Psycho-T brings the pain
Tyler Hansbrough didn't leave anything on the floor after his workout with the Hawks Sunday morning at Philips Arena. The rugged North Carolina forward is a a player to keep an eye on this week with the Hawks drafting 19th in Thursday's NBA draft.
HAWKSVILLE - The reviews were unanimous.
On 10-point scale, Tyler Hansbrough’s Sunday morning workout for the Hawks at Philips Arena ranks at the very top of anything conducted in the past five days.
It wasn’t any one thing in particular that had the Hawks’ coaches buzzing. It was everything. Hansbrough’s energy, effort and obviously better-than-advertised shooting and athleticism caught more than a few folks in attendance by surprise.
“He kicked the meter up. It was off the Richter Scale,” said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who ran the team’s workouts all week. “That was one of those 8.0s, one of those quick, hard earthquakes. Because his energy is at another level. You just don’t see many players capable of playing with that type of energy and effort and can sustain it through a game, or even a workout. He plays at a totally different level than some of these young guys out here.”
I felt like I needed an ice bath after watching his 90-minute workout. But Hansbrough proved a theory that a wise Eastern Conference executive reiterated to me Sunday night, “effort is a skill in the NBA.” And Hansbrough has it in reserve.
Alade Aminu (Stephenson High and Georgia Tech) and Shawn Taggart (Memphis) were the other bigs on hand Sunday. And they were also impressive in the individual drills and two-on-two work that was done. But Hansbrough’s refusal to go at anything but full bore during the entire workout had everyone buzzing afterwards.
Love him or hate him, and Hansbrough laughed about the fact that he’s inspired the masses to do either one or the other and sometimes both, he’s going to do it his way. And the truth is the Hawks could do a lot worse with the 19th pick. But they probably won’t have to worry about Hansbrough there, as I haven’t spoken to anyone anywhere that believes he’ll still be on the board when the Hawks are on the clock Thursday night.
“If this kid is still there at 19, the Hawks better not hesitate,” another Eastern Conference executive told me Sunday afternoon. “The kid’s a dream for coaches in our league, because he’s going to come in and crank things up automatically. He’s just wired differently than most of these other guys.”
That’s the real problem with a pick that late. You can project who you think might be there and evaluate accordingly, but there’s no way of knowing who will be around by then on draft night. One glitch on the draft board in the early lottery can swing the draft in a totally different direction than projected.
The Hawks sent things sideways in 2004 when they took Josh Childress ahead of Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala – defying most mock drafts that had those other two guys going ahead of Childress.
And anytime one player rises and is picked ahead of projection, someone else falls and lands in the lap of an unsuspecting team like the Hawks (who have no doubt done their due diligence throughout this process by examining all the possibilities).
DaJuan Summers is my sleeper pick for the draft. Too bad he didn't get a chance to workout for the Hawks while he was in town last week (a sprained ankle sidelined him).
Check any mock draft you want and go over the list of names where the Hawks are picking and there are either guys you draft on potential (Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, who acquitted himself well in his workout Saturday, or Ohio State’s BJ Mullens, who did the same a day earlier) or seasoned college guys that will be needle pushers as rookies (guys like Hansbrough, Pitt’s Sam Young, Louisville’s Terrence Williams and Georgetown’s DaJuan Summers, all of whom the Hawks have had face time with throughout the process).
The usual anxiety surrounding the Hawks at draft time doesn’t really seem necessary this year, at least the way I see it. The Hawks’ heavy lifting is going to come in free agency – and that’s where Hansbrough and all the bigger guys on the short list I’ve detailed above come in handy. Follow me now. When the Hawks lost Josh Childress to Greece last summer, they didn’t have a ready replacement for a 6-8 guy with his skills and seasoning, mostly because they didn’t have a draft pick to use on a player of that ilk. Say, for the sake of my theory, that the Hawks are unable to keep all their free agents. Don’t you think another cat with size and versatility might come in handy next season, even if he’s just a situational rotation player as a rookie?
While I didn’t agree with the notion that drafting 6-8 to 6-9 players ever year now matter what would lead a team from 13-win seasons to the playoffs, I can see the wisdom in taking players that fit that mold if you’re in the best-player-available mode on draft night and picking outside of the lottery. It’s just wise to have your roster well-stocked with a couple Trevor Ariza/Mickael Pietrus/Linas Kleiza types. I think the entire league realizes that now after the playoffs.
