Packfill

Every team gets lambasted by the media every now and then. You should see some of the negative press the Knicks get in their home town - The NY Times, NY Post, Daily News, News Day, etc. all rag on the Knicks - and rightfully so. I live in NY, so I see this daily. I for one much prefer the Hawks roster/salary cap situation to the Knicks. Knicks currently have more talent but they are in in a bad place cap wise. Little flexibility. I don't think the Jamal Crawford signing is significant. A healthy Allen Houston is a much better player. But for his contract, I would love to have a player with his skill set on the Hawks.

Is it me, or does Chris Paul sound exactly like what the Hawks could use (really, exactly what most teams could use). True point guard. If his shooting improves watch out.

I agree with Blunt and JaHawk. Barry should come off the bench to give some experience to the second group and give the Hawks a little fire power off the bench. He will still get his minutes but may be better to facilitate Childress or Diaw with the first stringers because they won't need to score much with Al and Toine on the floor.

I wonder if NJ is asking for Telfair - his inclusion in the trade could really help mitigate fan negativity by bringing Telfair home. May be a hard pill for Portland to swallow but if they trade for Kidd you have to beleive they intend to use him as the centerpiece of the team for at least two to three years, so Telfair would be riding the pine anyway.

Swift would be nice to have but I don't see how he fits the teams long term goals if the future at forward is a combo of Josh Smith and Al Harrington. Swift is better than anything the Hawks have at center now, but if this team has long range playoff ambitions then a real center will be needed in the future. The accumulation of talent idea has worked in Memphis but it has backfired in other places - I am thinking Portland, but those guys were more established.

Getting Willis might be taking the veteran leadership thing a little too far.

Those are fair assessments. I would love it if Childress developed into a player like Posey (who had a great season in Memphis). Hopefully Josh Smith turns into more than Ceballos or Wallace (though being in Charlotte may help Wallace). Smith has all the potential in the world but the NBA is littered with great athletes who did not develop, so the jury is out.

Can anyone give him $100 for 5 years? Wouldn't the contract start at 14 and go up? I think Ray Allen would be a great fit as a max contract guy as long as the team also has a very good to great post presence. His teams in Milwaukee and Seattle have not had a good post player to really open things up for him.

I had mixed feelings about the trade at the time - I liked Jackson but hated Rider. Jim Jackson was a good player for the Hawks, shouldn't have been a number one option, but a good secondary player.

Sarunas Jasikevicius would have been a nice addition to the Hawks.

I agree - Deke was not going to be coming back to the Hawks after his contract expired and he was already starting to show signs of slowing down. It was a solid deal by Babcock.

These types od demands - "I want to go to a contender" - are ridiculous. Players like Davis who are good players, but not great players, over value their talents (or at least their agents do). If they were better, their teams would win and get beyond the first round of the playoffs. Baron is a good player, but he has flaws because he does not shoot particularly well, is injury prone and is not the prototype point guard (though he is better thant Marbury and other combo guards).

The Hawks struggled to rebound and block shots last year, not to mention to Hawks lacked a true point guard. So some of the holes are the same as last year.

The whole minor league idea makes so much sense. The players association should get on board with the idea, but won't because it is made up of NBA veterans. I think the NBA could market it and the merchandise if done properly. Would likely improve NBA basketball but may have a negative impact on college basketball, which I am not sure I want to see. For me, that is the only negative. Was Sarunas Jasikevicius the point guard for the lithuanian team - not sure if he was point or shooting guard? Boy could shoot though. I wouldn't mind if the Hawks signed him.

Watson would be a terrific pick-up but from what I have read Jerry West loves him. Watson is a real point guard and would be a solid, solid contributor.

Say what you will about Dampier but he is a real center. I think BK's attempts to sign Damp to a deal on the Hawks terms was admirable. Sure Damp did not want to come to a rebuilding team but I strongly suspect that if the Hawk's offer was the same as the contract he got from Dallas he would have signed with the Hawks.

Absolutely correct.

Steve Smith and Kevin Willis are way, way past their prime. They may be able to provide som leadership but I just don't think either is a viable option in terms of on the court performance.

Whatever you do, do not put Josh Smith, Josh Childress or Al Harrington in there any time soon!

Add me to the Mo Williams band wagon.

With Walker and Harrington already in the fold I don't think Swift is an option right now. A true center yes, a point guard yes, but not another power forward.

If Heywood had any drive/motivation and a decent set of hands he would be one of the top 3 centers in the game today.

I think Shareef and Walker are pretty darn close talent wise - though each has different strengths and weaknesses. Both need to be put into the right system. I liked Shareef alot and loved the trade that brought him to Atlanta. I really wanted things to work out in Atlanta for him and the Hawks. I think the biggest mistake in the post-Dominique years was trading for Grob. That set the franchise back light years because it messed up both Shareef and Jason. If the Hawks had picked up James Posey or someone like that instead, and if Dermarr never gets injured, the Hawks would have made the playoffs the past two years. Lot of ifs, I know, but thats what I think.

Agreed.

Both Harrington and Crawford can serve as back-up power forwards.