Trade Deadline Rumors

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Utah is not a PG need team. They got their PG who's starter ready. He's just out for the year with an injury. They were never going to offer enough for Teague.

Probably so.  I tend to see them as a Millsap destination spot though.  On Exum, I tend to see him as having 'poor man's Rubio' as his ceiling though.

[Jody23]

Honestly, if the Hawks are serious about winning a title, but give Horford a five year deal at max or close to max, they've got to have another major move in the offseason.

[NBASupes]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

Probably so.  I tend to see them as a Millsap destination spot though.  On Exum, I tend to see him as having 'poor man's Rubio' as his ceiling though.

Naw, Exum could be special. His quickness and defense was huge. He like Dennis has to grow but it's clear why he was drafted so high . 

[Guard]

Teams being stingy with their wing players is pretty understandable given how much the league has changed. It's a perimeter driven league. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Ishmael ain't enough, you need a damn good one. Just an Mack based one ain't winning you games in the NBA 

 

That article you posted yesterday was telling.

Oh I know Ish isn't  the  answer just saying he's a better stop gap from  whatever  the hell Hinkie was  doing.

[hazer]

If rumors are true, liking what I'm seeing from Wilcox. Shrewd. Not a rumor, but would be nice if  Wes could squeeze Parker and Plumlee for Teague,

[Guest]

 

Quote

As Thursday’s NBA trade deadline nears, the belief here remains as it was a month ago, a week ago, yesterday: The Atlanta Hawks will talk to a lot of teams about a lot of players but won’t do anything of consequence. The reason: Even if they’re not nearly as good as they were last season — and they aren’t — they’re not yet to the point of tearing things up and starting again. Because starting again would mean getting bad for a while, and new ownership isn’t apt to opt for that.

But as we while away the next 48 hours, let me address one player who keeps popping up as a possible Hawks target. You know him. He’s from here. He’s Dwight Howard. He used to be really good. He’s less good now.

It was only two summers ago that the New Hawks made a pitch for Howard, who was a free agent. Danny Ferry (remember him?) and Mike Budenholzer (who hadn’t yet coached a game) met with Howard in Los Angeles, and Budenholzer and Howard were believed to have bonded. No matter. The big man signed with Houston.

The Rockets are 137-82 since signing Howard. The Hawks are 129-90, and that’s with Al Horford missing the final 53 games of the 2013-2014 season. Both teams advanced to their respective conference finals last season: The Hawks were swept by Cleveland; the Rockets lost 4-1 to Golden State.

If the playoffs started today, the Hawks would be the fourth seed in the East; the Rockets would not qualify. They’ve already fired Kevin McHale, and interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff recently described his team as “broken.” All of that cannot be traced to Howard — James Harden must take some of the blame — but the point is clear: Even with two guys commonly described as superstars, Houston is 27-28.

The Rockets don’t fit. Harden is what’s known as a high-usage guy — he’s third among NBA players in that advanced stat, behind Russell Westbrook and DeMarcus Cousins, ahead of LeBron James and Stephen Curry — which means he has the ball a lot. Howard is tied for 158th in usage. He’s fifth among Rockets.

The Hawks aren’t a high-usage team. Only one among them ranks higher than 30th, and that’s Dennis Schröder, the backup point guard. (He’s 22nd.) The Hawks pass the ball. They’re second in the league in assists. The Rockets are 17th. As a consequence, the man they paid $118 million to sign is tied for 59th among NBA players in scoring.

Howard is still an excellent rebounder (No. 3 in the league), but he’s no longer the force he was as a younger man in Orlando. If he were, the Rockets wouldn’t be trying to trade him. As we know, the Hawks are awful at rebounding, but adding Howard — which would surely mean trading Horford — would address one problem while gumming up the greater works.

Howard doesn’t pass very well. He can’t shoot beyond 10 feet. He doesn’t space the floor. On the contrary, he’s a low-post center on a team that encourages its big men to hoist 3-pointers. The Magic reached the 2009 NBA finals by ringing Howard with shooters and daring the defense to double-team him. (Mike Woodson, alas, always fell for it.) Nobody needs to double-team Howard anymore. He’s not going to score 40 or 50 points. (His high for the season is 30 — in a loss to the Hawks.)

A team that acquires Howard cannot count on rebuilding around him. He’s 30. He can opt out of his contract this summer, which means he’s apt to be a free agent, same as Horford, who’s 29. The list of teams desperate to sign Howard in the summer of 2013 was long. The list this time will be much shorter. In a league that has almost no true centers, he’s no longer the best by default. (Cousins is far superior and five years younger.)

For the Hawks to swap Horford for Howard, they’d essentially be punting on this season — even in his prime, Howard was difficult to assimilate into an offense — and probably the next few. The guess is that they’d have a greater chance of re-signing Horford over the summer than they would Howard, and they’d be much more willing to offer a max contract to a guy they’ve known and loved since 2007 than to a half-season rental.

