Meeting With Bernie And BK

[Lascar78]

There was a pre-draft meeting with Bernie and BK tonight. Again, I thought most would be interested in what was said, as I know I would be if I wasn't there. Again, I won't repeat anything that they asked us not to, or that I think could directly or indirectly hurt the hawks.

So before all of this info fizzles out of my brain, here is what I can tell you:

OWNERSHIP:

-They laid out a quick recap of how this whole ownership mess came about, I didn't know all of it

-First, Belkin was interested in getting the charlotte bobcats, but he didn't have the funds. He approached Gearon and Peskowitz to come in and be in a group with him. I believe it was stern who suggested them to Belkin, I'm not positive. As we know, that didn't work out.

-When McDavid was trying to buy the teams from AOL, it eventually became clear that he didn't have the cash. The atlanta people through sydell heard about this and saw an opportunity. Gearon and Peskowitz talked to Stern, and he recommended they talk to the washington people, vouching for them. Unfortunately (in hindsight), Gearon thought that since Belkin offered him a spot in owning the bobcats, it was only fair for him to offer Belkin a spot in our ownership group.

-As the whole McDavid thing was going down, the spirit were given exactly 10 days to get the group together, all paperwork, and get the deal done. During these 10 days, philosophical differences with Belkin already emerged, but because of the time constraint they decided to go ahead with it and hope that things could be worked out. In a sign of things to come, Belkin waited to the last hour to demand that he be governor of the basketball side of things, or else he was pulling out. I'm assuming that this would have meant that they would have run out of time without him and would have lost the team. Basically it seems like this 10 day deadline was the source of the bad contracts, and the ownership being put together how it was. I think that with more time they would have had to sort their issues out before buying a team

-Ownership issues WILL NOT AFFECT OUR MOVES IN ANY WAY unless Belkin gets full control. The monthly owner meeting is this friday, and they are voting on the recommended payroll. The 2 other ownership groups plan on voting to authorize BK to spend up to the cap (we go into FA 18 mil under I believe). Same thing for hockey. That number is binding for the whole year, so unless Belkin takes over, BK will have free reign. BK emphasized that he wasn't worrying about any of this, and I believe him.

-They also repeated once more that Belkin wants to spend much less than the other owners.

-Belkin has the right to buy the team within 30 days, but in reality this will go to appeals. We all know the rest with this, they say they still get to buy him out because it's his fault that things got delayed

THE DRAFT / FA:

-BK has a list of 6 guys that he deems the 6 top guys in this draft. Basically he'll be taking one of these 6 guys unless something new comes up. I'm not going to repeat the list, because obviously it could help other teams to know.

-The rumors that BK likes Shelden are true. He alluded to him directly or indirectly several times. I certainly don't think that he is his first choice, but the widespread rumors that he likes him are definitely true.

-As we already knew, BK wants a big, preferably a defensive big. When asked specifically about the top 5 bigs in the draft, all he really said was that what he saw in common between all of them was good shotblocking, which we can use. He said that how big you play was more important than how big you are, and that we can use a banger (which would be one of the indirect shelden comments). Other than that his scouting was pretty standard, stuff we all know.

-He once again said that he was looking to adress our needs, but that if there is clearly a best player available, you take him even if he doesn't fit the need. Of course I didn't like this part, but still I have faith that we won't get a SF.

-They know we don't have a starting caliber PG, and will get one if they find one. BK still maintains that while we need a PG and bigs, he sees lack of bigs as our biggest problem right now.

-BK still hopes to re-sign Al IF it's at the right price, but as always, the team's price and the player's price might be far apart. So no real sign here either way, my gut feeling is still that Al gets SNT (personal opinion)

-No calls have come in about the #5 pick. There are plenty of calls about our young talent, but we're not interested in giving up on them while we're developing them.

-There is a $5 million fine from the NBA if any free agents' names are mentioned, so no names came out. But let's just say I don't expect JohnnyBravo's dream to come true as far as a certain player who would put people in the seats. Ownership is very proud of all the big contracts that BK has NOT given out, and not looking to screw up what they've done by taking on overpaid players at this point. He also said that the reason he keeps quiet is that it allows him to do things like going after Zaza and JJ without anyone seeing it coming

-Jay Williams (from duke) did work out here, loves the city, would love to play here, but his leg just wasn't up to par. They think he's a great guy though.

