What is the big deal about Swift???

[Wurider05]

His numbers aren't that overally impressive. Hell Drobs almost put up better numbers that Stromile Swift did. He is not worth but maybe 6 or 7 mill a year tops. Some of you guys act as if he is a dominant big man or something. He has been in the league for five years and isn't going to get any better. He is not even a center for crying out loud. The last thing we need is another swingman on our team who is a tweener. Let's just sign

Kwame Brown. Swift was just playing for a contract ala Eric Dampier (probably the same people who wanted him wants Swift). We need people are are the positions that we need. We don't need a rail thin PF who can play alittle center, we don't need a SF/SG who can play a little point. WE NEED A REAL PG AND A REAL CENTER!! DAMN IT IS THAT SIMPLE!!! GO HAWKS!!!!

[Packfill]

I agree. Swift is a waste of money.

[Nicholasp27]

his teammates also called him out for lack of heart and not playing even after he shoulda been healed

he's no bigger or more athletic than smoove...he's not a better rebounder or shotblocker than smoove...smoove is on course to be a much better offensive player as well

i'll let NOLA overpay for him

[TheDude]

i would take Kwame over Swift 10 out of 10 times..sure Kwame has had his issues but Swift has had his too...and more time to deal with them..Kwame has more potential also IF he can get his head straight..

and most importantly, Kwame will probably be cheaper.

[AtLaS]

Whats the big deal?? Ok he's like 23-24, a great shotblocker, great defense, athletic with all the potential in the world, and has never been given a chance to start. Those are the kind of players rebuilding teams take chances on. He's put up good numbers every chance he's had a good amount of minutes. Plus he'd be great for a fast break team which we would have, and much better for the PF position than Harrington. I mean he averaged almost 11/6 coming off the bench w/o a lot of minutes on probably the deepest team in the league, where he is like the 7th option. I agree we should not pay him more than about 7.5 mil/year.

That 'no heart' thing that Nich was talking about doesn't even matter, his ankle probably just didn't feel right, only he knows what it felt like, it doesn't matter what the doctors say. Look at Michael Vick last year. And how many extra games did he miss, 2 or 3 games? He knew he was about to go into the biggest offseason of his career, he wasn't going to risk coming back early to re-injure it even worse and go into the offseason crippled. Why don't you check Swift's background, I haven't, but I would bet that he has NO history of having no heart or not wanting to play.

[Diesel]

I think Swift is definitely a BK favorite. BK likes his footwork, his skillset.. I wouldn't be surprised to see us make an offer.

[cyman3]

PLAYER-X

6'10" 228 lbs, 26 yrs old

7.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.49 bpg, .534 fg%, 21.3 mpg

SWIFT 6'9" 230 lbs, 25 yrs old

10.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, .7 apg, 1.53 bpg, .449 fg%, 21.3 mpg

-----------------------

player-x will make $1,600,000 next year

his name?

CHRIS ANDERSON of the New Orleans Hornets

i rather have Chris Anderson at 1.6 million than Swift at $5 million.

[PhillyDC]

you dont really mean that. think about it for a sec. if chris andersen is starting on your team than you are in trouble. swift is a better PF than Al Harrington. Andersen is a good back-up. I like the Birdman, but i'd rather have Swift.

[chillzatl]

his talent level is that of a bench player. I have no problems signing him for a small contract. But he is not worth big money. Not even MLE type money.

[PhillyDC]

i disagree. when he filled in for gasol at his best position, PF, he put up like 15, 8, couple of blocks. I think he is a player that needs minutes, get into the flow. im not saying he is a top level PF, im just saying that he is better than Al Harrington (at PF) and would be an upgrade for the hawks. as for the $$$ part if Foyle can get near the MLE Swift will get the MLE from someone. he has shown me more when given a chance than kwame 'the quitter' brown has

[chillzatl]

It seems that the player almost always has slightly inflated stats. Because opposing defenses don't really know how to play them and they're able to take advantage of that unfamiliarity. I'm not saying that's the case here. But because of that, I tend to have problems putting too much stock into a players production when they fill in for an injured starter.

I do agree that I would expect Swifts numbers to improve with more minutes. But I'm not sure they would to the extend taht his fill-in numbers suggest.

[hotboyj]

If anyone looked at the AJC once last summer you would be able to see what kind of money we were offering just to get kenyon martin over here. Now imaginge what Billy will do for a player who is even more athletic, he drafted, and just plainly favors.

04-05

Swift's numbers as a starter

14.8 ppg 2 bpg 5.8 rpg 80.8 ft% 28.9 mpg

Kenyon's numbers as a starter

15.4 ppg 1.13 bpg 7.4 rpg 63.9 ft% 32.7 mpg

Are you still thinking Swift will get less than 8 mil?

[gohawks11]

hes a waste. lets go after haywood.

[Diesel]

Yep..

BK planned this. He let Swift sign a 1 year deal so that he would be unrestricted this year. I think it has been in BK's plan to get Swift. He's the prototypical BK player.

Long, Versatile, athletic, and defensive....

I wouldn't be surprised if we took him...

Although I would like to get Brown. I still think Kwame has a lot more potential and size than Swift.

[PhillyDC]

brown may have more potential, but he has yet to show all of that potential. swift has had shown more so far in his career.

if wiz think they can actually take east in next couple of years there is no way they let haywood go. need a big center until shaq leaves east.

i agree with chillz argument that fill-in starters stats can be inflated, but in swifts case i dont think it fits. he was always in the rotation playing 15-20 minutes, as a starter he was playing like 30. more time to get a rhythm. he is a shot blocking, athletic PF who can get 15 with enough touches.

as far as PF/C i would go after curry 1st (if he can even play) swift would be next. dalembert and chandler arent going anywhere so i remove them from consideration.

[Lascar78]

It is very hard to find talented big men in the NBA these days. That is why even relative scrubs like Swift and Foyle get huge deals even though they aren't worth it.

But man do we need a center in the worst way...

I'm not too worried about it though, I can't see BK overpaying too much for Swift