Latest from my sources inside the front office

[oiatlhawksfan]

Sothron did you hear anything about Wright? What does BK think of him?

[TexasPete]

Here is the problem Seano:

Chill over Deng

Marv over Deron

Shelden over Roy

What BK thinks is all that and a bag of chips turns out that the chips are stale as hell.

If the man had a track record I would trust him. His record of 8 straight first round forwards is incredible and rarely bears the best fruit.

I guess the good news is my hopes were up. Now, I'm back to reality and fully realize the man who has blown so much will certainly do it again.

I laughed when I heard Knight wanted Roy in the PTL trade for the 3rd pick. The same Roy many here wanted badly just one short year ago, the same Roy BK never worked out, the same Roy that was certainly better than the pig in a poke he picked. The same Roy who has an All Star future. The same Roy BK would take now if he could do it over again.

I expect we will be pissed all over as Yi is a bust and Conley strikes gold elsewhere. When BK is your GM you can't win.

[Seano]

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What BK thinks is all that and a bag of chips turns out that the chips are stale as hell.

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I agree. Frankly it makes me nervous what BK might be capable of doing (or not doing). You know as well as anyone that I am hardly his biggest fan. But his wackiness certainly ratchets up the ol' excitement factor... I'll give him that much.

I just try and stay as optimistic as possible. He's made very questionable picks in the past, but so has everyone. So as the politicians would say, I guess I remain cautiously optimistic that he can finally get it right.

But he had better bring EVERYONE in for personal workouts, so he can see them with his OWN eyes, and interact with them personally. That's all I ask. Anything less than that, and far as I'm concerned he just needs to be let go. A repeat of last year's pre-draft ineptitude and laziness would just be completely unacceptable. I don't know that I'll ever get over the anger about that. It just absolutely burns my britches.

[Sothron]

I'll try and answer some of the questions posed to me:

1. For obvious reasons I'm keeping the sources as close to the vest as possible. Knight would outright fire people for leaks and he has made that very clear to the entire front office. He has "us versus the world" mentality with both the media and the other teams. I have, to offer some details, three guys that usually talk to me either on phone or usually by email. Two of them date back to the Babcock era if that helps. One of them gets a kick out of giving out "news nuggets" as he calls them just to give the fans SOMETHING to talk about that is positive about the Hawks.

I also have to point out they aren't always right or sometimes disagree with each other.

2. I think BK is trying very, very hard to bust some balls and get his "rep" back from last year. One of the sources hinted at this. Apparently the open secret the Hawks were drafting Shellhead drove Knight (and the Spirit) crazy and it flat-out made the franchise look bad. Knight has a hardass rep among NBA front offices and he wants to keep that.

Accordingly, Knight knows he has the plum spot in the draft. The two big names are off the board. Its everyone else who WOULD BE number one or number two in the draft that interests a hell of a lot of teams. Yi might be the #1 pick in any other draft for example. Knight knows that the workouts/camps prior to the draft always produces some guys that skyrocket in value and really get people wanting them. Knight now holds that card and he plans on using it.

3. If I told you Knight wasn't that impressed by the point guards in this draft I would not be joking. He's either playing Conley as close to the vest as any draft pick (as one source said) just to keep a repeat of Shellhead or he's really serious about trading the pick and hoping a guy like Critt is there at #11.

4. Knight sounds serious about General Yi.

5. I would not be surprised at all if someone is traded and it sounds like its either Chill or (don't shoot me I'm just the messenger) or Smoove. If they take Yi he's going to play PF and it sounds like (this is my take) Marvin is almost a sacred cow to Knight and the Spirit.

6. Everything is on the table. Knight needs a big trade or slam dunk draft to keep his job and to make the franchise relevant again. Don't be surprised if he's willing to let someone else take the chance on Yi or Conley at #3 and he moves the pick. Also don't be surprised if he simply takes who he thinks RIGHT NOW is the best player in Yi and just uses the #11 on a point if a guy like Critt is there (they all seemed to feel Knight was at least somewhat high on him) and we can draft him.

