TheNorthCydeRises

Too ambitious If he can come in and average 10 pts - 4 rebs - and 4 assists, I'd be estatic. If that happens though, that means that Marvin may still be regressing.

T-Mac's biggest asset may be his playmaking skills. With no Hinrich at the point, I could see a scenario in which McGrady plays point forward at times. LOL @ this video, with one of the main highlights being T-Mac raining 3s on us in the 4th quarter in that debacle in Detroit last year. I guess Sund remembered this game

And the answer is . . . . . . PHOENIX PORTLAND LA CLIPPERS ( next to last game of the season . . which isn't good for the box office )

The 5 games in 6 night stretch to begin January is ridiculous @ Miami - monday @ Chicago - tuesday vs Miami - thursday ( on TNT ) @ Charlotte - friday vs Chicago - saturday

Josh Smith may bring highlights, but he is not a box office draw. We don't have a single box office draw on this team. If we were to trade any of our top talent, no one in that city is going to have a heart attack ( other than die hard fans of that player ). When Nique got traded, it was like an atomic bomb dropped on ATL, despite us being a 1st place team in the East. People were genuinely pizzed that dude got traded like that. You won't see a reaction like that if Josh or JJ or Al got traded. There WILL be a reaction, but not one that would be long lasting. Bring in a legit top 10 player like Chris Paul though, and you'll see an immediate uptick in the visibility of the Hawks. Put it like this . . if we were to add Chris Paul via trade before the season started, I'd guarantee you that the Hawks would instantly pick up about 4 - 6 more national TV games.

If they do it like the NFL, the bottom dwelling teams will have a chance to win a few more games, but it would hurt them at the box office. This would be the entire list of teams that would play each other twice CELTICS/HEAT/BULLS - OKC, LAL, SAS KNICKS/PACERS/MAGIC - DEN, PHO, DAL SIXERS/BUCKS/HAWKS - POR, GST, NO NETS/PISTONS/BOBCATS - UTA, LAC, MEM RAPTORS/CAVS/WIZARDS - MIN, SAC, HOU

The way I would do it, is to designate one team from each division in the West as the team we'd play twice. I would do this just like the NFL does, to schedule the final 2 games that aren't pre-determined. IN the NFL, you play one entire division from the opposite conference and one entire division from the same conference. That's 8 games. You then play your 6 division games. That's 14 total. The remaining two games are determined by where you finished in the division in the previous year. And you'd play the team that finished in the same position that you did in another division. Those two games will be conference games. So let's look at the Falcons schedule 6 games vs NFC South ( division foes ) 4 games vs NFC North 4 games vs AFC South So since the Falcons finished 1st in the NFC South last year, their remaining 2 games will have to be against last year's 1st place team in the NFC East and NFC West. Those teams were Philly and Seattle. So using that model . . . and seeing that the Hawks finished 3rd in the Southeast Division last year . . . we'd play the 3rd place finishing teams in the 3 Western Conference divisions. Northwest: PORTLAND Pacific: GOLDEN ST Southwest: NEW ORLEANS Those are my guesses. And that's the easiest way to do it. That doesn't help the Hawks any, from a box office standpoint.

The problem is that Josh wants to shoot jumpers like JJ and Horford, and not get called out for it. He probably sees an 8 - 20 FG performance by JJ, with him missing a lot of jumpers, as a reason why the crowd should yell "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" to JJ, instead of yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" everytime he takes a 20 foot jumper. Well Mr. Smith, the reason for that is because you have perennially been one of the worst jumpshooting players in the league. And that is documented, not something that is made up. And JJ is a guard. (( talking like Katt Williams in the movie "Friday After Next" )) . . "You are a power forward . . . you are not a small foward anymore Josh" But don't tell that to our coach or to Josh. He's in full SF mode now. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the butt.

Leave Okafor in New Orleans, and just give us Paul. Smith or Horford + Teague gets us Paul. And yes . . . Chris Paul is a visible and good enough player that he could definitely sell tickets in Atlanta. We can't give up the farm to get Paul and expect him to stay in ATL. Either Smith or Horford would have to stay, along with JJ, to entice Paul to sign with us long term. The female fans in ATL would instantly love that dude. We, since the days of Dominique, would have a true "face of the franchise", that people would instantly recognize and come out to see.

