Packfill

If Wilcox was that good he would be the starting center for the Clippers. His only competition is Chris Kamen, who is decent, but not exactly a world beater - and surely someone who a guy with 20/10 potential could beat out. Oh, and last I checked, the Clippers are not a very good team. Trading Al for Wilcox is change for change sake. If we are going to trade Al it has to be a for a real center.

I am just going off of what I have seen of him - both from his college days and his NBA days. I am not saying he can't do it just that he has not done it consistently throughout his career. And I doubt I watched any of the games he played point two years ago, I am sure I had something better to do. I still think he can play point guard, but like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Larry Hughes, Steve Smith, etc., he is better off at the off-guard.

I don't know enough about Jaric to comment on his skills other then the fact that he started on an NBA team as a point guard, but my only hesitation with JJ is that he has not demonstrated an ability to drive the lane and create opportunities for himself or others. Not all point guards can do this, and certaintly you can be a successful point guard even at the NBA level without this skill, but if I had my pick I would want my point guard to have this ability.

This is a truely unfortunate situation. When you think about it, there is basically no way that the Hawks can field a competitive team, outside of great drafting and retention, if Belkin remains in power - because no free agent will sign and the GM will be handcuffed in future deals.

What we have here will boil dow to an issue of contractual interpretation. Based on the article from the AJC there is contractual language that allows the partners to remove Belkin as the governor on two grounds. The court in Boston will decide whether one of those standards are met. As far as buying Belkin out of the LLC, there should be language in the limited liability company's operating agreement which sets forth how and when a member can be removed. Often times when something like this happens with a partnership or LLC, there is a provision in the operating agreement or partnership agreement which provides for dissolution of the company. Basically, the other partners would force Belkin out by dissolving the LLC and then reconstituting it without him in it. Whether such a business action would fly with the NBA is another question, but that is usually how you do it when a business goes sour.

Most people who say they hate lawyers don't realize that most lawyers never step foot inside a courthouse. Generally, only litigators - trial and appellate lawyers - and bankruptcy attorneys work on court related matters. The majority of lawyers, however, work on transactions (corporate transactions, real estate transactions, etc.) or work in a specialized field (tax, health law, energy law, intellectual property, employment, government, sports and entertainment, etc.).

Do you dislike all attorneys or just certain types?

Miami's squad looks good on paper but in reality there are not enough shots to go around and too many people who need the ball in their hands to contribute (Wade, Williams, Walker). Boston seems to be building a nice young team though, with Green and Jefferson as the potential headliners, and intriguing talents in Wright, Allen, West, Perkins, etc.

No need to disparage lawyers.

I nominate this for post of the year!

Quote: Quote: Guys like Ben wallace are as rare as Kobe and Lebron. Even mentioning Reggie Evans in the same sentence with Ben Wallace is insulting. It's the most absurd blend of arm-chair GM'ing and stat overhype imaginable. I agree all the way I agree as well. Evans can rebound but he has not demonstrated any ability to block or alter shots - which is a large part of Wallace's success.

6'11"

Watch out for Nate Robinson in a "Spud" like performance.

I agree with Diesel. If the Hawks are not good enough to make a playoff run a year from now that BK won't be around to defend the loss of those picks in the 2007 draft. At that point, Childress and Smith are in year 3 and Marvin in year two, JJ has either made it as a point guard or not.

Quote: I've heard that Brezec is very weak defensively, like Collier is. His offense is above average but at the end of games he is a defensive liability from what I hear. It is a lot easier to have a weak defensive player like Brezec when you can line-up a potential defensive monster like Okafor next to him. Charlotte has a nice looking foundation. They have good young big men and a talented young point guard. They still more wing players, but those are easier to find.

They don't have signing bonuses. They do have an option to frontload a contract by accellerating payments from the later years in a contract, though. For cap purposes, the contract acts normally (i.e., initial salary in year 1, initial salary plus raise in year 2, etc.) but some of the actual payments under the contract are accellerated. Later in the deal, we will be paying less in actuality than the number that will be counting against the cap. That kind of sucks. I thought the frontloading was a positive because the Hawks have plenty of room to absorb the 20 million this year and then could save money in future years to sign the young players coming off their rookie contracts.

Wilcox is duplicative of Al. Despite his athleticism, Wilcox has not shown that he can be any more of a rebounder or defensive presence then Al. I would rather keep Al.

I think front loading JJ's contract is a good thing as it will mean his salary will not escalate considerably in later years when the Hawks need to sign Smoove, Childress, etc. I think JJ will work out at the point for the next year or two since the team will not be that good anyway, but once the team is ready to make a playoff run they will have to find someone who can dictate pace more then JJ. Maybe he will prove me wrong on that, but history is not on his side (i.e., alot of uber talented wings with point guardesque skills have been better as wings then points: Jalen Rose, Jamal Crawford, Penny Hardaway, LeBron James, Steve Smith, etc.).

Quote: Quote: Well for starters Curry doesn't do the things we need! We have scorers. Hell, there was absolutely nothing wrong with our scoring last season. Al led us in scoring with 17.5 ppg. Lue was 2nd with 13.5 ppg. Do you really think we are going to win anything with Lue being our 2nd leading scorer? We need a dominant low post scorer every bit as much as we need interior D. As for being an albatross, Foyle IS an albatross at $8.1M next season (and escalating thereafter) whether he takes the floor or not. That is not necessarily accurate because you have to fctor in the fact that the Hawks had Antoine Walker for part of the year. He averaged 20 points a game. After he was traded, Childress stepped up his game considerably and was averaging in the neighborhood of 16 points per game over the lst 30 games or so. Josh Smith averaged double figures over that time period as well. I don't think it is unrealistic to expect a combined 25+ points per game from the two this season.

I say no. I don't think Curry is worth the max and he is not good enough to overspend on because he has too many question marks surrounding his game - intensity, lack of defense, inability to rebound, health concerns, weight problems, mental aptitude, etc.

Quote: We need to get a Center this offseason if possible, even if its just Zaza or via a trade. Next offseason there are no centers available really, and as of right now there are no centers in college that will be able to come out for the draft. So it's either this offseason, or Gred Oden in 07 if we get lucky with the lottery. I seriously hope the Hawks are not in position to draft Greg Oden in 2007.

Harrington until proven otherwise.

Watson is an upgrade in the sense that he is a superior defender and is better at running an offense. He does not shot as well as Lue. I think he would be a big upgrade.

I would trade Al for Darko only if the Hawks are able to sign Joe Johnson and Phoenix does not match. The point being that the teams needs at least one player who is a front line starter and has some real NBA experience. A team of all first and second year players is a recipe for disaster so the Hawks would need Al or Joe to provide some leadership in the clubhouse and on the court.

I am ok coming out of the off-season without a point guard or center but I think next off-season is the cutoff. If BK cannot fill those holes next off-season then he deserves any and all criticism he gets. The rationale is that, assuming no significant signings this year, the Hawks will have at least one more high draft pick (probably 2) and a lot of money to fill those positions a year from now so there will be no excuse. The team has to start progressing at some point rather then just developing talent and 2006 is the year. Until then, lets just hope and pray that Smoove, Childress and Marvin continue to improve and develop.