I like the Lorenzen Wright signing

[CBAreject]

I don't get all the negative comments about this signing. Lorenzen Wright is a solid NBA center/PF. I think we did fine in signing him to a short deal for a marginal salary. While I would've preferred a center who could give me 14 and 12 with 4 blocks, I realize there weren't any of those available.

There were quite a few people on here calling for Kandi recently, and some of those same people are now slamming the Wright signing. Wright isn't a shot blocker, but he does everything else better than Kandi (scoring, passing, running the floor, staying healthy).

My question to all of you who are slamming this deal is this...

Which player who is better than Wright did you think we were going to sign?

There certainly weren't many better options. Even if Wright only plays 15 minutes a game at his typical level of production, we get good value with this deal. In fact, we got good enough value that he becomes a tradeable commodity. I understand how you wouldn't love this signing, but how can you hate it?

[TexasPete]

Did it ever occur to you that maybe we could have used Al to get a real basketbal player? Lo sucks. Why we bring this guy back is living proof that the powers that be are really poor decision makers. These new additions are all disappointing in their own way. We won't win with any of these clowns around.

[WraithSentinel]

It is a good signing.

[Lascar78]

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Did it ever occur to you that maybe we could have used Al to get a real basketbal player?

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Did it occur to you that Al Harrington has not been traded and that this thread is about the Lorenzen Wright signing and how he compares to other available free agents?

[Popeye]

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Ok look what TexasPete and some other "experts" here would say if Billy got us Magloire for Childress lets say:

"Omg Billy and our owners are so dumb why would they give away Chill(especially if Chills play good) just for 1 year rental of Mags."

If we signed Kandi

Olowakandi- "Oh no we are the worst franchise ever we give 3mill per year to Kandiman who has no heart nor desire."

If we signed Pollard

"I am done as a Hawks fan this is ridiculous."

That's being negative my friends and everything to him is negative.

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[DrReality]

Al's departure will leave a vacuum as far as leadership is concerned. Lo can pick some of that up. He's a team player that will help chemestry on the team. Which is not the case with Mags or Kandi.

[TheDude]

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Did it ever occur to you that maybe we could have used Al to get a real basketbal player? Lo sucks. Why we bring this guy back is living proof that the powers that be are really poor decision makers. These new additions are all disappointing in their own way. We won't win with any of these clowns around.

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other than mil who traded mags, what other NBA team is actually going to trade away a good big for a good forward. the only team with depth at that position to do that is Portland, and they're the ones who traded for mags. you don't trade away a good big for a good forward. al was going to give us mags or no center at all. hawks i'm sure inquired about mags and apparently it wasnt enough.

[KB21]

It's a very good signing, IMO. By drafting Shelden Williams and signing Lorenzen Wright, the Hawks have markedly improved their weakest area from this past season.....interior defense and rebounding. If you haven't noticed, the people griping about this deal are griping about something all the time.

[exodus]

Lo averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. Very impressive.....not.

[KB21]

He also only played 21 minutes per game. What reserve interior player averaged 5 rebounds per game for the Hawks this past season?

[exodus]

So the fact that Lo is an upgrade over Edwards makes him a good signing? Typical nuthugger logic.

Why is it that the Hawks were the highest bidder for him at only $6 million for two years?

[MoonKnight]

Most of you were not on these boards when Lo played in the ATL before but the older guys around here should remember what our complaints about Lo were back then. The main complaint was that he was not a "true" center and played his best ball at the 4 spot. While the game has changed somewhat where small ball is in fashion Lo is still more 4 than 5. He is a high energy player who can hustle and was working on a nice little jump hook (I don't know if he still tries to get this shot off anymore). Lo is not a shotblocker at all and will not clog the lanes. His game is similar to Zaza's actually. IMO Lo is not a bad signing but is far from the Defensive big man management mentioned they wanted when the offseason began.

[frosgrim]

Lo has a nice baseline jumper that will be perfect for a drive and dish with the wing players we have. The Josh's are drive and dish players. Speedy's game is a perfect compliment for a stop and pop guy like Lo.

Defensively, I remember Lo as a guy who really worked for rebounds, but had a hard time keeping guys from backing him down.

In all its a good signing, but not perfect (but there wasn't a perfect center out there).

