TheNorthCydeRises

Zach Randolph is a 17 million dollar trade chip or potential cap relief going into 2011 trade deadline. That's why Memphis won't trade Zach for Al. As for Smoove vs Jefferson . . . OVERALL DEFENSE: Smoove SHOT BLOCKING: Smoove DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING: Jefferson DEFENSIVE AWARENESS: Smoove STEALS: Smoove OVERALL OFFENSE: Jefferson PASSING: Smoove JUMP SHOOTING: Jefferson LOW POST OFFENSE: Jefferson OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING: Jefferson People talk like this is cut and dry. They're pretty much equal players. But one is more of a defensive player and the other is an offensive one. Smoove is more athletic and active, Jefferson is more fundamentally sound. The main feature that Jefferson has over Smoove, is that he's 20 lbs heavier and can play both C and PF. The main feature that Smoove has over Jefferson, is that he's arguably one of the fastest PFs in the game. For the regular season, Smoove is better. For the playoffs, Jefferson's style may be best.

You can still have motion with the ball in Joe's or Jamal's hands. It's just that the people off the ball need to be moving or setting screens, so that a possible easier shot can be had. But I do agree with you though. Most good offenses are ran by good PGs. This means that Teague has to be a legit threat both scoring and passing the ball. If he's not, JJ will have no choice but to have the ball in His hands. And that's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be, seeing that he can score, pass, and has a low turnover number. People may think that ISO JJ and Jamal will completely disappear, but it's not. If anything, you may see a lot less ISO Smoove and Horford, and more JJ making quicker decisions with the basketball.

All I know, is that while JJ may not be a MAX player in the form of Lebron, Wade, and Kobe . . . no one can't deny that he had just as much responsibility on the Hawks, as those other guys had on their respective teams. - be the tough shot maker by creating shots for yourself - be the main guy that set others up for shots - be the end of the game closer - be the top perimeter defender on the team - play 2, sometimes 3 positions within a game on offense and defense There are a lot of All-Star players in this league. But you'll find very few who had to do these 5 things on a nightly basis. MAX player responsibilities.

Rudy was never going to sign any deal, unless it was close to what he could get in the open market. He had no intention of signing any deal last year. Memphis did the right thing. Throw the money at Rudy right away, to prevent teams from being all in his ear, trying to pitch a deal. Overpaying for Rudy is not a bad thing, especially in the Memphis market. Now . . all Memphis has to do is lock up Marc Gasol to a similar deal next year, and then make a decision on OJ Mayo. They have their nucleus in place, much like what we had 3 years ago. All they need now, is for one of the kids to develop into an All-Star, or use one of the kids to trade for an All-Star within a year or two. Good job Memphis.

Why are people shocked that Rudy got this type of deal from Memphis? Why do you think that team cleared all of that cap space by getting rid of Pau Gasol? They have a 17 million dollar trade chip in Zach Randolph for next year ( lol . . who might be in jail by then if he's busted for marijuana trafficking ). They have Marc Gasol to toss a big money extension to. And they have three 1st round draft picks coming into the fold. Don't look now, but Salmons is about to get a Marvin type deal as well. http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/milwaukee-bucks-close-to-five-year-39-million-with-john-salmons.php LOL . . for a league that supposedly hurting for money, these owners sure are throwing the money around today.

Right. And JJ Hickson was the real sticking point in the entire deal, believe it or not. They were convinced not to give up Hickson . . lol . . and then Mike Brown barely plays the guy during the playoffs.

http://blog.nola.com/hornetsbeat/2009/03/former_hornets_gm_bob_bass_liv.html

True. Kobe was selected for them in the draft . . because Charlotte wanted Divac. And LA should get credit for drafting Kobe. But there have been far too many examples of star players coming to a contending team, and that team getting to the next level because of that move. A guy like Lebron needed help. The Cavs simply traded for the wrong player. By them not trading for Amare, it may cost them Lebron altogether.

