Reading Between the Lines

[KB21]

Sometimes, GM's of professional sports teams will tell you what they are going to do if you are willing to listen. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan and cover the NFL draft for a Dolphins website. Leading up to that draft, there were several comments and statements made by the Dolphins GM Randy Mueller as well as their new head coach Cam Cameron that would have lead you into projecting Ted Ginn Jr. as the Dolphins pick. Randy Mueller constantly talked about how he loved gamebreaking speed on the outside, and how the Dolphins offense needed that type of speed on the edge. Then came four separate meetings with Ted Ginn Jr. However, the media speculated that Brady Quinn was their guy, and a lot of people ignored what was said and went with what they felt. The Dolphins needed to get a young quarterback, so they wouldn't possibly pass on Brady Quinn if he was available, would they? Yes, they would, and they basically told us all who they were going to pick two weeks before the draft.

I think the same thing could apply here. Billy Knight is typically very close lipped about what he is going to do, last year's draft leak of the promise to Shelden Williams notwithstanding. This offseason though, Billy has been a good bit more open about what this team needs. On more than one occasion, Billy Knight as well as team president Bernie Mullin has stated what the Hawks are looking for this offseason: a point guard and a big man. I don't know that you can get much clearer than that. I believe Bernie even mentioned this at one of the season ticket holder's meetings.

Now, I didn't go back into Sekou's blog archive to find this particular blog, but does anyone else remember the interview Sekou did with Billy for his blog? Do you remember what Billy said in that blog? Sekou asked Billy about the team's talent fitting more of an up tempo style of play, and Billy responded that the difference in what the Hawks have and what teams like the Warriors and Raptors have is the point guard position. Billy commented that the Warriors with Baron Davis and the Raptors with TJ Ford could dictate the tempo of the game because of their point guards. Now, to me, Billy is basically telling you here that a point guard that can control the tempo of the game is a very high priority on the Hawks offseason wish list.

I can't remember exactly when it was, but Billy made a reference to the point guard position in another interview. It may have been with one of the crews on 790, but I do remember that Billy has talked about the need at the point guard position on more than one occasion.

I don't think Billy has directly talked about getting a big man, but Bernie has. Billy has talked about the team being in a position now to draft for need, which is not a position they have been in during his first couple of drafts. Billy has also talked about getting veteran help this offseason.

Let's also look at one of the comments Billy made recently. Billy stated that they plan on playing Shelden Williams at the center position next season, and this has more to do with the emergence of Josh Smith at the power forward position than anything else. Now, to me, this means a few things:

1. It means that Josh Smith is clearly a power forward within their plans.

2. It means that Josh Smith is also clearly part of the Hawks plans unless they are blown away by a trade offer.

3. It means that it is highly unlikely that they will draft someone that ends up playing the same position as Josh in the long run.

So, I think we are going into a situation where the Hawks are looking at using the draft pick assets as well as player assets that we have to get the kind of veteran help this team needs to push itself into the playoffs. Obviously, the 3rd pick is a major asset for the Hawks at this time. Of the players, we know that Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Josh Smith are all unlikely to be traded, even though I had heard some rumors at one point that Josh Smith could be dealt in the right deal. I'm chalking that up to nothing more than speculation, because I believe Billy's comments about Josh's emergence shows that he still has him in the future plans. This makes Josh Childress and perhaps Zaza Pachulia as the team's most marketable players as trading chips.

I'm thinking priority number one right now is trying to get a deal done involving the 3rd pick going to Memphis and Pau Gasol coming to Atlanta. If that doesn't get done, then you may see Atlanta go ahead and use the 3rd pick on Yi Jianlian, as both Billy and Mike called him a legitimate 7 footer after his recent workout. However, I would not rule out Mike Conley Jr. at this point due to the comments Billy has made this offseason about the point guard position. Al Horford may be a secondary option to Yi Jianlian at this point, but I think he may only be an option in the case that Yi doesn't see the Hawks as his best fit.

The Hawks are clearly going to get a point guard this offseason though, if not through the draft then through a trade for someone like Jarrett Jack.

[Packfill]

Isn't it obvious that they need a point guard and a center? No need to read between the lines to figure that out.

[AtLaS]

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I was hoping that we would make a harder push at Aldridge

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From what I understand, Portland is extremely high on Aldridge and won't give him up. If we had a deal to get Aldridge, I can guarantee Hawks fans won't like it.

[gsuteke]

it's obvious they need a big and a PG, which is why I am so dead set against them taking the Chinese kid or Horford for that matter.

[AmishBoy]

Gasol or Conley are the things that would truly make me happy as I believe they would help us the most and the fastest. Both would be a dream come true.

[TexasPete]

If Yi or Horford are taken at 3 then we did just draft a player that plays the same position as Smith. The simple fact is that none of Yi, Horford, Wright, et al, make sense for the Hawks. We are in a draft deep in forwards and we can't really use a forward in the mold of what we already have.

If Yi is taken he goes right to the bench to start the year...and probably end the year because he isn't playing Center and he isn't beating out Josh Smith. Question: Do we need to draft another backup?

I believe we need to trade the 3rd pick and go after another player. Gasol doesn't do well on defense but he is a 20/10 guy and can play some post.

