine Walker’s brief career with the Mavericks is about to come to an end.

Sources said that Dallas and Atlanta have agreed to a deal that would send Walker and guard Tony Delk to the Hawks for point guard Jason Terry, forward Alan Henderson and a first-round pick. The pick, which once belonged to Philadelphia, is lottery protected and will become available to Dallas at some point over the next three years.

Officials with both clubs were in the process of contacting the players involved. The league office is closed Tuesday, meaning the trade can’t be completed until the office opens Wednesday and the deal can be reported.

Walker was a talented, yet ill-fitting piece to the Mavericks' puzzle this past season. Like Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash, who has since left in free agency, he needed the ball in his hands to be successful. That proved to be too many players to accommodate when all were on the court at the same time.

Walker spent the majority of the season at point forward, a concept coach Don Nelson implemented during his days in Milwaukee more than 20 years ago. Nelson actually praised Walker as the most talented point forward he had coached roughly midway through the season.

But putting the ball in Walker’s hands took away from what Nowitzki and Nash could accomplish. The offense swung back in their direction late in the season and Walker wound up at center. It was clear he didn’t fit into the Mavericks plans for 2004-05.

Terry does. He’s the sort of scoring point guard that has flourished in Nelson’s system. Terry averaged 16.8 points, 5.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds for the Hawks last season.

Nelson has lobbied for a veteran point guard so the club doesn’t have to throw first-round pick Devin Harris into the fire as a rookie. Terry, who has outstanding quickness and does a good job of running the pick-and-roll, fits the bill.

It remains to be seen what, if anything, Henderson can contribute. He played only six games last season before being sidelined with a bad knee. The power forward has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, managing to stay healthy for a full season just twice in his nine years in the league.

What makes Henderson attractive is that he’s in the final year of his contract. If he can’t play, 80 percent of his $8.2 million contract is covered by insurance.

[flava]

and we're giving them a first round pick???? they should be giving us a first rounder (or two!!!).

people in this forum may not like JT but at least the guy:

1) cares and plays his hardest

2) is accountable for his actions

3) fills a team need

4) is under contract for greater than 1 year at a reasonable rate

and then we're giving Dallas a first round pick???

we're getting fleeced!!!

we'll be the laughing stock of the league (as if we aren't already). hendu's contract was up at the end of the season - gone - and that created cap space (which hasn't gotten up a whole lot this season).

bad trade, big time. this reverses a lot of the great things BK has done. this team will miss JT, sorely!!!!

flava

[TROUBLEMAN69]

The Hawks are going to lose with or without JT. Trading for Walker will give the Hawks more salary cap room after next season, or could give them more picks and young talent at the trading deadline. I don't believe JT was in the Hawks future plans, and getting rid of him now for a guy who can bring you more makes sense to me.

TROUBLEMAN

[codyatl]

Well, I don't mind the deal w/ the exception of the 1st rd pick. I hate to lose that. Walker may just be a good fit here playing beside harrington. If al plays the 3 he will have a size advantage over almost every 3 in the league. w/ walker pulling the pf out of the paint it should free up al to do his work inside. Walker is a good distributer and he can shoot the 3, pretty well for a big man. I just think this may play out well for us. I mean worst case he blows this yr and we gain even more cap space next yr. I would rather have the cap space next season than still have an unhappy jt.

[flava]

we're gonna need some more ball handling without JT. maybe another backup PG, delk and sura could get the job done.

[KB21]

We've gone from having JT as the only ball handler to now having 3 positions that handle the ball well.

First of all, the Hawks were never going to see that pick. That pick is protected till 2007, and after 2007, it expires and becomes an exception. So, in essence, all the Hawks traded to Dallas was a trade exception.

[TheDude]

wait, now i was ok with this until the 1st round pick was involved...now i don't think i like this too much...i think we could have done better.

[KB21]

That first round pick wasn't worth the paper it was written on. The Hawks were never going to see it. It expires after 2007 and becomes a trade exception.

[Plainview1981]

The nimrod Billy Knight. Who wants fat@ss Walker on there

team? No wonder Memphis gave this jobber the boot. He's

running around it circles it looks like.

1)He is allowing Dampier to use the Hawks

2)He drafted a guy 6th that couldn't even shoot 40% againest

scrubs in the summer league

3)The only thing Billy Knight has done thus far is make other

teams better. He has done NOTHING to make the Hawks a better

franchise.

[dj_me]

A348yagh9ay8 9a8y4r9ah a oh a97 tan aughva

And that's all I have to say to you, Hotlanta. Your negativity and tunnel-vision is coming back in a HUGE way.

[Plainview1981]

Look at the Hawks roster. There is a BIG reason to be

upset. These moves do nothing to improve the team. When

Billy Knight is doing nothing to improve the team I am

going to have an attitude about it.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

---

He has done NOTHING to make the Hawks a better

franchise.

