MID LEVEL MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT! BUT ON SOMEONE WORTHY!

[LastDon]

Im all for bringin in Shaq, I think he would be an excellent addition to our team. Shaq could provide us with the needed size, respect, rebounding, and shot blocking that we need from our post players. As well as, give us even more credibilty with the refs and give more star power with our already exciting team. I understand Shaqs persepctive of wanting to start due to his legacy and we as an organization should oblige his request. I would go head and explain to shaq that Smoove is not the perfect fit for the 3 position but of respect to him we will try it for the first 25 games. And then after that the coach will make an evaluation on whether him starting is best for the team. If he accepts this offer I would give the midlevel for 2 years with a player option on year 2. I think that Marvin Williams would make the sacrifice for the team.(Even though most on this message board would be critical of him) (Speaking of Marvin name a fifth option starters that averages more than 10 ppg). but definitely offer SHAQ 2YEARS MIDLEVEL WITH PLAYER OPTION ON YEAR 2 AND GARANTEED 1ST 25 GAMES AS STARTER.

BUT IF SHAQ DOESNT TAKE IT, THE FULL MIDLEVEL SHOULD BE SPENT ON SOMEONE WHO IS WORTH IT!! (DEFINITELY NOT BRAD MILLER FOR THE 25 REASONS MENTIONED ON THE SQUAWK TODAY!)

Personally if that full midlevel post player doesnt exist with Shaq off the market it should be spent on a quality 6'8 6'9 guy regardless of postion. There are two players that fit this criteria in my opinion. The first being TRACY MCGRADY, there are several reasons I would bring in Tracy Mcgrady. The first being is that I think we are one of the very few teams in the league that could cover up for Tracy Defensively. Tracy at this stage of his career can only guard 3s because of the knee injuries. We could cover for TMac on D similar to how we covered up for Bib, but Tracy is 3 times a better defender of the 3 spot than Bibby is at the one. Secondly a combination of JJ/TMac has good potential in Drews supposed equal opportunity offense. Lastly Tracy's a star, signing him for the midlevel would be a low risk/high reward at worst we would have a cheaper 6th man to replace crawford if he doesnt pan out to be an allstar again. If TMac wants to start I would give him the first 25 games similar to shaq because Marvin's a guy who wouldn't complain about it and jus wants to win.

TIRED OF TYPING AND WANNA DO A LIL MORE RESEARCH ON THE BEST SECOND GUY LEFT.

[DJlaysitup]

Pretty well said and I generally agree LD. If Shaq could play 20 mins (as a starter) we already have Zaza (who doesn't actually suck that much).

Key thing IMHO is to make Al Horford a PF - period! No playing spot center at all....the only reason Al Horford should log ANY minutes at center next year should be injuries.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Don . . did you see T-Mac play last year? The guy is a shadow of himself. He was a guy that always used his athletic ability to get himself anywhere he wanted on the court. He was never a great shooter. More like a streak shooter. The injuries have taken a dramatic toll on his overall game, pretty much limiting him to a below the rim player that settles for jumpshots. He's never been a good enough shooter to be that type of guy.

He shot 39% FG and 24% 3FG in NY last year. The only thing he did better than Marvin, was pass the ball. Otherwise, Marvin was the better player last year. T-Mac's only chance to be a starter, or even a contributor in this league, is to become a good spot-up shooter . . . something he's never been. There's a reason why T-Mac hasn't even been rumored in any deal, despite him being an unrestricted FA. Don't be surprised if he ends up in Miami for the league minimum, just so he can have a chance to win a title.

But for the most part, T-Mac is DONE. He had a good career, even though he never could get his team past the 1st round in the playoffs. He's nowhere near worth the MLE right now.

[LastDon]

Don . . did you see T-Mac play last year? The guy is a shadow of himself. He was a guy that always used his athletic ability to get himself anywhere he wanted on the court. He was never a great shooter. More like a streak shooter. The injuries have taken a dramatic toll on his overall game, pretty much limiting him to a below the rim player that settles for jumpshots. He's never been a good enough shooter to be that type of guy.

He shot 39% FG and 24% 3FG in NY last year. The only thing he did better than Marvin, was pass the ball. Otherwise, Marvin was the better player last year. T-Mac's only chance to be a starter, or even a contributor in this league, is to become a good spot-up shooter . . . something he's never been. There's a reason why T-Mac hasn't even been rumored in any deal, despite him being an unrestricted FA. Don't be surprised if he ends up in Miami for the league minimum, just so he can have a chance to win a title.

But for the most part, T-Mac is DONE. He had a good career, even though he never could get his team past the 1st round in the playoffs. He's nowhere near worth the MLE right now.

I think that TMac's shooting woes can be attributed to not being in nba game shape I think that he did a good job considering that he missed 3/4 of the season. He is not the athlete that he used to be but he is very skilled and he showed some flashes last season. With an NBA training camp, more months of knee rehab I think that TMac could average 20ppg. This guy was once a top 5 player and can still handle it and get quality shots because of his length.

[LastDon]

Pretty well said and I generally agree LD. If Shaq could play 20 mins (as a starter) we already have Zaza (who doesn't actually suck that much).

Key thing IMHO is to make Al Horford a PF - period! No playing spot center at all....the only reason Al Horford should log ANY minutes at center next year should be injuries.

Im comfortable with Al at center accept for against Dwight Horward and Yao Ming and the twin towers of the Lakers. Anyone else Al pretty much holds his own. But I think that if we were to trade one of our 4's it should be Al. Josh brings too much excitement to the hightlight Factory. But If I dealt it would be Al for OJ Mayo and Thabeet and move JJ to the 3. The tinkering would leave us with a lineup of

Teague/Bibby

Mayo/Jamal Crawford/ J. Crawford

Joe/ Marv/ M0

Smooth/ Za Za

Thabeet/ ZaZa

Thabeet and Smith would be an intruiging 4/5 combo and provide alot of D. But Im totally against Tinkering and would be comfortable with our current mix with NO BRAD MILLER with the addition of maybe one of these guys K.Brown, J. Magloire, Theo Ratiff, Kurt Thomas either of those guys would be an upgrade over RandMo or Twin...