Bickerstaff and Knight talking.

[KB21]

I saw in the Charlotte Observer where Bernie Bickerstaff stated that he has talked to Billy Knight about what it will take to get the 2nd pick. Bernie stated that he's willing to give up the 5th and 13th picks as long as Atlanta includes a veteran player or a draft pick in the deal.

He also said that he's talked to Portland, but they are asking for too much for the third pick.

The question for the Hawks will be this. Who will they want with that 5th pick? Three players have refused to work out with the Blazers. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Gerald Green have all refused workouts with the Blazers. That doesn't mean they won't pick one of them, but it is interesting non the less.

Deron seems to be a lock for the Hornets at pick number four. If Portland passes on Chris Paul, Atlanta might be able to get him with the 5th pick. If Paul isn't there, I would think the target would be Raymond Felton, but I don't think you can rule out guys like Danny Granger and Antoine Wright.

At 13, I believe the Hawks would go with Sean May.

[Nicholasp27]

if we wanted to give up our only #2 ever, then i'd rather us give up a vet like delk than a draft pick

[mrhonline]

Quote:

---

I saw in the Charlotte Observer where Bernie Bickerstaff stated that he has talked to Billy Knight about what it will take to get the 2nd pick. Bernie stated that he's willing to give up the 5th and 13th picks as long as Atlanta includes a veteran player or a draft pick in the deal.

---

Would you trade the #2, Laker pick -for- #5, #13? To me, that's a questionable trade.

Quote:

---

He also said that he's talked to Portland, but they are asking for too much for the third pick.

---

Translation: he wants Chris Paul and is using Atlanta to get Portland to lower their asking price. (Just speculation, of course).

I see this draft as "four deep" - Bogut, Marvin, Deron, and Paul. Trading down to #5 could be a big mistake IMO. No one really stands out at #5 -

Felton isn't the long, athletic PG the Hawks seem to be seeking, Green is redundant (Childress), and the Euro big men have question marks...

I would rather trade down with New Orleans and get a future first and take either Paul or Deron (whichever falls). The Hornets would obviously want Marvin.

[TheDude]

i would agree...while mwilliams and bogut are the two prizes, deron and paul aren't far behind...anything below that and it's a no go. if billy wants to trade, wait to see who charlotte can pick up at that spot...but bernie knows it's a 4 person draft.

[Admin]

After those 4 I see a pretty good drop off. I think that Felton can be servicable, but I dont see him as ever being better than JT, maybe as good but I dont see him as any better. I think both Paul and Deron will be star PGs.

I think that the hope for us would be that Portland takes a chance and drafts Green which could be very possible. I am hoping that they are just posturing with him right now because I think it would be a huge mistake to take a PG after drafting Telfair last year.

I would be willing to give up Delk in addition to the #2, but not a draft pick. We dont have that luxury.

I think that at #13 we would be looking at Petro, Morris (he could make us a very attractive team to Howard when he becomes an UFA in addition to Smooth), or May.

[Nicholasp27]

i disagree

IMO, this draft is 3-deep or 5-deep, but NOT 4-deep

that is, if paul is included in the top part, then so should felton...

felton is faster and a better distributor...

paul may be a slightly better scorer...

felton is slightly taller

i prefer felton over paul, but they are basically equal...deron, especially after testing as athletic, but being taller and stronger and a better defender, is clearly above those 2

so it's bogut/marvin/deron

or

bogut/marvin/deron/felton/paul

[Admin]

you are a college fan of, but my guess is that its UNC. There is just no way that an unbiased fan would put Felton on the same level with Paul or Deron. I am not a fan by any means of any of those teams and have a completely unbiased opinion on them which allows me to see that they are head and shoulders better than Felton.

Also, did you not see the measurements that were on here? Felton was the worst in the vertical leaping and bench press and he was the shortest of the 3. Felton was 6' even in shoes while Paul was 6'1 and Deron was 6'3. While those arent the most important factors in the world, they are a factor when you consider that the only reason most scouts had anything bad to say about Paul was because they thought he would measure under 6' in shoes.

He was slightly quicker than Deron and Paul, but thats not nearly as important to me as the things that those guys do better that is so much more important. Paul is a much better scorer and a much better pure PG. He isnt a much better shooter, but as a scorer he can score from anywhere on the court and gets to the FT line far better than either of the other 2 guys. He is also a much better defender than Felton and isnt much worse than Deron other than not being as physical as Deron.

Anyway, bottom line is that unless you have a biased opinion towards the UNC program you could not legitimately list Felton on par with Paul and Deron. There just isnt any way and thats why you wont see any mock drafts or the real draft having Felton get picked ahead of either of them. He is the JT of this draft, the consolation prize after the top tier PGs are selected.

