TheNorthCydeRises

LOL @ talking about the Houston GM. People sure do have short memories around here Morey is simply doing what every GM of a mediocre to bad team will do . . take a risk on talented players. And if you have to overpay to bring them in, so be it. Houston is a city used to rooting for playoff level type teams, even if they got bounced out early. So when you miss the playoffs for 3 consecutive years, and your rebuilding plan can't land you one of those MAX free agents . . and the NBA itself nixed a deal that could've brought Pau Gasol in . . you simply do what you have to do, to make yourself relevant again.Lin represents the type of financial boon that Yao Ming brought to the Rockets. Lin's ethnicity makes him extremely marketable to the Asian market overseas. And Harden is one of the best young players in the league.We'll see at the end of the year who wins GM of the Year. If Morey's moves pay off, and the Rockets make the playoffs as a 6th or higher seed, he'd have to be in the running to win the award.

So is Gearon not allowed to speak anymore, after that Kevin Garnett diss?Bruce does seem a little more level headed though. Gearon is too much like us, with his fan emotions . . lol.

Why would he want to go to Dallas if he wants to win a championship? He has much better present and future players around him in LA than he would in Dallas. And how do the Hawks convince 2 superstar players to leave the #2 media market when both of those teams are good? What is Ferry's sales pitch to these two guys going to be, when Dwight can play at least 2 years with Kobe and Nash and then become the face of one of the league's stored franchises ..... And Paul who plays with the league's most exciting dunker, and will get the credit if he can turn Blake into a superstar? Seeing that both players can and will get far more exposure in LA compared to ATL, that's asking a lot from Ferry to pull this off.

Oh damn. Now who on the Hawks is going to guard Harden? Smith can't guard everybody. So does Deshawn start opening night now?

Thunder just proved that they don't want to do everything it takes to be a champion.I think Jeremy Lamb will surprise a lot of people though. But for a team that was already weak defensively, they just got a hell of a lot weaker. I'm sure Durant isn't happy about this at all.But that's a big time power move by the Rockets. They're betting that they just traded for a potential superstar. That's how you do things folks. You don't Hold onto pieces for dear life, if you have an opportunity to get an impact player. Now the pressure is off Lin to be a star, and he can simply feed Harden the ball.Speaking of Harden, I'm saying right now that he averages 24+ ppg.Damn. So now the Hawks won't get Dwight, Paul, Bynum, and Harden in the offseason.

Let's see. Win a few less games to see if young players could possibly outperform their worth in the future ..... Or play mediocre veteran players in which you know exactly what you're getting, includingno development from them. That's a no brainer. I'd much rather watch a 37 win Hawks team with Jenkins, Ivan, Benson, James, and Scott trying to develop their games ..... Instead of watching a 42 win team consisting of Tolliver, Stevenson, Petro, and Morrow trying to just hang onto any team that will pay them to simply fill a roster spot. The Hawks have no shot at developing raw young talent, if washed up or almost washed up players take minutes from them. It's a reason almost none of the vet minimum guys we acquire every year, aren't re-signed.

This is called "hating". You know that, right?

OK Maybe the next question is why would he want to leave the Clipper team to join the Hawks? Can you name 2 reasons why?

LOLIf that Clipper team played in ATL, their popularity would be at or greater than the Falcons.Best PG in the league ( Paul )Most exciting dunker in the league ( Griffin )Well respected vets ( Billups and Grant Hill )ATL's former favorite gunner ( Jamal Crawford )Decent young players ( Jordan and Bledsoe )Even if that Clipper team isn't championship material, people in ATL would break their neck to watch that team.So Paul is going to leave Blake Griffin to play with Josh Smith and/or Al Horford?Come on maaaaaaan.

Add to that 3 PGs in which all 3 may play some SG at some point in games. This team could very well be a more efficient offensive team, and be much worse off than year's past, because we can't stop anybody or rebound the basketball. I guess that's how Ferry and Drew like it though. Let's score 112 ppg, and hope we hold our opponent to 110 ppg.