FROM THE DO YOUR HOMEWORK FILES …
A quick aside from the Hawks-themed portion of the program requires us to look across the pond fro a moment.
Flooding Europe with scouts from every NBA team has finally caught up to the league and to the crop of talent. The Euro harvest is expected to be extremely thin Thursday night.
Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times had a staggering statistic in his story about the sudden change in philosophy regarding drafting European (and really international) prospects:
“Teams appear to be straying from the recent trend of drafting overseas players because many of them have not lived up to expectations. Of the 39 international players selected in the first round since 2002 with no prior experience playing in the United States, only Yao Ming has surfaced as an All-Star. In that same time, 14 of 171 American players drafted in the first round made at least one All-Star team.”
Math was never my best subject in school, but I know crazy numbers when I see them. And that’s craziness.
OTHER LASTING IMPRESSIONS WERE MADE DURING WORKOUT WEEK, including a stellar showing by a guy not getting any first round buzz. Keep LSU combo guard Garrett Temple in mind in the second round. He’s going to make someone a nice player wherever he is drafted (provided he is drafted, and if not, he’ll be a good free agent pick up for some team). I remember watching him shut J.J. Redick down at the Georgia Dome during LSU’s run to the Final Four a few years back. He’s got NBA height for his position but his frame is need of some bulk to stand up the type of pounding he could endure at the pro level. But he’s got every tool you want in a player and he’ll compete with anyone.
Another guy the Hawks had in that made an impression me was Lester Hudson, a 6-3, 200-pound bull from Tennessee-Martin that refused to let anyone slow him down in his workout. He’s the kind of feisty guard that NBA teams love to have coming off their bench to wreak havoc on opposing defenses and to harass opposing point guards. And you talk about a guy breaking down walls to reach his goals, tell me Hudson hasn’t done exactly that after reading this from my man Chris Low from ESPN.com.
Fearless seems like an appropriate description of Lester Hudson's game.
Jonesboro’s Toney Douglas (Florida State) was by far the most tenacious defender in attendance all week. He didn’t miss an opportunity to mix it up in the drills I watched. I can see why folks have been gushing about him as a potential, Ben Gordon-like combo guard. But he’s a defender like Gordon wishes he was (granted, few guards this size on the planet can score from the distance and in the variety of ways Gordon does). Still, whatever team nabs Douglas on draft night will have happy coaches and fans that will appreciate his in-your-face style.
Summers is my sleeper pick for the draft. I got into a heated debate with my man JB “Beans” Beckett Sunday about Summer and Young. After watching some film clips of both, including some of their head-to-head matchup from the season, we agreed that we were both right and that Summer and Young have a chance to contribute as rookies wherever they go. Now if we could just convince someone to let us draft for them Thursday night.
All joking aside, I have no earthly idea what happens Thursday night. Who does?
Too much can swing things on draft night. And we didn’t even get into the all the crazy scenarios that could happen if the Hawks were to find the right package to move the pick (and whatever else necessary) to shore up their depth issues at certain positions.
Nothing is outside of the realm of possibility right now, my friends. Nothing at all.
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803 comments Add your comment
jerrywest
June 24th, 2009
5:25 pm
AJ – Its better to spend your 10 mil on 40 quality minutes then spend it on 3 guys who will giv you 5 combined mins/game as fillers. Sund is also use Craw as leverage in all his negotiations that will save him tons of money. Bibby/Flip/Marvin’s agents aren’t happy today.
jhan
June 24th, 2009
5:27 pm
AJ – we paid Bibby, JJ, & Josh approximately $40M last year & we had a pretty decent team. Not sure why you are so irate.
Your boy Woody loves to run his offense through guards so here’s another one that can score.
I get your point about being outrebounded – but Woodson’s defense calls for our bigs to chase little people around the 3pt line. Does it really matter if Marvin or Joe is playing the SF in that situation?
If Sund were to get a legit big man do you think Woodson would change his offense & defense to properly utilize a big guy?
