Memphis paper floats Pau to Atlanta (4 Horford)

[coachx]

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I can see a 3/Zaza/Speedy type of deal.

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If we could keep Chills and the #11 pick that would be sweet !!!

#3/ZaZa is not a bad combo. ZaZa is a only 24 !!

I like Sheldon's muscel next to Gasol length and Smith' atheleticm asour defensive front court. Of course MArvin starts but when think get physical we but out a health Sheldo !

[coachx]

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My guess is that people on this board wouldn't even trade Josh Smith for te #3 pick in this draft but you want to try and convince yourself that the #3 pick is worth Gasol.

Actually, I have stated what I thought was fair for Gasol (Josh Smith/#11) and yes it is in my best interest to have the Hawks over pay for him.

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That is funny !!!

That will never happen. Smith is only 21, who knows how good he will be.

[DJlaysitup]

Agreed...anybody who watched the games after Smoove came back from surgery saw how he basically took over in the paint. He was pretty dominant. If a rebound came off - medium in the paint and high - there was NO QUESTION who would get it. Somehow JSmoove can just jump over everybody....by like a foot. We would be totally insane to trade him. He is an improving rocket ship.

[DavidSomerset]

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My guess is that people on this board wouldn't even trade Josh Smith for te #3 pick in this draft but you want to try and convince yourself that the #3 pick is worth Gasol.

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That lowers a players value substantially.

[DrReality]

From Realgm board:

http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3939838

Response to it on that board was positive. What say ye?

[DavidSomerset]

I DOUBT Memphis would do it though.

[MemphisX]

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From Realgm board:

http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3939838

Response to it on that board was positive. What say ye?

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It is a crackhead offer.

Pau Gasol for ZaZa, Childress and the #11. Two backups and the #11 pick?

Some of you need to take off that 1 size two small 'Nique #21 jersey and get out the house more. Childress and ZaZa could be had for the MLE and I doubt Atlanta would match. They are not serious trade sweetners. It is a reason why Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs with them in the rotation, they are not that good.

[DrReality]

I didn't propose it . . . . I just brought it over. Personally I don't want us to trade for him. I think if we draft wise and let our team mature we are in good shape. Adding a ver pg would help that process a bunch.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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From Realgm board:

http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3939838

Response to it on that board was positive. What say ye?

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It is a crackhead offer.

Pau Gasol for ZaZa, Childress and the #11. Two backups and the #11 pick?

Some of you need to take off that 1 size two small 'Nique #21 jersey and get out the house more. Childress and ZaZa could be had for the MLE and I doubt Atlanta would match. They are not serious trade sweetners. It is a reason why Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs with them in the rotation, they are not that good.

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With all due respect MemphisX, it's not like the Hawks are desperate to get Gasol . . yet. And you guys aren't desperate to get rid of him . . yet

But there is defintiely some smoke there in Memphis. On a team that is obviously rebuilding, and probably needing to get a contract like Gasol's off the books, you're not going to have a team give you 1/2 of their roster just to get Gasol.

So the question is this. Does Memphis want to get rid of Gasol, more than Atlanta wants to get him? That's a question that none of us know. But understand this:

If Memphis wants to get rid of Gasol's contract, they'll do it, even if it means that they only get the #3 and a guy like Childress from us. From their perspective, they'll still have the #3 and #5 picks, plus a decent young player who they can easily decide to let go at the end of the 07 - 08 year.

So if the Hawks offered a deal like . .

#3, Childress, Lue, Wright . . for Gasol

. . that deal not only works under the CBA, it gives Memphis the opportunity to instantly wipe away 10 million off the books in the summer of 2008, if they decide not to match any offer for Childress, plus let Lue and Wright become free agents.

That gives Memphis a TON OF MONEY to go after whomever they want next summer.

Memphis could use the #3 to get Horford, and the #5 to get Conley.

This is your squad next year:

PG - Conley

G - Miller

F - Gay

F - Warrick

C - Horford

Bench:

G - Kinsey ( who they should IMMEADIATELY sign on the cheap, before he really breaks out into a nice player. That kid looked damn good at the end of the year )

G - Lue

G - Stoudamire

G - Lowry

F - Childress

F - Stro Show

F/C - Johnson

F/C - Wright

Then make the play for a big time FA or a young RFA in the summer of 2008.

I'd be shocked if Josh Smith is included in any deal involving Gasol, so it would have to be Childress or Marvin Williams, plus an expiring contract or two, plus the #3, for Gasol.

And you're not getting both draft picks.

