As a Hawks Fan allow me ask you a question regarding CP3 and D12?

[JTB]

Keeping it short......

I know many of us including myself dont think cp3 or d12 will leave their teams and for the most part as of right now you are correct!

But let me ask this...

Lets assume they both get to the playoffs with their teams but lose in the 1st round!...or even lose in the 2nd round!

You are telling me that as a hawks fan you dont believe that these two guys losing in the 1st or 2nd round will even make them possibly think about playing with each other along with a josh Smith like talent already on the team.

Maybe its just me but if these guys lose early playoffs, I really think they will reconsider and look at the WHOLE table again.

P.S.

I know the clippers are good as much as i hate them but we have seen fantastic season teams before and i just wont believe any new team until they win in the playoffs. just because the thunder did it doesnt mean other stacked teams can.

Just saying squawkers dont rule out the unthinkable even if it does seem like a pipe dream! In the NBA today there's no telling how these players are going to react when certain situations happen,

[Guest]

I agree with that...I think Clippers will get to 2nd round and get bounced by OKC or spurs..Lakers might not even get to the playoffs ..i think Dwight has a very good chance of leaving (hopefully not to Dallas tho) and cp3 I doubt will leave the clipps but like you said if they get bounced early he might...I think cp3 expects to get to the western finals otherwise it would be a disappointment for him I'd assume.

[Gray Mule]

Relax.

Neither of them want to be here.

Regardless of how the season and playoffs turn out,

neither player will be coming here.

If they don't want to come here, stop dreaming. They

will not be here. We don't need them here and unhappy.

There's too many fish in the sea to worry and fret about

the two big ones that got away.

[Admin]

$25 million more to stay with their teams. No way they're passing that up. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

[coachx]

I'm ready to move on from the Howard Paul dreams.

[wolvetigers]

BIRD Rights...both of those guys are not coming to ATL to pass up on a 5th year Max contract...It just wont happen...we can't build a team on dreams

Edited January 19, 2013 by wolvetigers

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So Dwight is going to give up playing with Kobe and Nash. . . and Paul is going to give up playing with Blake Griffin. . . AND give up 25 million extra dollars. . . to play with Smith and Horford?Would YOU do that?

[Guest]

Never say neverNever say never

[Kimsey]

Dwight has been making the same amount in endorsements as his yearly salary for a while now. I don't see why a Home Depot, Coca Cola wouldn't cut him a 10 figure deal which is a drop in the bucket for them. Money is always an issue but it's not an issue like it would be for Al or Josh.

The Lakers may make the playoffs but it'll be a struggle for them in the first round and they get humiliated by a hungrier 2nd round opponent.

[coachx]

Dwight has been making the same amount in endorsements as his yearly salary for a while now. I don't see why a Home Depot, Coca Cola wouldn't cut him a 10 figure deal which is a drop in the bucket for them. Money is always an issue but it's not an issue like it would be for Al or Josh. The Lakers may make the playoffs but it'll be a struggle for them in the first round and they get humiliated by a hungrier 2nd round opponent.

So your saying the endorsement deals in ATLANTA are bigger then LA ? Ya right. Not to mention the Lakers brand adding to his marketability. Did you really think this through ? Edited January 19, 2013 by coachx

[MaceCase]

So Dwight is going to give up playing with Kobe and Nash. . . and Paul is going to give up playing with Blake Griffin. . . AND give up 25 million extra dollars. . . to play with Smith and Horford?Would YOU do that?

Well Paul is with Blake and the Clippers are elite even without Chauncey and Grant Hill suiting up for most the season so he's guaranteed to stay because there's a present and future there.Kobe and Nash are ancient though and the Lakers are struggling currently. I don't get how you can mention Dwight desiring that 5th year and then also mention guys who you can absolutely guarantee will not be around close to that long as being attractions for staying. If the Lakers were currently successful and we were talking about a savvy player that could understand enjoying current success before taking over in the near future and being the main attraction, sure.......but this is fickle Dwight and the Lakers only selling point right now is "we're the Lakers!" rather than any concrete plan to compete either now or in the future.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So your saying the endorsement deals in ATLANTA are bigger then LA ? Ya right. Not to mention the Lakers brand adding to his marketability. Did you really think this through ?

Exactly.

People just need to let it go.

I mean, it would be one thing if either of those guys had said that they wanted to play in ATL. But I haven't seen that anywhere.