I’m not totally sold on Crawford but what we gave up to get him was absolutely nothing. We traded 2 injury prone guards that never saw the floor for a guy that will at least allow JJ to get some rest. You might be suprised at how JJ plays only averaging 35-38 minutes per game instead of 41-43 minutes.
doc
June 24th, 2009
5:31 pm
seems to me that we are down about 14 mil over last year with the loss of speedy, bibby, acie and flip. i hope we can spend it on others that need to be added back to the mix like zaza and marvin. maybe it would take about 4 to 6 mil of that for these two guys. we have to keep someone from last year’s bench or starting rotation. mo is not a starter. get a player in the draft to play right away for some minutes and bring in another point or swing man and we might be in the mix again next year as well. if there is something left over for a serviceable big then cool.
melvin i had the anakin image right away too.
aj the problem with jack or sessions is that they are rfa’s right? that means we are not in control of our destiny rather someone else is holding us. yes they are nice players, only trouble is can we get them without being held hostage? i see this as saary relief not what you are making it to be if we get one more player to compliment the front court, say flip at 3 mil for two years or three or a point in the draft that woody can use.
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
5:33 pm
How could you complain about this trade.
If we don’t keep Bibby so what? What did Bibby do shoot threes well and I guess pass the ball from time to time to players in scoring position. Now we have a better scorer and simply because of size a better defender.
PLus he is a better scorer or did I already say that. His contract is not as long as what we would have to sign Bibby for and he is younger.
NOw if we could swap picks maybe 2 for one they got our next two first round picks with the 2010 pick being lottery protected.
Neither Acie or Speedy want to play here anymore anyway. Rick Sund if you pull this off you will get A for trade ability. Its not as big as the Glove for Allen, but it is pretty nice and pretty appropriate for this team.
Anakin Joe
June 24th, 2009
5:33 pm
Ramon, it’s everything. Not just the money. It’s the money, it’s the player, it’s the fit, it’s the impact to the front court, it’s the possibility that we lose Marvin and/or Chill, it’s the whole thing. And it’s the timing. This smells like a desperation move. And I don’t understand why the desperation. If our FAs were going to ask for too much, then you renounce them and go after someone else. I recall that Orlando renounced Darko after free agency began when they decided to sign Rashard Lewis. But it wasn’t until they had Lewis practically in hand. It’s hard for me to believe that Sund turned over every rock before making what I consider to be a desperate (and fundamentally flawed) deal.
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
5:33 pm
How could you complain about this trade.
If we don’t keep Bibby so what? What did Bibby do shoot threes well and I guess pass the ball from time to time to players in scoring position. Now we have a better scorer and simply because of size a better defender.
PLus he is a better scorer or did I already say that. His contract is not as long as what we would have to sign Bibby for and he is younger.
NOw if we could swap picks maybe 2 for one they got our next two first round picks with the 2010 pick being lottery protected.
Neither Acie or Speedy want to play here anymore anyway. Rick Sund if you pull this off you will get A for trade ability. Its not as big as the Glove for Allen, but it is pretty nice and pretty appropriate for this team.
I hope they dont throw chillz.
Big Ray
June 24th, 2009
5:33 pm
Astro Joe (or Anakin, I fail to see the difference),
I know the amount of money Crawford would make disturbs you. And I know you see him as a “chucker” who plays no defense. But this is no guarantee that Bibby doesn’t come back. Slow down, because Jamaal may not even be staying. If he does, we may have a new sixth man.
I seem to recall that you had so much disdain for Mr. “hang nail Acie” and nobody cared about Speedy. We just used both to gain a more valuable asset. Let’s not forget the importance of asset management.
Having said that, this COULD turn out to be a less than stellar move, but I wouldn’t shove us out of the playoffs just yet. Unless of course you want to revisit a statment you once made about not expecting us to be as good next year anyway. Oh yes, I remember that, and you do too.
Summer ain’t over. Hold them fake light sabers.
newkid
June 24th, 2009
5:34 pm
Just saw a few video clips of Crawford’s offensive arsenal on the Hawksquawk site. He reminds me of a poor man’s John Wall? Same height, same body, same length, but Wall is ambidextrous and far more explosive even at his tender young age.
Rod from College Park
June 24th, 2009
5:34 pm
Enter your comments here
Nookah
June 24th, 2009
5:36 pm
I understand the concerns for the payroll. However, we are all making assumptions about the ASG and the payroll they are willing to carry. I do agree history is all we have to use as the bench mark. However, consider this: Could Woody be seeing a window of opportunity closing with JJ having 1 year left on his contract? Is Woody going to give it his best shot for the final year in his contract and hoping to get an extension?
I suspect we are not done dealing. Rick (who I lambasted earlier) may make me eat crow after all. I will gladly eat it and ask for more if he gets us some more depth (a servicable big and good young PG, along with some more interior toughness).
