At least BK is happy....

[Diesel]

Both Gadz and Zaza were free agents.. and they had to resign Redd to a big contract first!!!

[Diesel]

It's about What.

The year before last years draft..

You had to know that it would be a draft probably packed with PGs...

You had Jack, Paul, Gilchrist, Williams, all possibly first rounders. You probably could recognize that they would not be many big men. So.. upon looking at the draft, you should have been able to see that this is a draft to take a PG or a Big man because there is a drought on the way.

But definitely fill need before duplication..

Even I said it last year... before the draft..

Click here.

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If we're going to win anything, then we have to put the best TEAM on the floor...

We can take Marvin Williams this year..

But I assure you that the argument to take Williams this year will be just as strong next year when we might have a shot at Rudy Gay. At some point, we have to stop duplicating positions and we have to start drafting for NEED so that we can build that team..

I think Deron and Paul are the Strongest PGs to come out in several years. I really don't see many PGs coming behind them that will be as strong. Williams MAY be Good. However, it doesn't mean that he's what we need.

In choosing between a Good Sf and a Good PG... We need a Good PG.

IF you argue that Williams is "GREAT" and that Paul or Deron is "Weak" then your argument is lost already. We already know more about Deron and Paul than we do about Williams. IN fact, Williams could turn out to be Good or he could be the next Tim Thomas! That's about as much as we know about him. So let's not get into the hype!

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[jerrywest]

If JJ gets injured and we end up with the 4th pick (going to Suns) next year, then BK will be in big trouble.

With all the minutes JJ has piled up he is overdue for a injury. The olympic team will put even more milage on him.

If CP came here we wouldn't have gone for JJ (no PG vacancy).

To be more accurate, we have JJ and MW instead of CP, BD + 2 first rounders.

If Milwaukee picked up CP then we probably wouldn't have landed Zaza either. Well then we would possibly have Bogut instead of Zaza + MW.

Summary:

Pick one

JJ+MW or CP+BD+2 1st rounders

Bogut or Zaza+MW.

[Lascar78]

that's my point though. Last year looking forward to this year, you were sure that this draft was going to be all about SF's and especially Rudy Gay. As it turns out, it's mostly about PF's with Morisson and Gay also hanging around the top. Why? Because we weren't sure about Splitter, about Bargnani, we didn't know how Aldridge would come back after the injury, we didn't foresee Ty Thomas coming out of nowhere etc...

And even if a draft is "mostly" a PF draft doesn't mean that's what you'll get, so I don't know that you can gamble on it. Next year appears to be a PF/C draft, but if we had a pick next year, and the choice between a PG and a C this year, I wouldn't automatically take the PG because of it. I would take whoever is better because there's no telling where you'll end up in the lottery and what you'll get.

I'm not saying a GM should be completely unaware of the potential future drafts, nor do I think Billy really is. I think it's a mistake to put too much stock into what you think you'll be getting next year. Do the best with your actual options first.

Also, as you can tell, you were very wrong on "But I assure you that the argument to take Williams this year will be just as strong next year when we might have a shot at Rudy

Gay" as far as the crowd here goes.

[tmac13]

Over at real gm there is a thread about this same article with similar comments and in the very middle there is this post from Bruce Levinson..

"I continue to listen/monitor your board and appreciate your insightful comments.

Bruce"

It is the same user ID that was actually him last summer so I assume it is real.. I found it intersting he was reading a thread on BK's latest PR blunder..

[KB21]

That needed to be said, and I'm glad it came from Billy Knight. I hope those of you who constantly criticize Billy can take your comments and shove them straight up your ass.