Josh would be an All-Star if he attacked the rim like Shawn Kemp. Instead, he falls completely in love with his jumper. Despite his elite athleticism, he diminishes how good he could be on his own, by continuing to shoot jumpers ( mainly to prove to people that he can shoot the jumper ). Smith should be a Shawn Marion / Shawn Kemp hybrid. Shawn Marion's best season: 2005 - 06 21.8 ppg 11.8 rebs 1.8 asst 2.0 stls 1.7 blks 52.5 FG% 80.9 FT% 33.1 3FG% Shawn Kemp's best season: 1995 - 96 19.6 ppg 11.4 rebs 2.2 asst 1.2 stls 1.6 blks 56.1 FG% 74.7 FT% 41.7 3FG% ( only 12 attempts ) Offensively, Josh Smith could be better if he played with a Hall of Fame PG like a Gary Payton and a Steve Nash. Smith could definitely be a more effective player if he had a great passing PG to play with. But the other parts of his game, especially when it comes to rebounding, is mainly Smith's fault. People get onto Josh because most of us KNOW he has the potential to be even better than what he is right now. But in Smith's mind, he'd rather work on becoming a better jumpshooter than a better rebounder. Could you imagine Shawn Kemp deciding that he would rather not attack the rim, but instead become a better jumpshooter? We can't get to the next level as a team, if he wants to play that bullshid finesse game, like he's Rashard Lewis or something. It sickens some fans, knowing that this kid could be a lot better than what he is, but he refuses to get it. And that's why I always respected the hell out of Woody. Because he knew what each and every player's strengths were, and what they needed to work on. LOL .. but now, all bets are off. Who knows what career path Josh Smith will go down now. As of right now, the ceiling for Josh Smith is this guy. But even he in his prime was a better player than Josh. And that's mainly because he played to his strengths night in and night out. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdBDOyzh8T8

And using this criteria, I'll do Joe JohnsonShooting: 7.7 ( normally higher )Interior Scoring: 7.6 ( Hawks best post player + the floater )Attacking the basket/Slashing: 7.9 ( shoots the floater and scores in the paint )Athleticism: 8.1Rebounding: 7.1 ( normally higher )Defense: 7.9Intelligence: 8.1Scoring: 8.0 ( lack of getting to the line keeps this number down )Playmaking: 8.4Decision Making: 8.1Intangibles: 8.1Passing: 8.5Ball Handling: 9.1Offensive Movement: 7.6Help Side Defense: 7.0 ( could be better )Blocking: 5.0Stealing: 6.2Man Defense: 8.8Strength: 8.7Speed: 8.1Overall: 156 / 20 = 7.8

Your ratings are WAAAAAY too high. And I think you know this. If both Smith and Horford were that good, we'd be in the NBA Finals by now, or at least the East Finals. That would give us 3 legit all-stars + a guy in Jamal that can play at an all-star level at any given notice. Josh Smith grades: Shooting: 6.2 5.7 ( he shot pretty good last year, but he's perennially one of the worst jumpshooters in the league ) Interior Scoring: 8.4 7.1 ( if he were that good on the interior, he'd go there more often ) Attacking the basket/Slashing: 7.0 Athleticism: 9.8 Rebounding: 8.9 7.6 ( the fact that he doesn't box out means that he can't be a 9 rebounder ) Defense: 9.9 8.1 ( he can't be a 9.9 if his on the ball defense is suspect ) Intelligence: 7.1 Scoring: 8.1 7.2 Playmaking: 8.0 8.4 ( for the position he plays, he's actually very good ) Decision Making: 5.7 Intangibles: 5.1 6.3 ( his intangibles aren't that low. Gotta factor in offense and defense ) Passing: 8.7 ( for the position he plays, I agree ) Ball Handling: 5.7 6.9 ( he's just careless with the ball, his actual ball handling is decent ) Offensive Movement: 5.9 Help Side Defense: 9.8 8.5 ( gets caught watching the ball at times, like all the Hawks ) Blocking: 9.4 8.6 ( shot blocking still very good, just not elite anymore ) Stealing: 8.5 7.5 ( good steal rate for a PF ) Man Defense: 7.0 Strength: 7.9 6.9 ( if his strength was almost an 8, he'd be willing to play on the inside more ) Speed: 8.9 9.2 Overall: 149 / 20 = 7.45 Al Horford grades: Shooting: 8.5 9.4 ( outside of the playoffs, he's an excellent shooter ) Interior Scoring: 7.6 6.9 ( definitely needs work ) Attacking the basket/Slashing: 7.0 6.5 ( Smith is a better slasher, Al would rather shoot the jumper ) Athleticism: 8.8 Rebounding: 9.1 8.2 ( a 9 to me means 'elite rebounder'. Al isn't an elite rebounder . . yet ) Defense: 9.3 8.1 ( he's a good defender. A 9.3 would mean an elite defender ) Intelligence: 9.3 8.5 Scoring: 7.9 Playmaking: 6.0 Decision Making: 9.1 8.5 Intangibles: 8.8 Passing: 8.0 Ball Handling: 7.0 Offensive Movement: 10 7.8 ( no way is Al a 10 in this area ) Help Side Defense: 5.9 Blocking: 7.4 5.5 ( for a center/PF, this is a very weak part of his game ) Stealing: 7.2 6.7 ( not a guy who gets a lot of steals ) Man Defense: 8.5 7.5 ( he's a solid man defender, but not a lockdown one ) Strength: 8.8 Speed: 8.0 Overall: 152.8 / 20 = 7.64

