TheNorthCydeRises

The full MLE is definitely Speedy. As for the partial, I'll say either Flip or Mo Evans. I think Mo made something like 2.5 - 3 mill a year while in ATL. Can't remember if Flip made 2 - 3 mill or not. So I'll say: Full ...... Speedy Partial ...... Mo

I disagree. For one, the ASG never really considered going into the Luxury Tax in order to put together the best possible team here. When you're trying to assemble a CHAMPIONSHIP caliber team, going into the Luxury Tax is almost a given . . . unless you get extremely lucky like the Thunder, and have all of your young talent turn into All-Star caliber players within their first 5 years in the league. As for the ASG . . - They never used the mid-level exception to bring in a player - They never used the bi-annual exception to bring in a player - They traded away 2 first round draft picks - They never traded away any of their "core" for a different player This could very easily be your Atlanta Hawks right now PG: Teague G: Johnson - Jordan C F: Marvin PF: Smith - Kenneth Faried C: Horford - Zaza That would be your core 8. And let's say that instead of John Jenkins, we chose Jeff Taylor to back up Marvin. Those 9 players would roughly represent 64 million in contracts. You'd have 7 mill to spare to add a minimum 4 players, if you wanted to avoid the luxury tax. Or You could use your mid-level exception and your bi-annual exception and add 2 good veteran players. Mid-Level: Andre Miller Bi-Annual: Reggie Evans New Hawks PG: Teague - Miller G: Johnson - Jordan C. F: Marvin - Taylor PF: Smith - Faried - R. Evans C: Horford - Zaza That bench is a heck of a lot better than what we've trotted out the past 8 years in ATL. It's not stocked with unproductive vets like Jason Collins and Vladimir Radmanovic. It's stocked with players that can actually play. And this is just from a "keep your draft picks and use the MLE and Bi-Annual" perspective. We're not even talking about trades of "the core" for equal or better players. Players that may change the chemistry of this team for the better. The bottom line is that the ASG didn't do ALL they could do in order to build a winner. They did all they could do, while NOT going over the Luxury Tax. There's a big difference in that.

Honestly, Josh doesn't have to be patient at all. He's the one that will be a free agent next summer and in demand. - Boston - Cleveland - Dallas - Houston - Phoenix . . . will all be major players for that dude. Of course, we have the ability to offer him more money with a guaranteed 5th year, so that plays to our advantage in keeping Josh. Here's what I think though. If he struggles, the ATL crowd isn't going to be sympathetic toward him. If he continues to take bad jumpshots, the crowd will continue to moan and groan when he takes them. Combine that with the lack of fan support of a mediocre to bad team, and all of that could drive Josh right away from here. If he didn't like getting the blame in the past, how will he like it when he gets the blame when he's looked at as being "the man"?

Meanwhile, the losers would KILL to be in the middle. And that's why Cleveland will help Brooklyn get Howard, even if it means that Brooklyn may beat Cleveland in the playoffs in the near future.

Because this is the ultimate decision the Hawks will have to make this time next year. Unless the dude gets hurt, he's going to command near max dollars. Do the Hawks want to invest 5 years - 80 to 100 mill in Josh Smith?

Of course we'll get killed in the media. All of those who said that getting rid of JJ's contract was a good thing, will all of a sudden backtrack and ask . . "why didn't the Hawks ever draft a true PG to play alongside JJ to maximize his ability"?As for the Hawks, none of them will care about the Hawks ( unless we get Dwight Howard ). If Josh Smith is our biggest star, it's not like he's going to secure a lot of National TV games for us. Matter of fact, I'll say we'll get 2 National TV games tops. Meanwhile, expectations for the Nets will be elevated, and people will be curious to see games in the new arena. So they'll get more games nationally.

Jamal by default is going to function as the #1 option, because he'll be the only dude on the team who can create his own shot out on the perimeter. He has never been content with simply being a catch and shoot guy. If you bring Jamal back, with Devin Harris and Teague running the point, who gets hurt in the process? - John Jenkins ( our draft pick ) - Jeff Teague ( because he'll have less touches ) Leave Jamal out on the West Coast, and go get a SF.

smhYou guys will hate everyone except Morrow by the time Christmas comes

So we switch out Vlad for Lewis?No thanks. Rather get a perimeter defender who can somewhat slow down either Lebron, Wade, Melo, or Granger, than another one dimensional offensive player.

Tyronn Lue was once an "Iverson Stopper" too while with the Lakers back in 2001. That is, until this moment http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=grXws5m11SA

Just needed a legit PG, and things may have been different. It'll be interesting to see if Deron can bring out the best in him. If he does, it'll be just another "what if" question we fans will have about the last 5 years. No crack of the title comes, if we don't make this Dwight Howard trade.