[TheRedStripes]

If the Hawks got the 5 and 13 picks...i would select Deron Williams and Johan Petro...if Deron was gone before the Hawks could select at 5 i would take Green at 5 and then Roko Ukic at 13

[jezmund]

I agree as well that moving down to 5 would be a mistake unless Portland surprises us with what they do. I still think they trade down to a team wanting a PG. The best deal still seems to be:

Marvin Williams

Al Harrington

for

Deron Williams

Jamaal Magloire

That is, if we don't want to keep Marvin Williams.

**I'm at a point where we should just get the guy we want at #2. If BK believes MW is a future stud, take him no questions asked. If BK believes DWill is a top-tier PG, take him. Same goes for Paul. It'd be a mistake to trade down and get a player you don't feel as good about just to get another later pick. #1 objective in this draft should be to get at least '1' difference maker.

[AHF]

I agree with the people saying that the draft is 4 deep (although, I would expect that in reality one of the HS kids or someone else below turned out better than Deron, etc.)

Felton is actually shorter than Paul and I don't think he is a better distributor, especially because I think he is turnover prone with his high dribble. I think if you had switched Paul and Felton on their respective teams that they would not have been close in # of assists. As it was, Felton edged Paul by only .3 apg despite playing with 3 other first round NBA draft picks and having much less of a scoring responsibility for his team.

[Nicholasp27]

i prefer just taking bogut/marvin and then trade something to get ukic

that's better than green/ukic

[TheRedStripes]

I think Gerald Green is going to be a better player than Marvin Williams, it may take a couple years for him to develop into that player, but i think is going to be a superstar, he has athleticism on par with Josh Smith and has a very good 3 point shot

[AHF]

Quote:

---

i prefer just taking bogut/marvin and then trade something to get ukic

that's better than green/ukic

---

Agreed. I favor sticking in place and trading Diaw or the Boston/LA pick to get Ukic or another exciting young player.

[KB21]

Well, this is the issue here. There is an obvious desire to get an extra pick in this first round on the Hawks part, and I believe they would like to get into the middle part of the first round. There are definitely a couple of players they have their eyes on that they want with that extra pick. It seems that Billy is exploring all options in trying to get that extra pick, whether it be trading down, moving up from that high second round pick, or buying a pick outright.

In this sense, you have to measure the pluses and minuses of getting just Marvin Williams in the first round or being able to get a combination of Raymond Felton and Sean May, Antonie Wright and Jarret Jack, Danny Granger and Randolph Morris, or any combination of those players.

I believe that Billy will also be looking at this with some foresight. These NBA guys have a good feeling now who will be in the draft next year, and the Hawks will be armed with two picks next year. So, Billy has to weigh the depth of this year's draft versus what could possibly be the depth in next year's draft when considering any trade. He could ultimately decide that Sean May is a player he could get with the 13th pick that is better than any player he could get with the 9th pick (just an example) next year.

[Final_quest]

Trading for #5 and #13 would have to be based on who Milwaukee picks with #1 and who is available at #5. No deals go down prior to the draft night.

[Wretch]

That he still hasn't addressed the better assist to turnover ratio that Paul sports over Felton AND Deron.

Nor is anyone considering Paul's DEFENSIVE accolades:

http://theacc.collegesports.com/sports/m-b.../030905aaa.html

http://theacc.collegesports.com/sports/m-b.../030904aas.html

[mrhonline]

Paul's A:T ratio was the same as Deron's. Paul is clearly the better offensive player, but he's clearly *not* the defender that Deron is.

Paul is simply too small to be a great defender in the NBA. He'll rack up his number of steals, but he'll also take his share of lumps as well.

[Wretch]

Paul vs. Deron

2.6 (192/75) vs. 2.3 (195/83) Means that Paul is better or just as good as controlling the ball.

I also never said he is the defensive equivalent of Deron, but you can't be horrible and earn ACC All Defensive 1st for 2 years straight.

Paul is too small to be a great defensive player in the NBA?

Would you consider Mookie Blaylock to be a great defensive player in his prime?

...?

At 6'1"/180+?

[Lascar78]

Paul got defensive accolades in the ACC for the same reason that Kobe got them in the NBA. He's a hell of an all around player so people give him all the awards. He did not deserve to be ACC all defensive. I would think that most who watched the ACC would agree to that. He's not that bad a defensive player, but he didn't deserve those awards. He was picked as the ACC poster boy before the season started, and he was going to be on the all-defensive team no matter what happenned.

[Wretch]