LA didn't draft Kobe. They traded a talent that they had ( Vlade Divac ) and sent him to Charlotte in order to acquire Kobe. Charlotte needed a center, but Jerry West saw talent in Kobe ( which is why he was picked #13 ) And all of those teams that you talked about drafting Hall of Famers, basically had to see their team go into the tank, in order to acquire that talent. * Chicago before Jordan: 27 - 55 * Boston before Bird: 29 - 53 * Lakers before Magic: 47 - 35 ( but they got the #1 pick via the New Orleans Jazz giving the Lakers 3 draft picks for Gail Goodrich 2 years earlier. The Jazz finished last in the NBA in 78 - 79, enabling the Lakers to pick Magic ) * Houston before Olajuwon: 29 - 53 * Detroit before Isaiah: 21 - 61 * Orlando before Howard: 21 - 61 I agree that when you have the chance to draft stars, you need to take advantage of it. Which is why people still talk about Marvin Williams over Chris Paul. But all of those teams that you named, also traded for people and brought them in, so that they could achieve championship greatness. Hell . . even we had to trade for Joe Johnson initially. And most of the teams in the modern era had to trade for talented stars, in order for them to achieve greatness. So unless people want to completely blow things up, tank the season, and hopefully get the #1 pick in the draft . . . how else is this team supposed to improve, if they don't either develop their talent, or trade the talent they already have to get an upgrade?

That's straight BS. Everyone knows that Orlando was the absolute worst possible matchup for us last year. They were the only team in the league that consistently dominated us like that. While Boston or Cleveland may have beaten us in the 2nd round last year, our confidence against those 2 teams especially would've been sky high. Especially against Boston, who all season had no answer for JJ and Jamal. Even with the Cavs, the Hawks basically blew 2 games both home and away against them. But against the Magic, they basically kicked our azz 3 times, before we were finally able to break through at home ( only because they had an off shooting night ). So how far do we get WITHOUT JJ here, if the best we can do is win one or two games in the 2nd round? Do we even get out of the 1st round? Do we even make the playoffs? And if either of those scenarios happen, how many "so-called" fans stay loyal to the Hawks while they try to re-tool the team?

You bring in that center via a trade. Or you try to acquire one via the MLE. Keeping JJ keeps a significant talent piece intact for potential trades. But you shed the lesser expiring contracts to gain that financial flexibility, just like everybody else around the league does. Even if we lost a Horford, we could still be in position to get a center, still have Smoove at PF, and still have JJ. Or you could use JJ himself, to trade for that center, and keep Horford. It doesn't matter how you want to do it. Just as long as we have talent here when we do acquire a center. Star talent and expiring contracts are the most precious trade pieces in the NBA. And they're also important when it comes to financial flexibility. The reason why it took the Knicks so long to shed payroll, is because they had too many mediocre long term contracts of players that nobody wanted. Conversely, the reason why Washington was able to shed bigger contracts like Butler and Jamison so quickly, is because contending teams saw value in those players, and weren't afraid to trade for them, despite their contract. It is much easier to move money around when you have star or borderline star players with sizeable contracts, than it is to move people who are role players that no one sees true value in.

It's almost like people don't know the history of this league. Teams don't improve by maximizing on every draft pick that isn't a lottery pick. Even the Spurs ( the team that maximizes the draft the best ) needed to basically tank a season, so that they could get lucky and acquire Tim Duncan, who ended up being the cornerstone of the franchise. And along with their draft picks, they were able to trade for the right type of talent to surround Duncan. But no other team even comes close to what the Spurs do via the draft. The vast majority of teams get better by trading talent for talent. Even if it's disgruntled talent on a bad team. Talents on bad teams . . like a Monta Ellis, Danny Granger, Al Jefferson . . and possibly down the road like an Andre Iguodala or Gilbert Arenas will all be traded for, if those guys continue to be productive players that could help a contending team. They'll team with a star player already in place to make the squad better. That's the general history of the league.