I love the trade though. We basically got more production on our squad than we had last year and also taking up 1 roster spot less. The playoffs showed us we need more scoring and more toughness inside and I hope that’s exactly what Sund will get us.
Go Hawks!!!!
Rick Sund
June 24th, 2009
5:37 pm
Bloggers, tell me how my Kool-Aid taste!
Bloggers, tell me how my Kool-Aid taste!
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
5:38 pm
can we make this trade before july 1st?
do the salaries even match?
J-MAN
June 24th, 2009
5:40 pm
We now have depth at SF and SG but WE NEED BIGS, get me Tibiet or Camby or Sheed please!!!
Anakin Joe
June 24th, 2009
5:40 pm
jhan, you know why you’re not “totally sold on Crawford?” Because he’s essentially Ricky Davis or Cuttino Mobley or Larry Hughes or a slew of other guys who can score but win nothing.
Some of you were all bent out of shape during a 47 win season (it actually happened, we won 47 games). Angry despite earning a 4th seed (yes, that really happened too). You all wanted to know what Sund would do to take us to the next step.
So bringing in Jamal Crawford as our PG makes you feel better?
Wabe
June 24th, 2009
5:41 pm
Honestly, how many minutes did speedy + acie average? Speedy is like the Hawks version of Mike Hampton, he just sits on the bench with injuries for a couple years and gets paid.
None of us know how Acie would’ve developed in a Hawks uniform, but the addition of Crawford would be an INSTANT UPGRADE. We’re not talking years down the road, we’re taking what we get based on WHAT WE KNOW NOW. I would think that of all people, HAWKS FANS would understand that a sure thing is a better thing to bank on than someone who has ‘upside’ or ‘potential’. Just look at Marvin Williams as an example. Marvin Williams was the 6th man coming off the bench for the 2005 NCAA champion UNC Tarheels. He was drafted at the #2 spot by the Hawks SOLELY BASED ON POTENTIAL. Up until now, he hasn’t exactly lived up to his potential. I wouldn’t go as far as to call Marvin a bust just yet, just as I’m not calling Acie Law a bust, but instead, I WOULD RATHER HAVE A SURE THING than a DEVELOPMENT PLAYER RIGHT NOW.
Basically, we’re trading two players who barely got on the court to ever produce for a player who will come in here and instantly upgrade the Hawks offense. Crawford’s not your best shooter, but he’s capable of driving the lane, and will help the Hawks fight off some of those 4-5 minute scoring droughts we constantly saw this past season from game to game.
I would say it’s a no brainer.
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
5:42 pm
Yes BLogger Cameos!!
How is this desperation? If the deal goes through as stated then we would have lost two guards one we know is finished the other we don’t know anything about and both we know didnt want to be here.
And lets say he opts out i guess this year or next year. How much money would we have with both his contract and Joes contract off the books.
Harry Hawk
June 24th, 2009
5:42 pm
You know, Crawford hasn’t averaged less than 32 minutes a game since 2002-03 (it was 35 minutes or above for all seasons but one). If this trade gets done, you know the man is going to want a lot of PT. I highly doubt that he is going to see the Hawks as his shot at a championship, so I guess we’ll see how much he’s willing to sacrifice.
Mel on a car phone
June 24th, 2009
5:43 pm
Sekou
What are your thoughts on Brandon Jennings? If he’s there in the 1st round, do you think the Hawks would take him? Do you think they would take BJ Mullens over a PG?
Thanks. I’ll hang up and listen.
jerrywest
June 24th, 2009
5:43 pm
With Crawford as the starting PG, does Chillz fit in to this team better than Marv?
Ariose
June 24th, 2009
5:44 pm
Crawford is 29, Ellington is 22…… both are 6′5….
Anakin Joe
June 24th, 2009
5:45 pm
Ray, I didn’t expect us to be as good because I didn’t think we would approach a $65M payroll. But if we’re paying 3 guys $35M, then we better be close to a $65M payroll or most of us will be working out for Larry Drew to get a roster position on the Hawks.
Come on, y’all are telling me that spending $35M on Joe, Josh and Jamal is a good thing? Come on, be honest.
Ariose
June 24th, 2009
5:45 pm
wayne is a better shooter……crawford can’t play point
Sautee
June 24th, 2009
5:46 pm
“Didn’t Crawford go 5 for 21 from the floor like 34678 times in his career?”