Frankly, I think this is the best option for Memphis. You get the two players you need in the draft, plus the ability to get 10 million off the books come this time next year.

Just so you know, here are the potential restricted free agents in 2008.

- Emeka Okafor

- Josh Smith ( because we're probably not giving him an extension this summer )

- Ben Gordon

- Luol Deng

- Al Jefferson

- Andre Iguodala

- Kevin Martin

And those are just the young players. I haven't even gotten to the veteran UFA's.

Memphis is in the same situation that we were in back in 2004. The exception, is that we didn't have the potential to get two top 5 picks in the draft and instant cap relief, by trading a big money player.

[MemphisX]

Although you(Atlanta fans) might not be desperate for Gasol, I am willing to bet BK is desperate to make sure the Hawks are in the playoffs. His job is on the line. You guys can tip toe around that fact all you want while you burn with draft fever. The Hawks have had several lottery picks and are still not a playoff team, you think the ASG is going to be doing flips about giving Smith $10 million per if Atlanta is in the lottery next season without a pick? Do you think Joe Johnson is going to be happy?

I don't think the members of this board have weighed the gravity of the situation with your FO. Once the law suit is settled, the torch is on BK's tail. You think he is going to bank his job on whether rookies X and Y can come in and contribute at two critical positions?

All this is assuming that the picks pan out. How quick do you think BK gets shown the door next spring if he turns down a Gasol deal and the picks struggle mightily? How pissed will YOU be if the picks turn out to mirror Shelden and Childress, you turned down Gasol, and you are in the lottery without a pick? Will it be all peaches and cream with the flippant 'we don't need Gasol attitude' then?

I know how it is, prior to summer league all potential draft picks look like immediate rotation players. The reality is more like what you have seen from your lottery picks the last 7-8 seasons. How many immediate impact rookies have the Hawks drafted? Heck, how many immediate impact rookies have been drafted league wide?

I am just trying to imagine how pissed I would be to have seen my team go through X amount of lottery picks with no playoff appearances and then turn down a 7 foot All Star center just entering his prime to stronghold two more lottery picks.

/rant

[Uuus]

What do you guys think about this? Honestly, I feel like Portland wouldn't do it but I'd throw it out there if I was BK just to see how bad they want Conley. And the other positive for them is that they get rid of that knucklehead Randolph.

I'm not sure if Memphis would want to bring in a numbskull like Randolph but this would allow them to replace Gasol immediately with another post scorer. They can then draft Horford with the #4 pick and have to very good players on the block. They also need a PG and this need gets filled with Jack.

This allows us to get Gasol and keep our #11 pick which we can draft Crittenton (preferred) or Law with. If either of the teams wants us to throw in the #11 pick, then the only way that happens is if the scenario is switched and Jack is coming to Atlanta.

http://realgm.com/src_tradechecker/3/

Let me know what you think. And I apologize if this scenario has already been mentioned and my post is redundant.

[Seano]

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Actually I do not want to trade Gasol at all because he is the easiest path out of the lottery. So unless there is an absolute, no-brainer type deal then I would not want to trade him. Much easier to build with him than to rebuild after trading him.

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Well it would seem a lot of Memphis fans are all set with him and would just as soon be rid of him, which tends to raise red flags in my mind and make me wonder why you seem to be lobbying so hard trying to trade him?

I don't want anything to do with him, personally. I think he's soft, I think he's a whiner, I think he's a complainer- and for the amount of cap space he ties up, I don't think he comes even close to being worth it. I look at him and the possibility of us trading for him, and see a Sharif Abdur-Rahim type scenario happening all over again. I hope that BK is smarter than that, and I *really* hope he files this whole Gasol thing into the ol' circular file, and maybe you can turn around and try and fleece the Bulls or something again.

[sturt]

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I look at him and the possibility of us trading for him, and see a Sharif Abdur-Rahim type scenario happening all over again.

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While I like Gasol... he's just so good down on the block with so many moves... this thought you bring up does haunt me... it is almost a duplicate situation.

[Seano]

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this thought you bring up does haunt me... it is almost a duplicate situation.

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While we might get some immediate gratification, (just as we did with Shareef), IMO Pau Gasol is not going to be the player to put us over the top. I mean does anyone really think that?

So if he's most likely not going to be that player to get us to the Promised Land, then is it worth giving up so much for him from our end, *and* taking on the burden of that contract and leveraging our ability to make future moves and/or re-sign our own players?

Not to me it isn't. I seriously want nothing to do with that guy.

[sturt]

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this thought you bring up does haunt me... it is almost a duplicate situation.

