Super Tuesday
The Hawks are the midst of trying to negotiate deals for both Marvin Williams (left) and Zaza Pachulia (center), two key free agents needed to help the Hawks keep pace in the constantly improving (and I mean by the day) Eastern Conference.
HAWKSVILLE - NBA free agents can put pen to paper Wednesday, consummating deals that have been in the works for days (and perhaps even longer for some).
The heavy lifting for the Hawks, however, comes a day early.
Hawks general manager Rick Sund is on his way to Washington D.C., where he will sit down with the representatives for three of the Hawks’ key free agents (Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Josh Childress) to hammer out the details of at least a couple of potential deals.
With Mike Bibby’s new deal needing only signatures, the Hawks can devote all the attention and resources necessary to the aforementioned players, and yes, that includes Childress (whose saga might not play out until after the July 15 deadline he has to either opt out of his contract with Olympiakos to return home and to the NBA. David Andersen, another player on the Hawks’ shopping list, has the same clause in his Spanish contract).
Folks keep asking what’s the latest on (All THE HAWKS’ SUMMER TARGETS)? So here’s a rundown, early on a day I’m dubbing Super Tuesday, of where things stand with the key players (and for a sobering look at just how crazy free agency is working this summer, check out this dagger from ESPN Insider and Alpharetta’s own John Hollinger):
MARVIN WILLIAMS: Using Charlie Villanueva’s deal in Detroit (5 years, $40 million-range) as your guide, things should get much easier to decipher in the curious case of Marvin Williams. With a qualifying offer of $7.5 million, we’re not talking about anything out of the ordinary her for a guy that’s proved to be a valuable starter the past three years. Finding another 6-9 starting small forward that fits the way he does on this team will not be easy, despite all of the suggestions around here to the contrary. Respected and prolific colleague Mark Bradley has suggested many times that if any of the Hawks’ remaining building blocks was expendable it was Marvin. But as I look across the free agent landscape, I cannot co-sign that theory. Not with the free agent moves/trades that have gone on in the Eastern Conference since draft night. Not with Hedo Turkoglu in Toronto now and Vince Carter in his old spot in Orlando. And not with Villanueva in Detroit and the addition of Rasheed Wallace in Boston. The length the Hawks used to their advantage across the frontline with Williams, Josh Smith and Al Horford is more critical than ever. Even in one of the many proposed sign-and-trade deals offered up around these parts, I don’t see the Hawks adding the piece that could take Marvin’s place on this roster (in fit, size and temperament … three crucial factors that Marvin brings that go largely unnoticed by the public). The Hawks have made clear their preference for Marvin to remain a part of the core of this team and I see no reason why that shouldn’t happen. I can’t see any scenario where he is not a part of this team in the future.
ZAZA PACHULIA: Much has been made in the past 72 hours about Zaza’s impending departure and his being replaced by Andersen, or a combination of players that includes the Australian big man. Slow down with that one. Sources tell me that while initially things didn’t look too good with the offer that was presented to him by the Hawks, the sides are working their way toward more agreeable terms (we’re talking slightly north of the $16 million over four years he signed for the last time he was a free agent but decidedly south of the $33 million over five years Marcin Gortat is expected to receive from Dallas). And in an Eastern Conference littered with bigs like Dwight Howard in Orlando, Shaquille O’Neal in Cleveland and now Wallace, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins in Boston (and that’s just on the teams that finished ahead of the Hawks in the standings last season), that’s a good thing. Because the Hawks can ill-afford to lose a player like Zaza. He’s the only real bruiser on the roster. He’ll set a hard pick and has shown he’s not afraid to mix it up with the likes of Garnett and Howard. And while I’m not heavy into the stats that seem to guide so many people’s opinions about players, I do believe that some numbers tell a far different story than what the heart and mind can. There were six regular season games and three playoff games during the 2008-2009 season where Zaza played 30-plus minutes. He averaged 9.8 points, 10.1 rebounds (and 4.1 offensive rebounds) in those games. That means when he was needed to play above and beyond his pay grade, Pachulia delivered.
