Trade season in full swing
The only place Josh Smith will have to worry about guarding Jamal Crawford next season is in practice, now that it appears Crawford is headed for the Hawks via trade.
HAWKSVILLE - One by one the texts and phone calls started coming in late Wednesday afternoon.
Hawks players wanted to know if what they were hearing was true. So did other team’s players, scouts, coaches and an assortment of other people.
“Are we really going to get Jamal Crawford?” one player asked via text. “Is this serious?”
“You really think this is going to happen?” another asked. “Man, he gets buckets. Major buckets. We could be explosive with him and all our other cats coming back.”
“This is a crucial move for them,” a Western Conference scout told me, “because it was obvious in the playoffs that they needed another scorer with some size that could create a shot.”
Not a single player, coach or executive from anywhere that I communicated with Wednesday objected to the move for the Hawks. Not one person.
Truth be told, they were going crazy about it, with one guy calling is a “master stroke” since the Hawks moved two for one without sacrificing draft picks now or in the future.
For years folks have complained around here about the Hawks not being active enough during trade season (the time before the draft through the start of training camp when all the league’s best wheeling and dealing is done). Well, you’ve got your wish.
And you can dissect it every which way now that it appears that Crawford will join the Hawks in exchange for Acie Law IV and Speedy Claxton being sent to Golden State (the only detail left is for Crawford to sign an agreement saying he won’t exercise the opt-out clause in his contract).
Of course, the Hawks aren’t the only team working the trade season to their advantage. Deals are to be had for teams looking to add and subtract players and salaries in an effort to retool for the coming season. LeBron James and Shaq appear to be headed for a whirlwind season in Cleveland. Mike Miller and Randy Foye will bolster the playing rotation for Flip Saunders in Washington after the Wizards pawned off a lottery pick and some spare parts for real players in a deal with Minnesota. And Richard Jefferson’s arrival from Milwaukee (for scraps) breathes new life into a San Antonio team that seemed headed for an eternal ice bath in the playoffs.
There will surely be more craziness to come, perhaps even during tonight’s draft. But make no mistake about it, the teams moving and shaking now are the ones positioning themselves for the future (immediately for teams like the Hawks, Spurs, Wizards and Cavaliers and not-so-immediately for the Timberwolves and Warriors).
I’m an advocate of bold moves. I’m a fan of bold moves that produce immediate results. And for a franchise that for the longest time was immune to them, the Hawks have a decent track record on their most recent deals of that nature.
In the summer of 2005 they went after Joe Johnson, then a restricted free agent in Phoenix, and immediately changed their fortunes (it didn’t happen overnight but going from 13 wins to 47 in four years started with that bold stroke). 1-for-1.
They swung for the warning track with Claxton the following summer, hoping like crazy that he could solve their point guard quagmire and deliver them to playoff contention faster than a rookie or youngster only to have that plan blow up in their face after Claxton’s knee’s gave out. 1-for-2.
They gambled on Mike Bibby being able to get them over the proverbial hump and into the playoffs at the trade deadline two years ago and cashed in with back-to-back trips to the playoffs, including home court advantage this season en route to a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals. 2-for-3.
The Hawks' point guard of the future could be Wake Forest star Jeff Teague.
The played roulette last summer with their own free agents, Josh Smith and Josh Childress, allowing the market to set the price on what they should be paid and lost one (Childress to Greece) and hung on to the other one (Smith, who signed an offer sheet from Memphis that the Hawks matched before the ink dried), and then followed that up by adding veterans Flip Murray and Mo Evans to help fill the void. Murray finished in the same spot in the Sixth-Man voting that Childress did the year before and Evans stabilize things late in the year when Marvin Williams went down with a severe back injury for the final month and half of the regular season. 3-for-4.
This deal for Crawford makes sense for so many reasons, as the digital tag-team duo of Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz have already pointed out in separate takes on this latest roll of the red, white and blue dice.
Crawford certainly sounds like he’s pleased with the move, especially when you consider the situation he’s coming from in Golden State. And just like when the Hawks acquired Bibby and the skeptics wondered how he’d fit, things worked out because Bibby was a seasoned pro that knew what was expected of him when he came here and he delivered. I suspect Crawford’s situation will be similar in that he’ll come here realizing that this is his chance to shut up his doubters and prove that he can be a part of a winning operation.
