Possible reason we passed on Whiteside

[TheNorthCydeRises]

First, let me give you a list of names:

Jeff Pendergraph

Jermaine Taylor

Dante Cunningham

Nikola Peković

Walter Sharpe

Joey Dorsey

Carl Landry

Gabe Pruitt

Marcus Williams

James White

Steve Novak

Solomon Jones

Salim Stoudamire

Daniel Ewing

Brandon Bass

What do they have in common? Those are the 15 guys selected 31-33 in the past 5 drafts. Of those 15, only 2 were rotation players in the NBA last year: Bass and Landry. Two out of 15. You have better odds at a crap game. When you say stuff like this...

...you make it sound like getting a role player in the 2nd round (even at the beginning of the 2nd round) in the draft is a probable outcome. News flash. Look at that list of names again. It isn't. I'll take Randolph Morris over Daniel Ewing, thanks.

Second - and this is the reason I've stopped posting, though it's directed more at others than you - I've gotten sick of the wonderful combination of ignorance and arrogance that underlies posts talking about the Hawks' spending. None of us know what the Hawks’ balance sheet looks like. That includes me. The difference is, I don't presume to set a budget for a business based on what I would like them to spend rather than, you know, how much money they actually can expect to make.

The assumption underlying the "this trade was a failure unless the Hawks sign a good veteran big man" is laughable. That assumption is that the Hawks' revenues are sufficient to support the kind of payroll they want even with the $3M. Based on piss-poor attendance and TV ratings that the Hawks continue to have, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that's not the case. Here's the more sensible way to think about it. On one end of the spectrum (the Hawks expecting to turn a significant profit next year), the $3M might be the difference between the Hawks having a luxury tax payroll or not. On the other end of the spectrum (the Hawks expecting to lose a lot of money next year), that $3M might be what the team needs just to cover their current payroll/pay taxes/vendors/etc.

Depending on what the team’s projected revenues are for next year, that $3M might be the difference between signing a reliable vet free agent or staying pat. Or maybe the team’s projected revenues are so low that they won’t be able to afford such a free agent no matter what, and that money might be the difference between retaining JJ or having to let him walk. Or maybe the team’s projected revenues are even lower than that they can’t keep JJ or sign another free agent, it might be the difference between keeping Josh or trading him for future cap relief. The point is, the people around here don't know and don't care. That's just absurd.

It’s not like the owners will ever see the money from the trade. It goes into the team revenue pile, which the individual owners can't touch (the separation between team and owner finances being another rather important fact that is casually ignored). They only see their gains and losses when the team is sold. So saying “that trade makes no sense/ASG is cheap unless the Hawks sign a significant free agent this summer” makes no sense. A view that makes sense is to start by looking at whatever the Hawks’ payroll for next year turns out to be, and subtract $3M. Because that’s the difference this trade made. Starting with what you think the payroll should be and then saying ASG is cheap unless they pay that amount reflects either ignorance or stupidity, because it ignores the fact that the team can’t just create money out of thin air when it sets a payroll.

I'm seriously done until at least the end of Wimbledon, and maybe thereafter. I know I'm being a douchebag, but I'm frankly sick of the ridiculous ignorance about (or the complete disregard for) the basic principles of running a business that underly most of the posts around here.

(( clapping ))

[Buzzard]

I agree with both of your last two posts.

Looking at Orlando, it is amazing that many of the same people that wanted Whiteside over Orton are now saying the 31st pick was practically worthless while Orlando recognized the value of developing young big men enough to draft Orton just two picks earlier. Orlando doesn't need to develoo that depth given their bigs and their ages. We do.

My gripe was not passing on Whiteside at 31 but passing on Terrico White. Whole board thinks Bibby is done and we need to move him; yet the best combo guard ( best combo with PG skills taken after 22 Elliot Williams ) left standing goes to Detroit. Bynum is restricted and may get a big enough offer that Detroit does not want to match. They SNT Bynum now or can just let him walk since we handed Dumar and Detroit his repacement on a silver platter. That just killed me.