JOSH CHILDRESS: Like Andersen, Childress would do better financially (at least in the next year or two) by returning to Greece for another season with Olympiakos. But if he’s intent on returning to the NBA this summer, and there are indications that he would indeed love to return, things could get tricky. Childress has already visited Milwaukee. And the Bucks could present him with an offer sheet and gamble that the Hawks might not match it (fat chance). The obvious solution for both sides would be a sign-and-trade deal (the starting salary for Childress wouldn’t even be the full mid-level of $5.6 million, though the total contract would be nearly $31 million over five years). The Bucks have all the necessary tools to make something like that happen. Whatever happens, the Hawks need to close the door on the Childress saga that began last summer during his first round of restricted free agency. His jersey number was given away last summer (to Mo Evans) in a way that should have signaled the end of his time with the Hawks to all of us. I know I’ve spent much of the last year plotting hypothetical scenarios in which he could return to the Hawks. I realize now, finally, it’s just not going to happen. So if there is any way to salvage a player (Bruce Bowen has been mentioned) and a possible second-round draft pick out of the deal, the Hawks could finally walk away from the entire mess with some measure of satisfaction.
Resolve two of the three issues above by July 15 and the Hawks will have made some serious headway into a summer that’s long from over. The roster still needs filling out. And that might not come until much later in the summer and possibly even training camp, where a hungry free agent pickup like Mario West won roster spots in each of the past two camps.
The Hawks will still have the resources to chase down another big man (or possibly two) to fill out the rotation, which is still in need of fortification. But the heavy lifting starts today in D.C.
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636 comments Add your comment
Kevin
July 8th, 2009
3:59 am
funny i was lookin for the braves to disuss frenchy n sent to the atlanta hawks thw WNBA team oops i mean NBA….no matter who get they still need a head coach n avery johnson is lookin for job…hire him n fire woodson hawks GM n owners n maybe the team will get better..they worst now with the coach they have!
blue hawk
July 8th, 2009
4:15 am
jamal crawford is too expenssive to be in the flip murray role. are we gonna see more JJ at the 3 a lot?
if so, then what happens to marv? he’s gonna be an expensive part time 3 as well…
blue hawk
July 8th, 2009
4:18 am
i read something funny above:
(the real why bibby is so important)
“(something like)…bibby is important because he coaches on the floor, because Woody can’t [coach]”
hahaha
damn, i hate woody. this team can be more in someone else’s capable hands
Ken Strickland
July 8th, 2009
7:47 am
NIREMETAL-Most people around here thought the same thing about Boris Diaw, and he got much more of an opportunity to succeed than solo. Look at how he turned out. If a HC wants consistency, he has to be willing to give consistent mins and opportunity. IN MOST CASES A HC GETS WHAT HE GIVES.
Solo went from playing over 11 mins a gm as a rookie to 4 mins a gm his 2nd yr. That shows it wasn’t a matter of Woodson not having anytning to work with, it was just a matter of him refusing to work with what he had. Only a stubburn egotistical HC would ignore and punish players just because they don’t feature the exact skills you want. A qualified HC looks beyond that and finds ways to take advantage of the skills a play does feature.
Before coming to the Pistons, Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups were bench warming nomads because their previous HC’s focused on what they couldn’t or didn’t do well. They didn’t change their gms or acquire new skills after coming to the Piston. They teamed up with a HC that focused on what they could and did do well and found ways to take advantage of those skills.
Woodson has proven to be too shortsighted, narrowminded and unwilling to devote the time and effort to evaluate all of the young talent he has and figure out how to incorporate that talent into his system. Because ALaw wasn’t the shooter Bibby was, he was cast aside and the team was deprived of his much needed speed, quickness, DEF and penetrating ability, which were all of the things Bibby lacked.
This pattern has been repeated with BDiaw, RIvey, DSmith, SWilliams, SStaudamire and SJones. Hell, I can’t imagine anyone thinking former Hawks PG Anthony Johnson was a better shooter/scorer and overall PG than ALaw. Yet, even though Johnson wasn’t going to get any better no matter how many mins and opportunities he got, he still got consistent mins, and as a starter. This was the results of Woodson’s shortsightedness.
Here’s another example of his shortsightedness. You have Zaza, who’s and excellent rebounder, but has trouble finishing, is turnover prone, limited defensively and mobility wise. He’s made it clear he wants to become a starter again and he’s going to be a FA after the season. You also have SJones, who’s young, athletic, a decent rebounder with the potential to be a good shotblocker. He has excellent hands, mobility, finishes well inside and will be a RFA after the season.
