TheNorthCydeRises

The decision Josh will make at the end of the season will be strictly business. It won't have anything to do with betrayal or anything like that. Remember, this is the same organization that told Josh to go out and find the best deal possible, instead of offering him a contract themselves. That was the Hawks doing "business". So when Josh turns down an extension in October ( if he gets one from the Hawks ), because he could possibly make much more money, it will simply be a business decision.

He DID outplay Jamal though last year. And had a decent stretch ( for him ) in February and March. Like I said, if the kid lays off the 3-ball, he'd be a much better player.

Watching Jordan last year was like watching an old roller coaster. One of those coasters on a wooden frame that creaks all the time, but is thrilling nonetheless. Only a little gain as a player, with Jamal like shot selection.Like a lot of gunners, if Jordan just laid off of the 3 point shot, he'd be a much more efficient player. He shot an above average 42% on shots 16 - 23 ft, but only 29% from three. Like Jamal, he has enough ball handling skill to pretty much get anywhere he wants. But like his "foster cousin", he falls in love with a 3 point shot he's not good at shooting.The legacy of the Jordan C. for Hinrich trade may not be Jordan . . . but it may be the 18th pick in the 1st round we gave the Wiz. They chose Chris Singleton with that selection. But you know who else was on the board? Now imagine THAT GUY on the Hawks, with the team we've assembled at the backup PF. And we'd still have Jordan C as the gunner at the 2. Actually, when Horford went down, this would've been our squad LAST YEARPG - Teague - PargoG - Johnson - JordanF - Marvin - McGradyPF - Smith - FariedC - Zaza - IvanThere would be no need for Ivan, with Faried here. But if Ivan was still added to the team . . talk about the amount of "energy" you could bring in a ballgame with Jordan, Faried, and Ivan. Even on the current team, maybe the Hawks pass on drafting John Jenkins, and draft Jeff Taylor, if Jordan and Faried were here. Here would be your 2012 - 13 HawksPG - Teague - WilliamsG - Harris - JordanF - Morrow - TaylorPF - Smith- FariedC - Horford - ZazaJordan, Faried, and Taylor would be a very young and energetic group to bring in a game. Add Lou Williams and Zaza to that trio, and you'd have a very good bench to roll with.I'll say that Jordan's days are numbered in Washington. They've brought in both Nick Young and Bradley Beal, so that will definitely take shots away from the kid. Might as well ship him to Orlando.

Highly doubtful? We're talking about the possibility of Josh getting a MAX contract from somebody and having the ability to even force the Hawks to pay him that extra 5th year. There's a big difference between an Ibaka 4 yr - 51 mill . . . and a potential 5 yr - 80 mill deal for Josh. And there's no way that Josh can have an All-Star caliber season unless he's putting up right at, or a little bit over what he did last year. I mean . . . unless he's gotten a promise already from Ferry, that he'll be "taken care of", which is what I think the ASG did for JJ back in 2010. That's why JJ wasn't concerned about him getting a big money contract, even after he played horribly in that Orlando playoff series.

Here were the Top 20 in TS% last season 1. Tyson Chandler-NYK .708 2. James Harden-OKC .660 3. Tiago Splitter-SAS .649 4. Brandon Rush-GSW .628 5. Steve Nash-PHO .625 6. Kevin Durant-OKC .610 7. Nikola Pekovic-MIN .607 8. Ray Allen-BOS .607 9. LeBron James-MIA .605 10. Kyle Korver-CHI .600 11. Mike Dunleavy-MIL .597 12. Andrew Bynum-LAL .594 13. Ryan Anderson-ORL .589 14. Arron Afflalo-DEN .584 15. Chris Paul-LAC .581 16. Ty Lawson-DEN .579 17. Danny Green-SAS .579 18. Marcin Gortat-PHO .578 19. Mario Chalmers-MIA .578 20. Ersan Ilyasova-MIL .577

Also . . MARTA takes you right to the doorsteps of Philips. But that would mean that you'd have to ride the train with the "scary people". Because as we all know, people get shot and stabbed all the time on MARTA, especially on a packed train going to a Hawks game.

Part of that "crying" also means that the team itself doesn't "cry" about paying the Luxury Tax, and the fans don't "cry" about traffic and perceived crime in going to a Hawks game.That's why I say that franchises who only care about winning, aren't worried about most of the things a franchise who isn't used to winning, is worried about.