Actually I think that was JJ.
Crawford was 2219 times.
Ariose
June 24th, 2009
5:46 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzy_ja_9yLM
Give it up for Acie one more time y’all.
Tyger
June 24th, 2009
5:47 pm
Good Deal, so far…
Rick Sund is a much better trader than drafter, so this eases the pressure some. He just added 20 ppg. to the backcourt, younger quicker legs and more aggression to the scheme all for two guys who were roster filler. In re. salary, ATL increased payroll by $500,000, equal to Gardner or Hunters slot. No biggie.
Bibby is out, good riddance, he had lost his job to Flip anyway. Question now is what to do about Flip. I think he’s unaffected. He’s done such a great job for us, plus Sund knows what he has in Flip, questions is the dollar amount. We essentially have 3 combo guards now – JJ, JC, Flip – all can handle the rock and rotate between the guard positions. I dont believe in the true point guard in this day and age. Folks call C.Paul a true PG, but he shoots more than anybody.
Bottom Line: Hawks upgraded – wont get final verdict until playoffs but I’d rather face Lebron with JJ and Crawdaddy than JJ and slow footed Bibby.
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
5:56 pm
We do need to take into the account the decrease in production that this might have for Marvin and Josh and Al. As Hoopinion stated.
We have put these guys in an unfortunate position since they were in the league. The fact is we all expect these guys to be the GUYS, BUT WE DON’T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT FOR EACH ONE OF THOSE GUYS THE SCHEMES ARE BUILT TO HELP THEM BECOME ANYMORE THAN A PIECE IN A PUZZLE.
With a coach who adequately understands ball sharing this trade we surerly put us into the eastern conference finals if Marvin and Chillz, and zaza returned.
But for Josh Al and Marvin this trade only puts more pressure on them. They have to watch two veterans push the ball into the ground while they stand around. And they had to do it their whole careers J.J. Stephen jackson, antione Walker.
It’s sad day for those three, but who knows maybe this is too much for Woody the team becomes dysfunctional we start off with a loosing record and then we pick up a new coach and all is right and fluid in the world.
Big Ray
June 24th, 2009
6:00 pm
Strange how there wasn’t NEAR as much noise when we dumped FOUR guys that we didn’t have a lot of use for (gosh, four guys…there went the depth), for ONE guy who was making $5 million more than Crawford, and we didn’t know at the time what he would give us, or how he would fit. Yet there was barely a peep about this $15 million dollar guy….
Look, even if Jamaal stays, he presents options. How does a shooter like him change anything? If you are a Woody advocate, you SHOULD be happy as you have a more athletic catch and shoot guy who can actually get away from a defender to get his own shot, and he’s taller and faster than Flip.
Again, We have some options to work with. We managed to get an asset that can provide scoring, and by being a threat, will probably help JJ to shoot more than the wonderful 43% he shot this past year. Yes, I know, Jamaal is not a great or even good defender. But he will give you the scoring, as he can get his shot.
And one more time…he’s an asset that you can use on the market…a better asset than a broken down Speedy, and a guy like Law, who is still an unknown, and who some people are all too willing to label as a walking injury.
Even if you’re NOT a Woody advocate, you have to be happy that there is at least SOME possible insurance against a failure in free agency as far as our own guys go. A piece of insurance that can score, and that is something we have needed. It may not be the best, but it also wasn’t headed for Europe due to an inability to get a job in the States.
Rod from College Park
June 24th, 2009
6:01 pm
I can tell you this. We won’t have to beg Jamal to shoot, if we make the playoffs, like we did with Joe this year. The guy went for 50 two times this year, and beat the Lakers by himself. For those of you who say he has never been to the playoffs, neither had Pau Gasol.
Big Ray
June 24th, 2009
6:03 pm
Anakin Joe,
Listen to what I am saying. All I’m saying is that it’s not over yet. Calm down. I’ll scream right along with you when the roster is set, if it doesn’t look right. Chill man, you’re sharper than this.
Sam
June 24th, 2009
6:03 pm
ESPN reporting that deal is on hold as Woodson isn’t sold on it, along with issues about Crawford ETO…
Sautee
June 24th, 2009
6:04 pm
Farewell Acie, we hardly knew ye. ;-(
Anakin,
How do you know that this isn’t PRECISELY what Woody wanted?
Sund said Woody would have a voice in the off season maneuverings, didn’t he?
