Packfill

No. Barbosa is not a point guard, that is why the Suns want to trade him.

Quote: I agree that Foye is a baller. If it was 1 on 1, or 3 on 3 he is the man. What scares me about him is that he played in such a strange system at Villanova. The system is very care free and undisciplined when you compare it to other college philosophies. They alwayse played 4 guards in a wide open system. The style of play and transition to a more standard style could be real hard for him. I know his wide open game and one on one skills turns alot of you on. I appreciate his talent too. However, I am just a little worried when it comes to the transition time of him fitting in on an NBA offense. He reminds me of Stroudamire to degree with his shoot 1st mentality. Granted he is a better athelete, bigger, and better defensively the Stroudamire it is the mind set that is similarto me. I can see him jacking up ill advised shots. This will cause guys like J. Smith to get selfish too. I just don't want a shoot 1st mentality to rub off onthe team that showed so much unselfishness and tema chemistry toward the end of the season. The whole point of starting Ivey was that he was not selfish and would distribute the ball. I don't see Foye being that kind of player. What I like about him the most is his bull like defensive stopper attitude. He is what we need to guard PG's. But don't we need inside muscle more ? So it is simple. Do you think we need more perimeter scoring and defense or...... more inside defense and rebounding ? Since Coach Woodson doesn't seem to have an offensive plan other then to tell JJ or Al to shoot, Foye's experience with a wide open system is a plus for the hawks.

Too much like Joe Johnson. The shooting guard position is locked down in Atlanta.

At the end of the day, I just don't want to endure another season of Lue/Salim/Ivey at the point.

I am no expert, but given Jaywalker's report and the ownership mess it seems unlikely that the Hawks will be active in the free agent market. It also seems highly plausible that the team will not resign Al and will not be in position to trade him. If that is the case, then the Hawks will again be a very, very young team so expecting them to win might be too optimistic. That said, if we know we are going to be a young team, and we know we won't be able to fill out the roster in free agency, and there is a strong chance the Hawks will not have a first round pick next year, I think a trade down makes sense. If the Hawks stayed at 5, I think Sheldon or Foye make the most sense because both likely will be able to contribute early and both fill a need (Sheldon = interior defense; Foye = dribble penetration in the half court game and defense on the perimeter) - though they do not fill those needs perfectly (i.e., Sheldon is really a forward and compounds the forward glut problem and Foye is not really a point guard or someone who can lead the fastbreak). If possible, a trade down may make sense (perhaps with NO) to get two picks in the 10-17 range. If such a deal was made the Hawks could take a bigman (whomever was left between Simmons/O'Bryant/Sene) and a point guard (Rondo/Lowry/Farmar). Such a deal allows the Hawks to fill in the roster. It would not provide immediate help but would mitigate the inactivity in free agency and the lack of a pick next year. The team would suck in the short term but would at least have a chance of being balanced and non-positionally challenged in two years. Part of me thinks the top of this years draft is just not that special and that the real value in the draft is in the 10-20 range. A guy like Farmar has as much chance to make it drafted at 20 as a guy like Marcus Williams at 9.

I was not implying that you thought it was a good idea or not (rather I assumed you were just reporting what you read on their site), only that I think it is a terrible one.

You have mean sold. Unfortunately, my vote does not count. I do like Childress, but for the sake of a balanced roster one of the redundant forwards does need to go. You have to give talent to get talent.

Quote: acquiring Roy would probably make Chillz expendable in a trade (I'll talk more about that later). Acquiring a shoot first PG could possibly hurt JJ because you would risk taking the ball out of his hands too often. If he is paired with Roy however and he gives it up, he is likely to get it back. I don't know where you get the idea that Roy is not a good passer - he is a TERRIFIC passer and ball handler which is why some people think he can play some PG in the NBA. He averaged over 4 apg last year from the SG position. Another thing I like about Roy is his underrated athleticism. He has the quickness and the vertical leap to at least challenge guys like D Wade and Gilber Arenas - the premier guards in our division. No one on our current roster has the tools to stay with either guy. As for the possibility of trading Chillz - I love Chillz but I was thinking of a deal that makes sense for both teams last night. How about sign and trading Al along with Chillz to Milwaukee for Magloire and TJ Ford (Magloire/Ford for Harrington/Childress)? I have read a ton of reports that say the Bucks want to trade Magloire and they would trade Ford but they want a PF and a defense-minded swingman in return. If a deal could be made, we would line up: Magloire/Zaza Smoove Marvin/Dante Roy/Salim JJ/Ford/Lue I think that is an interesting/versatile lineup. We could go big in the frontcourt with Magloire and Zaza up front. We could also go with Ford at PG, Roy at SG and JJ at SF. Even with all that, we'd still have the cap room to sign another good player. I'd shoot for a solid PF like Nene, Gooden, Wilcox or even Lo Wright. That said, if we made the Roy for Shelden/Head deal, a lineup of: Magloire/Zaza Shelden/ Smoove/Marvin JJ/Head/Salim Ford/Lue would be VERY strong too. For Milwaukee, Bogut moves to Center and they line up: Bogut/Gadzuric Harrington/Smith Simmons/Kukoc Redd/Childress Williams/Bell That is a solid, tough team with a nice mix of veterans and youth. I would strongly consider that deal. It would give the Hawks alot of flexibility in terms of the different looks they could show teams. I don't really think the Bucks would do it though.