You simply have a group of fans that would rather this team take a chance at being led by Al Horford and Josh Smith, than Joe Johnson. They have never been too high on JJ in the first place, nor really liked the guy personally. So letting him walk or bringing back lesser talent to get rid of him, doesn't bother them one bit. The thing is, those same people know good and well that Smoove will never be a go-to-guy type scorer on offense, because his inability to make mid-range jumpers. But when Smoove is on his game, he's the heartbeat of the defense. As for Horford, he may have a shot to be a go-to-scorer, but only if he can prove that he can consistently score over taller centers and develop more of a back to the basket game . . which is why he'd prefer to play PF than C. Not retaining JJ could STILL MEAN that we'd have to trade Horford or Smoove, simply based on Al's desire to play PF. We would be absolutely screwed if Al flat out told the Hawks next summer . . "Please don't match any offers for me. I don't want to play here because I'm tired of playing center. I would rather be sign and traded than come back here." So what would the plan be then? No JJ . . No Horford . . but we'd still have Smoove, Teague, Jordan Crawford, and incredibly . . Marvin Williams? Is that what Hawk fans potentially want to roll with in the future? As much as people complain about overpaying JJ, this team could significantly be different going into 2012 anyway, if Horford tries to get out of here because Smoove is playing his position. At least by retaining JJ, you'll be able to insure that you'll have at least one of Smoove or Horford here.

Here's a question for you Camp: If that team in 2013 has gotten to ( not won ), but played in the NBA Finals in 2012, are we even talking about how much these guys are making? Because the fact is . . . you have to "pay the cost to be the boss". It's so funny how on one hand, people constantly called the ASG "cheap" ( I've even questioned whether they'd go all out to pay people or bring in a winner ). But when the ASG actually does something significant, people cry about it and talk about how it will "handicap" the team. Let's be real. Most of the people who have a huge problem with JJ getting a MAX deal, would rather see JJ gone altogether. It wouldn't matter if he were making 10 mill a year, they'd still want him gone. That's the REAL ISSUE HERE. The fact is that you can replace JJ's name with Lebron, or Wade, or Bosh, or Amare, or whomever. Under your scenario . . we'd still have the same issue with payroll if any of those guys were here, instead of JJ. So let's run it back and see what you and the others are saying. Instead of . . . a) re-signing JJ to a MAX deal . . and keeping a team together coming off the 5th best regular season in Atlanta history, and see if they can expand on what they can do as a group under a new coach . . . but take a risk of having a sky high payroll in 3 years you'd rather . . . b) let JJ walk ( or sign and trade him for a role player ), and see if the team can do better with Horford and Smith as the go-to guys, even if it means taking a few steps back in the short term, . . . while keeping payroll reasonable enough to add role players to supplement Smith and Horford. That's about it . . . right?

And probably the best example in recent years . . . Pau Gasol ( Memphis to LA Lakers )

And people need to keep this in mimd. We do still have a MAJOR trade chip to use: Jamal Crawford And he's a trade chip that we don't necessarily have to use this summer. But as long as we use him by the trade deadline, he's a major trade chip. Add Mo Evans with Jamal, and you now have around a 13 million dollar trade chip to potentially use sometime before next February. A JJ MAX deal does not "cripple" the franchise by any stretch of the imagination. All we need to do is either get better complimentary players around JJ . . or trade one of our young stars for a veteran star that maybe couldn't get it done somewhere else. And if sometime in the next 2 - 3 years we say that JJ is on the trading block, watch how may teams go after him. If he's still close to an All-Star caliber player, there will be a big money, championship contending team that will pick him up . . .ala what has happened in recent years with guys like Allen Iverson ( Philly to Denver ), Tracy McGrady ( Orlando to Houston ), Ray Allen ( Seattle to Boston ),Kevin Garnett ( Minnesota to Boston ), Shaq ( Miami to Phoenix ), and Vince Carter ( New Jersey to Orlando )

Wow . . . I gotta admit that I am shocked that they'd offer him a MAX deal right from the jump. That's a big time move from an ownership group that has ALWAYS been "reactive" instead of "proactive". The ASG didn't blink when it came to JJ. You gotta love that. Or not . . if you're a JJ or ASG hater. If the report is true, JJ now knows that he will be a MAX contract player, regardless of where he goes. Maybe with the early commital by ownership, JJ may be inclined to stay. Because now, he's basically saying that 25 - 30 more million doesn't DOES matter to him. But at the very least, the Hawks have gained some leverage in a possible sign and trade. They can't control where JJ potentially wants to go ( if he wants to lave ATL ), but they now have forced teams to not only deal directly with JJ, but also with them. I think this move effectively takes the Knicks out of the picture, because other than David Lee or Eddy Curry's expiring contract, I can't see what we'd want from them. And that's what I want to start hearing in these next few hours . . that teams are pulling out from meeting with JJ. If not, I guess they still believe that he can be swayed fom ATL. But this is a BIG first move in free agency. A move that should at the very least keep us in the top 4 or 5 in the East, and top 10 in the NBA.