Much like Bibby was when he arrived, Crawford might be a short term solution to a problem in need of a long-term answer. There’s no doubt the Hawks are still in need of their “point guard of the future.” And that’s where the true beauty of this deal for Crawford has been a bit overlooked. The Hawks didn’t have to include the 19th pick in the draft to get the backcourt insurance needed if unrestricted free agents Bibby and Murray aren’t re-signed this summer (and Crawford’s arrival doesn’t necessarily signal the departure of either guy. In fact, the Hawks would be best suited to find a way to keep them all in the fold if they want to solidify their ranks).
They still have that draft chip to snag the guy they want and need. They have studied all their point guard options up close and personal the past two months. They’ve seen Jeff Teague, Ty Lawson, Toney Douglas and Eric Maynor in person, had them all in for workouts at Philips Arena and had a chance to ponder what each one would look like alongside Johnson, Smith, Al Horford and the rest of the gang.
Whatever happens, they won’t go into next week’s open of free agency from a position of weakness where Bibby and Murray are concerned. They’ll operate from a position of strength with a chance to nail down the present and future at the position all at once.
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1,267 comments Add your comment
Clyde
June 27th, 2009
3:11 am
How many point guards has Woody ran through since he’s been in Atlanta?
Clyde
June 27th, 2009
3:15 am
No matter who he has playing the point they will never live up to his “perfect point guard” Chauncy Billups.
Ariose
June 27th, 2009
3:20 am
TEAUGE IS THE CLOSET THING TO THEAT IF YOU WATCH HIM CLOSELEY. HE’S A SKINNY CHAUNCEY BILLUPS LOL…..BACK WHEN CHAUNCEY HAD(OR USED RATHER)HIS HOPS.
CLYDE, I COUNT NINE. IVEY, JON BARRY,SALIM, ACIE, LUE, ANTHONY JOHNSON, SPEEDY, SALIM…..DID BOB SURA PLAY FOR HIM??? TOO EARLY I THINK???
Najeh Davenpoop
June 27th, 2009
3:25 am
Acie Law is not a “true PG”, but Teague is?
Woody is clueless.
Ariose
June 27th, 2009
3:26 am
TEAUGE WILL SUCCEED BECUSE HE IS RIGHT HANDED LOL. WOODY HAS A LEFTY BIAS OR SOMETHIN’ LOL. THAT’S WHY HE GIVE J-SMOOVE SUCH A HARD TIME.
Ariose
June 27th, 2009
5:15 am
WOODSON IS A SCRUB. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. WHAT A CLASSLESS ACT BY CALLING OUT ACIE LIKE THAT. ACIE IS SUCH A GOOD GUY TOO. HE’S JUST TRYING TO SAVE FACE AND GET AN EXTENSION. HE KNOWS THIS IS HIS LAST CHANCE TO GET I RIGHT WITH A PG….THIS INE HAND-PICKED BY SUND SO YOU KNOW SUND WON’T STAND FOR ANY MORE FOOLISHNESS.
I SAID A FEW BLOGS AGO THAT SUND SHOULD LOAD US WITH TALENT AND SEE WHAT WOODY CAN REALLY DO AS A HC. LOOKS LIKE WE’LL GET OUR CHANCE TO SEE NEXT SEASON. HE’S OFFICIALLY IN THE HOT SEAT.
Hoops
June 27th, 2009
6:43 am
Question-
Can the Hawks re-sign Marvin, Zaza, and Bibby/Flip along with signing Charlie V.?
If so, we could be really good!
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
7:06 am
“I’m not knocking Acie Law in any way shape or form,” Woodson said. “But this kid [Teague] is what I’d call a true point guard. I gave Acie some opportunities, and it just didn’t work. That’s no knock on him as a player or me as a coach. Injuries probably hurt Acie the two years he was here, and honestly we just didn’t have the luxury of waiting on him when he first got here. We had to win.
“Jeff Teague has a different situation, and in some ways I think a better situation, in that we have a solid foundation of veterans here that he’ll be able to learn from and lean on. Make no mistake about it, he has the tools, and we need to provide him with the opportunity to become the player we think he can become.”
Very interesting comments from Woodson. Some are less revealing to those who were paying attention in the first place. Odd what Woody’s idea of a true pg is, but hey…everybody’s got a different opinion. Seems like we’re more sure of what Woody likes now, are we not?