-David Anderson would love to play in the NBA, and the hawks would love for him to come. However, he gets a lot of Euros (which BK called tax free dollars), they get free housing and cars, and things like that. The bottom line is they'd love to have him, but he'd have to take a pay cut. My personal guess is something gets worked out.

-He was authorized to spend more last year, didn't see anyone he wanted to tie our money in. This year he will be authorized to spend the cap, but knows this is a weak free agency year. If he doesn't find the right people, he won't spend just to spend.

OTHER STUFF:

-The philosophy is athletic, versatile, but not necessarily defensive. Right now we really need help on D, but our team identity is not necessarily trying to build a defensive team.

-Ivey will not be sent to the summer leagues because we want to give Salim a chance to progress at PG. This year when he came in games, the first 3-4 plays were drawn up just for him to score. Obviously if he were to get more minutes, he couldn't just be a scorer. He needs to learn to set others up, and especially play defense.

-When asked about needing a banger, he said we did, but we already have a real banger. Este is unbelievably tough in practice, everyone is scared to play against him. His english still isn't good enough for him to do too much, but they really like him.

-Marvin and Chill are in toronto working with a physical therapist. They are developing their core because it is too weak. They are young and should come back stronger next year. The weak core for Marvin was leading to some back pains.

-Rookies used to have to get donuts every morning. Now they've brought in a chef that cooks all the meals for them, givves them all take home food too, to keep all the young guys healthy and away from fast food. On particular, Chill used to lose 10 lbs during every basketball season, and this was the first year that he was able to maintain weight.

-BK was very nice throughout, and very thankful to the fans. He adressed that AJC article by saying that what he said was that he doesn't put much stock into what the media says because he literally knows more than them. For instance just today they got full medical reports on each player, and that a lot of times they know that a particular player will need back surgery or that a guy has a "hot spot" in his foot meaning he will have a stress fracture soon, and that's why he gets frustrated at the media telling him he should have taken someone else when they don't even have significant facts. He pointed out that all he was saying was that he knew more than the press, and wasn't trying to say anything about the fans. He also said that he had nothing against the press or the sportstalk guys, just that we should all know that they all lie and/or don't have the facts. He also said agents will OFTEN flat out lie and say that a team has given them a max offer, when no such thing has happenned (many teams, not just us).

That's all I remember for now!

[Diesel]

I feel sorry for Jay Williams. Dude pulled a Rothlesburger/Ron Gant and destroyed his future.

About the draft.

I can imagine the 6 players on the list. I think a name that pops up here a lot is not on it.

Lastly... Marvin's back pains. Is it similar to the Larry Bird thing? Will it require surgery? I think Physical therapy is good, but that's exactly the road that Larry Johnson took and it made Grandmama.. into Groundmama...

[AHF]

Great post and read. Thanks for the update, Lascar!

[Packfill]

That whole concept that the ownership group only had ten days to get a deal done is BS. If they did not get a deal done there are no other buyers, so it is not like the team is going anywhere, and the league was not interested in another mess after the McDavid fiasco.

Basically it is cover for not paying attention to detail.

Again, the Hawks need a "white knight" buyer. All of the current owners appear to be damaged goods at this point.

[Lascar78]

no I don't think the back thing is serious. It sounds like his core stomach/back muscles weren't ready for a full NBA season, and now they're making sure that he will be ready for next season.

BTW I just remembered another thing. Not sure if we already knew this, but when Lue got injured in practice ... it was Este UNLEASH THE BEAST!

[Yeti]

Thanks a lot for the post. It was all good news. (Well except for the Shelden stuff, he's not on my short list - but I've been wrong before.) I really hope they can work out something with Anderson. Any details on the Jay Williams leg problems? Is it something that can still heal or is he permenently out?

I wish BK would just come out and talk to the fans and media more. I think he'd keep the town excited and make his own life easier.

[Lascar78]

Unless they're lying, AOL told them they had 10 days to get it done. Doesn't seem like it's their fault unless they're flat out lying which I doubt. They weren't asked these questions. They decided to tell us these things.

[Guest]

Quote:

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-The philosophy is athletic, versatile, but not necessarily defensive. Right now we really need help on D, but our team identity is not necessarily trying to build a defensive team.

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Was that all they said? Nothing like uptempo or offensive or exciting or swarming? Just athletic and versatile? And was that just for the players or the team as a whole?

