TheNorthCydeRises

Honestly Dol, I'd trade that entire lot of players for JJ. Of that group, only Korver is giving us positive results. Give me JJ .. Select Tim Hardaway Jr instead of Bebe .. and keep Ivan .. to add with Horford, Millsap, Teague, and Carroll.. and we'd be better off with that squad than the one we have now.

Halloween night vs the Wizards.

I consistently talk about the GM building the best team possible. In my eyes, he's not even coming close to doing that. My idea of "better" is being able to consistently challenge and beat teams who are at or above our level. To do that, we need talent at multiple positions on the court. And not mediocre or one dimensional talent. We need very good talent. And we need to be able to play multiple ways. We just can't run and gun our way to playoff success. We need to be able to do a variety of things in order to be a very good team. While you focus on fifty wins as simply as a number, I say that fifty wins is a clear indication that you may be one or two players away from being a legit contender. The 2010 Hawks was a team that relied on their best players to get it done. They didn't have much of a bench, outside of Jamal, but their starting unit was one of the top 10 in the league that year. What they didn't have, was a guy who could slow down a certain center, or at least make that center work defensively in the post. Of course I'm talking about Dwight Howard, and the lack of a big man who could really make him work. As good as Horford was becoming, he was not the type of big that could really stop or make Dwight work. Playoffs are mainly about matchups. And we matched up horribly with 2010 Orlando because we couldn't guard or make Dwight work. And when we tried to double him, their shooters made us pay dearly. And on our offensive end, the Hawks were reduced to taking jumper after jumper, because no one on the team dared to challenge Howard in the paint. Here's your problem Mace. You have bought hook, line, and sinker into this "culture" talk. That the Hawks can get close to the promised land by not only being fiscally responsible, but by also finding "diamonds in the rough" that Bud can mold into very good players. And the GM has convinced most of you that if we can't get that franchise changing talent, that it is best for the Hawks to be "flexible", until we get that talent. You know what that equals? LOWER LEVEL MEDIOCRITY Your disdain for a player like Al Jefferson really shows that you care more about the money that he makes, and not the balance that he may bring to a team to really help it. You've said that he's not overpaid at 13 million a year. And the reason for that is that you KNOW that he does things that most big men in this league can't do . . and that's score in the post at a high level, and rebound at a high level. My entire reasoning behind bringing a talent like Jefferson here, was to give the Hawks a different type of scoring option to team with all of the jumpshooters we have on the team, which includes Mr. Horford. And that would truly balance the Hawks attack on offense. When you don't have an elite player, the only way to beat elite teams is to attack them at all areas of the court. Jacking up 30+ threes in the playoffs isn't going to get it done. I want the GM to balance this team out with the best talent he can get . . period.

Actually it will be 12 of the last 16 after this year's Finals, between Kobe, Duncan, and Lebron * Dirk * Garnett/Pierce * Billups * Wade/Shaq . . . were the other top players during that time span that won titles.

Nah . . . about 2 or 3 less per game. We were averaging almost 24 three attempts per game before he went down. After he went down, we were a little above 26 attempts per game.

That's incredible . . but ultimately true.

Brooklyn had the best record in the East after January 1st . . with Garnett hurt and with Deron playing schizophrenic. How you rank them below us, with them getting Lopez back, is interesting. Bulls get Rose back. And if . . BIG IF . . he stays healthy, you almost have to put them ahead of us. LOL . . and where are the Pacers? Yeah, they may be a mentally weak team, but they may have the 2nd best player in the East in Paul George. They'll be in the mix next year, no doubt. Raptors were a nice young team last year. Like us, they need another dynamic player to pair with Lowry and DeRozan . . preferably a big time rebounding big man. Truth is, the Hawks either need Horford, Millsap, or Teague to turn into a borderline superstar . . or we need to add another significant player to this roster that could be our 3rd best player, for the Hawks to crack into the top 4 next season.

Because not every team has guards who can get anywhere they want on the floor, plus a center . . err PF . . who can pretty much get any shot he wants inside of 16 feet, and make those shots 1/2 of the time . . and even step out and make 20 foot jumpers.

We were 3rd in the East with half of the East hurt, and with us playing a bottom 6 schedule in the NBA at that time. I mean, if we're going to use the "injury excuse", then you have to also acknowledge that the rest of the East, especially at the top tier, were hurting too with key players out.

What does that mean?

I'm just being real. It's YOU and others who want to erect a statue outside of Philips for getting rid of JJ, even if that has currently resulted in the Hawks going 82 - 82 the past 2 seasons, with two 1st round losses. It's YOU and others who believe that the Hawks are in a position of strength compared to the rest of the NBA teams, even if we finished 4th in our own division this year. It's YOU and others who have given the GM a pass for his draft selections. And it's going to be YOU and others who will give Little League claps to the GM if we come out of this offseason with minimalistic free agent signings, to protect our "flexibility" for the future. When you trade a then 6 time All Star, you either need to get the best deal possible you can get . . . or you need to use the money that is purged from the team's roster to create the best team possible. The GM is 0 for 2 in my eyes. You go ahead and celebrate his "accomplishments" though. When he does something that leads to this team becoming better, I'll give him props.

. . . . and Zaza at five million.

Close . . . but you can add the fact that one of the main reasons why we gave Lou Williams a MLE deal of 4 yrs - 20 million is because of the JJ trade. A player that people now want to give away for a 2nd round pick. So you can say the JJ trade prompted our beloved GM to add these players: Korver - via trade exception Bebe Moose Swapped Pick next offseason . . . maybe 2nd round pick in 2017 PLUS Williams - a MLE level deal to compensate for the loss of JJ's scoring Cap Relief . . which means nothing if you're afraid to use it on a player. yea . . . . . let's everybody have a parade in front of Philips. Or better yet, let's call up Mickey Mouse and his friends to do the Nae Nae for this outstanding trade.