As to the end of the statements provided, I will say two things. One, Woody should be held accountable to what he said, as it came out of his mouth first. He thinks Teague has the tools and needs the opportunity. Now what that means in detail as far as Woody is thinking, probably is not the same as what a typical fan like myself is thinking. Two, Teague seems to have the right attitude, but he will need to work on his game like hell, always be ready, and work hard to stay healthy. He’s not going to get minutes by default, nor should he.
Here’s to hoping for a better coach/player relationship between the two than that of Woody and Law, and better results all the way around. But it will take hard work and dedication on both fronts for it to happen.
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
7:12 am
Clyde,
To be fair to Woody (yes, I know…sacrilege), he didn’t acquire all of those point guards himself. He was given Lue and Anthony Johnson. Not the highlight of anybody’s day. Then there was Royal Ivey. How about the great Speedy Claxton? I’m done getting on his case about Law. That was really my only gripe with him as far as point guards go. Bibby has been head and shoulders, better than any of those guys.
On the flip side, that says a bit more about how terrible we’ve been at the position for a variety of reasons, than how good Bibby is.
Let’s not forget, the Bibby of old was at his best when he had a very involved frontcourt, and a shooting guard who did the bulk of the defensive work. He does not have that here. Nor does he have a coach with that kind of offensive mind. He has a defensive minded coach, whose offensive schemes are….well, they are what they are.
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
7:15 am
Clyde,
Been meaning to ask you. What low post defender was available to us in the draft, that would have been an upgrade over Horford? I realize that 12 points, 10 boards, and 1.5 blocks per game are just God-awful numbers for any starting center, but I’m struggling with the idea of who in that draft was a better low post player?
Maybe Horford needs to get fewer rebounds and more blocks, eh? Heh…
Eternal Optimist
June 27th, 2009
8:45 am
I like Teague in the first round, and choosing a shooting guard in the second is not much of a reach, we’ll see. The past few days I’ve been hearing alot of grumblings about a possible Amare/Jost trade. Please don’t do it. Amare is a much better offensive threat and Josth really needs to work on his all around offensive game but I still think you keep him. Defensively he’s a much better player and he changes so many shots during the course of the game. We have to try to keep ZaZa and continue to develop Solo. He actually has a very nice shot and with a little weight could become a decent center
doc
June 27th, 2009
8:51 am
nire, again thanks. look man i am not interested in trades but how to spend someone else’s money … just like any good fan oughta think, right?
i.mus, he is a lawyer in training about ready to go into the real world and get swamped. takong his boards soon i believe he has told us. he is enjoying it while he can. we need to enjoy him too as soon he will be only coming by to say hi and will give no free lawyerly advice … even to his buddies here that helped get him started. shameful isnt it?
yeah ray, where is the next question for woody …”so coach woody, can you tell us what is a true point guard, what are the qualities you look for and how did acie fail in those measures and teague, who admits he was more of a 2 in college, will succeed?”
sorry, i just dont get it. for the basics it seems acie fit the mold pretty good in that he penetrated and dished, played defense and seemed to look fo someone else’s shot before he took his instead of salim not a point looked for the opposite.
O'Brien
June 27th, 2009
9:22 am
If Bibby is okay with $6 mil per year, I think he will be back with the Hawks. But if he is looking for $8-$9 mil, that might be too much.
Another sticking point will also be the length of contract. The Hawks may offer 2 years, Bibby wants 3. If I’m the Hawks, I offer Bibby 2 years, (team option 3rd year), $6 mil annually.
Me personally, I would prefer a contract offer to Jarrett Jack (4 years, $18-$20 mil).
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
9:27 am
O’brien,
I agree. Bibby will want more years, and probably more money than we really want to pay him. I like your proposal of 2 yrs (3rd yr team option) and about $6 mil per. Anything beyond that, and I’ll be leaning towards your idea with Jarrett Jack.
G-Man
June 27th, 2009
9:29 am
I just heard that rumor yall were talking about. Broussard did indeed say that the hawks are willing to part with Josh Smith.
G-Man
June 27th, 2009
9:41 am
Is it just me or are we trying to be like the phoenix suns of a few years ago instead of the pistons of a few years ago? The Suns played little defense and would beat you by putting up the most points on offense. The Pistons played more in the halfcourt game while playing strong defense.