Shammgod couldn't shoot to save his life. But man . . does this dude have some handles. I bet he is a MONSTER on the park courts.

Buzz does have a point though. Okafor hasn't been "garbage" . . but he's really the Marvin Williams of centers. So to pay him that much wouldn't be cost effective at all, something that the ASG seems to covet. I personally don't think acquiring Okafor does anything to help our big man issue or our defense. In reality, I wish Smoove was a lot tougher, so we could stick HIM at center, and play him like Ben Wallace. The deal would be all about acquiring Chris Paul though. But we'd STILL have to go out and get a defensive center. In the end, we'd have to hope that Paul is good enough to really spark interest in Atlanta for the Hawks. Here's a question . . . who gets introduced last at games, if Paul comes to ATL, but JJ has the Max contract?

LOL . . Jay-Z can even talk about Lebron AND Wade in a damn song . . fast forward to about 1:50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjsXo9l6I8

The #53 pick since 1990 . . . and the best player picked after him in bold 1990: Abdul Samsaid-Deen Sean Higgins #54 . . SF . . former Michigan standout . . played 6 years for 6 teams in the NBA . . best season came in Golden St, in which he scored 8 ppg off the bench. 1991: Von McDale . . . . ( the next player didn't play in the NBA ) 1992: Curtis Blair . . . ( the next player didn't play in the NBA ) 1993: Lenord White . . ( the next player didn't play in the NBA ) 1994: Albert Burditt Zeljko Rebraca #54 . . Center . . drafted in 94, but didn't set foot in the NBA until 2001 . . played for 5 seasons ( 215 games ) and averaged 5.9 pts and 3.2 rebs for his career 1995: Constatin Popa Chris Carr #56 . . SG . . best season was in Minnesota in his 3rd year, where he almost averaged 10 ppg . . played 6 years in the NBA 1996: Jeff Norgaard Shandon Anderson #54 . . SG/SF . . former Georgia star who played 10 seasons in the NBA . . was a key player off the bench for Utah during their 1998 NBA Finals run . . best year was in Houston where he averaged 12.3 pts and 4.7 rebs ) 1997: Paul Rogers Mark Blount #54 . . C . . played 9 seasons in the NBA . . developed into a decent offensive center from 2003 - 07 as a center for Boston and Milwaukee that averaged between 9 and 12 ppg during that time. 1998: Greg Buckner ( also the best player ) . . SG . . played for 10 seasons in the NBA . . most known for as being a pretty good defender, which kept him in the NBA for that long . . averaged 5 ppg for his career. 1999: Rodney Buford ( played for 5 teams in 5 NBA seasons averaged 6.4 ppg and 2.6 rebs ) . MANU GINOBLI #57 . . easily the best pick ever after #53 . . no need to run down his credentials. We all know that he's very good. 2000: Corey Hightower Chris Porter . . former Auburn star who played in only 51 games in the NBA 2001: Kenny Satterfield ( he was the best player, but only played for 2 seasons and 75 games ) 2002: Rasual Butler . . SF . . has survived in the NBA for 8 years as a 3 point specialist . . has averaged 10 ppg in 3 of the past 4 seasons . . currently with the Clippers Luis Scola #55 . . PF . . stayed away from the NBA for 5 yeas, until making his debut in 2007 . . has been a very solid PF for the Rockets averaging 13.1 ppg and 7.9 rebs in 3 years . . had his best year as a pro last year putting up 16 ppg and almost 9 rebs. 2003: Tommy Smith Brandon Hunter #56 . . played 2 seasons ( 67 games ) . ., averaged a little over 3 ppg 2004: Matt Freije ( remember him Hawks fans? ) . . . he was also the best player taken . . played for 2 seasons ( 41 games ) . . shot a dismal 30% FG and 14% 3FG in his 19 game career in Atlanta 2005: Orien Greene . G . . stuck around for 3 seasons ( 128 games ) . . 2.5 ppg for his career Amir Johnson #54 . . F/C . . a prospect pick by Detroit that hasn't materalized into a solid talent yet . . still very young though . . aveaged 6 pts and 5 rebs in 18 minutes last year. . . . Marcin Gortat was also selected #56 ( vastly overrated Center ) 2006: Yotam Halperim Hassan Adams . . . Salim's teammate while at Arizona . . . G . . played for 2 seasons ( 73 games ) . . aveaged 2.5 ppg in his career 2007: Demetris Nichols Ramon Sessions #56 . . PG . . has averaged 10 pts and 5 assists in his 3 year career in the NBA . . had his best season 2 years ago in Milwaukee, in which he averaged 12 pts and almost 6 assists 2008: Tadija Dragicevic Mike Taylor #55 . . . played 1 season for the Clippers 2009: Nando De Colo Lester Hudson or Patrick Mills. . . take your pick . . . Lester has played in 25 games for 2 teams . . Patrick ( Patty MIlls ) played in 10 games last year Starting Lineup on your Picked After #53 team PG - Sessions G - Ginobli F - Shandon Anderson F - Scola C - Blount