Since you’re almost guaranteed a chance of resigning the RFA, wouldn’t it make good sense to find out what you have? At least give him an average of 15-20 mins a gm over a 10-12 gm stretch to see what he can do? As it stands, we’re being held hostage by our 2nd string center while after 3yrs on the team, we still don’t know with any degree of certainty if Solo can carry the load. Now that’s a doggone shame considering how badly we are in need of Bigs. Reducing Solo’s mins per gm from over 11 down to 4 is a hell of a way to find out.
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
7:57 am
I wonder if bibby will accept the role as a professional to coming of the bench, the team will be better but we must sign marvin, flip, zaza, wilcox and do a sign and trade with chill and horford for amar’e or bosh.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
8:00 am
Ken strickland wow your right on point and at the end of the day it come to the head coach.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!
dap01
July 8th, 2009
8:00 am
Perhaps Teague and the other young Hawks will be ok until Woody’s contract is up after this year.
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
8:09 am
Jamal and joe in the back court with bibby and flip coming of the bench make this team better.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
8:14 am
2009 ATLANTA HAWKS
STARTER JAMAL, JOE, MARVIN, JOSH, AMAR’E
BENCH BIBBY, FLIP, MOE, WILCOX, ZAZA
RESERVE TEAGUE, SOLO.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
8:26 am
82MILL dollar payroll can the hawks afford that i dont no but if you want to contend you have to spend.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
niremetal
July 8th, 2009
8:35 am
Ken,
Only got a minute. You make some good points, no doubt, but I am not at all convinced that we had a hidden gem of some kind in Solo. As you said, he got 11 minutes a game as a rookie and saw that cut back thereafter. How the heck does that show “it wasn’t a matter of Woodson not having anytning to work with, it was just a matter of him refusing to work with what he had?” If anything, that says to me that Woody gave him a shot, didn’t like what he saw, and decided he was better off with a 3-big rotation. Solo’s minutes went back up this year when Horford and Smoove got hurt, but no one was blown away with how Solo performed in those opportunities.
In any case, I don’t think Solo is what we needed. Solo isn’t nearly strong enough to be a banger, and he doesn’t have the touch to be a finesse big man.
Again, I’m usually not one to defend Woody, and I’ve brought up Diaw, Ivey, and Acie many times. But you neglected that Shelden, Donta, and Salim all have failed to catch on anywhere else. I don’t blame Woody for not playing Shelden because he isn’t a good player, and his course since he left shows that. I have a strong feeling that Solo won’t catch on anywhere else either, because I was never impressed with what I saw from him in the limited opportunities that he had. I think Solo is much more of a Shelden than a Diaw.
jj
July 8th, 2009
8:39 am
Ken,you nailed it.The only thing that could probably change the way Woody does things is for Sund to give him a 3 or 4yr deal and take his insecurity from him.As long as he coaches to save his job and not to develop,what you stated in your post is what we will get.The only option is to fire him now.
Daniel
July 8th, 2009
8:41 am
Ken- I am not going to try to defend Woodson to you. He certainly has his shortcomings. But, reread that list of players you just mentioned: Boris Diaw, Royal Ivey, Salim Stodemire, Acie Law, Sheldon Williams…. Are you serious? What coach in the league would take that group and make a winner? Are any of the teams that are ahead of us looking at any of those players and going “wow, not the landlord he is are missing piece?” C’mon man. I guess Doc Rivers is a lousy coach too, because he didn’t give big baby significant minutes in 2007. Oh, that is right he played Garnett and won a championship. Then, when Garnett is injured Davis came on a proved to be a decent player, to the suprise of everyone. No, decent team in the league goes more than 8 deep in terms of minutes, with your 9/10 guys getting minutes here and there.
But, then again you are clearly right. If only would have played Acie and Solo more then we wouldn’t have lost to Clevland.
Daniel
July 8th, 2009
8:44 am
“wow, the landlord, now he is our missing piece.”
sorry for the horrible english guys.