2011 - 12 Usage % for our projected top 5 players next year: - Josh Smith: 28.4 - Louis Williams: 27.4 - Devin Harris: 19.5 - Jeff Teague: 19.1 - Al Horford: 17.9 Shots and Minutes per game in 2011 - 12 amongst those same 5 players: - Smith: 16.7 shots in 35.3 minutes - Williams: 12.2 shots in 26.3 minutes - Teague: 10.2 shots in 33.1 minutes - Horford: 9.4 shots in 31.6 minutes - Harris: 8.6 shots in 27.6 minutes Field Goal % of these 5 players in 2011 - 12: - Horford: .553 - Teague: .476 - Smith: .458 - Harris: .445 - Williams: .407 For our top 9 - 10 players to be effective, the top 2 usages on the team MUST come down. And somehow, Al Horford's usage and shots must go UP. It's almost unheard of to have 3 PG sized guys have the top 5 usage on the team, AND have a frontline player that leads the team in usage. I think the one thing that people need to remember next season, is that Josh Smith is in a contract year. And because of that, he's going to be looking to put up the best numbers possible. After getting a taste of being the #1 option at times last year, I'd be surprised if he all of a sudden just played within himself, and let the guards take over the offense. The problem with this team, is that we now have 3 good guards that NEED the ball in their hands to be effective. None of those guys are really good playing off the ball. And one of these guys is going to be left out of the loop if Smith's usage will be in the mid - high 20% range. If all 3 are effective, that probably means that Smith is getting significantly less touches, which will not be good for him numbers wise, unless he's shooting at around or over 50% FG.

The fans themselves don't like to be blamed for not showing up to Hawks games. The truth is, the area just isn't die hard about their sports teams. Great wins doesn't generate enough support and bad losses doesn't generate enough criticism. Chalk that up to whatever you want, but that's is the truth. People simply do not care about the Hawks.Combine that, with the piss poor marketing that the team does for itself and for its star players, and you have the ingredients for a poorly supported product, even if they're a playoff level team.I'll never forget back in 2009 when we were playing the Heat. I was in Athens visiting friends and was listening to the game on the radio in my car and on my headphones. I believe it was Game 3 of that series. Because the Hawks flagship station was 680 AM, I had no problem listening to the game . . as long as the sun was up. But a lot of AM stations power down at night, or go off the air altogether. So as nightfall came, the signal got weaker and weaker, until it finally went out. LOL . . I'm 70 miles away from ATL, but can't listen to a Hawks PLAYOFF GAME on the radio. That was mind boggling to me. Meanwhile, I could pick up nighttime signals from New Orleans, Dallas, and Chicago on powerful AM radio signals. When the Hawks were on 750 AM, listening to them as far away as Kentucky used to be no problem at night.- lack of a true superstar player- fan apathy toward the Hawks- pitiful marketing of the Hawks as an organization and its good playersThose are the 3 big reasons for a weak fan base in ATL, even when the team is good, but not great.

If I'm OKC, here's what I'd do. - Offer Harden a MAX deal ( which has to be 4 years due to the fact that Westbrook got a MAX deal last year ) - Give him 2 player option years in year 3 and year 4 This gives the ability for Harden to opt out in 2 years and become an unrestricted free agent, to make even more money. And it gives the Thunder payroll relief if he does decide to leave. And as that deal comes to a close in those final 2 years, he can always be traded to a team looking to get rid of decent expiring, but underperforming players in relation to their contract. As for Harden, here's what he thinks about his future http://www.dailythun...staying-in-okc/ Matter of fact, may as well add this link as well, written a week earlier. http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/07/james-harden-says-hed-consider-the-suns-in-free-agency/

What did I tell you in the other thread Walter? REAL FRANCHISES aren't scared off by the Luxury Tax. Especially a franchise that just made the NBA Finals. OKC has just seen the Lakers load up to beat THEM. That's what all of that extra firepower they brought in was intended to do . . . beat the Thunder . . then beat the Heat in the Finals. So you think OKC is going to blink, just because they're afraid of the tax penalties they may have to pay 3 years from now? No. They're in a WIN NOW mode. If Harden improves even more than he did last year, they're going to pay that dude, and hope he wants to stay. OKC will deal with the Luxury Tax implications when they get to a critical point. But as of right now, that team is a heartbeat away from a NBA title, and they're going to do everything in their power to get that ring . . . even if it cost them a few ( or 10 ) million in tax penalties to do it.