JayBird . . we could've easily cut any of those New Jersey guys, or bought them out, just like we did Jordan Farmar. But just look at Ferry's moves since the JJ trade. - We trade Marvin for Devin Harris . . a good trade - Then we bring in Lou Williams . . a good signing, except now we have 3 PGs on the team now that we pretty much have to play . . and might have to play 2 of those guys alongside each other for significant stretches. - We sign Kyle Korver using the trade exception from JJ . . a good signing, although this pretty much makes Anthony Morrow moot. - Despite already having Mike Scott and Ivan as the backup PF, we bring in a guy who is essentially the "Black Vladimir Radmanovic" ( as an AJC blogger called him ), in Anthony Tolliver . . and he makes the team. - we cut Keith Benson, despite him being more offensively talented than even Zaza - we cut Damion James, who proved that he can decently defend SFs and rebound at a very high rate, unlike our other SFs - and poor John Jenkins, our #1 pick. Will he even see the floor this year with all of these PGs and SGs we have on this team? Some of you guys want to erect statues of Ferry out in front of Philips, but he's built a team so out of balance, it's pitiful. I just hope the Golden State East squad he's assembled here is mildly successful, and doesn't blow up in his face. Ferry's true worth as a GM will come next summer, when he has those "cap space jerseys" to pass out to potential prospects.

You guys keep singing the praises of Ferry. So why do you want him to upgrade certain positions, when he's brought in the people that he wanted at those positions?A trade isn't coming, until it's determined that we're good enough to elevate our playoff status . . or not good enough to make the playoffs.Ferry is perfectly content with guys like Deshawn Stevenson, Johan Petro and Anthony Tolliver on the team. And we all know what Larry Drew is about. Offense > Defense > Rebounding.

So that means that Harden becomes the 3rd best SG in the league and a perennial All-Star? Some of you aren't even talking right, when it comes to this issue. You diss JJ like he was just an also-ran, when even Kobe couldn't come close to sniffing a NBA Finals appearance without at least a very good to dominant big man playing beside him. Kevin Garnett lost tons of series in the 1st round, before he got Cassell and Spreewell ( two all-star caliber or borderline all-star caliber players at the time. ) Ray Allen reached one EC Finals, and he arguably wasn't the best guy on the team then. ( also had Cassell on that tem ) Lebron needed to leave Cleveland and pair up with another superstar and an all-star caliber player, in order to win his championship. Dwight Howard has left Orlando in order to win his championship. Deron Williams played in one WC Finals, but crashed and burned most of the time in the playoffs But James Harden can't possibly be on the level of those other guys, because he played with 2 other offensive threats? This, despite Harden creating the vast majority of his offense via isolation, and can knock down threes, and can get to the FT line? Man please. Harden would have no problem averaging 21 - 26 ppg, if he was main guy. And if somebody was acquired that was better, he'd be a great 1A option as a scorer.

So we do nothing? Because you know that the 2 guys who are already established superstars ( Howard and Paul ) aren't coming here.And it's not about strictly building AROUND Harden. It's about acquiring the best talent possible. Who says that Harden will end up being the best guy on the team in 2 - 3 years? And who is to say that Harden won't elevate his game without Durant and Westbrook? I don't agree with MaceCase much, but he's dead on the money when he says that Harden could blossom much like Tracy McGrady did, when he left Toronto and got out from under the shadow of Vince Carter.So we don't pay Josh a MAX contract to keep him here. We don't pay Harden a MAX contract to bring him here. We surround Horford with journeymen type players, with only 3 years left on his contract. At that point, we may as well sell off Horford too, be bad for 2 - 4 years, and hope the team is good by 2017.It may all be a moot point anyway though.http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-extending-the-2009-draft-class/And keep this in mind about the Hawks. Joe Johnson was VERY GOOD in those first 2 years here . . with basically no one playing beside him. Josh was a good player defensively, but still learning his way offensively. Marvin was simply a solid player. Heck, in those days, we were depending on Tyronn Lue to be a 2nd scorer to JJ.Everybody knows the Hawks messed up 2 consecutive drafts in 2005 and 2006. At the minimum, our "core" for 7 years could've been Paul - JJ - Smith. And we can only speculate how good a guy like Paul could've made not only JJ, but Josh Smith.

