Packfill

It's inevitable. I am preparing myself now, I suggest everyone else do the same.

The only problem is that three of those legitimate NBA starters play the same position and the other plays the same position as the teams best player. Maybe you can trade one or two of them, but if their minutes are limited it is going to be hard to get full value for their talents.

Yes, but Okafor and Felton play different positions. Okafor and May play the same position but in todays NBA a team could certainly get away with them at the 4/5.

Marvin and Smoove play the same position - small forward, just like Childress and Harrington.

Agreed.

to be honest the main difference is that their main pieces complement one another much better than ours

Out of the point guards that may become available during this season, I think the guy to target is Speedy Claxton. He can run a team and can handle 4th quarter pressure - remember when he was in San Antonio he usually closed the game over Parker (albeit Parker was younger). He has been solid wherever he plays but has never truly been given the opportunity to be the guy.

Not sure what it would take to get him, but if the team is still rudderless come midseason I would consider some combination of Childress (because at that point we should know whether he will return to his form of last season or whether he will just be a back-up to Williams/Smoove/Johnson/etc.), Lue, Delk, Donta, second round pick.

I don't understand the whole NBA ready thing with respect to Marvin. One of his best attributes is an advanced skill set, so shouldn't that mean he is more NBA ready then the pure athletes like Smoove? Plus he had a year of college ball under his belt.

He needs to be aggressive. I am not sure that is something he does naturally.

Simply put, I can't see that happening unless Knight is fired.

He knows he doesn't have two to three years beyond this one to turn out a winning team. You don't trade away a large percentage of cap space and two draft picks on a really bad team expecting the process to take three more years while you wait on a rookie PG.

He'll want to bring in a good PG with experience via a trade who can lead the team, and then sign/draft as many big men as he can find.

Bingo.

The only two adjustments the Spurs made were:

1. To put Bowen on Al, which worked putridly well.

2. To attack the paint on offense.

A 'great' PG wouldn't have changed either of those problems. (It wouldn't have hurt either).

Royal and Donta are good prospects but don't kid yourself by thinking every team in the league doesn't have similar prospects sitting on their bench. By way of example, Detroit has Darko and Carlos Delfino sitting on the bench; Boston has Kendrick Perkins; New Jersey has rookie Antoine Wright; Washington has Peter John Ramos and Andre Blatche; Utah has Kirk Humphries; Portland has Travis Outlaw, Jarrett Jack and Martel Webster; LAL has Andrew Bynum and Brian Cook; etc.

None of the above. None are point guards.

This is as clear a message as possible. It absolutely takes good interior defense to win an NBA title. I do think good point guard play can make up for a ton of other deficiencies during the regular season. The Hawks need both a true point guard and an interior defensive presence in the worst way.

The point guard becomes even more important if the Hawks trade or do not sign Harrington, because he is one of two Hawks that can create a shot for himself. A good point guard would go a long way towards bringing out the best in the Hawks you wings (Childress, Smoove and Marvin). Next years draft seems devoid of real big men so I think the obvious route to go is point guard, since several talented ones may be available (Rondo, Gibson, Brewer, Washington, etc.). Once the Hawks get that point guard they can make the big step towards being competitive game in game out during the regular season, then they just have to get a big man (obviously no easy task, but might as well knock off one of the two needs on the team while they can).

JJ is many things - a talented scorer, defender, ballhandler, passer, etc. - but he is NOT a point guard. He is a multitalented guard who can play point guard, similar to Steve Francis and Allen Iverson, but his talents are not obtimized to run the point unless he is paired with a similar multitalented guard. There needs to be a second ballhandler on the court - someone who can push the pace a bit.

That said, Lue is terrible and it is clear JJ is the best "point guard" on the Hawks, but that does not mean anything.

Bad trade. Q was effective because he got so many open looks playing with Amare, Marion, Nash and JJ. Nash created the chemistry on that club. I think Al is a much more valuable player then Q. Marvin has no post up moves so why open up the paint for him? He seems like a more natural 3 given his ballandling and shooting.

This is exactly the point. Spree is way past his prime and does not represent a credible scoring threat at this stage in his career.

I don't see why drafting a point guard would have prevented the Hawks from acquiring JJ. They are not mutually exclusive. He only said he would play point to encourage the Suns to faciliate the deal. He has already indicated in statements this year that he is more comfortable at shooting guard, his natural position. I guarantee that if the Hawks had drafted a point JJ would have been talking about how he looks forward to be a leader and focal point of the offense. Seems kind of obvious to me.

I believe Chris Paul is currently leading all rookies in scoring and the Hornets (a team that is extremely young like the Hawks and probably less talented) have a couple of wins to their credit. Just food for thought. Not saying Marvin won't be good, just that a good point guard is hard to find.

The reason to not bring Spree in is the fact that he takes away playing time from the young players. Sprewell is someone you bring in if you think yuou can make a run at a championship, not someone you bring in hoping he can get you to 25 wins. I rather lose with Smoove/Childress/Marvin then win a little more with Spree.

I thought he was going to be your PG? Wasn't that the point of sending all those picks? He was going to be your 6'7" point guard - posting up the little guys and creating opportunities all over the court for your swingmen. 5 games in is that being abandoned?

Agreed.

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As for Spree's interest. Is this just a case of a guy without a job targeting a team with money?

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Definitely true. He wants a paycheck, nothing more.

Sprewell does not play center or point guard so I don't see how he helps.

Agreed, but I don't think there is anyone available that fits that description.

Absolutely agree. The Hawks are just going to have to bit the bullet this year and get a point guard in the draft next year - Rando, Gibson, whomever.

I will say, Hawks would be looking a lot better with Chris Paul at point.

I guess you just have a higher opinion of Curry then most. I see Curry as maybe developing into that 3rd or 4th piece a team needs to win a championship. The Hawks need to focus on the first three pieces before worrying about the 4th.