Samuel
June 27th, 2009
9:42 am
Woody is absolutely right on. I’m not sure how good Teague will be but one thing for sure. Bibby is the only decent point guard Woody has had to work with.
That being said, I think Acie will fit better in GS but with Ellis, Curry, Jackson and Morrow there, I don’t see that many more minutes for him. We’ll see.
Also, the more I think about it the more I like what Minnesota did. They knew NY wanted Rubio bad, so they drafted him along with three other PGs just in case he stays in Europe. I believe they can get a couple of good players for him.
Seems as though “MY BOY” Courtney Fells will be suiting up with the Orlando Magic in the Summer Leagues. Good for Him. I still say, Why draft Euros when there are good players right here in your back yard?
I MUS.WRITE
June 27th, 2009
9:50 am
NIRmental’s a lawyer Huh? Thats whass up! …… So he really is a sharp/smart guy -not like sum try’n to spit out useless facts to gain ground in Sekous pecking order…… I thought you were a Pharmacist or a Chemist or Maybe a mad scientist (EVIL LAUGH)..Thats good to know one of our residents is a lawyer -I may be giving you a stack of money one day-nock on wood hopefully not but Theres 10k in a safe place just incase.
Boom Dizzle
June 27th, 2009
9:53 am
Sekou,
I just head that Chris Broussard rumor as well about Amare potentially, is this one of those things where if there’s smoke, there’s fire? Or let this one bypass?
Also if you had to put percentages on our key free agents coming back (Bibby, Flip, Zaza, Marvin) what would they be in your opinion?
O'Brien
June 27th, 2009
10:01 am
My problem with resigning Bibby is we have no one in the backcourt who plays solid defense. JJ takes plays off (especially on defense), Carwford is not known for his defense, Flip is not known for his defense, neither is Teague or Bibby. I thought Woody was a defensive minded coach? Give me Jarrett Jack.
Maybe Teague could (eventually) be our Agent Zero (2.0). I know…wishful thinking.
I would not be surprised if he ends up in Philly. Philly needs more 3 point shooters, and in Eddie Jordan’s offense, Bibby should get some open looks.
niremetal
June 27th, 2009
10:18 am
Just found out that the Hawks have already tendered qualifying offers to Marvin and Chill, so their cap holds are entrenched. So as I said before – we’ve got the mid-level and the bi-annual. Sund needs to spend them wisely
bigeasy830
June 27th, 2009
10:26 am
Coach Woodson was very honest is his handling of Acie Law. he said it perfectly, the injuries hurt Acie’s chances and the hawks needed to win right then. The Coach did not have the luxury of developing a point guard when his job was on the line, plus the kid stayed on the sidelines in a suit. In this day and time if a player stays in college for 4 years his game is lacking somewhere. Most of the studs leave after 2 years 3 max. If that kid Teague would have stayed in college one more year he may have been a top 10 pick. i think we got a steal in him. As long as we have Joe and Crawford we don’t need a pure point guard. The Hawks do not need a player that handles the ball most of the time or even bring it up court most of the times. Their players are so versatile. They just need ball handlers and shooters and penetrators to take pressure of Joe and company. Plus i think this kid Teague has a chance to be the best defensive point guard out of this draft with his height, wingspan and quickness. He may be Rondo with a better jump shot. man we could have used him over Sheldon williams.
G-Man
June 27th, 2009
10:32 am
nire,
where did you hear that?
O'Brien
June 27th, 2009
10:43 am
Does Chills really want to come back and play for the Hawks though? After all, he will get even less minutes now (compared to last season). Crawford and Mo Evans will take up a lot of the bench minutes.
Hawks need to work out a sign and trade for Chills, because why tie up all that money for a guy who does not want to be here…
Samuel
June 27th, 2009
10:49 am
I believe I told yall a few days ago that Childress would be back in the NBA this year.
fudd21
June 27th, 2009
10:52 am
Nir, where did you hear that from. What was the offer?
Ken Strickland
June 27th, 2009
11:08 am
ED-you basically said what I was going to say. But like I said, Sund owes it to Woodson to do everything it takes, within reason of course, to help him be successful. Otherwise, if he’s not committed to providing Woodson with everything he feels he needs, he should have fired him and hired someone else.
