TheNorthCydeRises

So here's the test to this thread. Would you trade Al Horford, Kyle Korver, and a 1st round pick .... for Russell Westbrook?

Looking back on things, maybe the Red, White, and Blue color change was a attempt to gather in the patriotic, White male demographic. Kinda like how someone on here pointed out how the changed the brown basketball that the Hawk clutches ... to a Confederate Gray basketball. Or maybe they wanted to be like the Braves. I like the current color scheme, but it wouldn't bother me one bit if they returned to that Hulk Hogan red and yellow scheme. Just come up with a better uniform and lettering/font design, and it would work.

If the worse case scenario happened, and the Hawks moved, I would still be a fan ... but become more physically involved with the Grizzlies. But my offer still stands ... move the Nashville Predators to ATL ... and give Nashville the Hawks. Save me some gas money.

The WLOC era isn't over. The current .. err .. exiled GM is doing the exact same thing.

Wretch has been on FIRE all year with his posts. Excellent analysis of our situation.

What I take from that brief interview is that Nique wants to align with Atlanta ownership ... which means that Gearon may not be going anywhere. While all of us believe that Gearon should be gone, the fan base may have to accept the fact that he may survive all of this. He has the support of the city leaders, and possibly Dominique himself.

Couldn't disagree more. As an owner, bringing in Nique to talk to a potential free agent could be the difference between the guy taking a serious look at joining the Hawks ... or not even giving us a chance.

I think this is what you're talking about . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbrrAjVm1lw I was surprised when he told the story of how he found out about the trade, because I always thought the story was that right before the trade deadline, he took off in his car and started driving, not wanting to hear the news about a possible trade. Then he heard about the trade. Maybe that drive happened AFTER he got the call about him being traded. And by that clip, Nique indicated that Gearon Sr came to his house ( probably right after the trade happened ). One of the things I've said about this saga, is to not be surprised if Nique and Gearon Jr are the ones who ally with each other. Like it or not, Gearon Jr has been around this team all of his life, and Nique probably talks to, and trust Gearon Jr more than he did the "outsiders". If Gearon's voice on how the Hawks were operating were diminished, the assumption could be made that Nique's voice was diminished as well. And if Ferry was indeed difficult to work with, I can see how the Atlanta people could possibly turn on him. Even with the arrival of Koonin, he didn't hesitate to launch an investigation on Ferry, when made aware of his comments. Ferry and Levenson dug their own graves, but maybe the Atlanta guys simply pushed them into the grave. And while the fan base wants to make Gearon Jr the "sole villian", it simply may have been a move to eradicate someone who they thought wasn't operating in the best interest of themselves . . . and maybe of Atlanta in general. If Nique and Gearon Jr team up with someone else to become the majority controlling block of the team, the speculation will begin.

We're turning the corner like an old car without power steering. But yes, I think it's happening. Check back after the Florida game.

I would add Deron Sanders to that list as well.

I was listening to NBA Radio on Sirius during lunch, and they had Mark Stein on there. Surprisingly, they spent about 5 minutes talking about the Hawks. Stein admitted that he has a soft spot for Atlanta and specifically Dominique, because some of his first exposure to the NBA was by watching the Hawks on cable TV ( TBS ). His first job as an NBA beat writer was with the Clippers. After only a week on the job, the Clippers traded Manning for Nique, and he got to cover one of his sports idols for a little while. And Nique was no slouch with the Clippers. He said all that while the hosts of the show was talking bout the ownership situation and why fans don't show up at Hawks games. Stein correctly stated if the Hawks had a charismatic player that could also ball, the fans would come out to see him and the Hawks. He cited how it's really only been Nique and Michael Vick that has fit that description in Atlanta. He stated that those guys style of play enticed the people of Atlanta to come out and watch them and the team. It makes you think that maybe ownership has this all wrong. If we're not going to seriously compete for championships, maybe the goal should be to put an exciting team on the floor and hope they gel. As crazy as it sounds, maybe the fan base would respond better to more showman type players on the team. Instead of constructing a "robot personality" team, maybe what would sell in ATL are a bunch of Nick Young, Nate Robinson, Kenneth Faried personalities out on the court. Mike Scott is maybe the only guy on this current squad with an infectious personality.

Excellent point. Add to the fact that even after he retired, he didn't leave the area or the franchise, it just cements his.legacy in the city even more ... even if he wasn't a champion out on the court. I guess this guy would be against the Detroit Lions erecting a statue for Barry Sanders then.

I think people are overrating Baze and Thabo.

Because they're always right?

I think that press conference indicates that Gearon has a lot more pull with local civic leaders and business people, than Hawk fans can imagine. He could easily sell them on the fact that the Washington guys are "Atlanta outsiders" who don't operate in the best interest of the city. A little more sinister is this. The new owner could form an alliance with Gearon.