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For instance just today they got full medical reports on each player, and that a lot of times they know that a particular player will need back surgery or that a guy has a "hot spot" in his foot meaning he will have a stress fracture soon, and that's why he gets frustrated at the media telling him he should have taken someone else when they don't even have significant facts.

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Was this a response to a certain individual in particular, or just a sweeping generalization?

Thanks for giving all the info on the meeting Lascar, do you know if these meetings are for all season ticket holders (meaning, do the ticket holders for the $199 package get to go or do they only do this for the more expensive packages)?

[Diesel]

Makes me wonder.

BK and Bernie were not in place when the deal went down. Was any of the AS at that meeting?

[Packfill]

Quote:

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Unless they're lying, AOL told them they had 10 days to get it done. Doesn't seem like it's their fault unless they're flat out lying which I doubt. They weren't asked these questions. They decided to tell us these things.

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The thing is there is no way AOL had any leverage to require a contract in 10 days - there was no other buyer. I know I would never advise a client to make such a move. How can you spend that type of money without being given an adequate opportunity to to diligence the business?

Besides, the 10 day window could not possibly have included the negotiation of a definitive sale agreement with AOL.

I am not sure why they proferred that info other then as an excuse for how incompetent they look.

[exodus]

Thanks for the info.

I have no doubt that they are interested in Shelden, but like you I don't think he is their top pick by any means.

They are willing to say they like him publicly because they know he will be there at 5.

They don't want to give out the other names because (imo) they don't want someone to trade for a pick in front of them and take the player they want.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

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Was that all they said? Nothing like uptempo or offensive or exciting or swarming? Just athletic and versatile? And was that just for the players or the team as a whole?

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No of course he said more. Uptempo, athletic, versatile. The key being versatile where everyone rebounds, everyone can pass, etc, etc... But not really a defensive team per se as many of us here have thought

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Was this a response to a certain individual in particular, or just a sweeping generalization?

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He didn't name names. I got the feeling that he was talking about specific players, not sure if they were from this year or last year. No names named, that's for sure.

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Thanks for giving all the info on the meeting Lascar, do you know if these meetings are for all season ticket holders (meaning, do the ticket holders for the $199 package get to go or do they only do this for the more expensive packages)?

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No, I had the cheap @ss tickets this year, probably the best money I've ever spent personally. All ticket holders are invited I believe. I'm hoping I'll be getting better tickets next year

[AHF]

Quote:

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Unless they're lying, AOL told them they had 10 days to get it done. Doesn't seem like it's their fault unless they're flat out lying which I doubt. They weren't asked these questions. They decided to tell us these things.

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With regard to the 10 day period, are they saying that part of the paperwork they drew up during this period was the paperwork for the buyout of Belkin or are they just talking generally about the partnership agreement applicable to operating the franchises? The partnership paperwork may not have been perfect but it is the buyout contract that really got messed up.

[Lascar78]

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Makes me wonder.

BK and Bernie were not in place when the deal went down. Was any of the AS at that meeting?

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Nowhere to be seen. At least some of them were at previous meetings. Given the fact that the new ruling just came out today, I can understand them not attending.

[Lascar78]

I agree. That's why I don't mind saying Shelden on here either, they've all but said it anyhow, and no one above us will take him.

[Packfill]

It sounds like they have screwed up at least two agreements so far.

[KB21]

That was a great read. Thanks for taking the time to post that information and for keeping the confidential stuff confidential. Great stuff!!

[Lascar78]

they didn't really specify. It was bernie talking, and as he said himself, he's no owner. What he said was that they had 10 days to get all the paperwork done and get the sale completed. I guess I assumed that that includes the buyout stuff, your guess is as good if not better than mine though

[KB21]

Nonsense.

AOL didn't have to sell the Hawks. They CHOSE to do so. If this group hadn't gotten their offer on the table at that point, AOL would have just moved on. Plus, there are no reports that there were no other bidders. Bernie and Billy have no reason to tell loyal season ticket holders a lie about this.

[AHF]

Quote:

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they didn't really specify. It was bernie talking, and as he said himself, he's no owner. What he said was that they had 10 days to get all the paperwork done and get the sale completed. I guess I assumed that that includes the buyout stuff, your guess is as good if not better than mine though

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I strongly suspect that was the original partnership agreement and the problem was that Belkin thought it left him a loophole to block moves he didn't agree with from his position as NBA governor.