Hawksquawk: Drinking the wrong Koolaid...

[Diesel]

I think that there needs to be this time of clarity. Time to re-focus on what we have and what lies ahead.

I see dreamers coming here talking about saving up money to re-sign our young players in 2 years. All of them... Marvin, and the Joshes, and maybe even Salim. Let me make this crystal clear..

I don't think the plan should be or ever was that we will hold on to all of our young players forever and ever. You guys have drunk the wrong Kool-Aid.

Let me tell you what comes first and foremost...

WINNING

If we're not winning, then re-signing our young players is about the same as carrying Reef, Big Dog, JT, and Theo. Why pay out 60 million dollars if you can't win 35 games? I believe this was BK's rationale for trading those guys... well, he must continue to use that same rationale with teams to come.

That is to say that the audition starts today. If Marvin, Smoove, JChillz doesn't win, then they become exactly what they were drafted as... Assets. And Assets were meant to be used for their value.

This is the time where we find out what kind of GM BK is. He has picked out pieces to put a suitable team on the floor. You can't complain about the pieces, because these were the pieces he's picked. I know you would like to have Kobe and Shaq with Chris Paul running the point, but this is what he picked... So now is the time to see are these players worthy of their next contract.

This is easy logic because we have players that duplicate the others. Now while most of H.S. have become cosy with Marvin and Smoove and will readily throw Chillz under the bus, what happens if Chillz turn out to be better than Marvin or Smoove? How long do you continue to hold him back in order to continue the experiment known as Marvin? Or what if Chillz proves to be better than Smoove? How long do you hold Chillz back to continue the project called Smoove? Realize that if we can't find the formula to winning with all three of these guys, we must then evaluate them individually and if they haven't made the cut, then they don't automatically get a pass to their next contract (simply because we drafted them) but we consider them as an asset and see what we can get for them.

I know.. That Kool-aid has made you believe that somehow I'm bashiing your favorite player... The truth of the matter is that I'm bashing your welfare mentality. It's time to have some forward thinking... if we're not winning, then we need to change.

[macdaddy]

It really doesn't matter if any of us have a 'welfare mentality' whatever that is. All that matters is how the owners choose to spend their money. Some of us are suspicious based on their ACTIONS and on going legal dealings and their wish to buyout Belkin's share that they need to save some money or they run the risk of losing everything.

[Final_quest]

I agree, and have voiced similar concerns in the past. We don't want to become the Warriors, where we've signed our players to big contracts and the players never deserved them.

As painful as it sounds, I would rather let them go than sign them for big money. Hopefully we'll know after this year who the studs and duds are.

[Diesel]

Exactly F-Q...

The Warriors are the posterchild for what I don't want to see the Hawks become. Troy Murphy and Dunleavy Jr. were good prospects, but when they didn't reach potential at their second contract, it was time to see what the Market could give Golden State for them. Instead, G-S drank the Kool-Aid, spent more money and now have Albatrosses all around and can't do nothing but hope that somebody will come along and save them.

The Hawks shouldn't travel down the same road. Those things that are good, we should keep... Period. That means if Chillz is playing much better than Marvin, then we should keep Chillz and look to trade Marvin. Who cares about a 5 year development? Dunleavy Jr. is still waiting on his 5 year plan.

[Final_quest]

I'm pretty sure if we had a young Troy Murphy on our team, averaging a double-double, everyone would be in favor of signing them to a big contract. I want one of our guys to really show something before we sign them for big money.

[chillzatl]

in fact, I've said it all along, we cannot expect to keep all of our players or that they will all want to stay or deserve to stay. every season is another audition for them and they have to earn their place here. If we figure out early on that a guy isn't going to cut it here, then as you said, they become assets, like Al. If we do decide that this guy is going to be special, or at least someone we want to keep, we make them an offer.

BK's entire methodology seems to be based around responsible spending. We don't always agree with it. But he's proven that irrational spending isn't going to be to blame for this teams lack of success. He's brought talent here and it's up to that talent to make this a winning team and show us that they deserve to stay and be a part of it.

[Diesel]

I agree. However, we cannot just continue to make plans to string our young guys along with no reason... First, they should show us that there's a reason for them to be signed over being traded.

[Diesel]

Actually, I think Al became an asset primarily because of the amount of money he was looking for. Why pay Al 10 million per year, when SF/PF is an easy position to fill and we have 2 Sfs making less. NOT Much less but less. If Smoove is significantly better tat the Sf position than Marvin and neither Smoove or Marvin plays PF position significantly well, then HS ought to get ready to face the facts that Marvin could be used in trade as an asset while Smoove is resigned.

Personally, I can see us getting one of Seattle's bigs (Swift) plus a first for Marvin. Especially if they accept that they will lose Lewis.

[chillzatl]

I would expect nothing less. I personally don't have a favorite on the team. I'm waiting to see who steps up and who falls behind. I'll be more than happy to see either (or all) of our SF's (of the 3) step up and become a big time player. It's entirely possible that they could all become players that we would want to keep. There are far worse things in sports than to have three players that are worth keeping at the same position. If that turns out to be the case, we'll have LOTS to work with.

[Packfill]

Quote:

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I'm pretty sure if we had a young Troy Murphy on our team, averaging a double-double, everyone would be in favor of signing them to a big contract. I want one of our guys to really show something before we sign them for big money.

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There in lies the problem. Sometimes the young players do produce early on which makes you think they will develop into superstars (i.e., Shareef, Zach Randolph, Troy Murphy, etc.) but it turns out they do not take their game to the next level. That is where teams get into trouble.

[Diesel]

I don't think it really takes a true bonafide superstar long to get to that point. Long to me is waiting past 4 years. You see it with Carmello, Lebron, and Wade... these guys came in the league producing. I'm not saying that every bonafide superstar will produce immediately but four years is a long time.