This is funny. Because if you were to say this in reverse, and attribute JJ's "lower than superstar" PER to the fact that works hard on defense, and it takes him out of rebound position, you'd get ripped. Heck, the only high usage guys on that list are JJ and Wade. And when it comes to JJ, his shot attempts and usage actually went DOWN. So I don't know how much I can attribute the fact that people had to "work hard to guard him", so they can accumulate rebounds and steals, as a reason why their overall PER was down. If anything, ( as you alluded to ) team defensive scheme would lower the opponent PER, along with how well the individual man is defending. The person that JJ guarded last year, shot 37.7% FG in the regular season + playoffs . . . according to Synergy Sports. If you were to re-stack that top 5 in defensive PER at SG ( Meeks - Wade - Johnson - Allen - Brewer ), and arrange it according yo FG%, this is how they would stack up: - Allen: 34.2% - Wade: 35.8% - Brewer: 37.2% - Johnson: 37.7% - Meeks: 40.4% All 5 of those guys are holding their man down to extremely low shooting percentages. And each guy excels in different areas of defense. A guy like Meeks ( 48.5% ) was an extremely poor defender in Isolation, while guys like JJ ( 24.2% ) and Wade ( 26.4% ) were elite defenders in isolation. But guys like Allen and Meeks are good with fighting off and through screens to get to their man, and closing out on spot up shooters, something that Ray Allen was excellent at. And a guy like Ronnie Brewer is just an all around above average defender in just about every situation, but not elite in any particular one. JJ's weakness on defense was closing out on spot up shooters and defending the pick and roll, mainly fighting through the screen. So you can look at a lot of regular and advanced stats when it comes to determining who are the better defenders at SG. It's better to subscribe to Synergy, view clips of these guys of how they play defense, and see if that correlates with the numbers.

Thunder committed payroll in 2013 - 14Durant - 17.83 mWestbrook - 13.89 mIbaka - 10 m ( approx )Perkins - 8.48 mSefolosha - 3.9 mCollison - 2.59Approx 57 mSo if they even want to think about re-signing Harden, they're going to either have to commit to paying the Luxury Tax, or amnesty Kendrick Perkins ( which I think that'll be the route they'll go ). It'll be interesting to see what decision Harden makes when his time to receive an extension comes up.

Wow . . . another name falls off the books. And some of you won't like that he did. Top 10 Unrestricted free agents in 2013 - Dwight Howard ( traded to Lakers, already bought a home there . . won't re-sign till next summer ) - Chris Paul - Andrew Bynum - Al Jefferson - Josh Smith - Paul Milsap - Manu Ginobli - Kevin Martin - David West - Stephen Jackson Top 10 Restricted Free Agents in 2013 - Blake Griffin ( re-signed with the Clippers for the Max ) - James Harden - Stephen Curry - Tyreke Evans - Ty Lawson - Brandon Jennings - Serge Ibaka ( signed extension with Thunder: 4 yrs - 48 million ) - Jrue Holliday - DeMar Derozen - Jeff Teague I think that's going to be a common theme with the restricted free agents. If they like their team, they're not going to waste time to re-sign. Curry, Jennings, Holliday and Lawson probably will re-sign with their current team. I don't think ATL will overpay for Teague or Toronto will overpay for Derozen, so those guys may wait until the summer to sign extensions. But the big prize right now is either James Harden or Tyreke Evans . . unless someone outside of the top 10 has a good season, and moves up on this list.

It's early, but I think it's safe to amend this list: Top 10 Unrestricted free agents in 2013 - Dwight Howard ( traded to Lakers, already bought a home there . . won't re-sign till next summer ) - Chris Paul - Andrew Bynum - Al Jefferson - Josh Smith - Paul Milsap - Manu Ginobli - Kevin Martin - David West - Stephen Jackson Top 10 Restricted Free Agents in 2013 - Blake Griffin ( re-signed with the Clippers for the Max ) - James Harden - Stephen Curry - Tyreke Evans - Ty Lawson - Brandon Jennings - Serge Ibaka - Jrue Holliday - DeMar Derozen - Jeff Teague I'll try to remember this thread, and cross out names throughout the season as they become unavailable.

Orlando wouldn't talk to us DIRECTLY when it came to a deal involving Horford. Does that mean that they wouldn't talk to us ( or let us talk to another team ) indirectly involving another team and another player? We'll probably never know the answer to that. And if you're right . . . that's fine. But I just think is funny that all of a sudden, people are dissing Andrew Bynum, and acting like he's a risk all of a sudden. The dude is already better than both Al Horford and Josh Smith. And he represents what we've been chasing since we lost Dikembe . . a REAL CENTER. And Bynum is leaps and bounds better offensively than Dikembe, while not as dominant defensively. But now since another team in the East has him, he's "damaged goods" and a player that some wouldn't want on the Hawks . . or wouldn't pay the MAX for? Please.