It’s no secret Woodson and Smoove have clashed, and Smoove has openly confronted Woodson on more than one occasion, even though they’ve tried to make it seem it’s no big deal. Woodson is an egotistical control freak, and it’s not surprising that he would want to get rid of any young still developing player bold enough to defy him or challenge his authority, Like PG/SG-SStaudamire, PG-ALaw and now possibly PF-JSmith.
Having said that, it would seem AStaudemire would be a better fit for Woodson, and his limited jumpshooting OFF system, than Smoove. A starting lineup of:
C-AHorford,
PF-AStaudemire
SF-MWilliams
SG-JJohnson
PG-MBibby
would be awesome and exciting. Add SG/PG-JCrawford, PG-JTeague, C-Zaza amd SG/SF MEvans, and you have a bench rotation that’s better suited to playing Woodson’s limited jumpshooting style of OFF.
I love Smoove’s aggressive attitude and style of play as much as anyone, and that includes ALaw, but we have to accept who our HC is and what he wants or needs to make his OFF work.
Dashizz47
June 27th, 2009
11:22 am
Love what the Hawks are doing finally, now we to resign Bibby & Flip. Trade Marvin for Kaman or Camby or Josh for Amarie…..This town will be on fire!
bigdave
June 27th, 2009
11:31 am
Chris Sheridan said nothing about Amare to the Hawks… he mentioned Memphis…??? so it looks like multiple teams have offers… and Broussard was just speculating given what HE feels the Hawks are willing to do…
bigdave
June 27th, 2009
11:46 am
ive never anticipated a “NEW BLOG UP” like i anticipate the next…
so many topics… Bibby… Crawford… Teague… Josh/Amare… ZaZa… Marvin…etc
A Tribe Called Quest
June 27th, 2009
11:47 am
I think Woodson is going to Sund’s office everyday, begging for Smoove to be traded.
Why?
Because he knows the way this team is currently set, we will finish #4 in the East again but still are not good enough to beat #1-3 in a series. What does that mean? Another 2nd round exit and bye bye for Woodson after this coming season.
Josh Smith is the best non-all star any team could offer for Amare or Bosh. Teams offer trash, but we could EASILY offer Smoove + Chillz + protected pick. Contracts are perfect, and we could probably steal Barbosa too. The PHX front office is run by morons
Clyde
June 27th, 2009
11:50 am
Ariose you forgot Kenny Anderson.
Ray the only low post defender I liked was Thabeet. I know it would have been basically impossible to get him but lets do something.
What I’m saying is we have had a problem with our interior defense since Mutombo was traded and basically all of our free agent signings and draft picks have been on 1s, 2s, and 3s.
Lorenzen Wright was trash, Zaza is a good rebounder but he can’t finish and he doesn’t play defense, Josh Smith I can’t complain, Solomon doesn’t finish and is too skinny to get playing time, and Horford is playing out of position and will continue to play out as long as Woody is the coach.
I’ve been saying this for 4 years but we can’t continue to ignore our weakness. I know the draft didn’t provide a lot of options but do something. During the playoffs I saw people come right down the lane on us for uncontested dunks or layups. That should not be tolerated and people should be held accountable. If a big can’t contest shots in the paint lets get him out of here and lets bring someone in here that can.
But with Woody and Sund it seems like they think things are all good with our interior defense. And its frustrating to see us spend all this money on guards and small forwards when we need bigs. To me I think their priorities are messed up. That’s why I think we are a long way for competing for a championship.
Ariose
June 27th, 2009
12:11 pm
Clyde, I also forgot the great Tony Delk lol! He was solid though….
Ariose
June 27th, 2009
12:19 pm
I wish we had bought another pick like I had been calling for. Teauge and Mullens would have been an exellent draft.
niremetal
June 27th, 2009
12:53 pm
Marvin’s qualifying offer is $7.35M. Don’t know what Childress’s is. There’s no discretion as to the amount of the qualifying offer – it’s based on a percentage of their previous salary. It’s just a one-year offer, but it’s one that must be made in order for us to have the right to match offers for either of them.
richbrave
June 27th, 2009
1:33 pm
ARIOSE:
Could have had the second pick in the second round for a nominal fee(2.5 mill.). D.C.’s salary dump created an opening to purchase the rights to a good player – YOUNG, BLAIR et. al. So sorry.
