Hawks Reportedly Have Backed Off Trying To Add Shaq

[MaceCase]

"POS"?

You say " Shaq wants nearly 10 mil to play in Atlanta ", but is that true? Probably not. He probably would have signed for 5.

Question, who would you sign for? and why?

"He wants to sign a two-year deal,'' the source said about O'Neal, who made $21 million last season with Cleveland. "And then the second year will be a farewell tour. He can tell a team that you would sell out all 41 games (that season).''

That strategy might come in more handy with the future Hall of Famer possibly trying to convince Atlanta to offer him more than the midlevel exception of about $5.8 million. While the source said O'Neal would go to San Antonio for the midlevel, he said his preference if he joined the Hawks would be to get more money than that. The Hawks would need to make a move to have more than the midlevel, with one possibility trying to do a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers.

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/07/source-shaq-prefers-spurs-wants-to-play-two-more-seasons/

The sources are Shaq's own people by the way.

Shaq is pushing for the sign-and-trade because he wants to be paid above the mid-level exception–a person familiar with his thinking said Shaq wants something like $16 million for two years after seeing other free agent centers sign lucrative deals. Shaq also wants to start but it doesn’t look like he will get that or the money from Atlanta.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2010/07/14/atlanta-hawks-shaq-and-their-summer-struggles/?cxntfid=blogs_hawks

# Already been called by Joe Johnson, telling him to stop playing games and to get his big self to Atlanta. It's on Shaq now. His call. 11:50 AM Jul 15th via Twitter for BlackBerry®

# It's all a matter of whether it'll be a sign-and-trade (that will get him the $8 mil per he wants) or a 2-year deal for less. Shaq has 11:49 AM Jul 15th via Twitter for BlackBerry®

# Also...the latest on the Shaq Front: Cleveland's offer is low-ball. So is the one from Chicago. So it looks like Atlanta is the spot for him

http://twitter.com/stephenasmith

Stephen A was also the first to report on Shaq's interest in Atlanta but that we'd have to come up with more than the MLE. The MLE is set at 5.76 mil. The team was unwilling to pay that full amount because it would push us into the lux tax but that is still nearly 4 mil more than any other team can offer him. Even with Powell and Collins on the team now we can still offer 2.7 mil to Shaq, that is almost a mil more than the vet min. Yea Shaq is a POS. If he and all of you think he's the difference for us to be a Finals contender then he would of taken the extra dollars, promised to be a model citizen and accepted his role off the bench. In stead he wants money, a featured role and minutes from us but he's perfectly fine accepting less dough and a smaller role riding the coattails of a team that already made the finals and were a few points away from another ring without him. Got a new nickname for the POS, "The Big Pot of Gold Chaser."

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Crawful . . . we are the Atlanta Hawks. We haven't deserved to get the benefit of the doubt from anyone. No history of winning. 2 superstar players since the franchise has been in Atlanta ( Pistol Pete and Dominique ). A long track record of the front office (( bleepin )) up.

We're not supposed to get the same respect as championship teams like Boston or San Antonio.

So when a primadonna like Shaq reportedly makes a demand like that, you simply stick to your guns. You don't get offended that he wants more "perks" in ATL, than he'd get somewhere else.

No.

You simply lay out your case to him, and negotiate a compromise

- First off . . you tell him exactly what the money situation is: 2 yrs - 12 mill ( the entire MLE ) . . 2nd year player option. That's all we have to offer.

- Second . . you define his role. Heck, I would even give him a chance to compete for the starting job . . because like it or not .. the Horford / Smoove frontline IS an issue vs big teams.

If Horford is better than Shaq, then Shaq comes off the bench.

If Shaq is a better anchor in the middle, you start Shaq and slide Horford to PF. As for Smoove, you can always experiment in preseason. If i doesn't kill us, start him at SF, but only play him 4 minutes there to start the game.

I may even go so far as to tell Shaq that he WILL start vs such and such teams ( Orlando, Lakers, etc ), so he'll know when to be ready.

You tell him that we want him healthy for most of the year. This means limiting his playing time, unless he really has it rolling in a game. Otherwise, he's going to be limited to around 20 - 25 minutes a night. The reason why he's here, is for the playoffs, not necessarily for the regular season.

- Third . . you tell him that we can set him up with marketing opportunities outside of basketball, that could help him bring in more revenue to himself. I'm calling up every corporation affliated with the Hawks, telling then that Shaq is coming, and he may want to be used in their marketing campaigns.

- Fourth . . in a separate meeting, you bring in JJ, Smoove, and Al, and tell them your plan to get Shaq here. Explain to them that their playing time will NOT be cut, but that we may have to do a few minor things to accommodate Shaq.

- Fifth . . after laying all of this out, you give Shaq 10 days to decide. Take it or leave it. If he leaves it, publically announce that you're not interested in Shaq anymore.

Folks, we are the Hawks.

Bad franchises ( and yes, we are historically a "bad franchise" ) cannot expect to negotiate on the same level as a "storied" franchise. There is give and take. But everything is negotiable.

The ASG shouldn't have been spooked by some outlandish demands. You stick to your guns, but be realistic about what you offer the man. Have a damn game plan to get a quick decision out of him.

But it's all over and done with now, because our ownership couldn't even get past Step 1.

Somebody should tell the ASG to watch the movie "Training Day"

(( "This is chess, son . . it ain't checkers" ))

[niremetal]

The ASG shouldn't have been spooked by some outlandish demands. You stick to your guns, but be realistic about what you offer the man. Have a damn game plan to get a quick decision out of him.

But it's all over and done with now, because our ownership couldn't even get past Step 1.

Wow, you must either be Professor Xavier or have access to ECHELON's wiretapping capabilities. Because otherwise, you have no idea what the Hawks offered or didn't offer. Considering that there's been repeated reports that the Hawks are still talking to Shaq's folks and that the deal isn't dead, something tells me the Hawks didn't simply hang up the phone and shrug their shoulders when Shaq's posse said he wanted $8M and a starting job. But hey, if you say the Hawks just gave up after a few minutes at the negotiating table, then it must be true.

[MaceCase]

North, the ASG did stick to their guns and Shaq decided to go elsewhere for cheaper to play in a similar or lesser role, depending on Perks recovery, than us. Believe it or not but we had and have more money and would of given him the opportunity to be mentioned as one of the greatest players for this franchise whereas he would only be a footnote in Celtics lore for the same concessions that he only seems willing to make for Boston. Go figure.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I mean dang. Joe Johnson is the perfect example.

Had the Hawks, Knicks, and Bulls came at JJ with 5 yr - 100 mill, who does JJ sign with? How many people will honestly say that he signs somwhere else but here?

((( raising my hand ))

If ownership felt that they could've gotten him for 5/100 , they would've signed him to that deal. Instead, they not only offer him the 6th year, they max him out . . not even giving him a chance to think about it much.

So if we had to overpay to retain our own player, what makes people think that we wouldn't have to "overpay" for Shaq . . or at least pay a little more than others?

Had we:

- hired Avery Johnson as coach

- drafted JC2

- used the damn #31 pick on another youngster

- signed Shaq ( 2 yrs - 11.52 mill )

- then filled the final roster spot with a vet

People would be praising the ASG, and our offseason would have at least been a grade of B.

Instead, they get a C- . . . only because JJ was re-signed, albeit at an inflated price and because they drafted JC2. Everything else was an F, or an incomplete ( hiring of Drew ).