2) Stealing Game 1 vs the Bulls ( 2011 playoffs ) If just for one game, the Hawks and JJ gave us a reason to believe that this team might pull off something great. The Bulls had no answer for Mr. Johnson on this night, who played like a true superstar that night. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=puBcHqdfm7c 1) You Know What It Is ( 2008 playoffs ) Game 4 . . the ankle breaker on Powe . . Woody with the He-Man "I got the power" cheer . . 20 points in the 4th quarter . . arguably the best playoff game in ATL history. As of right now, this is his signature moment in his career. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nheRrtNOcnI Good luck in Brooklyn homie. You were a good, sometimes great Hawk. Definitely deserve to have your name and number hanging up in Philips one day.

4) I Don't Care if Nique Is Your Uncle ( 2012 ) Ice cold for 1st half of the game, JJ scores 28 in the 2nd half and OT to beat the Pistons. This shot to tie the game is maybe the most difficult of his late game clutch shots he's made in his career. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkkG5RStQh8 3) The Ultimate "Heat Check" Shot ( 2009 playoffs ) . . and he got fouled . . but it wasn't called. D-Wade played 2nd fiddle to the real superstar ( in this game ). This is what you call "range" folks. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRymj8S60KQ

6) Ridiculous Shot ( 2008 ) Way too much dribbling on this dang play, but don't worry, JJ will knock it down to seal the game. This is ISO JOE at his worst and best at the same dang time. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdzsExumPhA 5) Ridiculous Shot . . the Sequal ( 2012 ) Four years later, he does something similar to the Clippers. Except he banks this one in. McGrady was like . . "Look up dude. Stop dribbling and shoot the dang ball man." http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=FteBTzmXlT8

8) First Game Winner At Buzzer in ATL ( 2007 ) At least I believe this was his first one as a Hawk. It had to be because he was too happy. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVQOO7L03T4 7) Game Winner vs the Bobcats ( 2010 ) 2010 was the year of buzzer beaters and nail biters for the Hawks. JJ beats the Cats right here. Josh's offensive rebound slam vs Orlando to beat them, would come 5 days later http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d8GNSRphkc

I wish the big homie all the best in New Jersey ( except when he plays us ). Whether you liked the dude or not, he did provide some pretty good moments while a Hawk. Here is my top 10. 10) Showing his array of skills in Boston Garden ( 2010 ) Qne of my favorite game clips of the dude. Watch what he does to Ray Allen @ 1:10 http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_guZQF4OoA 9) The Ankle Breaker ( 2011 playoffs vs Bulls ) Keith Bogans ain't been the same since. Get up Keith . . . Get up!! http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDwzej7h9PE

If you're talking the playoffs though, that's not saying much. . . seeing that both guys pretty much sucked. PER Horford - 17.5 ( leader ) Smith - 15.8 Johnson - 11.7 WS Teague - 0.7 ( leader ) Smith - 0.2 Johnson - 0.2 WS/48 Teague - 0.139 ( leader ) Smith - 0.059 Johnson - 0.042 Total Shot % Horford - .613 ( leader ) Johnson - .458 Smith - .432

Josh + ( Marvin/Zaza ) . . . for Gasol + 1st round pick ( next available to be traded )Been saying this for a while now.Or maybe there's a 3 team trade in the works in which we get Gasol and some other pick or asset that we could use this season.

The Hawks left Steve Smith for dead, when they traded him to Portland. In his last year in ATL, he shot 40% FG . . 34% 3FG . . and averaged 18.7 points. He goes to the Blazers to play with a very good, but also very balanced Blazers team. While only scoring 15 ppg, he did it on just 11 shots, and shot 47% FG and 40% 3FG. He wasn't necessarily a "Robin" on that team, but more like one of the "Superfriends"Rasheed Wallace lead that team in scoring ( 16.7 ppg ). Smitty was 2nd. Scottie Pippen and Damon Stoudamire were tied for 3rd ( 12.5 ppg ). The big man was Arvydas Sabonis ( 11.8 ppg ). The bench consisted of aging veterans Detlef Schremph and Greg Anthony, a nice scoring swingman in Bonzi Wells, and a hard nosed player in Brian Grant. They also had "Plastic Man" Stacy Augmon deep on the bench, alongside a still young Jermaine O'Neal, who wasn't ready for primetime yet.This was the Portland team that choked in Los Angeles in the WC Finals, when the Lakers outscored then 31 - 13 in the final quarter. That Portland team, if they won that game, probably beats Indiana in the NBA Finals.To say that Joe Johnson's best days are behind him, are dependent on what team he goes to . . or if the Hawks can finally construct this team right. If you're looking for "Superstar Joe Johnson", that isn't going to happen. If you're looking for a Joe Johnson that is a major piece on a championship contender, that's still a strong possibility.The same thing that happened with Steve Smith, and then with Ray Allen, could also happen with Joe Johnson. In the case of Allen, he WAS "Batman", but had little to show for that, other than a run to the EC Finals when he played with Big Dog Robinson, and Sam Cassell ( one of the all time clutch shooting PGs ). But even on that squad, Ray wasn't the end all, be all with that squad. Cassell, in my opinion, was the leader of that crew.