Not many of the trade scenarios linked to the Hawks — Jeff Teague for George Hill, say — make much sense. Anything involving Howard makes no sense at all.

 

[NekiEcko]

4 minutes ago, hazer said:

If rumors are true, liking what I'm seeing from Wilcox. Shrewd. Not a rumor, but would be nice if  Wes could squeeze the Bucks outta Greek-Freak or Parker and Plumlee for Teague,

Fix it but for real, I am glad that Wes is shrewd and not giving in to these other GMs out there.  He

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Naw, Exum could be special. His quickness and defense was huge. He like Dennis has to grow but it's clear why he was drafted so high . 

We have to agree to disagree on Exum.  Until he learns to shoot he'll be MCW-esque.

12 minutes ago, Guard said:

Teams being stingy with their wing players is pretty understandable given how much the league has changed. It's a perimeter driven league. 

Agree but it's flawed thinking.  All those wangs with no 1 makes you too redundant.

14 minutes ago, Jody23 said:

Honestly, if the Hawks are serious about winning a title, but give Horford a five year deal at max or close to max, they've got to have another major move in the offseason.

It's why I hope they trade Sap.  Not because I don't like him.  He's been our MVP.  That said, if Sap is your MVP you aren't winning anything close to a title.

Lastly, somebody dock @JayBirdHawk about 45 points for posting a Mark Bradley article.  Who's in charge of that sort-a thing?  Me?

[Jody23]

5 minutes ago, kg01 said:

We have to agree to disagree on Exum.  Until he learns to shoot he'll be MCW-esque.

Agree but it's flawed thinking.  All those wangs with no 1 makes you too redundant.

It's why I hope they trade Sap.  Not because I don't like him.  He's been our MVP.  That said, if Sap is your MVP you aren't winning anything close to a title.

Lastly, somebody dock @JayBirdHawk about 45 points for posting a Mark Bradley article.  Who's in charge of that sort-a thing?  Me?

It would have to be Sap as he would then be the only significant attractive player left.  Even then, there's some risk for the other team as he will most assuredly opt out after next season no matter what.  But, the Hawks wouldn't do that until the offseason.  Maybe they go after Blake then.

[NBASupes]

Sap should stay as should Horford. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

Sap should stay as should Horford. 

Somebody's gotta go and it can't just be Jeffy.

[NekiEcko]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

Sap should stay as should Horford. 

I don't know but I go with Neki's Speical

"It the price is right and will make the team special then you have go for it but for everything else No Way"

[Jody23]

Just now, kg01 said:

Somebody's gotta go and it can't just be Jeffy.

A team with Horford and Sap as the two best players isn't winning anything and they both are or will be over 30.

[Sothron]

2 minutes ago, Jody23 said:

A team with Horford and Sap as the two best players isn't winning anything and they both are or will be over 30.

This is undeniable truth.

[Guest]

Just now, Sothron said:

This is undeniable truth.

Am I the only one still a little shocked that soth is open to trading Al?  (Just messin' with you, brutha)

I kinda feel like the Hawks are holding up this trade season.  It's like every team wants our players for pennies on the dollar.  Like they're just sitting back waiting for us to go into tank mode.  Meanwhile half of them are worse teams than we are right now (lookin' at you Boston!).

[mrhonline]

@hawksfanatic  I've been out-of-the-loop.  What's a reasonable expectation for Horford's first-year max salary?  How would a flat, five-year deal (at that first-year amount) compare to a max, four-year deal from another team?

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, hawksfanatic said:

Things that appear obvious: Wes Wilcox is floating Al's name out there currently as a pre-negotiation tactic. If Wes made Al untouchable, what kind of leverage does he have in putting incentives or non-guarantees in Al's impending 5-year contract? Not much. So you at least float it around. This is vastly different from what the A$G did with Joe Johnson.

Thing I found delusional: some teams projecting the Cap to be $92 million. Lolz.

Fantastic fanatic point!!!! Agree 100%!!! 

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, kg01 said:

You're now a legend for making a woman say she's sorry.  I'm just kidding @JayBirdHawk.  Not in de face!!

I hate that these teams are so enamored with their wangs.  Meanwhile they're teams are floundering in less-than mediocrity.  As bad as we've looked at times, we're still likely to land at the 3-spot.  ORL, MIL, UTA and others will be lucky to sniff playoffs.

Lol...ur digging..haha

[Sothron]

8 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Am I the only one still a little shocked that soth is open to trading Al?  (Just messin' with you, brutha)

I kinda feel like the Hawks are holding up this trade season.  It's like every team wants our players for pennies on the dollar.  Like they're just sitting back waiting for us to go into tank mode.  Meanwhile half of them are worse teams than we are right now (lookin' at you Boston!).

I'm a pragmatist over anything. I've always said Horford is the perfect 3rd best player on a title team. If he's our best or second best player we will never win a title that way. The only thing I want is a world title, not the "made the playoffs for the most consecutive years in the East" title.