Hawks pursuing Asik

[coachx]

Only $7 mill counts against the cap.....so the $15 mill talk is nothing but fluff.

[coachx]

Only $7 mill counts against the cap.....so the $15 mill talk is nothing but fluff.

However, I just saw Houston was picking at 25......I thought they were picking around 20 after losing in the 1st round. Moving down 5 spots in the draft is one thing. Moving down 10 is too far.

With BeBe coming in that is too much.

[cowa]

First off, if we are trading for Asik, Lou Williams will not be part of the deal. Houston will only trade Asik if they can take back $0 in exchange; otherwise they can't get far enough under the cap to go after Melo. So the trade would have to be centered around draft picks. And they are NOT giving up Parsons, as they want Melo to play PF in that offense, and they need Parsons at the 3.

Also, i would want Houston to kick in $3M to cover part of the difference is salaries.

And Asik woud be a great addition to this team. He wouldn't have to start, but we could easiely guarantee him 25-28 minutes off the bench, and just keep him on the bench in the late 4th quarter, as his FT shooting is horrible.

Lastly, i don't think you can play Sap at the 3 for any long stretches. He just doesn't have the lateral quickness to play out on the perimeter against the better SF's in the league for extended periods. Just rotate Asik, Horford and Sap between the 4 & 5 (and remember, the odds of these guys all staying healthy the whole season is slim). There's 96 minutes a game between the 4 & 5, and I don't think Ferry or Bud envisions Horford averaging more than 30 min/game in his first season back. And even Scott will get his minutes, assuming we resign him as well.

And lastly, I feel getting Asik will also make it easier to try and get that wing 3/D player to start along with Korver and then have Carroll/Williams/Scott come on in the 2nd unit. With that kind of rotation along with Teague and those 3 bigs, that is very enticing to a free agent like Ariza (with the mid level cap). At least it's nice to dream...

[sven80]

Did an excellent job according to who exactly? Their defensive efficiency was worse than ours that year, his block rate was lower than Horford's. Asik struggled to get PT this year up until the playoffs and Houston was getting smoked with him on the floor. The guy hasn't been a presence in the middle on defense since Chicago, every team and individual stat you could possibly find will back that up.

not sure if serious.

I don't know if there is a more underrated center in the entire league than Asik.

For the entire season Houston’s defense has been night and day with him on and off the floor. They give up 107.5 points per 100 possessions when he’s off and 101.5 when he’s on—a six point difference that ranges from what would be the third worst defense in the league to the 10th best.

http://www.red94.net/omer-asik-defensive-player-year/12127/

How Omer Asik's versatility makes him one of the NBA's best defensive centers

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/10/15/4830936/omer-asik-defense-video-breakdown-houston-rockets

I would love to have him on the team. But I wouldn't trade Millsap for him.

[Diesel]

First off, if we are trading for Asik, Lou Williams will not be part of the deal. Houston will only trade Asik if they can take back $0 in exchange; otherwise they can't get far enough under the cap to go after Melo. So the trade would have to be centered around draft picks. And they are NOT giving up Parsons, as they want Melo to play PF in that offense, and they need Parsons at the 3.

Also, i would want Houston to kick in $3M to cover part of the difference is salaries.

And Asik woud be a great addition to this team. He wouldn't have to start, but we could easiely guarantee him 25-28 minutes off the bench, and just keep him on the bench in the late 4th quarter, as his FT shooting is horrible.

Lastly, i don't think you can play Sap at the 3 for any long stretches. He just doesn't have the lateral quickness to play out on the perimeter against the better SF's in the league for extended periods. Just rotate Asik, Horford and Sap between the 4 & 5 (and remember, the odds of these guys all staying healthy the whole season is slim). There's 96 minutes a game between the 4 & 5, and I don't think Ferry or Bud envisions Horford averaging more than 30 min/game in his first season back. And even Scott will get his minutes, assuming we resign him as well.

And lastly, I feel getting Asik will also make it easier to try and get that wing 3/D player to start along with Korver and then have Carroll/Williams/Scott come on in the 2nd unit. With that kind of rotation along with Teague and those 3 bigs, that is very enticing to a free agent like Ariza (with the mid level cap). At least it's nice to dream...