Nope. If Lebron joining us means that we'd have a legit shot to win a NBA title, I'd welcome him with open arms. The history of the league shows that championships revolve around the greatest players in the game. To put in in perspective, Kobe, Lebron, and Duncan have won 11 of the last 14 NBA championships, with this year going to be number 12.

To play all of these kids, we need to get rid of some of the people who are probably not going to develop any further. Mr Antić . . . thank you for your good 16 games of play, but your services are no longer needed.

The problem with Lou is that he's the size of a PG. Manu is the size of a SG/SF. To play Lou, we have to go extremely small in the backcourt, with Lou or Teague or Mack trying to guard a SG. If he's just an average size spot up shooting SG, that's fine. If he's a slashing SG that is bigger, that's a problem. If you want a Manu type of SG on this team, the guy that everybody hates is the answer . . . Lance Stephenson

"We like our core" ** Rick Sund **

So the injury to Jefferson in the 2nd quarter of Game 1 had nothing to do with how successful or unsuccessful the Cats were vs the eventual 3x World Champs? My thing is that Hawks fans are acting like we're in the catbird seat or something. Like we are unquestionably a top 3 seed in the East when Horford comes back. No we're not. Not without significant upgrades to this lineup. Rose is coming back for Chicago + they have some money to add a significant free agent. Lopez is coming back for Brooklyn. Washington and Toronto are both young teams that passed us this year. So how are the Hawks OK, if we don't look to add significant talent to this roster? I'll leave this alone though, and let you guys comment the rest of the way. We have a lot of work to do as a franchise, to even be considered as a contender.

Which would give us a top 4 lottery pick. That would definitely be following the Spurs model. Get a top 4 pick, possibly the #1 pick . . and also have the ability to bring back your top 2 players to team with him.

Teague gets my vote, because if he does become more consistent, that will help the team immensely. I wanted to vote Dennis, but I don't know if he'll get enough minutes to really improve off of what he did last year. If they're not willing to get rid of Mack, Dennis will have to flat out outplay Shelvin to get the backup PG spot. It also doesn't help that Lou is still on the team and we'll have Jenkins coming back as a backup SG spot. We have a lot of young guys on the team who should either be given minutes to have them develop . . or have to battle veterans just for them to get a few minutes.

I guess I'm getting old, because I don't like some of that goofyiness coming from our Twitter account either. Having said that, I'm a advertising/marketing guy. If by doing what he's doing expands the reach of the fan base, then I guess it is good for the team. But for the most part, I'm not a fan of some of the things that they do. The Lance Stephenson blowing out Al's birthday candles was good though, I have to admit that. And for the most part, the account is OK with some of the content and knowledge that they give to the fans.

To me, it was a moderate risk - high reward type of deal. A moderate risk in the fact that Jefferson and Horford would eat up 24 - 27 million of our payroll. At worst, we'd only see moderate team improvement with those two playing together . . which is what most people believed would happen. At best, they become the best frontline duo in the league, with their ability to score and rebound the basketball. And in the East, that would give us a very good shot at being a top 3 seed in this conference.

- Flexibility? How's this for "flexibility" - Jefferson only has 2 more years left on his deal, and he can opt out at the end of next season, which he probably should do to get that last big money extension/contract of his career. - They only have 8 guaranteed contracts right now totaling 44 million. - They can add a significant free agent if they want to - AND . . they have a freakin' LOTTERY PICK . . that they can keep, or use to trade down to get multiple 1st round picks, giving them 3 picks in the 1st round. Why do our fans act like we're in such a better position than other teams? And "flexibility" means nothing, if you're not willing to spend money to bring in players that can help you. If we're consistently under the cap the next 3 - 4 years, two things have happened: - None of our 1st round picks have developed to the point that they can command more money on their 2nd contracts - One or two of our top 3 players has left the team, and we got nothing for them leaving . . but cap space and "flexibility". WOW @ holding that injury over Jefferson's head, when Horford has been hurt in 2 of the last 3 years we've needed him in the playoffs. Injuries happen. Ask Chicago. Charlotte can do anything we can do, plus add a lottery pick to their team.

You are also a big proponent of Horford being even as good as Karl Malone, if we had a dynamic PG who could really get him the ball in the right spots. Do you know what Malone always complained about? Not having a dominant center to play alongside. He came into the league playing with a pure defensive All-Star center in Mark Eaton. Once Eaton retired, these were his starting centers: - Felton Spencer - James Donaldson - Greg Oestertag - Greg Foster - Olden Polynice - Jarron Collins ( the other Collins Twin ) I mean look at that list. A halfway decent big man was one of the things preventing Utah coming out of the West for most of the 90s. And it definitely prevented them from winning a title. Now Horford has played center most of his entire time in Atlanta. And the best center he played with was Zaza Pachulia. Freakin' Zaza. So we get a chance to finally put a high quality dude at center, and give Horford the opportunity to see if he can flourish at his natural PF position . . and we basically said no . . you are our center . . deal with it. We'll give you a high quality PF to play with . . [ Smith and Millsap ] . . but we will not allow you to play alongside a decent center so that you can play PF. When we DO decide to play you spot minutes at PF, you have to play alongside these guys: - Zaza Pachulia - Lorenzen Wright . . RIP - Jason Collins - Johan Petro - Elton Brand Its really sad