What Andrew does to help us? You can't see how a guy who is almost strictly a low post scoring big body who can defend opposing big centers, and block shots, can't help us? Or do you want to see a clip of him vs Eastern Conference competition ( like the Clippers or Nuggets wouldn't be a top 4 team in the East ). I mean, it's not like I'm showing him balling against the New Jersey Nets, and saying that he's a legit center. I could've posted the 30 rebound game Bynum had against the Spurs this year . . or this 37 point - 16 rebound game he had against Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies back in March. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUV2jIK8EGg You're Mr. Game Film. I'm sure you know how good Bynum is ( or can be ). But if you want to see him vs East competition . . . OK. How about the team WE couldn't beat in the 1st round of the playoffs. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8KvM7oNhk So what could Bynum bring to the Hawks - high percentage low post scoring - low post defense - shot blocking - the ability to have superstar-esque games on offense or defense As for the Hawks having nothing to offer . . that's fine. But what does that say about us and the talent we have? I don't think the question isn't we didn't have anything to offer. I think the real issue is that we didn't have anything Denver or any of the other teams involved in that trade . . . wanted. Or could Ferry felt like some of you do, and see Bynum as an injury risk, so he would've rather stayed pat with Horford and Smith as his centerpieces? Who knows man. All I know is that other franchises who are serious about winning ( and not terrified of risks ) continue to make big time moves and get things done. Maybe Ferry can make a move like this in the future. We'll see.

If one of the prerequisites for winning a championship is having a player who is at least 1st or 2nd team All-NBA on your team, Andrew Bynum fits the description, seeing that he was 2nd team All-NBA last year.And it's funny seeing the Bynum press conference. Philly definitely paid attention to what Brooklyn done with JJ and Deron. So when they had a chance to introduce Bynum and Richardson to the Sixer fan base, this is what they didhttp://www.nba.com/sixers/video/2012/08/15/120815PressConferenceRecapmov-2187202I'll tell you this. Sixer fans, Doug Collins, and that organization could give a DAMN about Bynum's injury history or potential for injury. All they know right now, is that they have a guy that can potentially become not only a superstar, but the best center they've had since a young Moses Malone.Real franchises aren't scary and do stuff out of fear. They take calculated risks and deal with the consequences . . . good or bad.

Great post. Some are looking for the "perfect player" with the "perfect contract" in the "perfect situation" that won't hurt the team's "flexibility". It's funny how the sentiment is now against Bynum, now that the Hawks won't be able to get him. Bynum is definitely the type of player that you take a chance on. I mean seriously. The guy put up 19 pts - 12 rebs on just 13 shots and 23% usage. http://www.nba.com/sixers/insider Doug Collins: “I’ve never really had that guy that can possibly give me 20 points, 10 rebounds, and a couple of blocks a night, so (acquiring Bynum) is really exciting for me,” said Collins, shortly after rattling off the names of the dozen or so solid, albeit underwhelming, full-time starting centers whom he’s coached during his 10 years as a head man. Indeed, Andrew Bynum is a player who could make things much easier for Collins… and much tougher for opposing head coaches around the Eastern Conference. “When I was in London for the Olympics, (Boston Celtics head coach) Doc Rivers was there. One day (a few days before the trade was officially completed), we were talking about low post players and Doc said to me, ‘Really, the only guy I worry about is Andrew Bynum,’ and I was about ready to choke,” recalled a jovial Collins, with a chuckle. Honestly, people just need to stop it. Just accept the fact that the Sixers were willing to make a bold move and take a chance, while we went into selling mode, hoping for "cap space" to ball for us in the near ( or distant ) future. Don't get mad, or hate on teams that do what all of us dream for the Hawks to do. Please. Just stop it. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uH0Zg8sjM http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2zuhhJv-8I