I think this is the key. IF get him, it will probably be for a 2016 first rounder. Let's face it, Houston will only do this if it leads to them being able to trade for the likes of either Melo or Love. Therefore, they are not taking back Lou. Moreover, Asik would be a nice fit here and he gives us the chance to see what Horf looks like at the 4 besides a guy who can play inside.

[Diesel]

But @cowa and @Diesel, Asik only fits if he decides to come here and play off the bench. He was asked to do that in Houston behind a potential DPOY candidate and was a malcontent IIUC. He requested a trade so he could return to a starting situation. Do we know he'd come here and 'play ball'?

As an aside, I'd be curious to see Melo in Houston with Harden. They should petition the NBA to allow them to play with 3 balls and a designated defender for the other end.

Let the coach decide how he will play the players. Remember, we have a Horf who has wanted to move to the four. Also, why are we guaranteeing Sap a permanent position? What if we could move Sap for a resigned Afflalo and a future first? Wouldn't you do it?

Sap is in the last year of his contract, either we're going to resign him, play the FA game with Sap or we can trade him to fill other needs.

A team of Asik, Horford, Korver, Afflalo, Teague could probably be more formidable than what we speculate without Asik. However, you don't discount a good player who fills a needed role because of positioning. That's the same mistake that was made with our previous 2 GMs by forcing Horf to play Center because Smoove couldn't play Sf. With those two in the lineup, we never really went after a big then. Now is the time to stop this kind of foolishness.

[DrReality]

Our team could use his energy.

[MaceCase]

Only $7 mill counts against the cap.....so the $15 mill talk is nothing but fluff.

Wouldn't matter if only $1 counted against the cap the owners are still writing checks for $15 million to a role player that won't sell tickets or significantly upgrade the team. There is no fluff about that .

[AHF]

Only $7 mill counts against the cap.....so the $15 mill talk is nothing but fluff.

Agree to disagree on this. He counts 8.5M against the cap but the additional 6.5M in pay is a lot more than fluff. It doesn't affect his cap number but whatever team employs him still has to actually pay 15M of cash. That is a big deal for a team like Atlanta, San Antonio, Memphis, etc. - pretty much any team but NY, NJ and LAL.

[AHF]

I think this is the key. IF get him, it will probably be for a 2016 first rounder. Let's face it, Houston will only do this if it leads to them being able to trade for the likes of either Melo or Love. Therefore, they are not taking back Lou. Moreover, Asik would be a nice fit here and he gives us the chance to see what Horf looks like at the 4 besides a guy who can play inside.

If they aren't taking back salary, they aren't getting anything more than a second round pick. If I were going to just eat his salary so that Houston could get Melo or Love then I would trade 2nd round picks with them and take Asik. I definitely would not give a first.

[Vol4ever]

Asik prima donna............things don't go his way???

Kinda like Kevin Love?

[macdaddy]

Asik prima donna............things don't go his way???

Kinda like Kevin Love?

Not seeing how this is comparable. Asik is an overpaid role player who cried as soon as there was some competition for his job. Love is a franchise center piece who's been more than patient waiting for some help. He's a prima donna like KG was a prima donna in Minny.

[MaceCase]

If they aren't taking back salary, they aren't getting anything more than a second round pick. If I were going to just eat his salary so that Houston could get Melo or Love then I would trade 2nd round picks with them and take Asik. I definitely would not give a first.

Even that is a bit of a stretch for me. If they want to just dump the guy then they need to add incentive in a late first/couple seconds or prospect for the receiving team to just eat it. If not then they need to be satisfied with the rights to Sergiy Gladyr or Sofakalis because although talented we can't pretend as if we aren't dealing with a $15 million malcontent here. To give up an asset like a first that you can control for 4+ years for a guy that will milk a hangnail at the first sign he thinks he's been slighted is extremely shortsighted.