Sautee
June 24th, 2009
6:09 pm
Anyone remember me mentioning a need for JJ insurance?
Not that it IS that. It could be temporary, of course, or never even happen.
But it makes me wonder if JJ has given signs of NOT re-signing.
reedeak
June 24th, 2009
6:14 pm
I believe Pau did go to the playoffs with Memphis
The Truth
June 24th, 2009
6:15 pm
Some of you bloggers amaze me. You don’t miss your water until your well runs dry. All this sudden love and affection for Speedy and Acie are so laughable I am about to fall out of chair. As much as I have been a critic of Mr. Sund, I have to call this the way I see, A GOOD MOVE. He has translated two useless players for a real gamer. If we are going to argue over what position Crawford plays, then take that up with Woody not SUND. Oh yeah, Mr. SUND, NICE JOB, Keep up the good work. Now go get me some quality interor players and I’ll get off your back.
MannyT
June 24th, 2009
6:17 pm
I think there are treatments for all that premature hoops frustration some of you have expressed for a deal that is likely at the start of the change up your team period. I wish I had a soundtrack right now to have that whistling song for that smiling guy on the late night commercials pushing the natural/fake ED stuff
The move makes sense. It gives the Hawks some flexibility and leverage.
You don’t know for sure that Bibby will accept the Hawks offer. Flip’s money counts against the MLE so there are limits to what we can offer. Even if he takes our offer, it cuts into our MLE allotment for this summer.
No we don’t have to take a PG. We can, but we don’t need to do it.
IF Hoopshype salaries are accurate, Crawford will make $9.36 mil next season. You know that Speedy’s 5.2 mil was moving somewhere. AC pulls down 2.2 mil next season. We increase salary about 2 mil for 2 guys that Woody didn’t play much. It also frees up a roster slot. That gives us the opportunity to improve the bench. In the most basic terms, 2guys that don’t play left for one guy that does. Even if the 2nd guys ends up as a min salary guy that never plays, the team has ONE more contributor.
Ariose, no disrespect, but it seems like they run your favorite Hawk out of town every summer. What up with that? You may need to GO ANTI DOC ON TWITTER with your boys Rick & Woody
BWAF
Cowa
June 24th, 2009
6:19 pm
AJ, I also said you could use the MLE to sign whoever (backup PG and a big?). Let’s say both picks tomorrow night are 3rd string/developmental league material, and not in the rotation. And we want the rotation to be 9 deep. Horford, Smith, Marvin, JJ, Crawford, Mo & Zaza bring us to $58M. RandMo is the 12th man (as I’m thinking they will only use 14 slots and save one for flexibility). That’s 10 slots total, so we have four left. You fill two with guys like Mario and Gardner, of guys of similar use. They will use up just less than $2M, so now you’re at $60M, with the full MLE to use and still put us in the $65-66M range. The bigs available that would take a portion of the MLE are Gooden, Wilcox, Mihm, Swift, Frye and Villanueva. Or there’s always the possibility of another trade. Maybe go after Anthony Parker if you take the cheap route on a big. I just feel that there are ways to make this work.
Do I want Crawford? Not really. I would have actually rather had them go after someone else with those assets. Again, I think Brandon Wright should have been part of the deal, while possibly including Mo from our side. And I would actually rather have Maggette than Crawford, if it weren’t for those extra years of that contract. Or even a 3 way deal with the Clips, getting Camby, and having GS give up Maggette.
Is this the worst deal in the world? Nah. Are there better deals out there? I think so. I’m just trying to make the best of the situation if, in fact, this deal does go down (which Woody still hasn’t signed off on!).
Ariose
June 24th, 2009
6:21 pm
he’s a big Salim stoudamire…..he and Woody will be at odds…..
O'Brien
June 24th, 2009
6:29 pm
Ariose,
“he’s a big Salim…he and Woody will be at odds”.
One difference is he is a vet. And Woody (and JJ) likes vets. Plus who knows if Woody wanted Salim? Maybe Salim was a BK pick.
