What would you rather do?

[ATL_BALLER]

1. Make a deal for Carlos Arroyo, and annoint him our PG of the future. ESPN Insider lists us as potential suitors at the deadline. We then draft a BIG with our lotto selection.

2. Wait until the draft, where hopefully lady luck will net us the number 1 pick, and the lure of the NBA will make Chris Paul availale with that pick.

Personally, I'd hold off and see if scenario 2 plays out.

Thoughts?

[capstone21]

With 5 top tier point guards potentially being available in this years draft we will get one of them. Along with that we resign Lue and we are okay at point guard. We need to focus on our Center situation if a trade is made.

[JTFan31]

Yes I agree, we will have hopefully a top 3 pick and select Paul or Felton. Now our main focus is center position.

I say we resign Walker, even though I do not like his game, he is still a very vocal leader and comes to play every night and plays hard. He will give you 20 ppg and 9-10 boards per game. Of course we keep Harrington. Chill and Smoove will be very much improve next season. Peja is a great back up center, not very defensive, but very good offensively. We need to drop Collier and make a move on a big man this offseason.

[TheDude]

i go with drafting a point because there are several...and then get a center in freeagency/trade, because there are several...

[Iman]

I'd like to draft a point but not an undersized point with a top3 pick. As it looks now I'd try to slide down and get a pick that might be the high schooler Green and a later first rounder for the left over point such as Jack. I dont think BK will draft by position, nor would I, I'd take best player available if I did have a top3 pick. Think about Jordan's draft year, as we are now we might have passed him up if we drafted by position. I hope by the draft we have already made a move or two and have our decision more defined. Maybe we'll already have a center such as Dalembert or Kwame and maybe we'll have an extra first rounder.

[AtLaS]

yeah I think we should draft a PG this year, it's just that none of the bigs are really that intriguing. Maybe Taft just because he could turn into a dominant Center, but that is DEFINATELY not a given. I like Petro but he seems like a younger Dalembert, very athletic and able to block shots but that will be about it for the next few years. If we go PG, I say get Felton, he just seems like a perfect fit for this team. He's athletic, plays great D, is unmatched in terms of running the break, and is such a great passer I really think he could be the next J-Kidd. With the players on our team as we will have Smoove, Harrington, Chill, Donta, and possibly Swift, we will be a fast break team that finishes with dunks and Felton will get them the ball better than any of the other PG's, save maybe Deron Williams, who is my next fav. I'd rather trade down than take a chance on a 5'9 Chris Paul, I understand he is a great player but there just haven't been enough great 5'9 players to warrant a selection that high, and it's not only the height issue, but he's just not THAT outstanding. And he's not a GREAT defender, he will get done up in the NBA by stronger PG's. Felton is a few inches taller and is more bulky and is just as fast, and he is already a great defender. Whoever made the Paul/T.J. Ford comparison was highly inaccurate, T.J. was quicker than Paul, and he also led the NCAA in assists his freshman Season. Paul is a good passer, but he's not on Ford's or Felton's level, and that's what the Hawks need, someone to distribute.

When I think about it, I guess I'd rather trade down anyway because as of right now Felton will not be a top 3 pick.

[Diesel]

It's not a case of rather, it's a case of what's available.

There are no ready Cs in the draft.

There are a few Cs who will be FAs, but most are rFA. Of those that are rFA, we can get Curry/Kwame/or Dalembert with a very HIGH bid... I think Curry is the least possible because I believe that Chicago will match.

Of the C who are not rFA but are uFA, there's Swift. I think a good offer will get us Swift, but the question is... could he play C. He would be smaller than Harrington...

There's also Dale Davis, but his playing days may be over... There's also Jerome in Seattle ( I can't think of His name right now)... He's been on the heavy side his whole career but he's playing good now.

Trade possibilities are interesting. I think we have discussed trading for Dalembert but if that trade is Walker, expect to recieve back junk players with long contracts and NOT Big Dog. For all of you who think we are getting Big Dog/Dalembert for Walker... Wake up.

There's also a possibility of us getting Magloire. I heard his name in trade talks... BUT.... I don't know if we have the right stuff to get that to happen. I think N.O. Makes a lot of moves before it's over but Magloire...??

Theo may be on the market. He has signed an extension, but his lack luster play has gotten him Benched! I don't know. If he can't play hard for PTL, why would he play Hard for ATL?

One plan that may work is going after Kwame... We'd have to overpay... And we'd definitely have to get KWillis to work with him... But I don't think Washington likes him that much anymore and Washington will have to spend BIG Money to keep Hughes..

Draft wise, why not get a PG... The 4 from the ACC/Williams look really good.

[TheDude]

with the athletes we get, whatever point we get i want them to have excellent court vision...steve nash even..

[TnDawg]

Alright,

If we were to trade for Arroyo, and followup that there are no centers out there worthy of being pick in the top five. We also resign Lue as a backup with Ivey. We can safely assume that BK still has his eyes on Swift or even Dalembert unless he's traded elsewhere.I think we will be covered with this rotation as a possibility:

Arroyo, Lue,Ivey at Point

Harrington, Childress,Jsmoove at SF

Walker,Swift,Jsmoove,at PF

Swift, Dalembert, Peja., OB at center

At SG we have what.......Childress,Delk, Dontae???

