TheNorthCydeRises

Always run the numbers, when it comes to this ownership group: If Melo signs the 3/65 extension ( which would pay him 21.67 a year ), and Horford gets a deal that starts him out at 13 million, the Hawks would have a payroll of roughly 74 million . . . amongst 8 players . . . with 5 more players to add. So we're possibly talking about a payroll of 77+ million in the 2011 - 12 season. Like I said in the other thread with people kicking around the Crawford + Marvin + draft pick scenario, the ASG will probably freeze up making that deal, because they'd be deep into luxury tax land. Would I do this trade? Of course. But this ownership group is not a risk taker. But there are two reasons to do this deal without Melo signing the extension right away: 1) If the trade doesn't at least get us deep into the Eastern Conference Finals, you can simply choose to not re-sign him, and have a ton of money off the books . . even at that point being possibly under the salary cap. 2) If it does work, and Melo desires to come back to ATL, you can sign him to a long term deal that will start out paying him significantly less than the 21.7 mill that he'd make in 2011 under the 3/65 deal. The MAIN concern though, and I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this, is that Smoove is our defensive energizer. This trade makes us a high caliber offensive team, but does little ( if any ), to improve our defense . . unless Horford becomes a dominant rebounder at PF and improves his shot blocking. This is a deal that I would do, but somebody ( or a collective of bodies ) better come close to replacing what we'd lose defensively with the departure of Smoove. If we had a legit center here, Smoove would actually be the guy that I'd keep, and trade Horford. But with virtually no one to man the middle, Horford would have to be the one that stays.

Definitely a happy birthday to you GM. And the Dream have been impressive the past 2 playoff games. Wouldn't it be something if the Dream won a championship before the Hawks?

No chance that Marc Gasol is moved. He's arguably better than Horford.

If the ASG negotiates with Jamal and locks him up before Horford, it's going to be Horford that is now the unhappy camper. Welcome to the big leagues ASG. When you tip-toed through the offseason, and failed to upgrade our core, you opened yourselves up to a situation like this. Had we added to our "core", the loss of Jamal may be less impactful. But when you sit back like scared rabbits, this is what can happen. When you get in the playoffs, you have to "pay the cost, to be the boss."

Just keep that dude out of the Eastern conference. Hawks have no shot to get him because: 1) he doesn't want to come here 2) if he wants his big money extension now, the ASG will NOT bring him in 3) we like our core

1) Nique vs Bird in the 1988 EC Semis 2) Game 6 vs Boston in the 2008 playoffs . . mainly because I was there live 3) Magic's running hook ( in the 1985 NBA Finals? ) to beat the Celtics . . that was a real good game 4) Reggie Miller going off on the Knicks in the playoffs, then giving the choke sign to Spike Lee 5) JJ's 20 point quarter vs Boston in the 2008 playoffs 6) the Ralph Sampson - Jerry Sichsting fight in the 1986 Finals 7) shorthanded Hawks coming back from 17 points down in the 4th quarter to beat Denver in 2006. ( I used to watch that quarter all the time . . Woody's best coached quarter ever ) 8) Jordan making 6 threes vs Portland in 1991 NBA finals 9) Jamal Crawford's bomb to beat Phoenix last season. 10) Denver beating Seattle in Game 5 in 1994 ( the biggest upset in playoff history at that time )

I'd guarantee anyone that Jason Collins and Josh Powell, would still be on the list of unsigned free agents today, had we'd not signed them.

There is no disillusionment amongst the fan base had we . . . 1) hired Avery Johnson as coach 2) signed Shaq If the ASG accomplished that, you're not only talking about instant credibility from the national media, you instantly generate excitement amongst the fan base and the casual b-ball fans of Metro Atlanta. I don't know why people are mad at the Heat. Had the Hawks been able to pull off something like that, that entire metro area would be buzzing about the Hawks, and season ticket sales would've gone through the roof. But at the very least, they had a real good shot at bringing in a coach that has gotten to the NBA Finals . . . and a legit center who is still good, and is still one of the top 5 most popular players in the league. Instead, they hired Woody's assistant, brought back one of the worst big men in the league, and brought in a PF that has never show much promise in the NBA. A lot will be answered in that first month. We have a relatively easy schedule to start out with, but we also play our nemesis ( Orlando ) in that first month as well. If we play well vs everybody else, but Orlando still throttles us, all of the apathy toward the Hawks will still remain, because we'll know deep down that we still don't matchup vs Orlando. Those 3 games vs Orlando before Christmas are more important to the fans, than all of those other games combined.

