trade WALKER to TWOLVES?

[cyman3]

I think MINNESOTA is an option we should look at. why?

1)Sprewell wants to feed his family and the Wolves made it clear that they dont want to invest more than 3 years/24 million. having Szczerbiak makes him tradeable. no point in having an unhappy camper whos leaving after the season. so the package would be SPREWELL + ROLE PLAYER(S) for WALKER. Walker/Spree are both free agents at the end. doesnt make too much sense- one of those "trade for the sake of trading" deals, huh?

but how about

2)Szczerbiak who never got along with Garnett- we all know that. Hes been on the trading block ever since he got the longterm money. However, w/ the big spending these days- 55 million for 5 years doesnt sound TOO BAD for a young starting SG these days (avg 11 million). I'd say hes tad overpaid (i think $8 million a year is fair), but we need to get some players in here since we are losers in the FA year in and year out. He would easily be the best SG on our team. He always shot a good fg % (right now hes at 50%) in his career. hes a good 3 pt shooter and an excellent FT shooter. The package could be Szczerbiak + this year's future first rounder + role player(s) for Walker. By doing this trade + losing sprewell to Free Agency, the WOLVES get under the salary cap and can spend roughly $8 million (a quick calculation) next season to get a semi-bigname free agent. Cassell + Garnett + big-free-agent is a combo that'll do damage in the WEST. maybe MICHAEL REDD?

for us, we'll have the best sharp-shooting SG since Steve Smith and a first rounder to build our team. The first rounder would most likely be middle/late 1st round. Time to look for another steal! next year we go

PG- EARL WATSON, Delk, Ivey (resign for league MIN)

SG- Szczerbiak, Childress

SF- Josh Smith/Al Harrington, Diaw

PF- the other one

C- SWIFT?, DROB, Collier

2 first rounders (high one from ours, another late one from Minn) to add some talent on our roster. we cut Collier to make room or dont resign IVEY.

we still got money to go after Watson (i think hes an up and coming player in the league) + Swift.

how many games could that team win in the EAST?

[Packfill]

I like Szczerbiak because of his shooting prowess but I am not he can guard an NBA shooting guard. His more natural position seems to be small forward. His contract is a killer though so not sure I would do it.

Otherwise, I like the signing of Watson - but only if the Hawks do not draft someone like Paul or Jack. Definitely would need a sure handed point if Wally and Smith are the starters on the wings. As for center, Swift is definitely better then anything the Hawks have, but that would leave the Hawks with a serious size disadvantage. He works better at center for Memphis because they have a 7' power forward.

[Traceman]

If Wally were a true SG I MIGHT consider it but there is no way he is quick enough to guard NBA SGs on a consistent basis. Wally's best position is SF and we already have either J Smoove or Big Al slotted for that position in the future.

I like Earl Watson and like EDS, I could see signing him as a FA if we don't draft a PG in the first round.

As for Redd, why should we not go after him in free agency with the money that we would be paying Wally? Redd is exactly the kind of SG we need.

[cyman3]

"As for Redd, why should we not go after him in free agency with the money that we would be paying Wally? Redd is exactly the kind of SG we need."

- i would love REDD here. In fact, id take REDD over WALLY. However, im just not confident that we can land REDD. Last time i checked, Free Agents were dying to come to the ATL HAWKS. the best offseason signing for us was prob WILLIS/BARRY- two players that could be had with very little effort/offer (no disrespect). Many teams will go after REDD and i personally think its going to be DAMPIERE all over again (on the radar, but at the end he picks another team over us).

But we definitely NEED an outside shooter/great FT shooter on our team. Diaw/Childress are projects as of now.

I also think WATSON is an up and coming PG. He has great per 48 numbers (especially APG, where hes ranked top 10 i believe). I know per 48 minutes doesnt mean much, but he does get his teammates involved in the game.

[VDiLetto]

The only way we are going to sign Redd is if we have a good draft and offer a lot more money than anyone else. I mean, we are gonna have to pull a NY Mets and Pedro... If someone offers him 10 mil a year, we are gonna have to offer 13 a year. Everyone will say "you over payed!!!" But thats the only way we are gonna get any talent here other than the draft.I think if we can trade Walker for a big man and draft a PG with our 1-3 pick, we have possibly enough to lure someone here. If we continue to not overpay, we will never improve.

[Packfill]

Well, I think the idea is to create a foundation with the homegrown talent. So whether the team improves is more a product of their development.