Packfill

I don't really care about the all star game, but long term I would probably take Brook Lopez over Al Horford. They would be an excellent center/power forward combo.

What is the statistical likelihood that Jason Collins becomes a useful rotational player for the Hawks?

Looks a lot like last years squad, only older, in a good way, in the front court; and older, in a bad way, in the backcourt. I think barring some miraculous improvement by Horford or Smith, the Hawks need to hope Teague has a breakout year as that would be the biggest/only upgrade to the rotation.

Great pick up? He is a nice pick up as far as an end of the bench player goes, but really not much more than that until proven otherwise. He is effectively being replaced in LA by a rookie second round draft pick, which is telling.

I would trade anyone on the Hawks roster for Paul. He is better than all of them.

It would be a huge mistake to extend Crawford at this point.

For comparison sake, the standing reach of some other centers and power forward types: DeMarcus Cousin - 9'5" Brook Lopez - 9'5" Greg Oden - 9'4" Dwight Howard - 9'3.5" Andrew Bogut - 9'2.5" Emeka Okafor - 9'2.5" Al Jefferson - 9'2" Tyson Chandler - 9'2" Chris Bosh - 9'1" David West - 9'0.5" Carlos Boozer - 9'0.5" Amare Stoudamire - 9'0.5" http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?year=All&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&source=All&sort=6

Agreed. Even assuming Wade goes down for an extended period a starting five of Chalmers, Miller, James, Bosh and Big Z is still better than LeBron had in Cleveland.

I would be surprised if someone did not offer Horford the max. Rudy Gay got the max - and I think a few teams were willing to pay it. Did Bogut get the max? If so, then I think that is a decent comp.

I agree. I actually think Miami will cost a bit during the season and then bring their A game during the playoffs. Lebron and Wade are definitely competitors and will push each other and the rest of the team to perform. Mike Miller is a perfect complimentary player for that team because he can pass the ball, has some ballhandling ability and is a deadly shooter. James Jones is an excellent shooter too if he is on board. None of their bigs outside of Bosh is great, but Haslem is a nice bench player on any team (assuming Big Z starts). Joel Anthony as the second big man off the bench is not horrible either. Ideally they would pick up a back-up point guard who can shoot.

If you are an owner or the GM and you believe coaching and individual improvement can get you to the next level, and you are coming off of a 53 win season, then you might as well go for broke now because waiting for a year might not make sense - unless you strongly believe a seasoned Teague is the key to a championship. Otherwise some of your backcourt assets are ageing and you will not likely be in a position to resign Jamal Crawford a year from now. If you don't think the team as constructed can get to the next level than you need to think about making some major changes.

Sy needs game minutes. He won't get that on the Hawks roster. He needs a season getting regular minutes in Europe of the D League. Morris is such a waste of size.

Billy Knight versus the lottery: Josh Childress Marvin Williams Sheldon Williams Al Horford Acie Law 1 out of 5 meeting expectations, 2 of 5 remaining on the roster.

I think Wade's age and injury history have been noted as potential concerns by ESPN and the like. I think the reason it is not discussed more prominently is because of Wade's unquestioned ability now and the fact that there is not a franchise in the NBA that would not give Wade a max deal now if it had the cap space to do so.

I still think LeBron stays in Cleveland. All the speculation about the rented cabanas in Miami for the celebration party, etc. are probably just cover.

I am not sure what Randolph Morris' contract situation is for next season, but if he is going to be on the team he could REALLY use some summer league minutes. I doubt he becomes anything more than end of the bench fodder at this point but he is a guy that should be proactively looking for some summer league game time.

I think the Boozer signing is a good move by the Bulls. His contract, as reported it is either 5 years and $80 million or 5 years and $75 million, is not horrific either. He fits well with their other pieces. Even without LeBron, if Rose takes his game to the next level that team could be tough. Might be another year before they hit their stride though since Rose is still so young.

Mike Miller (expensive, and kind of a luxury unless the team can unload Marvin for a big man) Luke Ridenour Earl Barron Craig Smith

The only difference between Marvin pre 08-09 was his ability to hit threes. Nothing else really changed from 07-08. I am not sure why Sund would think the teams playoff performance would change since the team did not change the style of basketball it played. It is beyond obvious that the current roster would most benefit from a talented point guard who can facilitate the offense. They need someone who is a creative passer who can get a small but athletic front line easy looks at the basket. Maybe Drew's motion offense will help, but it will be limited if the point guard does not have the vision to execute.

What has changed? What does Sund know now that he did not know a year ago? He knew he would have to pay big money to JJ. He knew Horford would be up for a large money deal in the future. He knew Bibby was slowing down. He knew Marvin lacked the mental fortitude to become something other than a complimentary player. So he traded for Crawford who was an improvement on Flip Murray. It is hard to view that move as a game changer. The team improved dramatically from the prior season as much due to improved health and maturation of the front court than anything else.

If Sund were to do this it would basically be admitted he messed up big time last summer. Why did he resign Marvin and Bibby last year? It is not really a surprise that JJ was going to get a max deal. I hope Sund or any GM is looking more than one year down the road.

Doing that would be putting an awful lot of faith in Teague. I guess Drew has seen him in practice so should know what he is capable of. Duhon as a starter would be a downgrade based on what he did last year. I like Childress as a hustle guy off the bench, but is he really better than Marvin? Marvin needs to man up for sure, and he obviously is a huge disappointment as a #2 pick, but he is a better long range shooter than Chill and has the ability to be a better defender.

Can the team repeat is remarkable health from last season? The top 6 players on the team missed less than 10 games combined, which is impressive.

I am not sure this makes sense. If part of getting JJ back is convincing him the team will be a contender how does trading away two starters for cap space help? At the end of the day would the team be better with Duhon and Childress or Bibby and Marvin? If they are trying to get some legitimate talent that is one thing, salary dump would be another thing entirely.

I think they may be better two or three years from now - IF Jennings builds on a good rookie season, Bogut stays healthy and someone like rookie Sanders turns into a good defensive big man. Then all they need are wings, which are the easiest pieces to find (Redd, Salmons and Maggette would obviously need to be replaced).