Give Charles Barkley credit. 2 years ago, he flat out said that the Hawks need to make a decision between JJ and Josh, because he felt that those two were battling for control of the team. The problem with Josh Smith is that he thinks ( or his people think ) that he is WAAAAAAAAAY better of a player than what he really is. Josh is a very good player, just not a superstar player. The fact that he doesn't play to his strengths as a player, is a testament to how good he "thinks" he is. He had one of his most efficient seasons back in 2010, when Woody had FINALLY gotten the 3 point shot out of his system. As soon as Woody left, Drew let him jack up jumpers again. And if Nique is a culprit in this, then maybe Nique needs to stop giving advice to Smith. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvM-FFI71vI I was kind of upset when Barkley did this. But his overall point was correct. And the sad thing is that TNT had to have had that helmet made up specifically for Josh. That's why I didn't like what Barkley and the TNT people did.

i guess I'm the only once concerned that a smaller Josh Smith possibly means less rebounding on the frontline? Who is going to play PF if Horford is sitll the center? If Smith plays SF, does that mean that Zaza is the starter and Marvin the 6th man? Does Marvin convert to being our PF? And if he's our SF now, that means a guy who couldn't buy a jumper during the playoffs, will be out on the perimeter even more now. Unless I'm missing something here, this is not good. I want 2010 Smith, in which he didn't even think about taking a 3 pointer, and hit the boards and drove the basketball to the hole. 2006 Smith was a fast break demon, but a low percentage chucker in the half court, with no post game.

I gotta agree with NBA superstar. That's way too much to trade for Paul. You don't trade both Smith and Horford if you don't have to. Just trade one + Jeff Teague A simple package of Paul for Josh Smith + Teague will do. Paul for Horford + Teague works too. ( EDIT: Horford is considered to be in his BYC right now, so that wouldn't work ). If you have to throw in ONE #1 pick, then so be it. Of course, all this is contingent upon Paul being signed and delivered to us at the time we make this trade. We don't need any Danny Manning repeats. PG - Paul G - Johnson F - Marvin ( unbelievable how he survives ) PF - Smith or Horford C - Zaza You make that move, and you'd think the Hawks would improve by leaps and bounds ( as long as Paul stays healthy ). It will take the ball out of JJ's hands and may make him an even more deadly scorer, now that he doesn't have to worry about setting up everybody for points, as well as score the basketball. With Horford's inability to effectively create his own shot, a high assist PG like Paul would definitely help his game as well. No sense in taking all of those mediocre players from the Hornets to add here. Just trade for what we need and be done with it.

I could see Sund bringing in a number of guys from Earl Watson to Mike Bibby. I really wish the ASG would do something risky, and bring in Iverson, simply to see if he still has it. It's not like he was a horrible player when he played in Philly back in 2009 - 10. This was 23 months ago This is last year in Turkey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTXMrtVb0V4 This dude is a veteran player that knows how to play the game. The ONLY issue with AI, is if he can accept being a backup. And I tell you another thing, if Teague's performance in the Chicago series DOES turn out to be a fluke, it wouldn't hurt if the Hawks had a vet PG like Iverson that could step in and be the starter. Iverson basically failed on two teams that weren't playoff level ( Detroit and Memphis - although he played very well in Memphis ). HE didn't fail in Denver, seeing that they made the Western Conference Finals one year. I would make an agreement with AI. Come in and play for somewhere around league minimum to 2 million for one year. If you're instrumental in getting the Hawks to the EC Finals and beyond, we'll sign you to another 1 year contract for at LEAST MLE.money. One more thing. This team is void of an emotional and vocal leader. Smith is the closest thing we have to that. JJ leads by example. Horford tends to do the same. Smith is the rah rah guy, but his decision making makes his leadership abilities questionable. I mean dang . . you bring Iverson in, and the 2 worst things that could happen is that his skills have fallen off . . or he disrupts team chemistry and we can't get past the 2nd round. LOL . . so in other words, the season will go as expected, even without Iverson. Take a chance ASG. Sign that dude, make you some extra money at the box office, and see if he can help this team. Don't mess around and let a team like Miami woo him into going to South Beach. You get him first and keep him in ATL.