Quote: I just the Houston boards and there is a lot of talk about an exchange of Stromile for Childress. Something like Stromile and 8th pick for Childress and the 5th pick. Sounds interesting!!! That does not sound interesting, it sounds stupid. We are giving up the best player and highest pick in that deal.

Quote: Quote: How is it possible to move forward with a buyout if both parties cannot legally agree on the price. Because if the parties still did not agree on a price, they had the right to seek a third evaluation from the independent NBA and then (if I recall correctly) the middle value was to be used. Quote: I will give Belkin credit. He set this whole thing up by putting in writing the component which allowed him to do the buyout after a certain time has lapsed. However, I say that the Judge has to have a discerning eye and see that Belkin manipulated the situation all around. ATL spirit should have amended the contract to give them more time if Belkin is dicking around with the price. Because that's all Belk did. He gave a sky high buyout price that any good business man would have disagreed with and he waited for the date. Belkin's point is that the contract was set up to resolve the differences between the parties by use of outside evaluators and the Hawks didn't follow through. Since their only objection was that he didn't have the right to pick the second arbitrator and the court found he did, there was no excuse for not completing the deal as required under the contract. Why the Spirit Group agreed to this deal, I can't tell you. The Spirit Group messed up because they did not insert language into the agreement that would only allow the party who did not pick the first independent appraiser to object. Belkin gamed the situation by picking the first appraiser and then objecting immediately so that he effectively gets to name the first two appraisers. As such, he would be guaranteed the price set by one of his two appraisers, since it is likely that the third appraiser - picked by the Spirit Group - would be the lowest of the three. Really big mistake there. Granted what Belkin did is contrary to the spirit of the agreement, but it should never have come to that to begin with.

Where is Ted Turner when you need him!

I think they brought Jay Williams in for a workout and determined that he just was not physically ready to play yet. Again, if true, Jaywalker's info (which has been very reliable in the past) is the ype of stuff that will prevent this franchise from being competitive in both the long and short term. Too bad.

If true, that totally sucks. The franchise would be much better off if all of the owners sold to a new third party. You really have to question the aptitude of the non-Belkin owners and their advisors for letting things get this far.

Does it matter. The real point is does he make the team better. Since he does not help the teams clear deficiencies then I am not sure how he helps the team become a winner.

Quote: Quote: But is he better then Marvin or Josh? That is the question. No point in drafting him if he can't beat out either of those guys. Ummm hello? Zaza Pachulia. He would be better than Zaza from day one. But it's really pointless to talk about because of how high his stock is Center is far from his natural position though. If the Hawks did draft him with the intent of running him at center then the interior defense will continue to struggle for the next several years.

Quote: Quote: I just don't see how Bargnani fits with the Hawks. Because he's an athletic big man that can run the floor. But that's not the point. The point is that he has absolutely no chance of falling to us. The fact that some people are disputing this is ridiculous. The Toronto Raptors just signed the guy's manager. He has been a cosensus top 3 pick for quite some time and has done nothing to lower his stock. But is he better then Marvin or Josh? That is the question. No point in drafting him if he can't beat out either of those guys.

Quote: If the Raps are set on picking Bargnani then why are they trying so hard to trade down? click Remember that they are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league and rebounding is one of Bargnani's weaknesses. If Bargnani is a weak rebounder how does he fit with the Hawks? The Raps at least have Bosh who is one of the better rebounders in the league. The Hawks have nothing close to him unless Smoove or Marvin matures into that role. I just don't see how Bargnani fits with the Hawks.