The other thing is this. We CAN'T bring both of them here without doing one of two things:

1) trading Al Horford + fillers for one of them, so that we'd own their Bird Rights this summer

2) renouncing ALL free agents, including Josh Smith, just to create enough cap room to sign the 2

Believing that we could get either Howard or Paul is like believing that the world was going to end on Dec 21st 2012.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Well Paul is with Blake and the Clippers are elite even without Chauncey and Grant Hill suiting up for most the season so he's guaranteed to stay because there's a present and future there.Kobe and Nash are ancient though and the Lakers are struggling currently. I don't get how you can mention Dwight desiring that 5th year and then also mention guys who you can absolutely guarantee will not be around close to that long as being attractions for staying. If the Lakers were currently successful and we were talking about a savvy player that could understand enjoying current success before taking over in the near future and being the main attraction, sure.......but this is fickle Dwight and the Lakers only selling point right now is "we're the Lakers!" rather than any concrete plan to compete either now or in the future.

"We're the Lakers" has worked as a selling point for the past 40 years.

Going into the 2014 - 15 season, the only guy under contract is Steve Nash. That means that they can completely reconstruct that franchise around Dwight in about 2 years. Also, Kobe may just sign for less money in 2014 ( if he decides to keep playing ), so that the Lakers could rebuild the franchise.

"We're the Lakers" is a great selling point.

- 16 NBA Titles

- National exposure on a weekly basis, even if they're halfway good

- The prestige of being a Laker itself

- Located in the entertainment capitol of the world.

No way the Hawks can compete with that, along with a lot of other things the Lakers have going for them.

But the question that no one can seem to answer is WHY would Dwight or Paul even want to come here? Dwight has said in the past that he didn't want to come here because "they don't act right". People assume that he was talking about management, but I would bet $20 that he's also talking about the people IN Atlanta, and how they support ( or don't support ) the team. He has NEVER at no time in his career say . . . "I want to come home and bring a championship to ATL."

And the only time Paul ever talked about coming to ATL was right before his rookie draft.

Seriously. Give me a real good reason WHY either of those two would want to leave their current situation, to play for the Hawks?

[DJlaysitup]

Maybe its just me but if these guys lose early playoffs, I really think they will reconsider and look at the WHOLE table again.

The big problem is - with our current ownership, coach, and past performance - we aren't even a part of the "WHOLE table"...we are part of the little table that sits off to the side for the kids at Thanksgiving.

[bird_dirt]

Shhhhhhh!! Stop trying to wake me from my dream, yo!

Step one: trade horf to the c's for rondo.

Step two: d12 comes home to play with resigned smoove and rondo, oak hill/atl aau homies reunited and it feels so goood!

Step three: win it all

(Step four: wake up from dream)

[MaceCase]

"We're the Lakers" has worked as a selling point for the past 40 years. Going into the 2014 - 15 season, the only guy under contract is Steve Nash. That means that they can completely reconstruct that franchise around Dwight in about 2 years. Also, Kobe may just sign for less money in 2014 ( if he decides to keep playing ), so that the Lakers could rebuild the franchise. "We're the Lakers" is a great selling point. - 16 NBA Titles- National exposure on a weekly basis, even if they're halfway good- The prestige of being a Laker itself- Located in the entertainment capitol of the world. No way the Hawks can compete with that, along with a lot of other things the Lakers have going for them. But the question that no one can seem to answer is WHY would Dwight or Paul even want to come here? Dwight has said in the past that he didn't want to come here because "they don't act right". People assume that he was talking about management, but I would bet $20 that he's also talking about the people IN Atlanta, and how they support ( or don't support ) the team. He has NEVER at no time in his career say . . . "I want to come home and bring a championship to ATL." And the only time Paul ever talked about coming to ATL was right before his rookie draft. Seriously. Give me a real good reason WHY either of those two would want to leave their current situation, to play for the Hawks?

And I'll say it again because apparently it's being glossed over perhaps due to all that star power but the Lakers are currently a below 500 team. Barring a miraculous trade of Pau's corpse for something worthwhile they will return the exact same under 500 core next season with Dwight being a free agent. Whatever gains in "chemistry" will only be offset by further decline due to age but then what about after that? This isn't about Atlanta and what he supposedly has or hasn't said about the franchise or LA, this is about the pure manchild that is Dwight. When did Dwight say he wanted to bring a championship to LA besides his presser? Didn't he say he's bringing a championship to Orlando? Didn't he say he wanted to go to Brooklyn ......before opting into the final year of his contract scant months before he could sign there? This is the guy that you think is going to look at things from a long-term perspective and logically dissect the pros and cons even if there isn't even an immediate plan already in place in LA besides "we're the Lakers"?What is so great about Dallas that he's willing to sign there? What is so great about the Nets that he was dying to get there? All we know right now this second is all that's WRONG in LA and that's more than enough reason to debate the possibility of Dwight leaving be it for here or elsewhere. If it's about the money then it's about the money because it can't be about the players. They suck now and aren't at all likely to be playing or be very productive through the life of his deal. If he's all of a sudden patient enough now to wait til 2014 to see if the Lakers can pair him up with other talent he can spend the majority of his contract with then so be it but right now Atlanta can offer him that without having to just hope on the miracle that is "we're the Lakers".

