emeans

Quote: I maintain that 6 was too high to take him, even if he comes out and becomes the best player in this draft. This statement in itself makes absolutely no sense. How would No. 6 be too high if he becomes the BEST player in the draft. That would mean he should have been picked higher than 6....wouldn't it?? If he turns out to be the best player in the he should have been picked No. 1. A lot of you guys are forgetting before all of the workouts, interviews, etc. Josh Smith was the preliminary No. 2 ranked NBA Prospect in the World right behind Dwight Howard. This reminds me of Randy Moss, Warren Sapp in the NFL draft. They were ranked very high and dropped because of a bad rap but actually they were better players than anyone in their respective drafts. Based on their playing careers in college they were the best. Same here...based on Josh Smith's amateur basketball resume he was ranked the No. 2 best player in world and his attitude was his worst knock after the interviews, etc. No. 6 was not too high to draft Josh Smith and time will show you this. Please remember all that you are saying....I will!!!

Quote: I'd rather not use the 6th pick in the draft on a player who can't dribble, can't shoot, and obviously has a motivational issue that effects his play. KB21 I respect the information you give on this forum, but I have to call you out on this statement. I think you are going to be eating a lot of "crow" for this statement. You almost sound like Jay Bilas in this statement. I laugh when I read statements like this about Josh Smith. You were one of the biggest detractors against drafting Josh Smith and I am going to remind you of it when he becomes the next all-star in a Hawks uniform. The only knock that you could possibly lay on this kid is his attitude and that is probably a product of being young and can be worked on through age and coaching. All this other negative criticism is wrong and totally inaccurate. Can't dribble and can't shoot??? Where did you get that from.

That is totally fine. He didn't have a good shooting game but he did well in other categories. That is exactly what you want. He is showing he can help the team in other areas if his shooting is not on. Dwight Howard went 1 for 13 in one of his summer league games. Josh Smith will turn out to be Atlanta's best pick this year....WATCH!! I am really impressed at how they are easily winning these games. Good Sign!!

It is the 1st summer league game so I am not going to put much stock into this HOWEVER...... All I have to say is that I told ALL of you Josh Smith is the truth. I wouldn't be suprised that he does better than Childress(6th pick)this 1st year. People on this forum told me I was crazy to even remotely think about taking Josh Smith at 6. I think he is going to prove a lot of people (Bilas) and a lot of people this forum so wrong about this mans game. Remember at one point he was considered the 2nd best NBA prospect in the country right behind Howard!!! He stocked dropped because of attitude...something that can be worked on. Yes he has a lot to learn but the man has unearthly athletic ability and he didn't lead his High School team to an undefeated No. 1 ranking for nothing. Everyone need to get on the Josh Smith bandwagon!!! Everyone will soon....YOU WATCH.

Exactly...we will suck next year, but check with me in about 2 to 3 years and lets see what people say then. Also, it will be fun looking at these guys grow during the year and get better. See Josh Smith posterize a few guys.

Yeah, while I would have like Kenyon on the Hawks, he doesn't have the outside game to garner such a contract that Denver is giving him. I is not worth the max the Hawks offered him. The guy plays agressive and can slam with the best, but his shot from the outside is lacking. The mid-range jumper is inconsistent. Against big teams he is going to struggle if the baskets are not in transition. They overpaid for his talent.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~90~2270061,00.html What now??? There is still a possibility that he will be in a Hawks Uniform.

That is ridiculus. That is too much for rental guard. I would rather try and get Gary Payton for much less.

I hope so KB because I think really got a steal with Harrington. This was on Jack Ramsay Chat: Jesse (Atlanta, GA):: Dr. Jack, The Hawks have been sick the last 5 years, but are things looking up? What do you think of Al Harrington , Josh Childress, Mike Woodson, and Billy Knight? Dr. Jack Ramsay: The Harrington deal may or may not happen...but if it does...the Hawks are getting a good one. High level skills and a dedicated worker. I like Mike Woodson...I think he'll be a capable NBA coach...Childress and Josh Smith have to prove themselves. Billy Knight will be judged on how this all turns out.

Thats the reason I don't want Van Exel. He is OLD. He is past his prime and we are a rebuilding team. We need someone who is younger and can grow with this team as the leader on the floor. I like Van Exel's game in his prime. The man can shoot and he almost single handedly put the Dallas Mavericks over the top a few years back.

talking to Hawks Management today. 790thezone just reported that this morning. Personally I don't want Van Exel. I would love to get Dampier. Your thoughts?

