SMDH...

[Diesel]

He's cleared cap space to make Plan A happen... In the past decade, what have the GM's of the Hawks done? The only game changing moves I can think of is the SAR trade and the JJ trade. Drafts have horrible the past decade... The best players we have drafted in the past decade is Horford and Smoove. Acie Law - bust, Sheldon - bust, Salim - bust, and taking Marv over D-Will and CP3. I'm not saying Jenkins is going to be a stud (I do have my hopes though), but Ferry drafted a shooter that fits the model to team and what we will need at that position in years to come. Trust me, I know that if Plan A doesn't come through that we are in for a rebuild, but with Horford, Jenkins, and Teague, we already have three pieces to the puzzle. I just find it insulting to write Ferry off just because he didn't move heaven and earth to get Dwight after he did two things that was on practically every Hawks fan's wish list. Everyone expects next season to be a drop off and everyone knows that next offseason is when the Hawks will attempt to make moves. I don't know why people are pissed at Ferry... He has done good things so far.

Man. You guys don't know where you are. This is Atlanta. Dwight Howard is not walking through that door. Neither is CP3. Neither is Bynum... not without us overpaying. Ferry sold you on hope. So now we have all this hope that John Jenkins is going to turn out to be the man. Had we known the whole time that the plan was to gut the team, why not go for more important pieces like Perry Jone III or Miles Plumlee. Even Festus. What Ferry did was equivalent to what BK did when he traded everybody.. (JT, SAR, Big Dog, Theo). It's part of the new GMs handbook. Clear the books and offer hope. But FAcy in Atlanta?? You'd do better hoping that UFOs came down to earth and showed us the portal to take us to the Vega Galaxy.

[Plainview1981]

No you dont. You take a stupid risk. Thats just plain out stupid. They traded over the hill Nique? We were a first place team!!!!!!!!!!! you need to kill that noise on that. This franchise has not been making no conservative moves, they have been making historically terrible moves. Thats why im glad they didnt make this one and continue their streak. Besides Orlando didnt want to trade to us. You havent read the article yet? http://blogs.ajc.com...-stopped-short/ Nique died quickly because he was sad. He lost all motivation. The team owed it to him to keep him to try to get a ring, but we trade him to freaking Sac a bottom feeder. We have been cursed ever since.

Well, that's the spin our guys are putting on it. Chances are that Dwight wouldn't sign an extension here. What's the risk? Al is just a token all star and the team barely missed his absence last year. It's worth the risk to try and land one of the best players in the game. All is a good role player, but no real building block. Nique rapidly became old and irrelevant after he was traded. Not saying it was the best move ever or anything like that. But you can't let that restrict you from going for the big deals 20 years later. Moreover, the situations aren't comparable. The Hawks are on the road to nowhere and Al is a token all star who's importance to this team is highly questionable given they suffered very little of a let down with him out of the line up last year. Al is a good player, but not good enough to prevent you from pulling the trigger for a top 10 player.

[Plainview1981]

Man. You guys don't know where you are. This is Atlanta. Dwight Howard is not walking through that door. Neither is CP3. Neither is Bynum... not without us overpaying. Ferry sold you on hope. So now we have all this hope that John Jenkins is going to turn out to be the man. Had we known the whole time that the plan was to gut the team, why not go for more important pieces like Perry Jone III or Miles Plumlee. Even Festus. What Ferry did was equivalent to what BK did when he traded everybody.. (JT, SAR, Big Dog, Theo). It's part of the new GMs handbook. Clear the books and offer hope. But FAcy in Atlanta?? You'd do better hoping that UFOs came down to earth and showed us the portal to take us to the Vega Galaxy.

Billy was right in doing that. Again, Big Dog (Him and the three wins he added to the team), Reef and Theo's careers all basically died shortly after living here. JT has had a solid career playing off of Dirk, but... His limitations were a burden to the team at the time. I'm glad Glenn didn't hang around long because he was just a bad player. Reef seemed like a good guy, but the burden of being the lead guy was too much for him. Edited August 11, 2012 by Hotlanta1981

[tbhawksfan]

With Smith it's simple. We see him as a building piece that will need to be signed to a fat, long contract to keep him in our core, or we trade him during his expiring period. If we trade him, got to go the potential route. Trading Smith for Bynum wouldn't get us to the top.If we trade him for potential, we have to draft well and build right.The only two players I see as the core now are Horf and Jenkins. Horf is on a great contract for an all-star PF/C and young. JJ is on a rook contract and was a first.If we want to pursue a championship, we have to get in position to get top young players and open a future window; the best established players don't come here in FA.

[tbhawksfan]

If Smith would sign a team friendly contract similar to Horf's, then it's probably best to keep him.

Edited August 11, 2012 by tbhawksfan

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Two facts when you compare Josh Smith and Rudy Gay.#1 . . . he can provide the same type of high flying highlights that Josh Smith can

#2 . . . Josh Smith's offensive game will never give him the ability to do thishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8yTXOi9LHkIt's a reason why Rudy Gay not only got the contract he did from Memphis a few years ago, but also was part of the Team USA system. It's because the dude is a damn good player. He's not a superstar, but he would balance this team out. And he's a much better option at SF than Josh Smith will ever be.And to be honest, since Josh Smith or any other Hawk doesn't put butts in the seats, Rudy Gay's more athletic offensive style of play may be more "sellable" to an ATL casual fan base.