[jezmund]

To be honest, I kind of agree KB. He is far from perfect BUT he has the cajones to stay his course without hindering us with albatross contracts. After Chris Crawford and Alan Henderson, one of my top measures of GM's is their ability to use (or not use)the cap. NOW, if after this summer we haven't at least shored up at least PG OR C then I'll start to worry and doubt. I, personally, love his dryness to the media. The media can be a bunch of vampires that tend to tell the story a little on the subjective side. Oh well... I don't need Knight to be a softy to satisfy me. I like the poker game strategy. I do hope, though, that some of his latest comments were just to keep from showing his hand. We need veterans, we need a PG and we need at least 2 bigs. (One capable of starting)

[Plainview1981]

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That needed to be said, and I'm glad it came from Billy Knight. I hope those of you who constantly criticize Billy can take your comments and shove them straight up your ass.

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Yeah, he has such a great track record of winning that nobody... AND I MEAN NOBODY should question ANYTHING the great

Billy Knight does. He's done such a great job. Just look at his win/loss record as a GM. He's got the resume to back up his talk.

[Plainview1981]

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I have faith in him partially because he is 10x what Babcock was

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Babcock has actually made the playoffs and had a winning record. BK lacks both of those so I don't really see how you could call him 10x better than Babcock.

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2nd, I think he does have a good eye for talent

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I cannot argue with that, he does have an eye for good basketball players, but I would like to clarify that just a team with the best players isn't necessarily the best team.

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3rd, he has, YET, to weigh us down with any albatross contracts that almost every other team in the NBA has

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Arguably JJ has an albatross of a contract, but I think he is just overpaid by about $2 mil a year. And anyway, just because he hasn't signed a player with a large contract doesn't mean that he is good, it just means he hasn't signed [censored]. JJ and Zaza are the only players that BK has invested a large amount of money in, and he didn't invest much into Z. Its a pretty lame argument to use.

I respect your opinions on BK, but I have to completely disagree. He isn't a good GM, he has never assembled a team and he is just an arrogant [censored] that is only good at recognizing talent. He is HORRIBLE in creating a winning atmosphere or even assembling a team with chemistry (except for his clusterfuck of Crawford, JT, Jax, and Sura when BK tried to tank the 03-04 season and failed, that team had some chemistry).

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Billy Knight is to building a team what Pete Babcock is to getting good players in drafts.

Billy is the Shareef Abdur Rahim of GM's.

[KB21]

I'm not concerned in the least. I believe Billy is one of, if not the best, talent evaluators in the league. He learend from one of the best in Donnie Walsh, and a lot of people questioned Donnie Walsh's ability when he first took over the Pacers. If Billy hadn't been foolishly fired in Memphis, I truly believe that he would have that team in a position to compete for a championship. As it is, Jerry West has done nothing but make that franchise one that cannot win in the post season.

[jezmund]

I should have been more specific in my comparison. I was mainly referring to talent evaluation compared to Babcock. Sorry about that. So I guess that would mix with my 2nd point. I still think BK deserves AT LEAST this summer to see what he's capable of.

[tmac13]

Exactly what did he say?.."Im smart and everybody else is stupid"? "I dare anyone question me"? "It doesn't matter if we ever win because if I say I am right then I am right"?

Speaking of asses, are your lips still surgically attached to BK's?

[KB21]

No, but you criticizing every move Billy makes and trying to say what he should be doing is the equivalent of you trying to tell me how to treat something like focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. He's simply telling you what I would tell you. Sit back, relax, and watch the professional do his job.

[BusBoyIsBack]

We don't need no stinking PG. First of all, if we got Paul we might not have gotten Joe Johnson. That is HUGE. Also, Chris Paul would not have made us win as much as people think. Our interior is the reason why we are so bad. NO offense to Zaza Pachulia, but we could either use a lot more offensive production down there or a whole lot more defensive production.

[Seano]

Somebody slap a muzzle on this dude, STAT!

Seriously, he comes across absolutely terribly in the media- whether that's how he really is or not. He comes across as an egotistical, supremely arrogant boor- and that's terrible PR.

IMO he's being patronizing, condescending and really rude in this interview, even insulting his own teams fanbase. That's a bad move, man.

