Packfill

Did Troy get any playing time with the Grizz last year? I definitely agree that he should at least be looked at.

Now I am glad I spent the last pick in my fantasy draft on Devin Harris.

I don't understand. By all accounts, Josh Smith is an 18 year old right out of high school who has not demonstrated an ability to start in the NBA. Very, very few people his age get to play yet alone start in the NBA.

Having two scorers takes alot of pressure of the rookies and allows them to get comfortable on the floor without being the focus of the defense. Chill and Smooth will benefit from this - Chill as a starting at shooting guard and Smith as a reserve forward (even if Walker and Harrington average 38 minutes a night each that leaves 20 minutes for Smooth, which is more then enough for him to get his feet wet). If either rookie is ready for more then they can go out an earn it like anybody else.

Thanks for the advice guys. I went with Gooden based on some strong preseason performances. The tough thing was that I really wanted Al Harrington but he was drafted one spot before my pick. Oh well.

So far the team is Brand, Shaq, Nash, C. Mobley, Ilglauskas, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter and Gooden.

Fantasy basketball question here guys, need your help. I desperately need a forward for a rotisserie style league. Stats are points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, three-pointers made, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

We are in round 7 so the top guys are all off the board, here is a non-exclusive list of who is available:

Drew Gooden

Juwan Howard

Mike Miller

Jim Jackson

Vladimir Radmonovic

Gerald Wallace

Matt Harpring

Tim Thomas

Kurt Thomas

Kenny Thomas

Tayshaun Prince

Caron Butler

Glenn Robinson

Dwight Howard

What do you think? Value is at guard right now in the draft but I am fairly well set there.

I like Jack as well, but I think Chris Paul is even better.

I can understand the decision to go with Childress over Deng, particularly now that we have Walker and Harrington and Smith. Deng is a small forward, plain and simple. With a Harrington and Walker in front of him Deng would get no burn this year and in the long run Smith may be better then Deng and could be a nice pair with Harrington.

If you are going to be critical of the 6 pick, the only other option would have Igoudala. We will see though, I am not going to give up on Childress yet.

As for J.R. Smith, he would only have made sense as the 17 pick, at which point you have to decide if you like J.R. better then Josh. That is a tough call, J.R. is probably more ready to contribute but Smith has some Rasheed Wallace like upside as a versatile front court player.

In the age of pampered prima donna athletes, you have to love Jerry Sloan. I think Woodson has a little of that old school attitude as well, which I think will benefit the Hawks.

The Wiz are definitely a talented team but it is yet to be determined whether those talents can play together. There are a lot of guys who like to shoot and that can be a problem. Plus, there is no defense to speak of, so if they win it is going to be a 115-110 kind of game.

That would be a really small line-up. As partially evidenced last night, the Hawks forwards would use and abuse that Orlando line-up.

After Indy, Detroit and Miami the East is wide open this year. So many teams are relying on inexperienced players (i.e., Boston, Philly, Charlotte), players returning from injuries (Toronto, Wilwaukee) or chemistry experiments (NY, Cleveland, Orlando, Washington, Atlanta) that it is too close to call. So many ifs - if Vince Carter stays healthy, if Dalembert continues to develop, if Jameson and Arenas can coexist and get wins, if Gooden can replace Boozer, etc.

Realistically, Atlanta has as much of a chance as the rest - i.e., if the young guns develop, if KA stays healthy and productive, if Walker is motivated, if AH steps up.

I would definitely include Stephen A. Smith in the group of reporters and jounalists that tends to exaggerate things. Every time he is on the air he says such and such is terrible, so and so is too old, etc. If nothing else you have to agree he is prone to hyperbole.

Weez, I know you don't like requests, but can you post the article about the break-out players.

Guys, I think we need to step back and realize what the national media does in general when analyzing sporting teams. Fact of the matter is that they overdramatize things. More and more they do this by making over the top statements. This is the Stephen A. Smith/Fox style of reporting. It is sensationalistic. This stype of reporting has gained popularity in the past ten years. Bottom line is - Don't take what they say literally. For example, they are not making a prediction that Charlotte will win 5 games. Rather, they are saying that Charlotte has very little proven talent and will struggle to win games, likely finishing with the worst record in the league.

If the Hawks win they will all jump on the bandwagon, don't worry.

If you really want to no what suffering is go talk to a Boston Red Sox fan. Every May they talk as if this is the year, then they lose to the Yankees and you can't even make fun of them because they immediately go into this whole self-pity ritual.

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.