And that's the other thing that will expose him. Not locking up Millsap to a longer term deal may have seemed like a smart move. In the long run though, it's going to cost him even more money, if he re-signs. Millsap being signed to a 3 yr - 27 million or a 4 yr - 40 million deal, would look damn good right now. Instead, there's no telling what Sap's asking price will be next summer. He could easily demand 12 mill a year, if he has a similar season this year, like he had last year. He might even have to overpay Millsap ... ((( gasp )))

Ferry improved our flexibility by getting us under the salary cap. Problem is that he's only landed one significant free agent ( Millsap ) and hasn't made a single trade to bring in a significant player. So what good is being "flexible" if you're not willing to spend money to upgrade the talent .. or trade some good pieces to get a better piece? BK made a mid season trade to get Bibby. Even Sund made a trade to get Jamal. Ferry traded for Antwan Jamison ... then cut him for cash .. and did the same thing essentially with John Salmoms. So when does "flexibility" actually turn into a player that can really help us?

I'm a Bud supporter, but he's definitely behind Lenny and Fratello right now. And Drew can always say that he never had a losing season as Hawks coach. And a correction Diesel ... The Hawks went 40 - 26 the year Horford went down under Drew ... not 40 - 42. That was the strike year. What's even more impressive is that the Hawks went 33 - 22 after Horford went down that year. The Hawks this season went 22 - 31 after we lost Horford. And people routinely forget that our beloved "on hiatus" GM did absolutely nothing to bring in a player to compensate for the loss of Horford.

Knight was the only GM that had a legit shot to build a title team. Not selecting Paul will always taint his legacy. Sheldon being a bust doesn't help him either. But Knight either drafted or traded for 3 of the best players in Atlanta Hawks history ... within a 4 year span. Joe Johnson was arguably the best 2 guard in franchise history. Josh Smith was arguably the 2nd or 3rd best PF in franchise history ( depending what you classify Bob Pettit as ) And Al Horford is arguably the 2nd or 3rd best center in franchise history ( depending what you classify Bob Pettit as ) As far as Ferry goes, people praise him like he's done something groundbreaking. He's done nothing yet to move us out of mediocrity. He's not even a top 3 GM in our own division.

My mother almost gave me the middle name of Diablo. That's foul as hell that she almost named me after the devil.

The more I think about it, I want an ownership group that has Magic Johnson as a majority owner. He has enough basketball knowledge to hire the right people in the front office to run the team.

I think the way the Hawks handled Jeff Teague is a perfect example of how he operates. Let Teague tell it, Ferry had no contact whatsoever with him. No contract negotiations. No new offers. No telling him to "find his own deal". Nothing. Then when Milwaukee gives him an offer sheet, Teague flat out said that he hopes the Hawks don't match it and told Ferry that he was ready to move on. He even said that Ferry really didn't build a relationship with him. Ferry finally matches the offer on Day 3 .. late in day 3.

Ferry's main free agent signings . . ( excluding guys who were re-signed by the team ) - Lou Williams - Shelvin Mack - Paul Millsap - DeMarre Carroll - Pero Antić - Elton Brand - Thabo Sefolosha - Kent Bazemore ( who still isn't officially signed yet ) Korver was acquired via a trade exception. Starters are in Bold That's what people are celebrating folks.

The fans were absolutely convinced that JJ was an untradeable contract. The problem with that thought, was that JJ, while not a top 10 player, was easily still a top 25 player in the league. That meant if a team wanted to shake up things on the court, or add a name player to sell a few tickets, a JJ trade could've been made. When he traded him right away for those scrubs, and got virtually nothing back in return, I knew we were going to be in trouble for the near future. But the fan base was so giddy that Ferry traded both JJ and Marvin within a week, that they were ready to erect a statue of him outside of Philips. People have always scoffed at this notion, but I always believed that a team like the Lakers would be in play for JJ's services before his contract was up. And when all of that drama was going down between D'Antoni, Howard, and Gasol, THAT would've been the perfect time to approach LA about a JJ for Pau Gasol trade. And regardless of what people say around here, I think the Lakers would've listened . . and listened HARD to that. Like you say Diesel and Wretch, he basically made a deal with a childhood friend who was desperate to re-sign Deron, since he was losing in the Dwight Howard chase. King had to do SOMETHING to sell a bad Nets fan base to the Brooklyn audience. JJ was the piece used to lure Deron back to Brooklyn.

Should've done that last summer with Al Jefferson. Maybe Marc Gasol will come here next summer. At least that's what the GM will sell folks on. "Let's let Millsap walk, so that we can have the cap space to sign Marc. And when Marc doesn't sign here, let's blame it on players just not wanting to play here ... because of the 70% Black crowd that scares off White people."