That was a good interview. I caught most of that replay ( thank God for tunein.com on my smartphone ).The way Josh was taking, the Hawks were "cool" with each other, but they weren't "tight" with each other. Almost like co-workers who you converse with and do business on a daily basis, but don't go out and bond with each other after hours.Josh is saying all the right things, and I'm glad someone in the Hawks PR department has finally realized that having these players be as visible as possible, can only help the Hawks change their perception in that city.Interesting that in the convo afterwards, Jamie Dukes compared JJ to Cowboy D-Lineman Demarcus Ware. He called Demarcus a top 10 talent ( which JJ isn't that, but very good ). But he said that while Demarcus may have been one of the most talented Cowboys on the team, he wasn't the leader of the team. Then both he and Bob Neal both go on to talk about how some teams need multiple captains because certain guys on the team may gravitate toward a certain type of personality. One guy may be a captain because he's so good that his "game" has to have him as the captain. But the "crazy guy" as they called it, may also be a captain, because he may have guys on the team that can relate more to him.Maybe that was the thought process behind naming 3 of these guys the captain. Joe was the leader by example. Horford was the cerebral leader. Josh was the emotional leader. Now, we need Horford and Josh to be all 3 types of leaders.

Harden is definitely the guy to take a chance on. People can throw out catch phrases like "Batman" or "Robin" all they want. But the true key to all of this is to be able to properly identify the guys who can ball at a high level, and those who can't. Harden had a bad NBA Finals. But up until that series, that dude was damn good in his role. The main thing is that Harden has an All-Star skillset. The only thing left with him is to see if he has a superstar mindset. - He doesn't need people to set him up to score the basketball - He can pass the basketball and set up other people - When people DO set him up, he can knock down open jumpers at a high rate - He can get to the FT line as well as most 2 guards in the league From an offensive standpoint, he has a superstar-esque type of game. The only thing left is for he to prove that he can be the #1 guy. And the only way he can do that, is to leave the Thunder. And even then, it's still up to management to look for guys BETTER than him if possible . . or not be afraid to trade away good players around him, for a better talent(s). James Harden isn't Ben Gordon.

Thank you GM. I think people here have it all wrong. You are going to HAVE to pay SOMEBODY. Even the guys who are making 8 - 10 million may be overpaid ( see Marvin Williams ), but still may have to be on the team. The reason the Hawks got into the situation they did, was because they did overpay guys to stay. They overpaid JJ. Honestly, Al Horford isn't exactly what a 12 million dollar a year player should be either. You can even make a case that Smith making 13.2 million this year, is overpaid. So I guess guys here would rather see a team full of 6 - 7 million dollar mediocre players, and be . . . mediocre . . . than to overpay one or two real good players who can actually win games, and maybe be good to borderline great. From top to bottom, Denver probably has the best collection of talent out of everybody. But here's what those guys are making: Iguodala - 14.7 million McGee - 10 million Gallanari - 9.4 million Chandler - 5.9 million Miller - 5 million Brewer - 3.2 million Koufos - 3 million Mozgov - 2.8 million Lawson - 2.5 million . . will be a restricted free agent ( RFA ) next season, and will get PAID Randolph - 1.7 million Fournier - 1.4 million Faried - 1.4 million . . and is far outplaying his worth already Hamilton - 1.2 million So if you're the Denver Nuggets . . and you know that Ty Lawson is up for a big time pay jump next year . . are you supposed to just let another team take him away from you, just because YOU as an organization think he isn't worth close to a MAX deal? Lawson is exactly one of those guys I'm talking about. He has the type of game that could possibly make him an elite level PG, worthy of being paid like Chris Paul or Deron Williams. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F0eknSMb3g The same goes for Harden, and Bynum, and possibly even Stephen Curry. All 4 of those guys could be legit All-Star talents within the next 3 years. Bynum went from a guy that had Laker fans doubting if he'd ever get to the next level, to a guy who shows flashes of being a superstar ( even if he doesn't have superstar type maturity or durability right now ). So Hawk fans, in their apprehension to not overpay somebody, wouldn't pay big bucks to a guy who could easily be an All-Star and possible superstar? Do you want to surround Horford with a bunch of 5 mill a year guys? People need to understand this about our future. Either we need to be so bad, that we can get a top 3 lottery pick that might show superstar like game from Day 1 ( see Kyrie Irving ). Or we need to acquire enough good talent, in order to make that big trade one day for an established, but disgruntled superstar ( see the Carmelo for the Knicks young talent ). Chris Paul ain't banging on the Philips Arena door, saying . . . "Let me in. I want to play in ATL." Dwight Howard isn't going to do the same either.