Now is not the time to do it though. Wait a few years, especially until we decide what to do with Smith. The amnesty can be used throughout the life of the CBA ( only on players signed BEFORE the new CBA was ratified. So if we do use it, it will probably be on JJ or Marvin or possibly even Horford. The Hawks need to hold onto this, and not use it this year under any circumstances.

Back when the ASG was actively shopping the Hawks, I made a joke that the new ownership group should be Oprah - Tyler Perry - and Diddy . . with the new name, the AEC ( Atlanta Entertainment Conglomerate ). Oprah would have the dough, and become the first female majority owner in the league. A good look for her, since her network is failing. Diddy would add the flash and entertainment flare to the franchise. I'm sure with Jay-Z being a part owner of the Nets, he may be interested in his own team. Tyler would bring in the Christian families, and have another media vehicle to promote his movies. If you want to add Nique to this mix, as the basketball "face of the franchise", then go right ahead. Hopefully their first move would be to fire Rick Sund, and hire Steve Smith as GM. IF they make a coaching move, make a major play for Doc Rivers.

PG - Teague G - Johnson F - Marvin PF - Smith C - Horford 6th - Hinrich 7th - Zaza 8th - Chuck Hayes ( 3 yrs @ 5 mill . . player opt yr 2 - team opt yr 3 ) 9th - D. Wilkins ( 1 yr vet minimum ) 10th - Sy ( 2nd year of rookie minimum ) 11th - Collins ( 1 yr vet minimum ) 12th - Benson ( rookie minimum ) 13th - Rolle ( 2nd year of rookie minimum ) Team may be slightly over the Luxury Tax due to Hayes deal. If Hawks don't want to sign Hayes ( for rebounding ), sign Iverson for 1 yr vet minimum ( for possible scoring ) "The Core" simply has to get better folks. And Marvin needs to get back to 2007 - 08 level. And we need that Chicago playoff performance by Teague to NOT be a fluke.

I went to school with Ed Gray while he was a freshman at the U. of Tennessee. That team he played on ( I believe ) was the worst in school history, only winning something like 5 or 6 games that year. As bad as they were, they damn near beat Kentucky in Knoxville in 1994, after beating them at home in 1993. Ed was easily the most talented player on the team, even if his play was hella erratic.

It's not the point of being a large or small market. It's if your owner is willing to spend the money AND if your team is a desirable destination for free agents. Paul Allen in Portland ( one of the smallest markets in the league ) used to spend boatloads of money to get any player he wanted. And as long as Portland was a desirable destination, he could get that player. It wasn't until B-Roy and Oden got hurt, that Allen started crying about the "economics" of the league. Oklahoma City is the new "Portland". But the new rules in place may very well see them lose Russell Westbrook ( if he continues to improve ). But because they already have "the superstar" in place, a guy like Westbrook will readily be replaced by any number of vet PGs in the future. Personally . . it's time for the STAR talent on this team to consistently play like STARS. That's the only way we're getting to the next level. Trying to implement an NFL type economic and free agent system to the NBA would've been a disaster. The NBA is a league in which superstars rule the day. And because there are only about 5 - 10 superstars around the league, the rest of the teams would've been sold a bunch of "fools gold" about "competitive balance". ( you can argue that they already have been sold this pyrite ). If the owners would've gotten everything they wanted, that would've spelled doom for the Hawks, because we're not in position to make a move for a major guy anyway ( without a sign and trade ). At least this system does give us a chance to sign and trade for someone, if we decide to move one or two of our stars. The owners got the main thing that they wanted, and that was a much more extensive slice of the pie.

LOL . . I failed miserably in this.

1) Kevin Willis ( 75% certain ) 2) Antoine Carr ( 75% certain ) 3) Lorenzen Wright and Mike "The Stinger" Glenn ( educated guesses ) 4) Jason Collins ( who else could it be? ) . . . surely not Mario West 5) Have no idea who the other 3 are, but the Woodson-Drew guys are . . . Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia 6) Ty Corbin ( probably not right but I'll guess him ) 7) Tree Rollins ( pretty sure this is right )

Marvin needs to re-assert himself as the 4th scorer on the squad . . . that is, unless Teague becomes that.

I agree.The Hawks really can't afford to use the Amnesty clause on anybody right now, Using it on JJ means no playoffs. Using it on Marvin means that the Hawks would have to go out and find a quality SF and a decent PF ( seeing that Marvin can play both spots ).I guess it would depend on where the Luxury Tax level was set. If the L-TAX is at 70 million, the Hawks will have just enough room to add minimum contracts to fill out the roster. If it's 65 million, we may have a problem, and Marvin might be the guy to go.