If the Hawks doesn't get a PG or C this offseason.

[Traceman]

JJ is by no means untradeable but I would not LOOK to trade him. I think we need to focus our building around JJ, Smoove and Marvin. That said, we can play the scenario game all day but we won't really know how we need to proceed with building until after the May 22 lottery. At that point, we'll know if we have 2 picks, 1 pick or no picks in the upcoming draft.

As for your proposed trades, none of them are happening.

POR is NOT going to pay JJ $12M+ a season when they could have Aldridge AND say Brewer or Green for about half that - particularly when their current SG is the reigning ROY.

TOR would laugh in BK's face on the Bosh proposal. It would probably take JJ AND Smoove to make them even think about it.

As for CHA, you just don't trade a young big for an older small if the talent is even close. The team who ends up with the older, smaller guy almost always loses.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Walter, even you've said in the past, that you really haven't seen Law play that much.

Honestly, how many times have you seen Law play?

It seems like all of the people who really want Conley Jr. or Javaris here, haven't seen more than 4 games of Law. And they didn't see Law's best games against big time competition.

And it wasn't like A&M wasn't on TV a lot last year, because they were. Hardcore b-ball fans know exactly what Law brings to the table.

Kind of hard to have a legit opinion on a guy, if you've never watched a lot of him.

It'll be interesting to see if Javaris attends some of the pre-draft camps after Memorial Day. If he attends, he may go in as the best prospect in the camp. If Javaris has lottery pick potential, he could literally dominate in those pre-draft camps, and raise his stock tremendously.

If he shows that he is highly suspect about his decision making as a PG, the camps may see him fall all the way out of the 1st round . . and see him go back to Tech for his sophomore year ( which would be best for him, and for Tech fans ).

If he doesn't go, he runs the risk of somebody really raising their stock at the camps, and dropping him even further in the 1st round. Then, it'll be up to what he does in the individual workours. For the most part, a player's stock usually doesn't rise or fall that much in an individual workout.

A guy like Law, or any of the projected top 20 prospects, probably won't attend the camps ( because they usually don't ). If Law did, he'd blow people away with his decision making and his shooting. But, like Javaris, there's always that risk that some lesser talent may show you up, and drop your draft status a little.

So I'm curious Walter. How many Acie Law games have you watched this year? And be honest.

[Diesel]

Why don't we try this.

Instead of going down one of your tangents... Let's talk about the subject at hand.

The subject is you just called Law a Combo Guard and because of that, you don't want him. I find that very hypocritical seeing that you're the #1 Roynutsniffer on this board and he's a Combo Guard.

[Traceman]

to see why a lot of people think that Crittendon is a better long term prospect. Crittendon is a lot younger, bigger, a lot more athletic and more of a "true PG." That doesn't mean that he WILL be better than Law but it does mean that he has more of the hard to place a value on "upside."

That said, for the Hawks, I don't know if a PG with upside is the way for the team to go. We need PG help RIGHT NOW. If Law can come in and be a starting caliber PG next year and Crittendon might need 3 years to be at the same level, I'd rather see us take Law.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I see it too. Crit would be great on a veteran team that could mask some of his shortcomings. But this Hawks team is young, and makes crazy mistakes throughout games as it is right now.

To me, Crit is just like Josh Smith, when it comes to talent and upside. And it took Smith a full 2.5 years to finally realize his potential.

When you look at Law, you're talking about a guy who can probably step right in the NBA, average 10 - 13 ppg ( if he was the starter ) . . shoot around 45% FG ( since almost ALL rookie guards shoot about 4% - 8% worse in the pros their 1st year, than they did in their last year in college ) . . an drop about 5 - 6 dimes a game.

If we took Crit this year, who knows what we'll get in year 1 or year 2. By year 3 or 4, he should be a dang good player in this league. But like you said, do we really want to wait that long for a player like that to develop, when we already have two potential stars here in JJ and Smoove?

What this team needs right now is stability. Law could definitely give us that right now. I don't know if Javaris could right now. In 2 - 3 years he could.

[exodus]

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To me, Crit is just like Josh Smith, when it comes to talent and upside.

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I have thought the same thing. And if the '04 draft was held again there is no way Smith would last past the 6th pick.

Role players are nice but title teams are built on special players, which are hard to come by. Smith isn't a special player yet but is well on his way to becoming one.

Is there enough talent/experience on this team to make a title run with within the next two years if we bring in a pg who is ready to play right away? I seriously doubt it. That is why i don't get the argument that we shouldn't take a player who wont reach his potential for a few years.

