I say keep Walker.....

[Diesel]

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Walker would prefer to be a part of the rebuilding process with the Hawks and coach Mike Woodson, whom he says he has developed a good rapport with since the summer.

"I enjoy playing for Coach Woodson," Walker said. "He's a good coach for me. And I like the rest of the coaching staff and the players on this team. It might not show on the record, but we've put in a lot of hard work this season. We're doing all the right things here.

"More than that, I think this city deserves to see a group of guys come together and get it right. You have to give the fans a chance to get to know us and know how we play. When a team has six or seven new faces every year, it's hard to get behind them."

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This is what I needed to hear. IF Walker wants to be here, I say we keep him. IN the offseason, we allow him to go FA and we offer him a 6 yr 62 million dollar deal. If he doesn't accept then he doesn't want to be here.

The Next question is do we trade Harrington. My answer is if we can get a big man, Yes... If not.. No.

Why keep Toine.

Well, #1, he's a player. #2, he's a good guy. #3, it will be hard to build a team without some talent already present. Walker represents some talent.

[Lascar78]

I agree all the way

[Wretch]

I'm 100% with you on all of that.

[Kaviar1]

I disagree 100%. Reading between the lines, Walker senses tepid response for his services on the FA market, and is turning to the Hawks for that last big contract so he can kick his feet up for the next 6-7 years.

This team will never advance in the playoffs with him at PF.

He does not like the "dirty" work involved in playing a true PF, he had the ability to become a good one, but that is another story. There have been comments around the NBA that his conditioning is suspect, also, that is why he usually fades in the 4th quarter.

Like I have said before, someone with a solid frontline that is playoff bound, will rent him at SF for half a season to see how he fits in. It should be worth a late 1st round pick for the Hawks.

[Lascar78]

Walker can get a big long contract from many teams this offseason. Don't fool yourself. He's flawed but he's good.

If he truly wants to stay here in a rebuilding situation, he wants to put in the work and make this thing take off. If he wants to kick his feet up, he'll go to a better team

Also, have you seen him this year? He is in the best shape of his career. He has corrected almost all of his flaws except for FT% and turnovers.

[Employee8]

Well the turnover thing, we can't do much about 'cause he tries to make plays and passes that just aren't there....

It's the FreeThrow problem that's an issue....He's got to get that fixed somehow. Step back one foot behind the Stripe....Hesitate before shooting the ball....Shoot Blindfolded....SOMETHING!!!

But nice to hear that he WANTS to stay here to help Properly rebuild this team into something the fans can enjoy.

[emeans]

I have to admit Walker actually grew on me. I didn't like his game in the beginning of the season and I still have issues with some of his turnovers, Free Throw problems and untimely shots.

But Walker has a lot of heart and he plays his butt off and he has skills. If Woodson can work on his decision making a little bit this is a legitimate All-Star.

I say keep Walker (still at a reasonable price) and Al and build around them.

[ATL_BALLER]

If you had to choose long term, who would you rather have? AW or Al?

For me, it's Al - he's young, athletic, and only getting better. So, in that scenario, I'd move AW and give Smoov the SF spot for the next 10-15 years.

I appreciate Toine's attitude and desire to stick around, but when you think about it, he needs us more than we need him, so his comments don't surprise me.

[Lascar78]

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I appreciate Toine's attitude and desire to stick around, but when you think about it, he needs us more than we need him

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I'm a big hawks fan, but what the hell are you smoking?

It's not like we give him a big contract or he goes on welfare. We give him a big contract or someone else will. Why does he need us again?

[Kaviar1]

Yes Lascar, I have seen him play many times this year. Trust me, he is not what this team needs right now, an BK will not retain him. He is greatly OVER-valued by most of the fans on this Board.

Ratliff, Rahim, Wallace, and Mohammed really had more market value individually than Walker currently has, and look what the Hawks recieved for them. Walker's greatest value to the Hawks right now is that his contract expires at season's end.

[Lascar78]

If you let Walker walk for nothing you will sign no free agents. You can't keep trading for expiring contracts every year. At some point you have to hang on to what you have and hope that it is good enough to convince a decent FA to come be the difference maker. Walker will be traded or re-signed. He will not just walk out of here.

I don't think I overvalue Walker like others do. But I also realize that it takes players to attract players, and it takes consistency for teams to gel. If Walker wants to be here long term and we can not get anything significant back for him, I expect him to sign here long term. If he is not worth much, we can sign him for cheap.

Also, Ratliff is made of glass, Rahim is a born loser, and Mohammed isn't that great. Neither one of them is worth more than Walker. Wallace is about on par with Walker, and got us Josh Smith. At the very worst, he will be traded for more draft picks. He will not just walk for free.

[macdaddy]

I think we will let AW go at the end of the year so Smoove can play PF. We don't want Al at 4 because I don't think he rebounds well enough.

I disagree with questions about Walker's conditioning. He's playing a ton of minutes and still seems to have gas in the tank to me. As far as the FT% goes just get used to it. It ain't gonna get much better. I'm not saying he can't improve at all but at his age he would've figured it out by now if he was going to.