Daniel
July 8th, 2009
8:47 am
darrell- Amare is NOT the answer. He is a talented big, with contract issues, and oh, yeah that little matter of knee and EYE surgery. He does not play defense and if he was unhappy in Phoenix with their offense first mentality, how do you think he would feel about being in Atlanta. Finally, JOSH SMITH WILL NOT BE TRADED THIS YEAR BECAUSE IT WOULD COST THE HAWKS AN EXTRA 6 MIL. Sorry, to burst your bubble.
Stinger
July 8th, 2009
8:48 am
I’m quite content if …
The Hawks resign Marvin and Zsa Zsa. The balance of power in the East is not built to last. Boston – getting older by the hour. Cleveland – overachieved with marginal talent (& the best player in the league) then screwed it up with Mo and now Shaq. Orlando, definitely a strong team over the duration but VC was a poor add for the long term.
We are assembling a deep talented team that should continue to improve over the next 3 to 5 years. I appreciate that the ASG stepped up this summer, it was a complete surprise and they deserve our praise. We must not overreach (I can’t believe I’m saying this about the ASG) but maintain some cap flexability and remember we likely want to resign JJ and must resign Horford in the cominf years.
One fans opinion
Daniel
July 8th, 2009
8:49 am
niremental- would you seriously rather have acie, diaw and ivey or teague, williams, and crawford?
Daniel
July 8th, 2009
8:52 am
Stinger- I support your opinion. Very nicely put. I would like to add one more free agent big, maybe Anderson fills that role. We also have to do something with Childress, at least get a draft pick for him. I definitely agree with you on the other Eastern conference teams moves. I think they are very overrated. Now, I will admit Boston getting Sheed is impressive… Here’s hoping that Garnett’s knee and Allen’s age become more of an issue.
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
8:57 am
ken totally right about woody a coach who have never develop a bench a coach who has no system on offense a coach who ran joe in to the ground during the season then come playoffs joe was useless and the list goes on this team did not succed of coaching they succed of there athleticism period.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 8th, 2009
9:10 am
Daniel i say trade horford and chill for amar’e not josh and plus we need that low post presence that command double team we have no one.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
kwooden1
July 8th, 2009
9:11 am
Nire, nice FA link, they give Zaza a lot of respect. My only problem with Zaza is the lack of shot blocking. Gortat probably doesn’t rebound as well as Zaza, but he guards the rim better. (at least two blocks on Lebron that I can remember) I would like to get McDyess because his rebound #s are as good a Zaza’s and he can block a few more shots. McDyess is at least as good a mid-range jumpshooter also. I haven’t seen Wilcox play in a while, but I think he would block shots better than Zaza also. Since there is no one out there that can really solve our problem right now, my preference would be Solo and McDyess, but I would also take Zaza and Bass.
GO HAWKS!!
Samuel
July 8th, 2009
9:12 am
Ken,
Your list of players that Woody held back is a joke and so is your argument. yes, Boris did have a “decent” season last year but the rest of your list is “GARBAGE”. No other way to put it.
I’m gonna do one of them Ando bets and say that neither one of your listed “studs”(other than Diaw) will see more than 15 minutes a game on any NBA team this year.
It’s obvious that you “HATE” Woody but your argument can’t hold water due to the fact that the man has improved this team 3 years in a row.
Donta Smith, are you freakin kidding me. Is dude still alive?
Sautee
July 8th, 2009
9:26 am
Nire,
“I would be willing to lay 4:1 odds that Josh will never be the leading scorer on a playoff time (sic).”
Uhh…nire, would you want to make that retroactive to this PAST playoffs?
If so, I’ll take it. Here’s my ten, you owe me forty.
Seriously since it HAPPENED this year, how would you lay odds it’ll never happen again?
Samuel
July 8th, 2009
9:27 am
I still laugh when I see that “Woody is coaching to save his job” line. Some nerve huh?
Judging by the amount of time some spend here. I can see where that would be a strange concept.
Hawksfanatic
July 8th, 2009
9:39 am
Sekou is right, like I have said in a previous blog. Andersen doesn’t have a rookie pay scale since he is a 2nd round pick. So if we want to pay him anything above the minimum then we need to use either the LLE or MLE. We can rule out the LLE because Andersen would take a large pay-cut with that and no way he comes over to take more than $1 million less.
Sekou Smith
July 8th, 2009
9:44 am
Updates coming later today. Gotta work the phones a bit to see what’s shaking. C. Anderson is going back to Denver, if you haven’t seen D. Aldridge’s report on NBA.com already. So cross another big man off the Hawks’ list.