Quote: Quote: Yep. Jerry West's greatness as a GM is largely a myth. He's nothing more than a name. Yeah, all those Laker championships were done by someone else...and who counts greatness by championships? Everyone knows you count greatness by cap-space and long, athletic and versatile players!!! Now that is funny.

I like Sheldon and think he is exactly what the team needs at the power forward position because of his defense and rebounding. I don't think it would make sense to play him at center for any extended period though, so I am a little confused over how the forward rotation would shake out given the need to give minutes to Smoove, Marvin and Chill. I also think the team desperately needs someone on the perimeter who can stop the steady diet of dribble penetration that is killing the team on the defensive end.

Quote: You take Pau and Battier away from the Grizzlies, and you have a team that struggles to win 25 games. That's because Jerry West has made very few good personnel decisions in his time there, and his bad decisions have left that team capped out. Jerry hasn't drafted a single player in Memphis that has made a meaningful contribution to that team. Again, what did BK really build with a core of Pau and Battier? The answer is nothing - a team that can maybe make the playoffs, but lacks a true superstar. West drafted Gooden whom he subsequently traded for Miller. Miller has been one of their best players ever since. That was a very good trade especially considering Gooden played the same position as Gasol. Signing Posey was a great move until Posey was hurt and never returned to the form he showed that first year in Memphis. Signing Stoudamire and jettisoning Williams was an significant upgrade. That team was never going to win with Williams as point guard. No question Pau is the franchise, but he is one player. Battier is a good role player, but not a franchise centerpiece. Again, you are quite on the coaching front.

Quote: Maybe someone could help me understand this better. What I want to know is how can he operate this franchise on the cheap and make money? I mean if he doesn't choose to invest in quality free agents or whatever else it takes to put a winning product on the floor, how does he think he's going to get butts in the seats, or jerseys sold,etc? Unless he has the ability to polish turds, who is going to want to see the Belkin run Hawks...a perennially low quality, losing, lottery-bound go-nowhere team? Help me understand his logic because I just don't get it. Sterling has made money for years now running the Clippers on the cheap. That is the Belkin model. I have said this before, but the best possible outcome of this whole thing is for an entirely new owner to buy the team and send the "group of idiots" and Belkin out of town.

Quote: Once again, tell me when he has had a chance to build a winner. He put the foundation that the Grizzlies are currently built upon in place. Their foundation is Pau Gasol and Shane Battier. Everything else around them has changed. As far as Stromile Swift goes, go take a look at John Hollinger's draft do overs. Even though he hasn't lived up to his potential, he is still rated as the 4th best player to come out of that draft. Considering that Kenyon Martin hasn't put up stats that are much better than Stromile Swift's, Billy made the right pick in that draft. That so called foundation in Memphis has zero chance of doing anything in the playoffs. So what is the point of using that as a basis for BK being a good GM? He has never had a chance to build a winner because he has not been good enough to date. The major reason Memphis did well immediately after BK's departure was because of a coaching change and Posey having a career year. This past years success was predicated on significant contributions from Stoudamire, Miller and Jones - all post BK additions. Pau is the only good thing he did for that franchise and that was only because he fleeced one of the worst GMs in history. I noticed you have not commented on his horrible record of hiring coaches - which is a huge part of a GMs job. I generally agree with most of what he has done (the two big exceptions being Marvin over Paul and hiring Woody), so I am not necessarily slamming him, but he does not have a resume of success. If he builds a winner in Atlanta then maybe we can consider him a good GM, but until that happens he is a question mark.

Quote: You forget that Billy was overruled on that trade. d*ck Versace and Michael Heisley are responsible for that trade, not Billy Knight. If that is the case then it is impossible to determine which deals he is responsible for, since he apparently lacks full authority to make deals. Has he ever had a really good deal? I guess the Gasol trade is a winner, but that was a fleecing of babcock so shouldn't really count. Otherwise, he brought in a bunch of mediocre talent to Memphis (Wright, Battier, Swift, etc.). He has never built a winner and until he does in Atlanta he remains a question mark as a GM.

Quote: Billy Knight has never made a bad move. Yeah, that Mike Bibby for Jason Williams deal was a great move. And his record for hiring coaches is spotless. But you are right, Billy is perfect.

No. Boozer's contract is too big.