I hope a Walker trade happens soon...

[BritishKnights]

I really want walker to be traded, he is putting up numbers yeah, and i like him, i think he is a good player, but he doesnt need to be on the Hawks at this point in the rebuilding , he would be much better off playing for a team that has a chance to win, and im sure he would rather play for a winner so why not go ahead and trade him, at least it would generate a little excitement

and also i would use this lineup

Ivey

Childress

Smith

Harrington

Drobnjak

They already lose every game anyway, so why not let the rookies play and get more experience, probably lose more games too which is good, we need to get that first pick, and the Hornets have a worse record now, the hawks cant even be the best at being the worst...

[BritishKnights]

Oh yeah one last thing...

Release Kenny Anderson and let Donta Smith get some playing time

[Blunt91]

Sadly Kenny Anderson is the best at running a offensive play but he can't make shots. Lue and Ivey can hit the open jumpshot or penetrate but neither are much of a playmaker or running a offense.

[Diesel]

I don't think I have heard Walker say that he wants to play for a winner right now. IN fact, I heard him compliment our young guys. The tough part is this: What if he wants to stay and be a part of our rebuilding? How do you tell the statistical leader in just about everything that you don't want him.

Also. Many of you say well, Harrington is a better fit than Walker. I have to disagree. The fact that Walker can rebound and hit the outside shot makes him a better fit than Harrington. In all honesty, Harrington and Smoove plays the exact same game.

What if it were possible to trade Harrington for Magloire and to sign Walker to a 5 yr 52.5 million dollar deal in the summer.

Would you do it?

Look at that team:

Paul/JChill/JSmoove/Walker/Magloire....

Would Walker not be a good fit then??

[Kaviar1]

You are rambling again Diesel. Harrington is soooo valuable to the Hawks right now and in the future that Walker is an after thought in comparison. You do not find players everyday in the NBA who can post up the way Al can, plus his fundamentals are solid at BOTH ends of the floor.

Playing SF, Al plays further from the basket and does not get as many boards. Walker has no business playing PF, but could not keep up with the SFs in this League.

On a perfect NBA team I would not want Al playing PF either, which does leave the Hawks with too many SFs. Lets hope Josh Smith hits the weight room this summer, and solves that problem for us, because he should to be playing close to the basket for obvious reasons.

[VDiLetto]

Our 4 and 5 guys need to have some sort of defensive presence. We have no interior defense. WE aren't going to win games until we do. If we could trade Walker and Collier for a Center and a pick and some contract, I would be all for it. He plays hard, but we only have one guy that players worry about when entering the paint. We need another. I would like to see a lineup of

Ivey

Childress

Harrington

Smith

a center worth something.

I don't think you need a PF and a SF, I don't think it matters as long as you can stop them defensively. Our defense is just horrible right now, even when we have good offensive games, we can't stop anyone. Walker doesn't help this at all.

[KB21]

Putting Josh Smith in the post negates the advantage he brings with his size and athleticism on the perimeter. This offseason needs to be dedicated to working on his ball handling and making continual improvement on his jumper. I still see this guy is a monster shooting guard who will create mismatches with his size and athleticism.

Atlanta needs to make a deal with Philly to get Samuel Dalembert. Sign Stromile Swift in the offseason and draft Illinois point guard Deron Williams:

PG - Williams (6'4")

SG - Smith (6'9")

SF - Harrington (6'9")

PF - Swift (6'9")

C - Dalembert (6'11")

That's a team that will be able to defend and run.

[TheDude]

with Antoine on the team, he has to be our leader, but his skills do not match up in that role..He's more of a second guy on a team like he was in Boston..I like Al because he is young and is solid and he fills our SF roll for a long time; we don't have to worry about that position.

[Diesel]

Harrington is still a tweener who doesn't rebound well. That's why he was a BU in Indy... He doesn't hit the outside shot. If we go to an offense with Josh Smith and Harrington at the forwards, Teams will automatically know to collapse the defense into the paint and to make us beat them from outside.

Walker gives us good shooting from beyond 15... At the least he can cause teams to spread the floor..

Also, for you guys who think Philly will add Dalembert in to get Walker... Wake up. Did you read what OBrien Said? He said that his team that he is trying to build has 4 shooters and a Shot blocking C. What do you think Dalembert is? I wouldn't be surprised to see them extend Dalembert at the end of this season... Like I have implied, I think that they'd be more willing to part with Iverson (for the right pieces) than to part with Dalembert. So no way will Dalembert be an add in for a player in the last year of his contract.

Back to the Hawks....

Weather you like it or not, Walker fits better according to what we have right now. Harrington is just not a Pf. Neither is Smoove. I think Smoove can be but he has to gain weight... Again, the tell tell sign is Harrington's rebounds. He doesn't do it well. I ask that you just watch him play then we can talk about the numbers. For all of his post play, he doesn't know how to position himself for the rebound. While you might not like the way that Walker shoots free throws or the fact that hes not 24... to say

Quote:

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his skills do not match up in that role..

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is an ignorant statement seeing that he leads us in just about every statistical category.

I would love to see us trade Harrington for Magloire to give us a real INSIDE presence... Then to see us resign Walker to a 5 or 6 yr deal. He doesn't have to be the "leader"... Actually, I would love to see us get Chris Paul and he become "the leader". No team with a PF as the "leader" has ever been successful... Successful teams have either a strong guard or C.

