Speedy may be hurt, but I believe he is 'stealing'

[HAWKS1986]

It may be a little harsh, but he got his first big contract and he has been a big disappointment. And the Hawks can't wait for him to get himself 'right'. This team has to find someone or even two players from SOMEWHERE who can defend on a nightly basis, and hit an open jump shot.

To me it seems, Speedy is 'stealing' like Alan Henderson did when he had a few good months and turned into a salary-cap killing contract or even Jon Koncak.

[Yeti]

How long did we sign Speedy for?

[DrReality]

Two years????

[gsuteke]

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It may be a little harsh, but he got his first big contract and he has been a big disappointment. And the Hawks can't wait for him to get himself 'right'. This team has to find someone or even two players from SOMEWHERE who can defend on a nightly basis, and hit an open jump shot.

To me it seems, Speedy is 'stealing' like Alan Henderson did when he had a few good months and turned into a salary-cap killing contract or even Jon Koncak.

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i agree. that is harsh.

[Sothron]

I think Claxton got a 4 year deal with around 6 million per just off the top of my head without googling it. I'm glad to see others are questioning why we wasted cap space on him though.

[gsuteke]

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I think Claxton got a 4 year deal with around 6 million per just off the top of my head without googling it. I'm glad to see others are questioning why we wasted cap space on him though.

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Claxton got injured. it was a freak occurence. all of a sudden the Hawks "wasted" capspace?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[CBAreject]

Speedy was for 25 over 4, I think. His contract is fine if he produces like he did the last 2 years. It is not a "cap killer" like Henderson's.

I wanted to sign Marcus Banks for the same money, but oh well. I think Speedy will be fine when he gets in shape. Give him some time.

[TexasPete]

Speedy doesn't play hurt. That is the word on him and always has been. It has dogged him for years. His problem has NOTHING to do with the initial injury...I keep reading the garbage on here about how we rushed him back. Please can that...because it isn't true.

Speedy has knee pain. There is zero wrong with his knee structurally so it is all a matter of how he handles discomfort. Speedy doesn't like discomfort. Speedy wants to sit when he has discomfort even when his thin team needs him to play. Billy has wanted a number of dud players over the years...fortunately, we were turned down and were saved. This time the injury prone wuss signed the deal.

I'm not saying Speedy is a bad player when he actually plays. I'm saying he has a tough time knowing when he is dinged and when he has an injury.

[Sothron]

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I think Claxton got a 4 year deal with around 6 million per just off the top of my head without googling it. I'm glad to see others are questioning why we wasted cap space on him though.

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Claxton got injured. it was a freak occurence. all of a sudden the Hawks "wasted" capspace?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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I invite you to look at Claxton's injury history over his career. If he doesn't fit the description "injury plagued" to a "T" I will eat Walter's hat.

[thesheedera]

I think we knew what we were getting with Speedy, and that's why it is critical for our team to have a guy like Lue on the roster. The next step in my mind is to finally draft a legit PG talent, one that needs a few years to get things rolling, and by the time Speedy's contract is up, he'd be ready to take over.

Speedy needs to play about 60 games to make his signing worthwhile in my opinion. Looking at his career, you shouldn't expect much more than that.

[TexasPete]

I love Lue but I like him as a back up. Two reasons:

1. Lue is not a true distributor. He is a scoring PG and that is important to the second unit. I want the first unit to have a distibute first PG. The 2nd unit I want some offense. Lue is perfect for that role.

2. Lue's defense is not suited to a starting PG. I want a PG who can stop dribble penetration on the first unit. A PG who sets the tone on defense.

The question is what do we do with wussy boy? He can't be traded and we have him for another 4 years? The Hawks need a front line PG if we are to compete in the playoffs by next year. Period. Speedy is not nearly the PG we need even when healthy. He has always been a back-up and why we thought he was the long term answer...ask Billy. He is most certainly not. Billy...we NEED a real PG.

[gsuteke]

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I think Claxton got a 4 year deal with around 6 million per just off the top of my head without googling it. I'm glad to see others are questioning why we wasted cap space on him though.

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Claxton got injured. it was a freak occurence. all of a sudden the Hawks "wasted" capspace?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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I invite you to look at Claxton's injury history over his career. If he doesn't fit the description "injury plagued" to a "T" I will eat Walter's hat.

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a broken hand though? freak occurence.

[macdaddy]

I checked it out. He second season in the league he played in only 30 games. His other 4 seasons he has played in 60+ every year. He can definitely earn his money in 60-70 games.

[Sothron]

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I think Claxton got a 4 year deal with around 6 million per just off the top of my head without googling it. I'm glad to see others are questioning why we wasted cap space on him though.

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Claxton got injured. it was a freak occurence. all of a sudden the Hawks "wasted" capspace?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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I invite you to look at Claxton's injury history over his career. If he doesn't fit the description "injury plagued" to a "T" I will eat Walter's hat.

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a broken hand though? freak occurence.

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And his knee right now. And his being out of condition. And the fact its something new to be injured every season. This guy is injury plagued. It happens. Remember Crawdaddy? Poor guy. He gave it everything he had...and every year he got hurt. You just don't give those kind of guys 24 million over four years to be a nice name on the IR list.

[Guest]

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a broken hand though? freak occurence.

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This has been Speedy's third broken hand in his career so far...freak occurence?

I have always said Speedy is a good player...if you like someone who plays about 60-75% of the games. I can't believe there is this much commotion 11 games into the season about this though.

And his contract is in no way cap killer for some of the people suggesting that. It also is not $6 million per year for 4 years. I forgot who posted it and where they did it, but Speedy's contract is frontloaded. BK made a questionable player choice, but contract wise it was smart.

[macdaddy]

The difference is the Crawdaddy would blow out his knee and miss the entire year more than once. Speedy has had one 30 game year as best I can tell and the other years he's playing 75-80% of the games. Sure I'd love for him to be playing 82 games but he's not getting season ending injuries every year.

[Guest]

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The difference is the Crawdaddy would blow out his knee and miss the entire year more than once. Speedy has had one 30 game year as best I can tell and the other years he's playing 75-80% of the games.

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Speedy missed all of the 01-02 season.

[Sothron]

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The difference is the Crawdaddy would blow out his knee and miss the entire year more than once. Speedy has had one 30 game year as best I can tell and the other years he's playing 75-80% of the games.

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Speedy missed all of the 01-02 season.

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Thank you for correcting that before I could. And if my foggy Sothy memory works Claxton tore his ACL that year as well.

I don't see how anyone can disagree that this guy is injury plagued.

[jerrywest]

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The difference is the Crawdaddy would blow out his knee and miss the entire year more than once. Speedy has had one 30 game year as best I can tell and the other years he's playing 75-80% of the games.

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Speedy missed all of the 01-02 season.

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Ya. I remember he missed his entire rookie season. The guy got bird-bone. No wonder he is so quick.

[terrynoonan]

Worst free-agent signing in Atlanta Hawks history.