Or better yet . . Pau Gasol vs Josh Smith 5 days later

Pau Gasol vs Celtics in February[media=] Playing how a big man shoud play

Diesel . . here is a GREAT ARTICLE written back when the Hawks traded Dikembe Mutumbo. It was a CNNSI.com article that talked about the Hawks bad decisions up until that point. It's a pretty good look at how this franchise literally messed up time after time, when a big decision had to be madehttp://sportsillustr...itaintso_hawks/And remember, this goes back to 2001. This doesn't even include- trading the #3 pick ( which ended up being Pau Gasol ) for Shareef Abdur-Rahim- drafting Marvin in 2005 instead of Chris Paul- missing on the Shelden Williams pick- re-signing Marvin and Bibby to contracts longer than what they should've been ( or at least have a team option in one of those years )- signing JJ to a deal probably more than what was necessary. ( 6 yrs - 108 mill probably gets JJ )- trading Jordan Crawford and the #19 pick ( which could've been Kenneth Faried ) for Kirk HinrichNow we're in a situation in which they MUST get this Josh Smith situation right. If they mess it up, the results could be catastrophic.

But it has to be for the right player(s) that fits the team AND whatever team vision we have for the future. It just can't be for anybody, or just to get him off the books. That's why I say . . if you're going to trade these two guys, have a distinct plan of action to justify it. The decisions made by the Hawks in the past didn't have a plan behind it. Look at what the Smitty and Mookie trade had the Hawks doing:First off . . we lose our starting backourt and replaced them with JR Rider, Jimmy Jackson, Bimbo Coles, and a 1st round pick ( Jason Terry ). The Hawks rationale was to get younger and more athletic, and they did just that with these trades. Problem is, it killed team chemistry.- no true PG- inefficient high volume shooters- a BIG dropoff in defenseWe go from a starting lineup in 1999 ofPG - MookieG - SmittyF - Ty CorbinPF - Alan HendersonC - DikembeTo a starting lineup in 2000 ofPG - ColesG - JR RiderF - Jimmy JacksonPF - HendersonC - DikembeThat team went from 2nd in defensive rating . . to 25th. And despite trying to get better offensively, we actually got WORSE, going from 19th in offensive rating to 24th.So despite the Hawks having a struggling offensive team, but great defensive team that won 31 games ( 51 games in an 82 game season ) . . they decide to blow it up, and bring in some of the most inefficient offensive players in the league.And it lead to a cycle of the Hawks having to scramble and struggle just to get back to playoff level, finally taking a desperation move by Billy Knight to acquire Joe Johnson, to possibly get this team on track.What fans need to understand is that the thing that can keep your team relevant in this league, is being a good to great defensive team. So if you trade a defensive dynamo like a Mookie Blaylock, you better have a plan in place to replace what he does on the defensive end.And the same thing goes for Josh Smith. Even though I approve of a Josh + Marvin for Gasol trade, even I understand that you need a few defensive role players added to this squad to make up for the defense that Josh and Marvin will take with them.The team still has to be built right, regardless if you make trades for established players . . or make a variety of moves to acquire draft picks . . or dump players for cap space.If the Hawks mess up things starting this summer, this team could easily fall back into a 5 year abyss of not even making the playoffs, let alone being in contention of winning a championship.

For all of you wanting to trade JJ and Josh for draft picks, I want to see a DISTINCT vision of how the Hawks should be built. Just don't throw out "trade them for a 1st round pick", come up with a vision of how you want the Hawks to be built . . and if your vision will have us be better than what we are right now.Saying that we're going to build around Horford and Teague isn't specific enough. WHO are you going to put around Horford and Teague? Who is going to be our main scorer? What is going to be our team identity?Just don't go blindly into this.

LOL . . School them D.