[ATL_BALLER]

We're one of the few times with ample capspace, and if I'm not mistaken, can go over the cap to sign him. I agree, he's not going to end up on welfare -- nor is he's not going to get the fat contract he's likely seeking from anyone but us.

Regardless, I like the tandem of Al and Smoov significantly more than one that features Toine.

[Lascar78]

we were one of the few teams with a ton of capspace last year too and got nothing out of it. It's hard to get FA's on a depleted team. It's much easier to add talent to an existing good team. With Toine we are a 15-20 win team this year. What are we without him?

I agree that Smoove should be playing SF. But that leaves us with decent talent at the SF (a high schooler with potential) and the PF. We have no real PG, no C at all, at not much at SG. How does that attract FA's? It won't. It would mean one more year of mediocrity and another high draft pick. I realize that having 3 players you'd like to start for 2 spots is not ideal, but you have to have enough talent to attract free agents

Besides, if Smoove is our SF, Toine is a better fit that Al. Smoove wants to be inside. He wants to dunk. He doesn't want to dribble. He is Al #2. Toine is a compliment to that, as a guy who can shoot from the outside and handle the rock.

Smoove and Al as our forwards leaves us with very little ball handling and finesse. We would see plenty of dunks, but I'm not sure that we'd see many wins.

[Kaviar1]

We'll have to see who is right, time will tell very shortly.

Also, I was not suggesting that the Hawks rebuild with Ratliff, Rahim, Wallace, or Mohammed. My point was that three of the four were legitimate Big Men, and will always have some concrete value.

[bballfan]

Walker doesn't need the Hawks. Where did you come up with that.

You keep saying Walker is overrated by the Hawks fans but then I hear people saying we should sign Michael Redd, common sense says he isn't signing here at all. No free agent wants to come here, I wish people could get that through their head.

Unless we offer someone like Dalembert a max contract he isn't coming here either especially not when Mark Cuban is interested.

I would love to see Walker stay and I have seen his game for more then 10 years. He likes to win, you can't measure heart. Get us a PG and he won't have as many turnovers because he won't be handeling the ball as much. He is the only guy on this team that demands a double team.

We finally have a very good to great player that wants to come and stay in Atlanta and all the same people can do is hate on him. I really hate to bring reality to this but Redd, Dalembert and company are noit playing for the Hawks next year, unless your willing to offer them max contracts.

The same people who claim Walker fans need a reality check and then bring up names like Redd and Dalembert need reality checks themselves.

[Lascar78]

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I really hate to bring reality to this but Redd, Dalembert and company are noit playing for the Hawks next year, unless your willing to offer them max contracts.

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Exactly. And I can't see Redd coming even for Max. This is like people all of last year saying "we might not be the favorites but maybe we can get Kobe" . You know who you are. Like it or not, we are the laughing stock of the league. And in order to convince a free agent, you have to convince him that we have enough talent that his addition can instantly turn our whole team around. Without Walker we can't come close to saying that.

[TheDude]

i definitely like Walker but we have to think about positions available..you've got two positions (pf,sf) and three people (walker, harrington, jsmith)..JSmith will not be the odd man out so it's between Al and Ant...Al is younger with still more upside...

I think Antoine may be the odd man out. But hey you never know.

[ATL_BALLER]

I just don't think Toine is going to attract the big names that you think he will. It's about changing the culture here - and so far, Toine has not done that. To that end, the more SMOOV is on Sportscenter, and at the rate he will continue to improve, HE will be the one to rejuvenate the franchise and attract the talent.

Also, Al and Smoov are adequate ballhandlers, and less turnover prone than Toine. I like the idea of having ferocious, attacking, dunking forwards - and leaving the primary ballhandling to the backcourt. We draft Chris Paul, and bank on Chill showing improvement as well. Of course, I'd love to sign Joe Johnson as well, (requiring Chill to move to the second unit).

[bballfan]

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I just don't think Toine is going to attract the big names that you think he will. It's about changing the culture here - and so far, Toine has not done that. To that end, the more SMOOV is on Sportscenter, and at the rate he will continue to improve, HE will be the one to rejuvenate the franchise and attract the talent.

Also, Al and Smoov are adequate ballhandlers, and less turnover prone than Toine. I like the idea of having ferocious, attacking, dunking forwards - and leaving the primary ballhandling to the backcourt. We draft Chris Paul, and bank on Chill showing improvement as well. Of course, I'd love to sign Joe Johnson as well, (requiring Chill to move to the second unit).

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Here is the thing. At one point or another since before Walker was traded from Dallas there have been deals for him involving Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. Both deals backed out of by Mark Cuban.

To say he can't fetch any trade value is unture. He had a decent season last year that was a great season till certain babies whined in Dallas about him getting so many shots so Nelson played him less and his points went down.

That was as low as his value was and they still had deals involving 2 very big names in Kidd and Carter.