However i won't be at all disappointed at all if we take Law because i like him too.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I was a BIG Jameer Nelson fan. At the time of that 04 draft, I was definitely willing to take him at #17, than take a chance on Josh. But I understood why BK took Josh back then, because we needed talent more than we needed a solid player. Jameer is a nice PG, a stable PG for the most part. But he's not and will never be a star talent.

Fast forward 4 years later, and our talent base is pretty much set with JJ, Smoove, Marvin, and Chill. All 4 of those players could become even better, with a stable PG that could get them the ball in the right spots and maximize their ability on offense.

When I look at Acie, I think he could do in his rookie year, exactly what Jameer is doing right now, with the potential to become an even better player down the road. To me, that's Acie's lowest projection as a player . . Jameer Nelson . . with his highest being a player like Billups or Cassell.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Lineup:

G - Law ( if Speedy's health is still suspect )

G - JJ

F - Marvin

F - Smoove

F/C - who knows?

I think Hawk fans still don't appreciate just how good JJ really is. He's one of 2 SGs in the league that shot over 47% FG, and averaged 25 ppg. The only other guy that did that, is Dwyane Wade. Kobe came close to doing it.

People forget that JJ shot 48% from the field and from 3 point range, when Nash could get him the ball when he was squared to the basket. With the Hawks, JJ takes a ton of tough shots, just to get his points. And he still shot a high percentage.

(( That's why trading JJ is a ridiculous notion, especially if it's to bring in even younger "talent" to the team. This team isn't where it is now, without JJ. ))

Smoove should continue to improve. Marvin should too. If both guys raise their FG shooting to around 47%, you'll see this team immeadiately start to win more of those close games that we've lost in the past.

You add Law to this team, and it'll be hard to double-team JJ. Law can hit the open shot like Lue can. And he can handle the point, especially in the 1/2 court game, like AJ can. It's the best of both worlds for this team.

And if we wanted to run, Law could handle that too, without making a bad decision on the break that leads to a turnover. And you're not going to lose anything defensively with Law in the game, like we do when Lue plays the point. He can handle his own on defense, while still being able to put the ball in the hole.

[exodus]

First of all Nelson isn't the best example since he didn't do that well this year.

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You add Law to this team, and it'll be hard to double-team JJ. Law can hit the open shot like Lue can.

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I am not completely sold on Law's shot. He has shot a good percentage but his release isn't the best. He shoots kind of a knuckleball. I seriously doubt he will be as good a shooter as Lue from 3 but i think he will do well from closer in.

I like him but i don't see him being the matchup problem that Crit could be. But then Crit also has some downside risk. As i have said several times if i had to choose right now i am not sure who i would take.

[Guest Walter]

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Walter, even you've said in the past, that you really haven't seen Law play that much.

Honestly, how many times have you seen Law play?

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& I could easily be swayed in his favor because he didn't leave a bad taste, just not a very good one.

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It seems like all of the people who really want Conley Jr. or Javaris here, haven't seen more than 4 games of Law. And they didn't see Law's best games against big time competition.

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I don't know how many games with Texas A&M are shown but it can't be too many around here. Don't judge a player on his best or worst game IMO. I feel I saw two average representations of Law and frankly I'm dissatisfied with his average.

My early decision making is based upon what I saw from Conley and Crittenton in many games and Law in but a few. Law has some combo guard, Senior lacking potential, and athleticism question mark red flags that unless his talent is otherwise great, make me queasy, but MOST importantly it's how I view this team's rebuilding position that necessitates a risk/reward move over a "sure thing". SW is the worst possible example of a "sure thing". At least many of us KNEW we were getting a role player with the 5th pick. I do NOT think we can afford that even at 11. MUST be a quality starter for a good team if not a star. That's why I lean, in this order, Crit, Conley, and Law.

I'm afraid for some of the very reasons you cited Law will not move up my draft board. He will likely choose to not play in any pre-draft camps, he will likely not participate in tryouts with both of the other Pgs. To me this is acceptable but will not move him up my draft board. We'll see.

W

[Traceman]

It is situations like this where a good GM earns his money. I wish I could say that I trusted BK to make the right decision but I certainly can't say that.

[AtLaS]

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As i have said several times if i had to choose right now i am not sure who i would take.

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Technically if you had to choose right now than you are on the clock. You can't let the clock run out, so who's it gonna be ex?

[exodus]

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As i have said several times if i had to choose right now i am not sure who i would take.

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Technically if you had to choose right now than you are on the clock. You can't let the clock run out, so who's it gonna be ex?

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If it actually was my choice i wouldn't have to make it right now. I would make it in June, after the combine and the workouts. At that point there will be more information available that might sway me one way or the other. Right now i would be happy with either one.

I just have this bad vision of BK pickup Noah or Splitter...