What concerns me is all of the talk about offense, but hardly any talk about defense. The fans are obsessed with the offense improving, but this team flat out lost games because of defense. All of those offensive collaspes were also coupled with horrific defense. If you have a bad offensive quarter, the defense needs to tighten. But the flip side happened to the Hawks. We would have one of those bad 17 point quarters offensively . . but give up 28 to 35 points in the process. That's the difference right now between a championship contender like Boston and Orlando, and us. When those teams hit droughts like that, their defense gets tougher. So if they only scoring 17 in a quarter, they try their best to hold their opponents to 22 or less points.

Good publicity for 2 wack rappers. I wonder if that basketball footage was from the Seattle Summer League? Roy did go to the U of Wasington and Craw is from Seattle.

Who cares if he's not the "sharpest tool in the shed". Maybe we should only draft Ivy Leaguers or guys from Duke. Oh I forgot. We've drafted two Dukies in our history. They sure did turn out to be tremendous players for us.

I agree with gsuteke. Because now, you put Sekou on the spot. If he contradicts what you say, people will automatically believe him, than you. And you don't believe Sekou reads this blog? Please. All of these blog writers from the NBA sites and national media read this blog. Sekou, MC, Kelly Dwyer, Chad Ford, all of those cats swing by here. I'm convinced of that. Too many times has something that was kicked around on this board, became a story on another blog citing "sources" told them the exact same thing. LOL . . WE are the "sources".

The 2nd game is so late in the schedule April 11th, that we'll only see the full squad once ( unless Miami needs to win that game to lock up home court advantage ).

@ Magnum . . . the Chris Paul miss is part of BK's legacy. It's hard to overlook that. When you look at BK's pluses, the JJ trade is his crown jewel, with bringing in Bibby being 2nd. Horford was the almost consensus #3 guy ( with a few people perferring Yi Jialian ), so it was almost impossible for him to mess that pick up. But of BK's draft picks, only Marvin and Al Horford made it to their 2nd contract under the Hawks. And some people thought that Marvin shouldn't have made it to the 2nd contract. These guys didn't: - Shelden Williams - Josh Childress - Acie Law ( all 3 were lottery picks ) - Salim Stoudamire - Solomon Jones Then you add in the Speedy contract, when you know that guy had a history of injuries, and you see why people give BK the "thumbs down". I give Woody way more props than I do BK. When Woody is forced to play guys like Royal Ivey, Cedric Bozeman, and Josh Childress at PG because he lacks quality depth there, you know the team was in bad shape personnel wise.

DJ . . that's a big stretch comparing Zaza to Laimbeer. He's nowhere near as tough or skilled as Laimbeer was. Laimbeer was averaging a double-double in an era of great centers. I think Laimbeer led the NBA in rebounding once or twice. Horford is closer to being Laimbeer from a production and toughness standpoint, than Zaza is.

LOL @ Mike Drew . . . I just saw that. This article may be a fake then. Unless Al had a Freudian Slip.

It doesn't make any sense to pass on Shaq, if the plan was to move Horford to PF. This just proves even more that they weren't going to pay the L-Tax for anybody. And they definitely weren't serious about Shaq. Oh well. And I see that the link may be in Spanish for some of you . . but I have Google Translate installed on my computer, so it automatically changed it to English. Here is the English version: SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic .- The Dominican Al Horford said Saturday that the upcoming NBA season will play more as a power forward with the Atlanta Hawks at center and not as in previous years. "The new coach Mike Drew told me he wants me to play as a 'power forward' in the next season rather than at center. I think that I can agree on a lot as a player because that's what I've been all my life," Horford told The Associated Press during a basketball camp organized for Dominican children between 12 and 17 years of age. Details ... The player of three years of experience in the NBA said that organizing such events was a dream I had for a long time. "When I was young and grew up playing basketball I always wanted to participate in a camp like this, but never came (players) NBA to the country. Now I can make the dream of many young people," he said. Participated in the camp figures such as former international basketball player BJ Armonstrong, Danny Karr, the Dominican Francisco Garcia and Horford's father. Horford, 24, played 81 games last season with the Hawks and averaged 14.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, all as the pivot of the Atlanta organization. The Hawks reached the second round of the NBA playoffs before being eliminated by the Orlando Magic and Horford had a good job for the set. "I think with the new coach have fresh ideas for 2010-11, but the most important thing is to keep improving every year," he added. The arrival of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Miami Heat and the renewal of contract Dwayne Wade makes this team a force in the Eastern Conference, but Horford is not losing sleep over the trio of stars from the Florida. "Miami is a force that everyone should recognize, but the truth is that for me is a better team. They are two times we will go to Atlanta and Miami twice, is all. It is the same as any other team," he said. What the Hawks need to go further than it did last year? "I think it's going to take us to play better together. Last year we were very individualistic. To have a chance to win, we have to play as a team, how to play in college," he said.