HawkKingBibby
July 8th, 2009
9:58 am
IF I was Rick Sund I would have Luca Brazzi with me just to make sure Mike Bibby signs that contract today. Thats a bargain if there ever was one.
niremetal
July 8th, 2009
10:15 am
Sautee,
Sorry if that wasn’t clear, but I was talking about being the scoring leader during the course of the regular season. Josh stepped it up when Joe got hurt in the playoffs…but then again, we were Jekyll and Hyde (and more Hyde than Jekyll) during the playoffs.
Somehow, I doubt you actually think we’d make the playoffs if we had to rely on Josh as our leading offensive option for a whole season. There’s a reason why Marvin was the one who got the ball the most when JJ was out of the game altogether this season…
Rod from College Park
July 8th, 2009
10:26 am
“I would be willing to lay 4:1 odds that Josh will never be the leading scorer on a playoff time.” Nire
Sautee,
I finally agree with you. Another stupid statement by the board expert. We would have lost every game in the playoffs this year if it was not for him. Coorect me if I’m wromg, 17.1ppg (Josh) in the playoffs is greater than 16.4ppg (Joe) right?
I MUS WRITE
July 8th, 2009
10:26 am
Anakin Joe -I want flip back because he’s a baller..Period point blank-
If he is brought back I see a 3 man rotation at the pg-Bibby/Flip/Teague
and crawford backing up JJ-which is a good thing so the man doesnt have to play 40 minutes a night. With Crawford subing for JJ there isnt a big drop off in scoring. Lets be real here I dont care what Woody says teague wont play alot even tho I think he should so having two proven Pg’s goes a long way.
So I guess sum people feel Flip is’nt worth 2.5 mill a year when we have scrubs like Gardner and Morris didnt contribute at all and were getting paid in the same ball park.
AC,Speedy,Bibby,Gardner,Flip,JJ 3 out of 6 produced
Bibby,Crawford,Teague,JJ,Flip -All of these guy are proven except teague and he’s probably better than both AC and speedy right now
My point is you can never have enuff scoring off the bench, if we have to part with Gardner Hunter or Morris to keep Flip then lets get’er dun
J.J.M.
July 8th, 2009
10:31 am
Sekou who would you rather have Zaza or wilcox?
Samuel
July 8th, 2009
10:37 am
Nire,
While I agree with you in that we cannot rely on Josh to be our go to guy on offense. He (Josh) has proved to be just as(if not more) important as JJ to the overall success of the Hawks.
You stated:
If JJ goes, we need to get someone who scares defenders into double or triple teaming him as much as JJ does. And truth be told, there are probably less than 8 guys in the league who fit that bill better than JJ.
I have to disagree with that statement. There are plenty of players in the league who require a double team. I can count at least twenty. Joe’s problem is that he hasn’t yet learned to trust his teamates so that we can take advantage of these doubles more. If i’m not mistaken, our offense did just fine without him.
For the record: No one requires a triple team. Never will.
That being said, If we can re-sign him, i’m happy. I like where we are at, just add a big and work my two year plan. In 2010-11 will be competing for a ring.
Big Ray
July 8th, 2009
10:42 am
Niremetal,
Come on, man. How does this:
I would be willing to lay 4:1 odds that Josh will never be the leading scorer on a playoff team.
Translate into this: Sorry if that wasn’t clear, but I was talking about being the scoring leader during the course of the regular season.
Sounded pretty clear to me, even if it was factually incorrect.
And that was the only thing Sautee seemed to be taking issue with (to be honest, he beat me to the punch on that one
). I don’t see where he was suggesting that Josh will or will not lead us in playoff scoring again, nor do I see where he suggested that he thought we’d make the playoffs with him as our leading offensive option. Hell, I’m not sure WHERE you got that one from, as even a Smith fan like myself wouldn’t suggest that.
Furthermore, Josh stepped his game up in the playoffs FROM his regular season performance. And that was before JJ got hurt. As for Marvin getting the ball the most when JJ was out, I’ll agree that he is a superior shooter, and that would probably be why. He has yet to prove himself a superior scorer or player in general, as he has done over the course of each season they have played together.