BTW, GRUNFELD got out from under a horrific contract(three years including a player option @ 11+ mill. per) in ETAN THOMAS who is done in the NBA – trust me, meanwhile picking up a problematic outside shooter and a young G. SONGAILA’s 7.3 mill. two year contract with a one year player option hurt. A solid bench/role player. PECHEROV moved another 2+ million over two years. No loss there.
But two front court players are now missing and the list of players with the tags of #’s one and two on the WIZ seems endless. ARENAS, CRITTENTON, JAMES, DIXON, FOYE, MILLER, YOUNG, STEPHENSON. DIXON’s contract expires and he’s toast. Gone with the wind, an ATLANTA special. As much as GRUNFELD admires CRITTENTON, I can’t see his roster spot in jeopardy. But exclusive of ARENAS, I don’t see one of them as being immune to a trade for a young big.
Here EG hits a wall. A down draft where exclusive of a handful of bigs, the balance of the draft class in made up of excellent ones, twos, and threes leaves a glut of these types of players on the trade market. There are now many teams with new draftees to replace their existing personnel at those positions. These same teams feel they have enhanced their back-courts and are looking to bolster – you guessed it, their front-line, same as the WIZARDS.
GRUNFELD will be a magician, or should I say a WIZARD, if he’s able to land the right big man for the D.C. club at the four or five position. One option, FA. PACHULIA is a definite possibility. The cap hit for losing THOMAS was covered by the sale of pick #32 with roughly a million to spare. So the WIZ can offer some pretty heavy dough for the right man. And they have seen ZaZA play, being in the same division. Don’t be surprised to see WASHINGTON make a run at him with the approximately 13 million in cap room they now have. Not to mention all those PG’s and SG’s…..
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
2:02 pm
Clyde,
We do need help down low, and were sure weren’t going to get it in the draft, unless we were willing to get the short-but-stout DaJuan Blair. Can’t blame our team doctors for probably not signing off on him (not that I think he was a consideration anyway) after getting burned by Speedy.
Samuel,
I do recall you saying Chill would be back. I don’t know what kind of options we have with him exactly, but those are really dependant on what teams may be interested in him. As for pgs, you’re right about Bibby being the only decent one.
And it’s possible that Acie went from a none-too-good situation to a worse one. Woody may not like a dude, but he’ll say so. Nellie? Dude will flat out lie. Hope Acie fits a niche, or he will be looking at becoming a bit of an NBA journeyman before he can finish out his rookie contract.
So it looks like Marcin Gortat might be available. I think he’s worth looking at. Rumor is that Orlando is already looking hard at ‘Sheed and Brandon Bass. Bass is the younger and more affordable of the two, and I’d like to have him.
As for pgs, I have to agree with O’brien….
We need a defender in that group…
niremetal
June 27th, 2009
2:34 pm
richbrave,
That’s exactly why I think the Wizards were retarded to make that trade. They could have snatched up Jordan Hill or someone to help their frontcourt depth. Right now, they have the oft-injured Haywood, Jamison, McGee, and that’s it. Considering how godawful their defense was last year, you wouldn’t think that they’d trade their first round draft pick and all their frontcourt depth when they already have an overloaded backcourt.
And I don’t know why you think the Wiz have any cap space…they don’t. They actually are $20M over the cap already going into the summer, well above even the luxury tax threshold. I’d be surprised if they made a run at Zaza and shocked if Zaza was remotely interested in going to them, since the Wizards look like a train wreck going into next year – especially since Butler, Jamison, Haywood, and Miller aren’t exactly getting younger.
Melvin
June 27th, 2009
2:42 pm
bigdave,
I heard the same report by Mike Sheridan on ESPN as you and he didn’t mention Josh for Amare. I’m not sure if that doesn’t mean that its not being mention b/c some of these trades are being made behind closed doors until they are (near) complete.
richbrave,
According to hoopshype, the Wizards payroll will be 75 mil next season. Where are you getting this 13 mil in cap space from? Are you speaking for the 10-11 season which Miller, Haywood and James contracts comes off the books?
Big Ray,
I read the same thing about Orlando. I don’t know how they are going to offer Rasheed and Bass offers when they only have the MLE available? If we resign ZaZa then I rather see us sign a 4/5 type like McDyess,Charlie V or Frye (which I like b/c he’s young and maybe inexpensive).