[macdaddy]

No, you're right Asik and Love aren't in comparable situations. I agree with you on Asik. I could be wrong, but the only thing I ever hear from Love is how he's good but his teammates let him down, blah, blah, blah.

KG led his team to the playoffs and wasn't as vocal a complainer as Love has been. (I actually don't remember KG complaining but I won't go out on a limb and say he didn't)

I just don't see Love as that big of a complainer. I think he's made one or two comments and people just keep talking about it. But it's hard to watch your prime pass by waiting for the organization to get it's act together. Minny with KG had much better teams. The year they went to the WCF they had Sam Cassell, Spree, and Szerbiak all playing at high levels. In the playoffs Spree average 20 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds a game, and Cassell avg'd over 16 a game.

[Vol4ever]

Not seeing how this is comparable. Asik is an overpaid role player who cried as soon as there was some competition for his job. Love is a franchise center piece who's been more than patient waiting for some help. He's a prima donna like KG was a prima donna in Minny.

I disagree. That competition he had was the BEST center in the NBA. Asik was the starter and wanted to play. Just like KG or Love he wanted a different scenario to play and be successful. Its actually not a apples to oranges comparison. I think they actually would have had a better bang for the buck in keeping Asik and not signing Howard, and from a physical standpoint I understand Howard is 3 times the player.

[JTB]

I just don't see it. I only give asik props for his outstanding rebounds. I mean I will admit...if you give asik 30 minutes a game he could avg 13rebs per game that I will give you asik lovers.

But to gamble on asik when he will only be needed against bigger centers is a waste to me. Why are we ignoring offense so much when it comes to asik?

Let's say asik makes us the number 1 defense in the nba. Well if asik did that for our team that means he will be starting and if he's starting sap is on the bench with less minutes.

So that means Teague and horford offensive duties become even more of a need as if they are Parker and Duncan now.

That just doesn't work. Asik is an 8pt guy and it's not time to put Teague and horford in that kind if situation.

I'm only for asik if he can drop 10-14 pts a game along with the rebounds. You will be lucky to get 10pts out if asik.

All in all I think we should go after Monroe if we are going to gamble! Monroe can be molded into a 17/10 guy like horford except he do it in the post.

[Diesel]

If they aren't taking back salary, they aren't getting anything more than a second round pick. If I were going to just eat his salary so that Houston could get Melo or Love then I would trade 2nd round picks with them and take Asik. I definitely would not give a first.

The difference is that I don't consider Asik as being poor talent. This guy is a 7 footer who can get double double numbers. He also blocks shots and defends the post well. We show that we don't know about team building with a willingness to only improve by the draft. That doesn't work.

[Admin]

Only $7 mill counts against the cap.....so the $15 mill talk is nothing but fluff.

It's $8.37 against the cap and $15 million in REAL dollars the ASG has to shell out. If you think that's fluff for these owners then you haven't been following this team very closely.

[Diesel]

I just don't see it. I only give asik props for his outstanding rebounds. I mean I will admit...if you give asik 30 minutes a game he could avg 13rebs per game that I will give you asik lovers.

With all the bums that we have seen trying to plug in at Center over the past decade, to have a shot at a legitimate player like Asik....is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. In 2012, he put up 10ppg, 12 rpg, 1apg in 30 mpg while shooting 54% and blocking 1.1 spg. And he played 82 games. This guy is not a bum. This is a solid big man who can contribute to our team and give us low post play.

[Admin]

With all the bums that we have seen trying to plug in at Center over the past decade, to have a shot at a legitimate player like Asik....is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. In 2012, he put up 10ppg, 12 rpg, 1apg in 30 mpg while shooting 54% and blocking 1.1 spg. And he played 82 games. This guy is not a bum. This is a solid big man who can contribute to our team and give us low post play.

Agreed he's not a bum. But you don't give up quality assets (quality players and/or 1st round picks) for guys who their teams are dying to get rid of. Morey is bent over a barrel here as there's enormous pressure to go out and get Melo or another star and the only way he does that is by unloading Asik and Lin and the only way he does that is by taking by players other teams want to dump and he won't be getting draft assets in return.