7. I will try to keep you guys updated but these guys are immune to bribes. They dole out the scoop when they want knowing full well I'm rehashing it here on the internet. And frankly there are some things they say that I'm asked not to repeat so I do not.

Hope that helps!

[Seano]

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1. For obvious reasons I'm keeping the sources as close to the vest as possible.

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Yeah, if you've got sources you pretty much have to do that for their own protection. A few years ago, the Vikings board I post on and read had a guy from directly inside Winter Park (Vikings headquarters), and this dude would come on there and dole out nuggets of info from time to time, about Culpepper and Koren Robinson and a bunch of different things- and he was dead-on accurate EVERY single time. He'd come on and post, and a day or two or three later, his news would come out in the papers.

And then somehow- somebody found out, and he got busted and fired. I kid you not. I really appreciated the fact that he gave us all that inside dope like that...he obviously didn't have to do that- but I always wondered why he would jeopardize his job like that. I mean talk about taking an unnecessary risk. Maybe he had a grudge against a boss or something. I dunno, it was really a pretty remarkable event though.

[Sothron]

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1. For obvious reasons I'm keeping the sources as close to the vest as possible.

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Yeah, if you've got sources you pretty much have to do that for their own protection. A few years ago, the Vikings board I post on and read had a guy from directly inside Winter Park (Vikings headquarters), and this dude would come on there and dole out nuggets of info from time to time, about Culpepper and Koren Robinson and a bunch of different things- and he was dead-on accurate EVERY single time. He'd come on and post, and a day or two or three later, his news would come out in the papers.

And then somehow- somebody found out, and he got busted and fired. I kid you not. I really appreciated the fact that he gave us all that inside dope like that...he obviously didn't have to do that- but I always wondered why he would jeopardize his job like that. I mean talk about taking an unnecessary risk. Maybe he had a grudge against a boss or something. I dunno, it was really a pretty remarkable event though.

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There was a Braves front office guy that would do that and he got canned as well. I will never, ever, ever (and I mean this) give any names or anything more than I already said because those guys jobs would be gone if they were found out. So please guys and this is to everyone here don't ask for more details about them.

[Seano]

You know what they say:

[TheDude]

if Bk wants to keep his job or get his name back, he will in some godly way get the best freaking point guard and center he can....I understand Yi may end up being good, but that #3 should be able to net us real talent at the 1 or 5 at least via trade...

[AHF]

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From everything I've seen and read, taking conley over Yi would be short sighted and reactionary. If Oden and Durant had gone straight to the NBA would anyone even know who Mike Conley is? much less be talking about him as the number 1 pick in the draft.

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Ohio State was ranked pretty darn high and played pretty darn well without Oden so I am thinking the answer to that is "yes" to the first and probably not as the #1 pick since OJ Mayo, etc. would be in the draft.

[BusBoyIsBack]

If we took Yi and Crittenton that would be a dream draft.

We would be ridiculed but we would be such a sick squad in 2 years.

Talented enough to make the playoffs next year.

I don't care what all these media ppl say about Conley.

Bottomline is he wouldn't sniff the top 5 next year and would be lucky to sniff the top 10 in the loaded Guard class next year.

Meanwhile Yi Jianlian is a guy who's been highly touted even longer than Greg Oden and he would be a top 2 pick in pretty much any other draft except this one.

[Dakin]

"Ohio State was ranked pretty darn high and played pretty darn well without Oden"

I didn't even know they had a basketball team till last year..

Seroiously though, Oden made that program last year and he made Conley a top 5 pick (if that is indeed what he becomes). I don't want Juice Mayo with the 3rd pick so I guess that means I don't want Mike Conley either. Gimme the best player (.period.)

[Plainview1981]

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They can laugh all they want. BK would get the last laugh.

Personally I think we will end up taking Conley because I think landing Yi would be too good to be true.

People saying Yi would be a stupid pick are just being ignorant

He's the 3rd best prospect in the draft.

#1 pick in any other draft.