Big Ray
June 27th, 2009
2:50 pm
Melvin,
Yeah, IF we re-sign Zaza. If NOT, then we don’t need to bother with Charlie V, as finding a replacement for Zaza’s role will be a more pressing need. Still would like to have one more banger, but it may not be in the cards. Perhaps more PT for Solo is. Perhaps not.
RealSquawk
June 27th, 2009
2:51 pm
It is always cheaper to fire a coach and less risky then to trade a piece like Josh Smith.
I am not a fan of Josh Smith at all, but I do know he is 23 with no big injuries why Amare is 28 and riddled with injuries.
If we were trading Josh for Chris Kaman and two first round picks or black griffin or somebody, but Amare was supposedly almost traded for Sheldon and now we trying to trade him for Josh?
Sautee
June 27th, 2009
2:59 pm
Ray,
I’m not so sure about this: “And it’s possible that Acie went from a none-too-good situation to a worse one. Woody may not like a dude, but he’ll say so. Nellie? Dude will flat out lie.”
I personally think Woody’s either lying, or is, as myc says “completely clueless”.
LOL! Woody said this: “I gave Acie some opportunities, and it just didn’t work.”
In the 12 games where Acie had at least 15 minutes (that is, a true opportunity) he averaged 7.2 pts. 2.4 reb. and 3.1 assists to 0.8 turnovers.
But THAT is cluelessly translated as “just didn’t work”. Acie also had MORE dnp-cd’s than games where he played at least 15 minutes. And, as we all know, MANY dnp-cd’s after a productive stint in the previous game.
Note Acie’s almost 4:1 ratio of assist / turnover in those games. Teague’s is 1:1, but he’s “closer to a true point guard” according to chrome dome.
Woody should have kept his mouth shut, rather than “removing all doubt”
Acie deserved better than he got from Woodson.
And that does not mitigate my feelings about the perceived worth of the Crawford trade. We still got a lot for a little. We’ll see how it works out.
reedeak
June 27th, 2009
3:11 pm
BOSH! BOSH! BOSH!…..i wish
reedeak
June 27th, 2009
3:17 pm
Havn’t hear much about AI. Where is he going? Hopefully not ATL
jhan
June 27th, 2009
3:20 pm
I wouldn’t mind trading Josh for someone with Amare’s low post offensive skills – just not Amare. He’s injury prone & doesn’t play defense.
If we could pull off a Childress/Mo/Draft pick deal for Amare or Bosh then let’s make it happen. Not sure how the numbers work.
reedeak
June 27th, 2009
3:23 pm
What about Chill and Mo for Ronnie Brewer. That would solve our Deffensive problem. He is a great defender.
Najeh Davenpoop
June 27th, 2009
3:45 pm
We’ve been hearing Josh rumors for a good three years now. Until ESPN can come up with something substantial instead of just further rumors, I’m ignoring them.
Josh is not the offensive player Amare is. But I’d much rather take my chances that a healthy, 23-year-old Josh Smith can become a better offensive player than that an injury-prone, 28-year-old Amare can learn how to play defense all of a sudden.
J-MAN
June 27th, 2009
4:03 pm
Why do you people hate on josh smith, he showed up for every game this post season and was our BEST PLAY BY FAR!!!!!!! joe johnson had games where he didnt show up in fact other than games 5 and 7 he didnt play well. So in what might be seen by some as a gamble I would trade Joe Johnson for the Big we been talking about: Amare’, Bosh or Tyson Chandler or Zach Randolf and resign Marvin, Zaza and Flip. I think Marvin next year if healty will make the jump to 20 pts. per game and Josh will elevate to Superstar putting in 20 and 8 rebounds a game and be a major contender for Defensive play of the year
reedeak
June 27th, 2009
4:17 pm
J-Man, you would trade Joe for Sach Randolph or Tyson Chandler?? hahahahahahahahaha
A Tribe Called Quest
June 27th, 2009
4:37 pm
I just don’t see us competing for a championship with Smoove/Horford as our 4/5. It’s no knock on them. Our frontline simply is not good enough to compete with these disgustingly loaded front lines of Orlando, Boston (sleeper team who will win the title next year in my opinion), and Cleveland. That’s why we need to trade Smoove for Amare or Bosh.
We have way too many trading pieces to work with to stick with this current roster. We know the Hawks are an exciting team. But can they honestly win a title with this current core?