Horford PF

The only person who downplayed sweeping Boston in the entire organization . . . was Joe Johnson. And he got ripped by most of the fans for his nonchalant reaction to doing that, while Crawford got praised for saying it was important. The regular season is important. How you finish the regular season is probably more important. The facts are that you do have to play at a high level in the regular season, but it's supposed to prepare you for the grind of the playoffs. When the playoff comes, players must be mentally ready to get the job done. Until the Hawks can prove that they can consistently win on the road at over a .500 clip, you have to question if this team can get to the next level. In recent years, this is Utah's problem as well. Play like world champs at home . . struggle against anybody on the road . . get to the playoffs, and you're done in Round 2 almost every single year.

JJ straight up balled last year. But you can't play like that in the playoffs, and expect to get props. NBA legends are made in the postseason, not in the regular season. As great as he played in those first 4 playoff games vs Milwaukee, he was horrible in the next 7 playoff games. He has to start being consistently very good in both the regular season and in the playoffs, for him to get the respect he deserves.

How is it that we didn't have much to do, but other teams over the cap found ways to add players to their roster at MLE or less prices? How do the Lakers go out and get Matt Barnes, even though they have Ron Artest? How do the Celtics go out and get Jermaine O'Neal? Those are your two NBA Finals teams adding quality players for the MLE or less. Both teams didn't even hesitate to add immediate depth to their squad. There were all kinds of quality players that could've been added to this team for the MLE, The problem, is that our ownership flat out refuses to pay the Luxury Tax. Not even for one year. It's not about getting somebody that is an upgrade to JJ, Josh, or Al. It's about bringing in people that will HELP them. Jason Collins and Josh Powell wouldn't even help Georgia Tech, let alone the Hawks. But people can keep wishing and praying that it happens if they want to. If Zaza plays like anything next season, Jason Collins shouldn't even see the floor for more than 5 minutes a game. And Marvin Williams is a better PF than Josh Powell.

HAHA @ "I want the high heels to come to the game because we are playing, not because Kobe is." AMEN JOHNNY!!! That's understanding part of the untapped ATL market . . a market full of mid-level to highly paid professional Black women that are looking to spend their disposable income. Like I said a few weeks back. You bring Shaq to ATL, attendance increases by at least 1,000 a game. And 80% of that increase may have come from that demographic alone. +1 for you too.

But wait . . . he's a great locker room guy. And great locker room guys trump decent talent. LOL . . as much as I've gone against your opinion over the years, I'm in total agreement with you on this one. Whether people think Shaq is the answer or not, it's better than doing nothing, and it's sure in the hell better than bringing back Jason Collins. +1 for your post

But Boston pick and rolls everybody to death. The only reason they didn't do it to us, because we switch out of everything. Oh my bad . . . people hate the switch defense, and want it abolished. So now it's going to be up to Teague, Bibby, and Jamal to fight through that screen. You think they can do it? Citing that Shaq has trouble with the pick and roll is NOT a reason to not have seriously gone after that dude. He does so many other things that help a ballclub that makes up for his slow-footedness in defending the P & R. The ASG never went after that dude aggressively, because they were flat out unwilling to pay some luxury tax. They probably thought they had leverage, just because other teams were offering the minimum, and the Hawks were willing to dish out 2 million. It's funny though. How can some of the same people who couldn't wait to run Woody out of town, turn around and be cool with the ASG not doing anything in free agency to upgrade the team? Somebody answer that for me please?

Dol . . you have to admit though, the previous 2 seasons we DID upgrade the team, or at least attempted to. We traded for Bibby in Feb 2008, which helped us the following season. In that offseason, we lost Chill, but replaced his production with Flip and Mo. Last offseason, we trade for Crawford. This season? Nada. Having said that, I still think the Hawks are the 4th best team in the East. The problem, is that unlike last year, the gap between us and the new "Big 3", may have widened a little. Adding Shaq at least would've given us a chance to put a power lineup on the floor . . . something that we can't do right now. It would've given us an opportunity to not only play uptempo, but possibly be better in the halfcourt ( a spot in which we struggle in anyways ). The Hawks had their shot to acquire two respected and high profile guys to help the team ( Avery Johnson and Shaq ), and they passed on both. Anything that happens next year MUST BE placed on the ASG. If we're successful and get to the EC Finals, then give them credit for keeping the core together and not making any drastic moves. If we stumble, win less games, and still can't get out of the 2nd round, all blame must be placed on the ASG not doing what it takes to improve the team. It's not like they didn't have a shot to do just that.