How "stupid" of a pick is that on a team desperate for talent?

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What has YI ever done other than be hype up like the unknown busts before him?

[thesheedera]

Conley finished as the #4 PG coming out of highschool last season after jockeying for position with Lawson, Crit and Sheron Collins throughout his highschool career. He was as big a name and story throughout the country as those guys, and honestly there was never much separation between any of them, except for Lawson being the front runner a majority of the time.

Conley didn't come out of nowhere. He's been an elite level prospect and a name on the national stage his entire highschool career. Oden has helped gain him notoriety for sure, but if college scouts didn't see a star in him they wouldn't have ranked him as high as they did. It was not a given that Conley would play with Oden in college. Other schools were recruiting him that had no chance at Oden. Those schools wouldn't have gone after him so hard had they believed he was simply a fortunate sidekick.

There's no reason why he isn't on the same talent level as guys like Paul, Deron and Felton. He's been considered as the same kind of pedigree his entire life.

Same goes for Crit of course.

[Diesel]

I think if we came back healthy with a PG, we'd be playoff bound. Getting Yi and Critt would mean that our future would be Awesome.

[Plainview1981]

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If we took Yi and Crittenton that would be a dream draft.

We would be ridiculed but we would be such a sick squad in 2 years.

Talented enough to make the playoffs next year.

I don't care what all these media ppl say about Conley.

Bottomline is he wouldn't sniff the top 5 next year and would be lucky to sniff the top 10 in the loaded Guard class next year.

Meanwhile Yi Jianlian is a guy who's been highly touted even longer than Greg Oden and he would be a top 2 pick in pretty much any other draft except this one.

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The Hawks are not pushing for the playoffs next year without an upgrade. Two ore 20 year old's is NOT an upgrade.

[AHF]

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"Ohio State was ranked pretty darn high and played pretty darn well without Oden"

I didn't even know they had a basketball team till last year..

Seroiously though, Oden made that program last year and he made Conley a top 5 pick (if that is indeed what he becomes). I don't want Juice Mayo with the 3rd pick so I guess that means I don't want Mike Conley either. Gimme the best player (.period.)

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First, I agree Oden was a huge part of that team. However, it is a mistake to write off what the Buckeyes did without him.

Ohio State was ranked 3rd before Oden played his first game for them.

When Oden didn't play or played 24 or fewer minutes, the Buckeyes went 15-1.

That was not a one man team by any means.

[Swatguy]

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I think if we came back healthy with a PG, we'd be playoff bound. Getting Yi and Critt would mean that our future would be Awesome.

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So Javaris is your choice after all, good choice D. I knew you would come around.

[vdunkndunk]

I'm so confused. Yi is definitely intriguing, as is Critt. And then we could trade Smoove or Chill and get something pretty nice back in return. I can't wait to see what happens.

[oiatlhawksfan]

We can trade Childress for a more veteren guard, maybe like a S&T for Mo williams.

[Joker]

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I posted this in another thread but I think it bears its own post to make sure its seen.

**I've heard from another source that Knight is asking for a lot for that pick because they believe they can find both a big man and point guard out of a trade and still have the 11th pick for BPA or a project center if Hawes is still there. The basic feeling is that at least one or two of the non-Oden/Durant kids is going to skyrocket before the draft and at least one team will be willing to bite the bullet to make sure they get "that guy".

Another source I heard said that Knight is personally as high on General Yi as he was on Gasol when BK was the Grizz GM and would have ZERO qualms with taking him at #3 and whoever the best point guard left is at #11 if the value is still there to justify the pick.**

If you recall I told you guys exactly when that conversation took place and what it was about thanks to my sources. I am definitely left with the impression that Knight is fine with setting pretty on drafting Yi at #3 or moving the pick if another team is willing to pay the price for it.

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You know what, I don't believe you one bit, if you had sources they wouldn't know unless they are scouts or has a major part in the FO. I don't believe you one bit, I wasn't gonna respond to your thread, but I really am questioning where you got this from and what are your motives.