DA just mentioned it in passing. After he said that about Marvin, he also said that it may not be his best position. But the only reason why he said it in the first place, is so that we can keep Jamal on the bench, to continue to let him be the main scorer off the bench. I was more impressed with what Lawrence Frank said about ownership striking first, and not taking a "wait and see" approach. And I agree with him. If the ASG is serious about re-signing JJ, they MUST come IMMEDIATELY with a major deal. If the MAX that JJ can get from a 5 year deal from the Nets is 5 yrs - 92 million, the ASG MUST come at JJ with a 100+ million contract. If it's a 6 year deal, they probably need to come with what coachx said . . . 6 yrs - 105 million ( at the MINIMUM ). We have to go at JJ aggressively if we want to keep him here. If not, we'll definitely lose him.

free agent PG . . . Nate Robinson ( would he take the MLE to play on that team, or stay in Boston ) Like I said, it's a scary scenario

The bad thing about the Wade, Lebron, Bosh trio, is that they DO have some experience in playing with each other. That team would become a monster, because they pose matchup problems all over the place for the opposing team. Let's keep it real folks . . . all of us would trade JJ, Smoove, Horford, Teague, Jamal and Marvin . . in order to bring Lebron, Wade, and Bosh here. Wade will still be the slasher, Lebron would be the point forward, and Bosh would essentially be Pau Gasol. When you have 3 players like that, the only thing you really need to do is add specialist type players. Even a guy like Chalmers may become a better PG with those guys around. Starters Chalmers Wade Lebron Bosh Dexter Pittman ( 6-10 300 lbs . . . basically being their version of Oliver Miller ( former Arkansas center, and later played with Barkley in Phoenix ) Bench Joel Anthony ( a very good shot blocker as an undersized center ) Beasley ( definitely has talent, even if his mind ain't right ) James Jones ( the shooter ) Jarvis Varnado ( rail thin, but a potentially big time shot blocker ) Latavious Williams ( athletic rebounder ) free agent PG free agent shooter De'sean Butler ( injured, but was projected to be a 1st round pick before he got hurt . . . and the possible replacement for Beasley @ SF ). I could definitely see Wade on occasion playing the PG position in a backup role. And they'll rotate Lebron and Wade out of the lineup so that one is on the court at all times. Bosh will also still play center on occasion. It's a truly scary scenario for us that they could create down in Miami, especially if they can get anything out of those 2nd round picks. Keeping all of our firepower would be a necessity, if that scenario in Miami happens.

Happy B-Day JJ. Don't let D'Antoni sell you on that fools gold they got in NYC. It's a reason why they haven't won anything since the Patrick Chewing days.