Whether he's ultimately proven right or not in regards to his ideas for rebuilding this franchise and this team, it's just really not smart to act such a smarmy jerk. I might be able to stomach that type of attitude if we were winng 60 games a season, but as it is- that kind of attitude is very, very difficult to take.

He should be sincerely thanking his teams fans for hanging in there, the diehard fans that have remained. He sure as hell should not be belittling and insulting them, or insinuating their intelligence is lesser than his. He has no right, and in regards to what Tmac said earlier I'm glad to hear that our owners look at the message boards to see what the fans of their team are thinking and talking about.

[tmac13]

KB, if your are as arrogant and poor at being a doctor as BK is and has been as a GM then I truely fear for your patients..."Sit back and relax, watch a professional do his job, and if you die, you die"...

[mudderfudder77]

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KB, if your are as arrogant and poor at being a doctor as BK is and has been as a GM then I truely fear for your patients..."Sit back and relax, watch a professional do his job, and if you die, you die"...

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It happens to all doctors - I think its when they get their "God Shoes".

*I say this only because I am married to a Doctor*

[Packfill]

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No, but you criticizing every move Billy makes and trying to say what he should be doing is the equivalent of you trying to tell me how to treat something like focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. He's simply telling you what I would tell you. Sit back, relax, and watch the professional do his job.

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Now I know why you like BK so much.

Let's face it, BK has never built a winning team. His two greatest accomplishments are (1) apprenticing with Donnie Walsh and (2) fleecing Pete Babcock in a trade. Other than Pau Gasol and Josh Smith has any draft pick of his exceeded expectations? Not exactly a lot to hold your hat on.

On the other hand, he has one of the all-time worst records as a GM, has hired some of the worst coaches in NBA history and has a proven track record of making endlessly duplicative draft picks.

[Dejay]

Forget a muzzle, where is the friggin' mute button when you need it? Does he know anything about public relations? I'm no PR specialist but even I know when the team you're running hasn't made the playoffs in SEVEN YEARS, the last thing you want to do is tell the paying public who endured much of this embarrassment of an NBA franchise with their emotions and hard-earned $$$ to relax because you know more than they do and their opinions don't matter. You know what, you're SUPPOSED TO KNOW MORE THAN WE DO, you're the friggin' GM of the team. And you know what else? The fans opinions DO matter. It's their opinions which determine whether to send $$$ to watch them and the Warriors get it on in mid-season or save up for Falcon season tickets for the coming fall. There is no attendance problem when the elite teams and their players come to town; the difference is whether those who sell out the building for those games step foot in the building when any of the other 20+ teams show up. The success of a business not only depends on bringing paying customers to your doors but BRINGING THEM BACK AGAIN. The way BK comes across, he might as well be standing in front of the Hawks' ticket office with a loaded AK-47 and a ski mask.

I don't expect Knight to be surfing the net on 'Squawk for ideas but he should have enough media savvy to know better than this. If he was winning 55+ a season and had a couple of conference title or NBA championship banners hanging up in Philips, I'd give him the margin of error here. But when you're winning as many games as Kennesaw State, there's a serious problem. It's this same attitude which caused attendance to drop at Turner Field when Kasten and Schoerholz constantly thumbed their noses at anyone who thought 14 consecutive division titles and ONE world title wasn't the ultimate run of the ages, not just the constant losing in October.

[Dejay]

To me, this thing about Knight being such a fantastic talent evaluator is a little overblown. I think the reason so many of us say that is because we've been so used to Babs bringing in the Adam Keefes and Dion Glovers of the world that anyone else would've been deemed a substantial improvement. Hell, any of us could've run the draft in Babcock's place and been considered an expert for talent compared to him.

Anyway, don't the Hawks still own the record for having the longest run between drafting All-Stars (which currently stands at 22 years and counting). And for all of his 'genious', how many of his draft picks have even had as much as a 3rd place vote in the ROY category? Outside of Smith and Diaw (who had to go elsewhere to re-discover his game because he didn't have much of one here), who else has really exceeded expectations?