If you had told us all one month ago that after the draft our lineup would be:

Jack

JJ

Smoove

Marvin

Gasol

With Shelden, Chill, Solomon, Salim, and AJ/Speedy...I think we have have been ecstatic. Because that lineup in the East is BEYOND a playoff lineup. Just how many lineups in the East are better?

That kind of team beats Yi or Horford or Conley. We would be young but experienced. That new team could do damage in the East in the next few years.

[atlien110]

i think fans, myself included sometimes get too caught up in debating what particular position a certain player plays.. let me clarify.

let's just take a quick look at several playoff teams.

detroit: is webber really a five? no. is chauncey a real 1? debatable.

dallas: is jt the 1 or devin harris? both can be described as combo guards. is dirk really a 4? if so why can't he punish a much more smaller stephen jackson in the post?

utah: is okur a five? a guy that sits around the 3 point line all day (ahem, cough. yi?)

golden state: is biedrins a five? maybe. stephen jackson a 4? ummm no.. who was backing up biedrins was it al? i think we should all know best al ain't no five either.

suns: is marion a 4? not sure.. he can play that position in the suns up and down, wide open style of play. is amare a 5? same deal here...

my point being a team can win if their personnel matches their style of play regardless of whether they fit the description of the position their listed at.

if the hawks draft horford at 3. then he could easily start alongside josh and marvin. reason being he's a tough, 6'10 player who plays defense. he also has a nice back to the basket game. but seriously in today's game other than yao and shaq is there another truly dominating center? horford will have to guard the likes of rasho nesterovic, ben wallace, etan thomas, nenad kristic, kendrick perkins. not really a doozy of a list of great offensive centers. i think he'll do just fine at the five.

as for yi. who's to say he won't be or isn't already better than marvin? that's the problem, nobody knows this guy's ceiling or whether or not he's ready to contribute starting from day 1. it's a gamble but it's also obvious he has the most "potential" out of all the players coming out not named oden or durant. a 7 footer who can run and shoot from the outside and has great handles for a big man... if the hawks draft him at 3 forget the position labels and just throw him and jsmith out there at the forward spots and let them match up on whichever forward makes sense for that night and then you plug your 5th overall pick sheldon at the 5.

either the hawks and bk have to admit that sheldon and speedy was a horrendous mistake (which they were, a costly one at that, 26mil/5th overall pick) in which case they draft for need. or do they believe their 5th overall pick will pan out and that when healthy speedy will be their answer at the point? if thats the case they need to get the bpa at both 3 and 11. and if a great deal presents itself take full advantage of it.

just dont' take noah.

[KB21]

If Atlanta drafts Horford, he WILL play CENTER much like Amare Stoudemire plays center for Phoenix and Dwight Howard plays center for Orlando. Granted, Al Horford will play it in tandem with another player, but the majority of Horford's minutes will come as a center. That may not be the case with some other teams, but a lot of teams will be willing to draft this guy as an undersized center in the Dwight Howard/Amare Stoudemire mold because he is strong enough to handle the post defensively.

[Final_quest]

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Isn't it obvious that they need a point guard and a center? No need to read between the lines to figure that out.

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I was thinking the same thing.

[jerrywest]

This information is in Hawks infomercial. Everybody knows this. How is this reading between the lines. We need an Exodus "Captain Obvious" logo. I thought I was getting some inside info in this thread. bummer.

[TexasPete]

I actually think it's a good thread because if you go back and read between the lines in the couple of interviews done by the front office there are a couple of clues. BK may not come right out and say something but over a couple of interviews you may get some valuable insight.

I'm trying to figure out what he is thinking. Sometimes you can get a nugget from a Mullin interview. But, sometimes you might get a real sense of our direction with just a word or two. PLus, the fact that we took all of our key front office and players to watch Yi was also interesting. If BK had gone alone or with Woody and Fitzsimmons I would not have thought too much of it. The fact that they all went showed me he is looking for more consensus and a less autocratic approach.

Right now that is all the fans have.

[Diesel]

The reason why you can rule out MCJ is that BK prefers Big PGs. I think the only reason he choose Speedy is because Cassell turned us down and it was either Speedy or Royal Ivey.

[Diesel]

If we pick Yi or Horford, it's the right pick.

You don't reach for a need player that you can get Later.

Yi or Horford represents talent. None of our forward core has endeared themselves to the Hawks so much that they are not tradable. if we get one of these guys, it becomes a competition for who we will not trade.

[exodus]

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I'm trying to figure out what he is thinking.

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If i could understand the way BK thinks frankly that would make me afraid, very afraid.

[TexasPete]

BK is damn sure of himself in any case. I always thought the worst kind of businessman was the one who was 100% convinced he was right, wouldn't listen to others, and was usually off base. Those type people are the ones that you don't want running things.

IMO, that describes our GM to a tee. Let's hope last year brought him down in his own mind because that's where the problem lies.

[jerrywest]

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I always thought the worst kind of businessman was the one who was 100% convinced he was right, wouldn't listen to others, and was usually off base. Those type people are the ones that you don't want running things.

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Hey, Texasdude - who did you vote for in the 2004 election? Just curious.