[Guest]

And I'll say it again because apparently it's being glossed over perhaps due to all that star power but the Lakers are currently a below 500 team. Barring a miraculous trade of Pau's corpse for something worthwhile they will return the exact same under 500 core next season with Dwight being a free agent. Whatever gains in "chemistry" will only be offset by further decline due to age but then what about after that? This isn't about Atlanta and what he supposedly has or hasn't said about the franchise or LA, this is about the pure manchild that is Dwight.When did Dwight say he wanted to bring a championship to LA besides his presser? Didn't he say he's bringing a championship to Orlando? Didn't he say he wanted to go to Brooklyn ......before opting into the final year of his contract scant months before he could sign there? This is the guy that you think is going to look at things from a long-term perspective and logically dissect the pros and cons even if there isn't even an immediate plan already in place in LA besides "we're the Lakers"?What is so great about Dallas that he's willing to sign there? What is so great about the Nets that he was dying to get there? All we know right now this second is all that's WRONG in LA and that's more than enough reason to debate the possibility of Dwight leaving be it for here or elsewhere.If it's about the money then it's about the money because it can't be about the players. They suck now and aren't at all likely to be playing or be very productive through the life of his deal. If he's all of a sudden patient enough now to wait til 2014 to see if the Lakers can pair him up with other talent he can spend the majority of his contract with then so be it but right now Atlanta can offer him that without having to just hope on the miracle that is "we're the Lakers".

And in Dwight saying all of that and changing his mind back and forth and wanting to go to this team and that team, he has NEVER added Atlanta to that list.

Edited January 19, 2013 by JayBirdHawk

[JTB]

Well Paul is with Blake and the Clippers are elite even without Chauncey and Grant Hill suiting up for most the season so he's guaranteed to stay because there's a present and future there.Kobe and Nash are ancient though and the Lakers are struggling currently. I don't get how you can mention Dwight desiring that 5th year and then also mention guys who you can absolutely guarantee will not be around close to that long as being attractions for staying. If the Lakers were currently successful and we were talking about a savvy player that could understand enjoying current success before taking over in the near future and being the main attraction, sure.......but this is fickle Dwight and the Lakers only selling point right now is "we're the Lakers!" rather than any concrete plan to compete either now or in the future.

Exactly! +1

[JTB]

And in Dwight saying all of that and changing his mind back and forth and wanting to go to this team and that team, he has NEVER added Atlanta to that list.

why does this matter if he said ATL or not?! you just proved that because we are talking about Dwight Howard the so called superman who has the most mixed emotions in NBA history! You dont ever know when he will change his mind!......trying to figure out exactly what howard will do with his future is like knowing exactly where Bin Laden was hiding when we were looking for him!.....you will never know what howard will do and nothing should come to shock to anyone if he did make a decsion to leave LA.

Now im not saying that he is a sure hawk for the future NO! but i am saying that because howard has his frequent "periods"....even the Atlanta Hawks have a chance at getting him this summer as well as other teams! CP3 probably a very very long shot , howard now thats a possibility no matter how you put it!

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Why would have Dwight added Atlanta to a "list"? During the Dwightmare saga, we still Joe and his contract which would have made it economically intangible for him to sign here. Dwight listed Brooklyn because they were an attractive destination and the only team that would have had the cap space to sign him as a FA. Remember that D-Will, Lopez, Humpries, and Wallace were all FA's in 2012. Atlanta hasn't been a possibility due to cap and our management that "don't how to act right". Both of those problems have taken care of and it would make absolutely no since to mention Atlanta now because it would just make the next six months hell for him. Also, the talkheads don't want to see Atlanta as a possibility... They hate us. They want the marque players on marque teams... Not Atlanta. Oh and Paul isn't going to happen, especially with Teague doing well this season and the Clips looking right. The only time Paul ever wanted to be a Hawk was before we took Marv. He'd probably just want to eat Varsity all day.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk