Packfill

It will be easier to turn Smith or Childress into respectible outside threats then it will be to sign Allen, Redd, Johnson or Hughes regardless of the cap space available.

If they have 2 picks why would they not just draft Williams and a point guard? They want a point guard as well.

There is no chance the Hawks are getting a top 5 pick for Harrington.

Quote: bk said he thinks smoove could be pf after the summer... and ben wallace is a small center, but look how that worked out... and amare is a small center but look how that is working out... Both Amare and Ben Wallace have alot more muscle mass than Joshn Smith. Heck, I have more muscle mass then Josh Smith and I am a runner. I am not saying it cannot work it just does not seem ideal. If one of Childress or Smith can develop an outside shot then you obviate the need to bring in a high priced shooter.

Paul has done pretty well against both Duke and UNC, which have potential NBA prospects Daniel Ewing (6'3") and Raymond Felton (6'). Size at the point guard position is very overrated. so many teams have made mistakes drafting guys because they are 6'3" or taller in the hopes that they become the next magic. What happens is they either move to shooting guard (A. Hardaway, S. Smith, J. Crawford, L. Hughes, etc.), struggle and don't make it in the NBA (J. Sasser, M. Moore, R. Gaines, etc.) or bounce around for a few years before making an impact (C. Billups, A. Daniels, B. Sura, etc.). I am not saying Paul is necessarily better then Bogut (I am not qualified to make that determination), but to say he won't succeed because he had a rough game or two and is short is crazy. Kevin Johnson, Terrell Brandon, T.J. Ford, Tim Hardaway and others all had success at 6' or under point guards.

Smith measured 6'7" with out shoes at the combine. Even if he has grown since, I just don't see how he is big enough to handle Duncan, Garnett, O'Neil, etc. Stoudamire has at least an inch or two on him and alot more muscle mass. Maybe in a couple years it can work but right now I think the Hawks should do everything in their power to turn Josh smith and Josh Childress into solid wing players. Both need to work on their shots.

Bad trade. Wells is only marginally better the Chills right now. I rather Childress and Smith get the time. Wells is a has-been with a bad attitude.

Quote: I don't think Philly will give up Dalembert I think that is wishful thinking on some people's part but if I am wrong I still don't think he signs here after next year. It will be pretty easy for him to let the Hawk's know he doesn't want to stay here and force a trade. The Philly owner doesn't want to give up it's becnh warmers for a trade I don't see them giving up Samual. I guess we will see Dalembert will be a restricted free agent, so if the Hawks did trade for Dalembert they will have the right to match any offer for him. So he would really have to piss and moan or get a ridiculous offer from another club to not be a Hawk next season. I am still not completely sold on him but he would be a huge upgrade over what the Hawks currently have. If Big Dog is included in the deal for salary cap purposes then I imagine he will be cut outright and the team would just eat his salary. No way he puts on a Hawks uniform again.

I disagree. I don't think either warrants all-star consideration.

Quote: You don't think Bogut is Ewing or Shaq, but what have you seen that tells you Paul is Kidd or Nash? Paul supposedly plays against the toughest competition in the country, but when was the last time he dominated a game? All the guys who came out of high school dominated inferior competition, yet no one had a problem drafting any of them. There are people on this board who want the Hawks to draft another H.S. player this year. Who did Howard or Josh Smith play against last year in H.S.? Bogut would be great in any conference. I hate to say this, but it seems like Bogut is being compared to every white stiff who's ever played in the NBA. If Bogut was from Harlem instead of Austrailia, would there be a question about his ability? I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but it doesn't seem fair to me. Inever said Paul was going to be the next Kidd. Rather I said I rather draft the next Kidd instead of the next Michael Olowakandi. I also went on to say I did not know enough about any of the prospects to say any of them are can't miss prospects like a LeBron or Shaq. You need to work on your reading comprehension.