[TheDude]

being a leader isn't about stats...an allstar isn't a leader on a team..a superstar is...reef put up numbers but would you say he's a leader.

i don't see Walker being the face of the Hawks...

[Employee8]

Quote:

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being a leader isn't about stats...an allstar isn't a leader on a team..a superstar is...reef put up numbers but would you say he's a leader.

i don't see Walker being the face of the Hawks...

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Excuse me, Doc, but didn't you read what Diesel just said?

He said he'd rather we have CHRIS PAUL and let him be the "LEADER". He's agreeing with you. Hello??

Anyway, I'm on the fence with this situation....While I would like Walker to be dealt to a team that is a contender or at least on the verge of being playoff-calibre, If Walker does not mind remaining here then I don't mind either.

Oh and If what I'm hearing about O'brien is true, then we lost our only TRUE trade possibility and would most likely end up with Walker finishing the season with us.

[Kaviar1]

If the Hawks get Dalembert, Swift, and a Taft, Josh will have to play somewhere, and SG is the only place left. But he still does not have (but will have) an explosive first step off the dribble, and a consistent jumper. It would work during the regular season but would get exploited in the playoffs, the defenses would smother the paint on a team like that.

Josh may loose some of his weak-side rejections if he played in the paint, but he would make people think twice about coming in the lane and alter more shots too. If the Hawks do not get someone to be the Enforcer in there, then he is the one that is going to have to step up to the plate.

BK has some leverage going into the summer, for the first time in a while, to mold this team however he wants.

[TheDude]

a rookie(chris paul) cannot be a leader if Walker (or any other established allstar) is on the team, unless his name was Lebron James...

[Diesel]

I agree.. Walker shouldn't be the face. I think the face should be Paul (if we can get him). I think the one guy who has leadership written all over him is Chill... But like you said, the leader doesn't have to have the numbers... The leader is the guy who does what the leader does. I think that if we get in a guy like Paul who has the ability to be a superstar, having Walker as his #2 is a really good thing. A guy who can handle the ball, shoot from outside, pass, rebound... That's a good combo...

[Diesel]

You can cross off Taft.

Taft has size, but his game is a weaker version of Wilcox'.... No need in wasting a high lottery pick on that. He looks like a heavy KG, but his skill level is not that high. The one thing about Taft I like was his aggressiveness.. BUt Basketball is come to a really sad state when being aggressive can get you picked 2nd overall.

[Diesel]

This is a funny statement. So you're saying that the only time a rookie can lead is if he's James...

Hello.

If you haven't noticed we're loosely following the Denver Nugget Rebuild... They were lead by Mello last year even though they had players like Camby and Nene'.

or

Minnesota with Googs, got Marbury.

or

76ers with Stackhouse, got Iverson.

or

Mavericks with Mash, JJ, got Kidd.

The point is that there is no reason to doubt Chris Paul.. He's definitely going to be a star, possibly Superstar... So to see him step in as Leader is nothing out of the ordinary.. Most Stars do.

[Packfill]

I don't see Josh Smith as a shooting guard at all. Most likely a small forward in the Shawn Marion sense if he can improve his jumper.

If he grows two inches and gains 30 punds then he would fit at power forward, otherwise he is a little short and a little light.

[TheDude]

none of those teams did anything with those set of players and nene and camby are not allstars...i'm just saying that if you have an allstar on your team and you bring a rookie in, that rookie will NOT be the leader of that team, nor the face of that team because that allstar is there..

i like Paul, just don't think Walker can wait for another rookie to develop. If we got an established point (no i don't know who), a rookie center doesn't have to be waited on as long as he can rebound and play hussle ball. A point, no matter how good, needs time to develop in my opinion.

If we're going to draft a center and sign a point, then keeping walker is better than if we're drafting a point and signing a center in my opinion.

[Iman]

I think Harrington is a SF but with more of a low post offensive game. Smoove is the ultimate SF in the making, can do it all. A deep team could keep two SF's, we are rebuilding and need to move a valuable commodity like Harrington. I'm not GM but if Dalembert is a backup center, why not trade him for Harrington, same applies to Nene or Kwame. Chicago would seem to be wise to take Harrington for Chandler. Walker is gone because he costs to much, also the idea that we will be defensive oriented, but even if not, BK wont pay him and he likes to build thru the draft, we'll trade him for expirings and picks.

It looks to me like we'll be a vastly different team again later this season or for sure next. If we draft Paul, I think he'll start. I like Diaw but I saw a recent post about him for a late first, I'd do that. If we do sign a bunch of defensive players, I'd resign Delk for offense. I wouldnt be surprised if Chris Crawford is resigned for a cheap deal to back up the forward spot.

Paul, Ivey, Univ of Wash PG with the late first pick

Chill, Delk?, BJ Elder with our second rounder

Josh, Donta, Crawford?

Swift, Tskitasvilli, Crawford?

Kwame, Drob

That team would probably suck for another year but it seems very doable with capspace still to spare. No true center but plenty of potential.

[Diesel]

Didn't you notice that when a Rookie Paul Pierce came in to the league, Walker allowed him to become leader of the Celtics?