East Rankings according to that dude1) Miami . . . ( #1 overall )2) Boston . . . ( #4 )3) Brooklyn . . . ( #8 )4) Indiana . . . ( #9 )5) Philadelphia . . . ( #10 )6) NY Knicks . . . ( #11 )7) Chicago . . . ( #13 )8) Atlanta . . . ( #15 )I think somebody values the East a little too much. No way the East has 6 of the top 11 teams in the league. Memphis could easily be the #3 team in the East

I read Sothron's reply to Gray Mule in that other thread, and I agree with Soth on this point. You do need that superstar on your team to contend for a championship. But Gray also has a valid point that can't be overlooked. Superstars have never WILLINGLY wanted to come to ATL. Changing a GM isn't going to change that fact. The entire environment in ATL, from management to fans, may have to change in order to land an already established star.So that leads me to the title of the thread.Who are the future MAX level type players the Hawks should target?Who are the guys in the league right now, that if given the chance to be the #1 guy in ATL, can blossom into a superstar?

Now is this post pessimism . . or realism? I say it's realism.

Predictions:- JJ will lead the Nets in scoring ( 21 ppg )- Marvin will shoot 47% FG and 40% 3FG- Jamal Crawford will have a monster November, then tail off dramatically- Jordan Crawford will show that he's a better PG than SG, with Wall ailing- Jason Collins will win 3 games for Boston via his post defense- Mo Evans will sign with the Lakers . . . in December- Mike Bibby will sign an unguaranteed deal with a team in about 2 weeks

Now, this is the potential list of players that both Horford and Smith have to go up againstYou know the fans will vote in- Lebron- Melo- BynumDepending on how many guards are taken, here are the candidates for the remaining 3 to 4 slots, regardless of frontcourt position- Smith- Horford- Bosh- Garnett- Pierce- Granger- Hibbert- Noah- Deng- Chandler- StoudemireWe all know the deck was stacked against Smith at PF. But now with then entire frontcourt being consolidated, it just got stacked against Horford. While the reserves in All-Star games have never been required to fill specific positions, coaches usually chose the 2nd team in that fashion, while filling the last two spots with "worthy" candidates.Now, coaches don't necessarily have to seek to place that 2nd true center on the squad. They can opt to go with Granger, Pierce, Bosh, and Deng, and just let Bosh be the backup center.This may be the death of All-Star AL.

NBA to change All-Star ballot, eliminating center By David Aldridge, TNT Analyst Posted Oct 23, 2012 10:23 PM - Updated Oct 23, 2012 11:31 PM The NBA is finally doing something about the Duncan Dilemma. The league will announce Wednesday a change to its All-Star ballot that will, for the first time, allow fans to vote for three undefined "frontcourt" players instead of having to vote for two forwards and a center. With more and more teams playing smaller than in the past, the definition of "center" was becoming increasingly difficult -- not to mention finding enough quality big men for whom to vote. More on this story via this link http://www.nba.com/2012/news/10/23/all-star-centers-ballot/index.html

People will accept whatever this season brings, because if we're sorry, they'll be happy with a lottery pick. If we're good enough to win 50 games, they'll be happy with that too, even if the ceiling of team's past was around the 50 win mark.The vast majority of fans know we can't get to the EC Finals with this squad, which was at least the goal of the past 3 Hawks teams. But that's OK now. Even missing the playoffs is OK.The season will be successful, regardless of the outcome of the season.

So instead of losing 99 - 92 to good teams . . . we'll lose 109 - 102 to good teams. I guess that's the excitement people want I guess.