Which makes me ask this, ARE THERE ANY SHOOTING GUARDS coming out worth drafting this high? Can we take a look at this, we know we can always go back and get one of the top five Points that we already discussed as a fail safe.

[MoonKnight]

BK will draft on the best player available and not by position based on last year's draft of three 3s (Smoove, JChill, Donta "down the hatch" Smith). IMO the ideal situation would be to end up with two 1st round picks that would be used on a point guard and a 2 guard with our free agent money used on young 5 like Dalember, Swift, Chandler, Brown, etc. I would not trade for a 1 as Lue can hold down the starting position until we obtain a young 1 from the draft.

[hotboyj]

The peopleI think worth picking up with our high pick is Gerald Green and Louis Williams. If there is any way that we can pick up the two I would do it. Green is the next Tracy McGrady hands down. and Louis Williams is a pure scorer. Louis recently put up 32 on Oak Hill, the #1 ranked Highschool in the country. I watched him play on Comcast south. He is basically Walker at 6'1", but he shot 12of14 at the freethrow line. He like walker will take those wild three pointers even when he isn't on. Like walker he is turnover prone. Unlike walker he is young and has time to learn. Green is J.R. Smith with a better shot and more hops. These two along with Smith will be a force in the leage for years to come when they all come along. Both are superstar potential since they both are great athletes. Imagine Steve Francis, Tracy McGrady and Shawn Marion on the break at the same time and you see how great the team could be in a few years with these players

[Employee8]

Hmmmm...This Louis Williams sounds intriguing.

[pathway23]

I think BK should continue to draft the best player available too. Those guys DO sound VERY interesting. I hope the Hawks scouts are looking around at these guys.

[thescout10]

Green sounds like a potential superstar and definitely someone to look at/The question is is he a shooting guard or small forward.Here is an interesting question even though the hawk's need a point guard and center if Green is a so called Mgrady type do you draft him regardless of having Childress and J Smooth? There are some guys you just don't pass on the key is figuring which ones which comes into your scouting department.

BK really needs to try to find a way to get another no1 pick.BK needs to see this team,look at the potential of each player and see if they can be a part or an anchor of the team.I mean role player or star very important to know the difference.Harrington I don't think he will be a star therefore if we had to trade him for another no1 and there is a player in the draft that has more potential trade him.Walker probably won't get the hawks alot since he could be a potential free agent.The point is how do the hawk's get another no1?

Since free agent superstars are not coming to the hawk's the only way to get them is to draft them.We can look at Detroit last year and see a team that has no top 5 player in the league but as a team they were great.I guess another thing to consdier is if the hawks go along at there current pace can they win without superstars or do they risk taking a high schooler that could be one(Green)?Feldon and Paul look real good and if we draft them the direction of the team seems to be going to having very good players and no superstars.I don't know what BK will do but this rebuilding project does take time and since the hawks have wasted so many years already why not continue to add the right players intead of adding players just to make the playoffs and lose like the old hawk teams did.

[capstone21]

That was last year when we didn't have ANY established postions. It didn't matter what position he drafted because we were weak everywhere. This season is different. Now we have glaring weaknesses at certain positions...PG and C. We will draft a PG because that is the richest postion in this years draft and there are not any strong centers out there. Plus there are a few young centers out there as fas or rfas that we will have the money to sign and unfortantely overpay.

[Diesel]

I am looking forward to seeing more Green. I think after the MHSAAG that his stock will rise. I think that he's probably as good as advertised but what I really like about him is that he hasn't been playing long. A lot of times players who have been playing all their lives and have been told all their lives that they were the next great thing tend to not want to learn about the game... i.e. Chandler. However, Green has been playing what 3 years? He's highly skilled. I think he's a good pick and may turn out better than TMac because he's like a sponge right now.

[TheDude]

you don't have to have a superstar at every position.. Harrington is VERY solid. you don't trade him just because he's not a superstar. the only reason i'd trade Harrington is because i was going to trade Walker also because SF and PF will be for Chill and Smoove respectively and you're getting a SG somewhere..

[Packfill]

I read something recently that said Louis Williams is a long shot to go in the first round right now because he is only 6'1" and is not a point guard and his shooting is streaky at best. He is basically in the Dejuan Wagner mold - which is not a favorable comparison these days.

He likely would be much better served going to college.

[Diesel]

I have a different look at why I would trade Harrington.

I would trade Harrington to make room for Smoove at Sf. I don't see Smoove being a PF. I don't see Harrington being one either. I think that they are very similar in that respect.

I don't see keeping Harrington/Walker/Smoove unless Harrington goes to the bench.

Childress is not really a factor yet. He has more proving to do before he becomes a factor in who stays and goes.

I would trade Harrington for nothing either. If I traded Harrington, it would definitely be for a Big man. One who is more than Serviceable.

Otherwise, I might keep the three and let Smoove grow.

As far as Walker is concerned, I would trade him if we could get equal talent back. Too many people running around saying Walker for 2 2nd rounders or Walker for .... Let's be honest, Walker is a good player and playing well. He stated he wants to stay through the rebuilding process. Without trying to disect him, let's look at what we can do to help our financial situation and keep him at the same time. I think the best way to attract FAs is by presenting a future and wins. No FA wants to come to a team full of Rookies... Ask LAC.

[TheDude]

harrington won't go to bench..

i think people are underrating him.