But, no doubt that will re-open old debates…and I don’t think I’ll engage THAT any further…
HawkKingBibby
July 8th, 2009
10:44 am
SEKOUS TWITTER PAGE SAYS HAWKS AND ZAZA ON VERGE OF DEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anakin Joe
July 8th, 2009
10:45 am
I.MUS, I like Flip (and would prefer him over Crawford) but at this point, I’d rather spend $2M+ on an extra big man or a better big man. I’d bring in a 5th guard like Brevin Knight, Kevin Ollie or Royal Ivey and spend more on the front-court. Dollar Store shopping for 5th PG but go to Target for big men (I think Flip is a Target-level FA).
Samuel
July 8th, 2009
10:46 am
JJM,
I’m Sekou’s cousin so i’ll answer that.
ZaZa is a good player and helped us out tremendously this year but for what we need, post defense and shot blocking ability, I’d rather have Wilcox. He can give you everything ZaZa can but with that extra “SWAG”. You know what i’m sayin?
But i’d take ZaZa back in a heartbeat.
MannyT
July 8th, 2009
10:49 am
Flip was underpaid relative to his contribution. That has nothing to do with guys making the minimum. Gardner & RandMo were at the bottom of the pay scale. Minimum guys count a little differently toward the cap. You can be over the cap and still sign minimum salary guys. There is a minimum number of players you must have on a roster…even if you are over the cap.
If I had to guess, you tell Flip that you like him, but what you can offer him is dependent on putting one more big man on the bench. I’d commit a minimum of the biannual exception for 2 or 3 years.
The other part of all this lower cap now and probably next year is that the players understand there is less money available. (Yet another reason why Chills should stay in Greece.) We should be able to find one bargain on a new player with some/most/all of that MLE money.
Glad to see that we are close with Zaza (per sources via Sekou’s Twitter page.)
BWAF
ILL-logical
July 8th, 2009
10:50 am
Mr. Niremetal, you have been a consistent participant on this board and have advocated your point of view aggressively albeit with somewhat less accuracy. Citing your impending and perhaps imminent membership in the legal proffession, you have opined on subjects ranging from the salary cap and it various and sundry implications for the Hawks to the statistical performance comparisons of the various players who are or could be members of the 2009-10 Atlanta Hawks.
However, there is one point of contention that I must perforce raise with you: your understanding and or articulation of generally accepted principles of accounting is lacking in both fact and application.
Please review the terms net worth,in particular as it aplies to corporate entities such as Limited Liability Corporations. Also, please further expand your understanding of cash flow and as it relates to operating expenses as well as the distinction between balance sheet transations and income statement analysis. These actions may have little bearing on your ultimate professional career but they would enhance the value of your participation here.
PS. When you argue the utility of one Mr. Josh Smith re the Hawks franchise’s future and his participation therein , please don’t stray from the facts-your opinion is duly noted.
Big Ray
July 8th, 2009
10:50 am
Nire,
Here’s another thought when it comes to replacing JJ if he goes. Why do we need somebody who scares teams into doubling and tripling that guy the same way JJ does? Does that really do anything other than perpetuate the kind of offense that we have bemoaned all this time, relying on an ISO-Joe staple, and tiring him out year after year?
What we need to do is develop, encourage, and cultivate an offense that is more versatile, stable, and far less chaotic, in which a defending team has to pick it’s poison from play to play, rather than load up on any one or even two guys, making it a game of 2-on-5, which can always be defeated by teams with smarter coaches and adequate talent.
Sorry for the comma-heavy run-on sentence
. It’s a tribute to HB Ando…
Anakin Joe
July 8th, 2009
10:57 am
Sounds like Sund is rounding the band back for a reunion tour. And in this market, it is doubtful that he is over-paying for any of them. Given the timing (early in free agency) they are seemingly returning because they want to be here, not because they have no other options.
Even if/when Zaza returns, we MUST get another quality big man… not Siler, Aminu, Robert Swift or some project, but a legit veteran big man in ADDITION to Zaza.
Big Ray
July 8th, 2009
10:58 am
Samuel,
I agree with a lot of what you said in your last two posts. Also, I’d like to see Wilcox around here, but don’t know if it’s going to happen. And I like Zaza alot, too. Wouldn’t mind seeing both here, but don’t know about that being financially feasible. You’d have to ask Manny or Nire about that one…
Ill-logical ,
Was that a lawyer gauntlet I just saw you throw down? Something tells me we are about to see ANOTHER tennis match, only THIS one I think I may enjoy…..