[CBAreject]

I completely agree with this rare logical post. I have always maintained Lo is better as a 4. I think if he had not been forced to play 5, he would've been a long-term NBA starter. However, he CAN play 5 OK. We only had one decent 4 or 5 on the roster last year, and that was Zaza.

I still believe he was a good signing, given our options. We didn't give up much cap space. If he doesn't work out, he's cheap enough that we can flip him at the deadline, because some team will want a big to fill a hole down the stretch.

[exodus]

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Lo has a nice baseline jumper

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No he doesn't. He only made 28% of his jumpers last year which sucks.

http://www.82games.com/0506/05MEM15A.HTM

I remember him when he was here and he didn't impress me at all.

[thesheedera]

I can't believe the outrage this morning, its as if some posters actually expect this franchise to go from worst to first. Newsflash squawkers...You gotta get average before you get good, you gotta get good before you get great. Right now we're terrible! Last season was TERRIBLE! WAKE UP!!! 26 wins! We don't have the luxury of getting the best players, because no one wants to sign with a LOSER!!! Even the best case scenario this offseason wouldn't have made us a contender, and the teams at the bottom don't get the best case scenarios. WHAT HAVE THE BOBCATS DONE THIS OFFSEASON????? Nothing! Have the Knicks improved??? No! Only a few teams have made progress, and while we're not blowing by franchises, I think its clear that we're making progress.

We've been crying about our logjam at the 3 for a few seasons now, and about our lack of a PG and post players. We couldn't just go get Nash, Ben Wallace and Shaq, folks, when you're terrible, you gotta make the best effort you can make and get what you can get. We're losing one of our redundant talents, and it is a loss, but instead of letting him walk for nothing, we'll at least get something in return. We're also adding a legit point guard (he's at least an upgrade on what we have) and lots of depth at the 4/5. Those are th three things people bitched about the most on here. Is Wright a defensive wiz...no, but he gives us more of what we need, for crying out loud. Zaza will be better splitting time with a comparable backup, that's a fact. And Shelden will make us better inside as well.

It ain't perfect, but for crying out loud we've added inexpensive contracts and gotten some vets, some young guys, and we have a more balanced team than we've had in years.

13 wins...

26 wins...

this franchise is not one on the verge of "contending"...why can't people understand that?

What we need to do is improve year by year without saddling the franchise with long term handicapping contracts while continuing to upgrade as we can and harvest our uber talented young players. I like Al, but I think Marvin and Josh Smith give us everything we could have ever wanted out of Al, and much more. Maybe not by January, but definitely soon.

I would have loved to have come away with Cassell, Foye and Magloire this offseason, and while I'm not particularly excited about any of the moves we've made, I'm close to satisfied with all of them, and considering what we're working with, close to satisfied is better than what I've been swallowing for the last few seasons.

You have to become relevant before you can cry about contending. If we can become relevant and stay in good financial condition, then we've got a chance. I think the moves we've made this offseason have all been small steps in the right direction.

[KB21]

Defensively, Lorenzen held his opposition to a 14.6 PER this past season at the center position, which is very good. Lo isn't a shot blocker, but he can defend and scrap for rebounds. IMO, that's what the Hawks needed. I think there were two obvious choices for the Hawks in their attempt to find a back up center for Zaza, and those choices were Lorenzen Wright and Kelvin Cato. Cato is a little bigger and is more of a shot blocker, but he's not quite the rebounder.

[sturt]

...certainly not as a key to the off-season plan, but I thought he may be an adequate piece to add at a reasonable dollar figure...

BUT/AND... that we would pick up Andersen.

Since that's by the boards apparently, I contend more than ever that the Harrington deal needs to yield more than a draft pick and some cash.

[KB21]

You have to be careful with that line of thinking though. By demanding that the Harrington deal bring back more than a pick and some cash, you may put yourself into a position to take back an undesirable contract simply because you think we absolutely have to take back a player.

At this point, no one has offered anyone for Al that is worth the contract they have. Troy Murphy will only hurt this franchise in the long term with his contract. That's a senseless deal just to to be able to say you got someone for Al.

While a pick and cash doesn't sound like much, it doesn't hamper the Hawks long term ability to sign players like taking back Troy Murphy would or taking back Kenyon Martin would.

[Lascar78]

by the way, for those who hate the Wright signing, take a look what fans of other teams think of it

ISH link