Cowa
June 24th, 2009
6:29 pm
Just saw that Portland traded up two spots from 24 to 22 to get in front of Sacto at 23 to probably grab Casspi. We could possibly trade Sacto our #19 for their #23 and #31 (first pick in the 2nd round). That would be a great trade if Sund could pull it off, providing the players we covet are off the board when we pick. We could also trade with Portland and get their #22 and #33 or #38. Just a thought…
doc
June 24th, 2009
6:30 pm
well ariose is now happy, acie is free from the bondage.
heh heh
aj, what happens if sund gets a serviceable big in the guys mentioned for a 4/5 look and then pursues jack and sessions and gets one of those in free agency to blend in and take over at point? would you still cry in your spilt milk?
just last night i was talking to sautee saying there arent enough components on this team to trade, only 6 players ours to deal as josh cant be considered tradable this month or next. well that statement was the kiss of death to that idea as it comes to pass the next day and we rid ourselves of the two blights on our roster besides randmo. go figure, guess we are down to 6 players on our tradable roster. anyone want randmo and mo for a big, say nothing for something?
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
6:38 pm
Sam,
where do you see that?
Ken Strickland
June 24th, 2009
6:40 pm
BIG RAY-It was interesting to hear you repeat what Sund said about Woodson being included in the decision making process. I remember former GM BKnight uttering those same words about Woodsons involvement, then we passed on CPaul, DWilliams, BRoy etc. In fact, I remember Woodson voicing his concerns about CPaul’s size when questioned about him in an interview. Of course, BK took the flack for passing on them. After the extensive use of veteran PG’s TLue and AJohnson didn’t pan out, and receiving so much flack, do you think BK might have drafted PG ALaw against Woodson’s wishes? Wouldn’t that explain the final rift between Woodson and BK, as well as Woodsons unwillingness to give Acie a far shot?
After BK finally relented and traded for Bibby, the quality veteran PG Woodson had been campaigning for, the team made a successful run for the playoffs. That trade seemed to prove Woodson’s argument that he quality vet PG, which ultimately caused BK to be forced out the door.
Now we have this proposed JCrawford trade, which I have no problem with. However, I don’t see JJ being moved to SF because it would further weaken the rebounding of a frontline that’s already having rebounding troubles. I see Crawford and JJ sharing the PG duties. The fact that Crawford has more size, is a better rebounder, will play some DEF, and can consistently penetrate to the basket, is an improvement over Bibby. As far as the MWilliams debate is concerned, I did a little math. If Marvin took as many shoots as Bibby, JJ or Crawford, and if you included his 3pt shooting, FT’s and higher shooting persentage, his PPG would be higher than all of theirs, while playing fewer mins.
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
6:47 pm
yo!! Ken Strickland
yo da man!!
Rod from College Park
June 24th, 2009
6:52 pm
Ken Strickland,
If if was a fifth we’d all be drunk. The fact are he does not take more shots, does not want to take more shots, and does not have the mentality to take more shots. Lets go with the known, rather than the unknown.
Mel on a car phone
June 24th, 2009
6:52 pm
“A source with knowledge of the Hawks situation told ESPN.com, however, that deal is being held up because Atlanta coach Mike Woodson isn’t sold on the trade and because Crawford has an early termination clause in his contract.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4284512
RealSquawk
June 24th, 2009
6:58 pm
Rod from College Park,
The fact is we know there aren’t many plays thrown his way to take those shots. Those facts you stated are pure speculation and opinion.
So lets stick in known and leave the conjectures to the unknown.
terrell barron
June 24th, 2009
7:03 pm
Just read that the deal is being held up because Coach Woodson is not sold on the trade. I guess he’s not sold on getting rid of his whipping boy.
TheHawksFan
June 24th, 2009
7:08 pm
Cap Space my Arse!!! LOL. ANY TEAM that would take Speedy is Stupid. They need to keep Nellie away from the Sauce. Never could understand ANYthing he has EVER done. He flies to Memphis to tell his starting PG he is loved and is the future THEN trades for TWO PGs… well 1. Mr. Sund is ON IT!! Damn!! Lets see free a roster space AND get 20 ppg at a 2 year deal for ummm… Draft night targets D Holiday Wayne E Physco T Damn!! Is this DEAL complete?? Start the Car! Start the Car! LOL. Man. Love YOU ACIE!!! Shackles are OFF!!! How bout TEAM USA!!!!
Melvin
June 24th, 2009
7:10 pm
Newkid,
LMAO… I never seen the younger player being the comparison for the older player…
bigdave
June 24th, 2009
7:10 pm
we making some moves… like the “proactive” approach…
ill wait to weigh in on Mal’ after draft night (we might not be done)…
ill will say this though.. given that we are an iso’ team the boy can create…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oifzy782vn8