---

I disagree. Walker will make us better all by himself. Throw in Harrington and now we almost have a front line, if only until Walker is moved.

If this deal goes down it will not be the end of the story. Walker could be judged and is so by some to be more talented than Keyon. Just depends on needs, Def vs Off.

There are several teams that are wishing right now they could have landed Walker. This is not a bad move and I think we are far from this being our last move.

If we cannot trade Walker or extend him for a reasonable salary then I would have to agree that we gave up to much.

[Plainview1981]

I disagree. Walker will make us better all by himself."

Right....right.... That;s why Dallas felt like they couldn't

get rid of him fast enough.. Ditto for Boston.

[Packfill]

A players worth can only be measured in relation to his fit with the particular team. For example, Rasheed Wallace was not going to lead the blazers to a championship and wasn't even good enough to start at his natural power forward position. However, for the Pistons he was the missing piece to the puzzle that allowed them to win a championship.

Denver couldn't wait to get rid of van exel a few years ago yet he was key in helping Dallas to a strong playoff run.

Bob Sura was rotting on Detroit's bench but was an effective player for the Hawks down the stretch. Similarly, Darius Miles was useless in Cleveland but effective in Portland.

Plenty of other examples if you look.

To condemn a player and his potential impact on a team before he ever suits up is, in light of some of the above examples, is kind of short sighted. Sure it is easy to be critical, and such criticism may be warranted here, but a critic's credibility is destroyed when he/she reveals an inability to be constructive.

[Plainview1981]

Yeah Walker does fit in with the team

- Low basketball IQ-Most of the Hawks team

- Bad shots-Being a thing for the Hawks over the past

several years

-Loser as a player/Hawks franchise loser for 6 years

-Stat Padder.... The Hawks had plenty of those the second

half of last season.

It IS a perfect fit. lol

When he is shooting 39% and scoring 19PPG and turning the

ball over at a extremely high rate then you comeback and

tell me about how he is such a perfect fit for a team

hoping to improve.

Some hawk fan just have a habit of trying to fool themselves

to believe something that isn't true. YOu will see once

the season stats.

[Packfill]

Man, if you were dating Halie Berry you probably would complain that she needs to lose a few pounds and that you rather be with Britney Spears.

We all want the hawks to improve as much as you, but to me, dwelling on the negatives all the time takes some of the fun out of being a fan.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

---

Right....right.... That;s why Dallas felt like they couldn't

get rid of him fast enough.. Ditto for Boston.

---

Who on our currect roster other than JT is going to make teams respect the three? This guy was an all-star just a couple of years ago. He played in Boston for like five years and Paul Peirce had one of his worse seasons (shooting %) after Walker left.

Walker's outside shooting (3's) is not the best but neither is JT's. Difference is a 3 or a 4 has to step out on Walker and that opens up the lanes.

Bostons offense stunk after they lost Walker. All teams had to do was double up on Peirce early and make him give up the rock or take some ugly shot...game over.

We may not be world beaters yet but who expected us to have Al Harrington and Antoine Walker when the off season started?

Do we keep Walker, I have no idea. Again my whole point is: The only way we lose on this deal is if Walker leaves at the end of the season and we get nothing in return.

He is a huge asset and either we need to keep him or trade him for another valuable asset.

[Plainview1981]

And I've tried to be less negitive over the last month...

But the Hawks keep doing things that don't seem to help.

-Letting Dampier and Kenyon Martin use you

-Drafting Childress(probably should have selected Iggy)

and he stinks up the summmer league

-Getting Antonie Walker a player that really hasn't helped

a team. Dallas actually took a step back from where they

were at even two years ago. Boston basically threw him to

the dogs.

-No FA pickups other than CBA player Jason Collier.

How is one supposed to remain positive during all of

this? I've tried.. believe me.

[Plainview1981]

Who on our currect roster other than JT is going to make teams respect the three?"

And you have to respect Walkers poor 3pt shooting? C'mon

now.

"Walker's outside shooting (3's) is not the best but neither is JT's. Difference is a 3 or a 4 has to step out on Walker and that opens up the lanes."

yeah, that helped Boston so much. Open the lanes for who?

Donta Smith? Royal Ivey?

"Bostons offense stunk after they lost Walker."

Bostons offense stunk before they lost Walker.

"We may not be world beaters yet but who expected us to have Al Harrington and Antoine Walker when the off season started?"

Having both of those guys as your best players isn't a

good thing. Hawks will win 17 games tops.

[Packfill]

You definitely have done better recently but you fell off the wagon today. You have stated in the pst that you didn't like JT as a player so why be upset when the Hawks get rid of him? If JT is as bad as you make him out to be then we should feel lucky that the Hawks got an expiring contract in return. Addition by subtraction?

I don't know why you get all worked up about Childress playing poorly during the summer league while at the same time saying Josh Smith's solid summer effort means nothing. Point is we do not yet know how either player will turn out.