Those are very good points. If you read this forum you would think JT was the worst guard in the league, but he is not. JT is talented, however he is just too turnover prone to be a point guard. He has flashes of brilliant play and then he just totally loses it and does some dumb stuff. Why?? Maybe concentration....I really can't answer this but right now he is probably the most valuable commodity on the team. He has the most trade value of any player on this team right now, not that that is saying a lot. I think Billy Knight is willing to give him a try in his new system with more athletic players to see if he can thrive and win. JT is a talented basketball player, he just doesn't have a true position or he has never been in a system that he fits in well. We will find out this year. Enough of the fantasy JT trades Diesel!!

It doesn't look like we will get Martin. New Jersey and Denver are discussion a sign and trade which makes sense for New Jersey. Martin also told Denver he would select them over Atlanta if they offered the same deal. So we need to continue to build the team smartly. So far we are doing a good job. I understand we just signed Collier. I wonder if we will sign Pryz next? That would be two big bodies to foul Shaq. It also doesn't look like we will get Stromile either.

I really hope he makes the team. We need a shutdown defensive point guard very bad. I saw him twice last year I wasn't impressed but that was just two times, so I didn't know anything about his history and I wasn't really looking at him as a propect. He sounds like a winner and a keeper. Again I hope he makes the team.

Guys I don't think this deal is complete and I think they are still in discussions. Lets not jump the gun yet. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1837655 WSBTV also mentioned that the teams are in discussions. This mean this deal is not done yet unless you guys have other information. So as of right now I don't think we have Al Harrington and we may have to give something else up too.

Billy better not do that trade!!

I agree there is a log jam however Donte Smith, Boris Diaw and Josh Smith can play 3 positions. Al can play both forward positions. That is Billy Knights philosophy is to have multi-positional players that makes the team very versatile and a nightmare for other teams to matchup. Most of his players can play multiple positions. Billy Knight is the man!!!

This is great!! I love Harringtons game. If we sign Harrington and Kenyon we will be very competitive THIS YEAR!! Billy Knight has really impressed me!!!!

This is the kind of information that we need to be discussing on the board. This is not fantasy, out the blue, whatever I can imagine trade proposals. These are rumors coming from credible sources. These are the trade proposals we need to be discussing. All the other fantasy trade proposal stuff and discussion is a waste of time. Now about the possible trade......I would do this trade in a heart beat. I like this proposal.

These GMs are flat out overspending. These teams are going to be in the same situation the Hawks were in last year....strapped and not able to make any moves to improve their team because of the cap. Let them keep spending and see the Hawks past them right by in the standings and financially in years to come.

Knight was looking for someone he would feel comfortable with in the decision making processes. He played with this guy and knows him personally. It is a very good fit for Knight and the organization. He would have probably been a power struggle with Fratello because of his credentials. If you are starting from scratch, start with a 1st time head coach that you are comfortable with.

Kenyon would be a nice to fit with Billy Knights kind of team (long, athletic and aggressive), but I guarantee he will not OVERPAY for Kenyon. He will offer a fair price but he will not overspend.

Even without an extra 1st round pick from Portland, I still think it was a good move. Correct me if I am wrong. Did the 17th pick essentially come from Detoit via Milwaukee? IF that was the case, does anyone NOW think that Shareef and Ratliffe are worth 2 1st round picks plus the burden of their contracts? Again if this is the case, I don't think so. No one wants Shareef at his price and I don't think anyone wants Ratliffe and his aging body at his price. He essentially cleared cap space and received a 1st round pick out of these players past their prime, high priced guys. Essentially if we got one 1st rounder(From Detroit) and mega cap space..........that is starting to look like a steal!! But I may be wrong about the how we received the 17th pick. How did we get that pick?

I am just thrilled to have a competent GM finally. As a matter of fact I am elated to have Billy Knight. We finally have a man that really knows basketball and up to this point has done pretty much everything right. Most importantly, Billy Knight is NOT OVERPAYING marginal players. I am glad he didn't sign Okur and Foyle for 50 and 40 Million dollars respectively. He has studied the history of this organization and he refuses to go back into the same pattern of mis-spending and failed drafts. Secondly, he doesn't give in to the media and makes his decisions based on what HE thinks is best for the team and not what the media or us wants him to think. I also like the fact that he doesn't let anything leak from his mouth. You will hear about it when it is done. I really like that about him!! That is why it kills me that some of you guys daily are pulling trades out of space. I call it fantasy trading because there is never any official word on any of these trades or even official speculation and some of you guys are usually way off base, especially with Billy Knight at the helm. You will not know what he is doing until it is done!!! He is probably the most least likely to get rumors from. Anyway I hope that every fan is happy with what he is doing here. It will be very very special in Atlanta in a few years!!

This kid has some serious impressive credentials. He fits the mold that Billy Knight is trying to build. Big body and large wingspan and still growing already at 6'10". I think he makes this team if he has a good showing in the Summer League. This is why I don't want to overspend in FA. See what you have on the court first and then go from there.