[GameTime]

He's cleared cap space to make Plan A happen... In the past decade, what have the GM's of the Hawks done? The only game changing moves I can think of is the SAR trade and the JJ trade. Drafts have horrible the past decade... The best players we have drafted in the past decade is Horford and Smoove. Acie Law - bust, Sheldon - bust, Salim - bust, and taking Marv over D-Will and CP3. I'm not saying Jenkins is going to be a stud (I do have my hopes though), but Ferry drafted a shooter that fits the model to team and what we will need at that position in years to come. Trust me, I know that if Plan A doesn't come through that we are in for a rebuild, but with Horford, Jenkins, and Teague, we already have three pieces to the puzzle. I just find it insulting to write Ferry off just because he didn't move heaven and earth to get Dwight after he did two things that was on practically every Hawks fan's wish list. Everyone expects next season to be a drop off and everyone knows that next offseason is when the Hawks will attempt to make moves. I don't know why people are pissed at Ferry... He has done good things so far.

Plan A (D12,CP3) is over with and is not gonna happen now. Jenkins and Teague are realistically role players. If Josh Smith leaves we may as well go into tank mode. And i'm not sure that Josh is worth the max that we will have to give to sign him.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

If Smith would sign a team friendly contract similar to Horf's, then it's probably best to keep him.

I believe the only way Smith takes a team friendly contract is if Dwight signs. Otherwise, we'll be paying him 16+ mil/yr to keep him.

[capstone21]

Fans on this board just want anybody. Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo. This board has me rolling all the time. Memphis can keep Rudy Gay. Smoove brings much more to the game. He is a game changer. Rudy Gay is nothing to get excited over. We are on the same page.

We have a redundancy at pf, al is better and at a reasonable contract, smith is a free agent and will either leave or want way too much money. That is a reason why a player like gay for smith makes sense

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Plan A (D12,CP3) is over with and is not gonna happen now. Jenkins and Teague are realistically role players. If Josh Smith leaves we may as well go into tank mode. And i'm not sure that Josh is worth the max that we will have to give to sign him.

I think Ferry would be an idiot to sign both DW12 and CP3... We'd end up with $64 mil tied up into 4 players... Give us Dwight, bring back Pachulia, Smith, and Harris and we'll have a contender on our hands.

Man. You guys don't know where you are. This is Atlanta. Dwight Howard is not walking through that door. Neither is CP3. Neither is Bynum... not without us overpaying. Ferry sold you on hope. So now we have all this hope that John Jenkins is going to turn out to be the man. Had we known the whole time that the plan was to gut the team, why not go for more important pieces like Perry Jone III or Miles Plumlee. Even Festus. What Ferry did was equivalent to what BK did when he traded everybody.. (JT, SAR, Big Dog, Theo). It's part of the new GMs handbook. Clear the books and offer hope. But FAcy in Atlanta?? You'd do better hoping that UFOs came down to earth and showed us the portal to take us to the Vega Galaxy.

Atlanta has never been able to sign FA because we were either so sorry that top names saw no future with us or we were stuck in cap limbo and couldn't afford the big name talents. I can't think of one time we offered a top name talent a deal while we were a good team and they actively refused. The fact is that the Hawks have never even tried to go after big names... If we show Dwight a 5 year max deal, show him that he has a fanbase in his hometown, and that has a good enough team around him to contend and win, I believe he does come to Atlanta. There was a thread started not to long ago about how the Hawks need a change in culture. Honestly, I think the fanbase needs one too. We need lose this woe-as-me, down-on-our-luck attitude that believe history is only doomed to repeat itself. Look at Falcons as an example of what to expect of the Hawks. The Falcons restructured the coaching staff, have very capable GM that isn't afraid to make moves, and have an owner that stays out of the spotlight and just pays the bills. The Hawks have made multiple changes to the coaching staff and PR department, brought in Ferry who isn't afraid to make moves, and the ASG has locked Gearon Jr away in a dark closet somewhere to never be heard from again. The Falcons are starting to look like contenders THIS season and the Hawks are starting to look like a nice team to play for... A team with money AND talent.

[jy23]

Rudy gay is a much better player than he's getting credit for on this board, he's just as good as good a scorer as JJ was at this point in his career with more athleticism more size and the potential to b much better. He's very active defensively and is a clutch scorer.....what more could you ask for from a sf? Having him would definitely balance out our team

[capstone21]

Rudy gay is a much better player than he's getting credit for on this board, he's just as good as good a scorer as JJ was at this point in his career with more athleticism more size and the potential to b much better. He's very active defensively and is a clutch scorer.....what more could you ask for from a sf? Having him would definitely balance out our team

Thank you...I could not have said it better

[Diesel]

Atlanta has never been able to sign FA because we were either so sorry that top names saw no future with us or we were stuck in cap limbo and couldn't afford the big name talents. I can't think of one time we offered a top name talent a deal while we were a good team and they actively refused.

This is not true. Let's see. How about Rick Fox? How about Ced Ceballos? We went years having to plug the Sf position with Tyrone Corbine when we had a team that was a Sf away and we couldn't pull either of these guys. Did you forget Danny Manning? He took less money and a one year deal to go and play for Phoenix. How about Eric Dampiere the first time? How about when KMart used us to get a better deal with Denver? I won't even mention Josh Childress... that's not big enough. How about Vince Carter though? Can I get a SHaqFU?? I'm sure that there are others... However, when your FAcy claim to fame was: Old broken down players like Kenny Anderson, Kevin Willis, Tmac, Speedy Claxton, and Freakin outta retirement to play with my best friend Pargo... sheez luis...

[sillent]

Would have liked but I ran out but Thank you for showing some respect. I forget that half the new "fans" are band wagon and don't truly understand the history of our team. That's why the sky seems to fall with them regardless if we make moves or don't!! Nothing will work for them until they see us as true championship contenders and even when we do win our 1st they will be crying fluke.