Astro Joe,
I think Mario West will be your 5th guard, rather than a Kevin Ollie or otherwise. Woody likes his pet guided missile…
A Tribe Called Quest
July 8th, 2009
11:09 am
RESIGN ZAZA AND ADD WILCOX AND MARVIN TO A CHEAP CONTRACT (NO ONE ELSE WANTS HIM. TEAMS ARE LOOKING FOR CHEAP VETERAN SF’S…MATT BARNES MAY GO TO CLEVELAND…NO ONE WANTS TO OVERPAY FOR MARVIN).
SO SIGN ZAZA, AS WE WILL, ADD WILCOX, RESIGN MARVIN, AND THEN ADD 1 OR 2 MORE BIGS LIKE ROBERT SWIFT WHO MIGHT ACTUALLY BE USEFUL THIS YEAR. WE HAVE THE MONEY TO GET IT DONE.
AFTER U HAVE RESIGNED EVERYONE, LOCK JOSH SMITH IN A GYM FOR 2 MONTHS WITH PATRICK EWING, STEVE SMITH, OLAJUWON, REGGIE MILLER, AND MARK PRICE, AND TEACH HIM HOW TO SHOOT A BASKETBALL AND POST UP.
THEN, MAYBE THEN THIS TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITHOUT TRADING FOR AMARE OR BOSH
Sautee
July 8th, 2009
11:09 am
nire,
I was going to write a clever comeback, but by now it would just feel like piling on.
I’ll just co-sign what Ray said.
niremetal
July 8th, 2009
11:12 am
Ray,
Come on, man. You know the phrase “a playoff team” does not refer to “on that team while it is playing in the playoffs. And even if it did, here’s quick food for thought – while Josh was our leading scorer in the playoffs, he was our leading scorer in only 1 of our 4 wins.
A Tribe Called Quest
July 8th, 2009
11:13 am
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LOCKING JOSH SMITH IN A GYM AND TEACHING HIM HOW TO SHOOT A BASKETBALL AND TO POST UP. IF HE CAN DO THOSE TWO THINGS, THIS TEAM MIGHT MAKE SOME NOISE AGAINST BOSTON, CLEVELAND, OR ORLANDO NEXT YEAR.
WHO CARES IF ORLANDO AND CLEVELAND ARE A BIT WORSE NEXT YEAR THEN THEY WERE THIS YEAR? THEY’RE STILL BETTER THAN US
Mike
July 8th, 2009
11:16 am
Guys, come on…Flip is not coming back and he is not a priority. He was our first guard off the bench last year and now that job has been handed to Crawford. Plus Teague will get some run only for the fact that Woody had some say in the draft process this year. So that is 4 quality guards on the roster. Add Marvin, Josh, Al, Mo and probably Zaza and we are 9 deep already. Adding one final big thru free agency like a Wilcox will get us 10 deep with Solo and Mario filling out the roster.
As much as I love Flip, he is going to find another team that will be able to use him as a 6th or 7th man and ensure him quality minutes.
I MUS WRITE
July 8th, 2009
11:17 am
AJ- Ollie, Ivey,Knight are’nt going to play for free and wioll probably want close to what flip made last year so why not keep the guy here…… I dont think any of the 5th teir pg’s you mentioned are in flips category….. Hell ther were times last year when Bibby/JJ were’nt playing as good as Flip….. Remember those 2-24,3-17 nights -Remember JJ taking 3 months off during the season
We do need another big …. I prefer Wilcox or Bass
What exactly has R.morris and O. hunter done to justify being here over a proven bench player like flip………NOTHING cut their azz and keep Flip.
Resign ZAZA and add Wilcox …S&T Chills or he can go back to the land of UZO…
Sautee
July 8th, 2009
11:17 am
AJ,
So the sky isn’t falling after all?
A Tribe Called Quest
July 8th, 2009
11:21 am
Ivey declined his 750K/yr option with Philly, so obviously he wants a few more Benjamins
A Tribe Called Quest
July 8th, 2009
11:23 am
Othello and Mario should be our 11th and 12th men if not our IR. Othello is a decent talent