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While we might get some immediate gratification, (just as we did with Shareef), IMO Pau Gasol is not going to be the player to put us over the top. I mean does anyone really think that?

So if he's most likely not going to be that player to get us to the Promised Land, then is it worth giving up so much for him from our end, *and* taking on the burden of that contract and leveraging our ability to make future moves and/or re-sign our own players?

Not to me it isn't. I seriously want nothing to do with that guy.

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Well, here's one difference to think about, and I think it's an important one.

When we obtained SAR, we really were desperate just to have even one iconic All-Star-caliber player on the team.

He couldn't shoulder the load.

This isn't that.

Rather, Gasol would fill a role on the team that would be more Kevin McHale-like to JJ's Larry Bird role.

The inside-out theory has worked for a lot of teams through the years, and right now, while we have a core of young studs, none of them represent the dependable scoring machine on the block that Gasol would... in fact, while Horford in a couple of years may be that, I don't see him being an unstoppable presence in his rookie year... and, have to leave open the possibility, maybe not ever.

Can the team go from 30 wins to Conference Championship caliber based on this one acquisition?

I join with those who say, "Yes," but it does depend on how much we give up in the process... it's not automatic in that regard.

The threshold just isn't that high in the East.

But moreover, when I say that it's a "yes," I'm also counting on our guys continuing to develop their games forward, and not leveling off.

[Diesel]

Well, the truth is that the Grizz really want AH and Somebody else. They are not picking 5th or 6th, they are picking 4th. IF they believe that BK is going to pick Yi, then more than Likely they will get Horford anyway.

I doubt that it's only Horford the Grizz wants. Maybe they have made a deal with GS that they can deliver Yi for JRich and #18. However, they can't want Horford and think that they can't get him with us picking ahead.

[KB21]

I doubt Yi Jianlian is even in the picture on this. Most GMs and executives in the league don't believe Atlanta is serious about their interest in Yi Jianlian. I don't know why that is, but that appears to be the case. I was listening to Jonathan Givony's latest draft podcast at Draftexpress, and he said that the personnel people within the NBA he has talked to are evenly split on the Hawks. Half of them think the Hawks will take Brandan Wright. Half of them think the Hawks will take Al Horford. Yi Jianlian wasn't even mentioned. They must think that Billy taking a crew to LA to watch Yi Jianlian workout was something they did just for the hell of it. I think I've read somewhere that one personnel executive even said that he doesn't think the Hawks have the guts to take Yi Jianlian. Personally, I don't think anyone can question if Billy Knight has the guts to do anything. Billy Knight is the GM that had the guts to pull the trigger on drafting Pau Gasol after that trade with Atlanta in 2001. There's no doubt in my mind that if he thinks Yi is another Pau, he will draft him.

Back to the topic at hand though, Memphis is clearly afraid that the Hawks will take Al Horford with the 3rd pick. If the Hawks hold out long enough, they may be able to get Pau Gasol relatively cheaply. The Grizzlies may fool me and not budge at all on their trade demands, but I think as the draft gets closer, their demands will decrease.

[TexasPete]

If Gasol is somebody that we really want then we will float that we will take Horford. BK has some target things that he wants to accomplish and if Gasol is one guy that he wants then we leak that it's Horford. Memphis does not want Brandan Wright because he isn't ready.

Yi is likely also not as ready as Horford. BK may be on the hot seat and drafting a guy who isn't really ready makes little sense because if the Hawks play their cards right, they will complete this rebuilding project.

Drafting another player and putting him on our bench for further development should not be a viable option.

The truth is that if we keep the pick we need to draft Horford because he is the best player left and the most ready. We then should trade a forward or two to alleviate congestion. Yi is also a forward so I don't get this argument that we can't draft Horford because he doesn't have a place but somehow Yi can be fit in. If anything, Horfords size means he can likely log some minutes in the post.

Lastly, the goal should be to trade the pick to the team who most desires Horford because a bidding war will drive up the value of the pick. Horford has emerged as the #3 player and we need to leverage other teams willingness to get him, to include Memphis.

[Johnnybravo4]

Actually our team should be complete already w/

Speedy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Zaza

Those players are experienced enough to win if they are indeed talented enough. Bringing in Pau would be an acknowledgement that the rebuilding process has failed and that we need to refocus, while the drafting of Yi or Horford and a point guard would be merely to add kick azz depth or to reshuffle the starting lineup.

[Guest Walter]

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Actually our team should be complete already w/

Speedy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Zaza

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Did last year even happen? Why do people want to act like this year is a do over after last year's trouncing?

W