Quote: There are two forces at work here... PG is the hardest position to play in the nBA C is the hardest position to find. however, you have to look at the level where each player is playing. I'm glad that BK gets to do that up front. Who is to say that it's not a case of Kaman vs. Hinrich? Also, that statement that you made: Quote: Very few point guards(Devin Harris) make any impact before there 3rd or 4th year I take it you're talking about good PGs since you mentioned good Big men... Well, let's look at the record: Centers vs. PGs... 2004: Okafor, Araujo, Swift vs. Gordon, Livingston, Harris 2003: Darko, Bosh, Kaman vs. Hinrich, Ford 2002: Ming, Nene, Wilcox, Ely vs. Jay Williams 2001: Curry, Diop, vs. No PGs.. 2000: Chris Mihm, Pryz vs. Dooling 1999: Redojevick vs. Francis, Davis, Miller, Terry. 1998: Olowakhandi, Lafrentz, Doleac vs. Bibby, Jason Williams, Now... with the thorough understanding of draft history... back to 1998... we see clearly that the trend is that more PGs are higher impact than Cs... BUT obviously it's case by case... Still, the two that we will never know about are Jay Williams and TJ Ford... Although Ford was making an impact until he got hurt. The moral of the story is finding these positions are hard so you don't want to pass up the next Jason Kidd by drafting Big Country... Excellent post D. There is no guarantee at this point that Bogut turns out any better then Chris Kamen or Raef LaFrentz. I think alot of you guys discount the value of a truly exceptional point guard. There are so few of them that if you have the chance, you grab one no questions asked because they make your entire team better. Add Steve Nash or Jason Kidd to the Hawks and they immediately improve by 15 wins. Granted, a great big can do the same, but you get the point - if you think one of the points has a chance at greatness then you take them over the big guy who you are not sure has a chance at greatness (and vice versa). Now, I don't know enough about any of the draftable players to say one or another is a guarantee. I just don't see a Shaq, Lebron or Patrick Ewing.

Easier but riskier too, because you are not guaranteed that Walker will be around next year.

This is a good point. First, you would need to be sure that Walker is signable before trading Al - because we need one of them. Second, how much more will Walker cost then Al and what impact will that have on the team's ability to sign free agents or sign its own young players when their rookie contracts expire. For these reasons I think it makes sense to keep Harrington because he is locked in at a reasonable rate for next year - after which we will have a much better sense of how the young players are progressing. If, at that time, Harrington proves to be a good fit then the Hawks can resign him. If not, he is gone. With Walker, you will have to sign him to at least a 4 year deal (probably 5 or 6) and there is no guarantee he will mesh with the young guys once they have a few years under their belt. So on contract status alone Harrington makes more sense. I guess if you feel Walker is so much better then Harrington that it makes sense to commit to him, then you would feel differently. And yes, I realize Walker is the superior player right now. Three years from now, who knows.

What Harrington hype? He is a good player. Obviously the Hawks cannot win with both Harrington and Walker as the core of the team, but I am still not sure which is better for the team in the long run.

Nice. Playing like a number 6 pick right now. As I have said in the past, I still like Igoudala better and would have preferred him to have been the pick, but I don't think there is a huge difference in talent between Childress, Deng and Igoudala. My suspicion is that none of them become superstars but all become solid role players. People bitch and moan about making Childress the 6th pick, but end of the day regardless of which of the three we picked the results will likely be the same.

How so? I will give you he is more exciting and a better free throw shooter, but otherwise I am not so sure.

I think we like to talk about the future because the present is not so appealing. there usually is some excitement though when one of the young players has a good game.

Either way works for me (though I would prefer to hold on to Harrington), we could package Crawfords expiring contract to make the numbers work

Francis is a great individual talent but I am not sure any team could win big with him as the point guard. He is basically the Antoine Walker of point guards, great stats at first blush, but looking deeper you see really low shooting percentages, lots of turnovers, and, for a max contract guy, an inability to get a team over the hump from decent to really good. Yes Orlando has improved dramaticly from last year, but a large part of that has to do with the return of Grant Hill, the presence of Dwight Howard and the team actually trying to compete.

I agree with Weez, if Chandler was clear of any medical problems I would definitely do the deal. Yes you need to throw some money at Chandler but it is the same money you would trhow at a free agent center anyway. Davis' contract is terrible but it expires (assuming it is two more years as Spiral suggested) in time for the Hawks to pay big money to our current rookies.

I would not re-sign Walker unless Al Harrington is traded as well. Not trying to pick sides on the Al vs. Toine debate, but it is one or the other next year, not both. That being said, Al is already signed for next year so my guess is Toine is the more likely to be elswhere when next season starts.

Stats don't mean crap if your team does not win. No one on a last place team deserves to be an all-star.

I don't think Jack is having a great year. Watching him in the tournament last year thought he was a sure fire lottery guy but this year he has not had the same magic to his game. I don't know whay anyone mentione Warrick because he does not represent a need for the Hawks. Josh Smith can do everything Warrick can do.

Am I the only one that thinks that none of those three - Deng, Childress and Igoudala - are going to be superstars? I think they will all be good role players but nothing more. I still like Igoudala the best of the three but the difference in abilities and ceilings is not that big. Realisticly, the only player picked between 6 and 17 in the 2004 draft that has shown anything remotely resembling "star" potential is Al Jefferson. Maybe Billy missed on him but so did a lot of GM's, just as they may have missed on Josh Smith. I can almost guarantee that no GM, coach or draft expert projected Jefferson going 6th in the draft.

He is worth a look. I just posted a day or so ago a list of young centers that were at least worthy of a look. Sampson was one of them. O.K., I am done tooting my own horn.