If you're the Golden State Warriors, do you let Stephen Curry go, a year after you let Monta Ellis go? I mean, there is a reason why they kept Curry but traded Monta. What would that say to your fans if you didn't match ANY OFFER for Curry?This is why we have so many overpaid players in the league. Because teams really can't afford to lose real good players ( even if they aren't superstars ), and use money as the excuse for not keeping them. And it's this exact reason why we will overpay and keep Josh Smith. If he's not traded before the trade deadline, the Hawks are going to be in a bidding war to get him.The "Championship or Bust" mantra that seems to be the cry of most hardcore Hawks fans these days, just isn't reality from a NBA business standpoint. At some point, you do have to produce a winner for your fans, even if that "winner" means simply making the playoffs.Golden St isn't letting Curry go ( if he is fully healthy )Utah probably isn't letting Jefferson go ( unless Milsap or Favors become studs . . or Jefferson demands a trade )Oklahoma City will do everything possible to keep Harden ( but might let him go if the price is at MAX level )Also, you have to realize that the team you created, has THREE restricted free agents ( Curry, Harden, Jefferson ) on it, and one unrestricted free agent ( Smith ) on it. We couldn't pay for ( or even get ) all of them in the first place. So pick 2 out of the 4, and pair them up with Horford. That will be your "Big 3", even if it's really a "Medium 3" like what we had with JJ - Horford - Smith

And as for your answers1) Cuban will sell Harden that he will become the "face of the franchise" after Dirk retires. Or if he doesn't retire, he'd still get top billing, while Dirk becomes the "Robin" to Harden's "Batman". Ferry will try to sell Harden on the same thing. But if Josh Smith is re-signed, he's not giving up his potential "Batman" role with the Hawks, without a fight. Plus Horford will still be here. So for Harden, the question will be . . does he want to be the undisputed star of a team . . or does he want to be part of a trio of Himself - Horford - Smith where he may not be billed as "top dog"? At that point, will Harden care about "winning", or will he care more about being "the man"?2) I agree. I think Harden in Year 3 and Year 4 will be better than JJ. And he will command a MAX type deal from someone.3) That may very well what it will take to get Harden here . . . a JJ-like coup in which we frontload a contract. If we get really desperate, toss in the draft picks as well. Like I said, players don't willingly come here. We have to go out and get them at all costs.LOL . . so in other words, you'd repeat history with Harden, that we did with JJ, in hopes that Harden turns into a superstar . . instead of the next JJ. I wouldn't be against bringing Harden in though. He can play. And he was a top 3 pick in the draft.

I've been looking at "reality" all summer. I saw a 6-time All-Star ( whether people thought he was legit or not ), get traded for garbage and cap space. There's not a team in the NBA who would've made a trade like that for a player who was still productive at that level . . regardless of what his contract was. They would've gotten more out of that deal than we did. As I keep saying. My main problem is NOT that JJ got traded. It's what he got traded FOR. I mean, who would've ever imagined that we'd get more from a Marvin Williams trade, than a Joe Johnson trade? That is mind boggling to me. Heck, we got more for trading Speedy and Acie than we did for trading JJ. But you guys are cool with that, because we have "cap space". And I know exactly what rebuilding is like. I watched the Hawks win 28 - 25 - 33 - 35 - 28 and 13 games in the years after we traded Mookie and Smitty for garbage and inefficient "good players" . . traded Dikembe for a washed up Theo Ratliff . . traded Pau Gasol for Shareef . . and then had to blow everything up again and start from the very bottom. And when we did blow it all up and had "cap space", no one wanted to come here. Heck, we damn near had to hijack JJ to come here. And it still took a top 3 lottery pick to finally get the team competitive enough to make the playoffs. There are much worse places to be, than a middling playoff team who can't win a title. You can be a team that has no hope of making the playoffs to begin with. Instead of being "Atlanta", you could be "Golden State". Ask Warrior fans if they'd trade places with the "mediocre" Hawks.

LOL. I'm a big stats guy. And I'm one of the ones who believes that Marvin didn't play nearly as bad as people made him out to be. But that article is just flat out ridiculous. LOL @ JJ being our 4th best player and Marvin being our "star forward".But this is what happens when you latch onto one stat, and try to use that to validate everything. Gotta use stats in it's totality, to form an overall profile for a player.That's why Hollinger acting like the sky was going to fall, just because we lost Josh Childress back in 2008, was ridiculous.

LOL . . leave Teague alone. I used to be one of his harshest critics, but that Chicago playoff series got me somewhat on his bandwagon. I am worried about him though. If he doesn't respond in the right way to the 2 decent guards we've brought in ( Harris and Williams ), Drew will not hesitate to put Teague on the bench come Christmas. And that would kill dude. What would a Teague reality show be called? a) The Inner Dog Chronicles b) Basketball Insecurities c) Forever I Love Atlanta d) Teague and Basketball e) Jeff and Larry

Of course, this is Hollinger that we're talking about, so there will be some bias ( for or against ) the Hawks.