Let’s make a deal
The original "King of Deals" (that's Monty Hall for all you mid-80s babies) must be proud of NBA general managers this summer, what with all action in free agency.
HAWKSVILLE - Is your head spinning?
Are you still trying to sort through all the dips, dives, twists and turns of this NBA free agent frenzy (which so far has lived up to that moniker in every sense of the word).
I know the Hawks haven’t gone crazy and done anything wildly splashy, much to the chagrin of some of you. But plenty of other teams seem happy to oblige the fantasy basketball bent in all of us.
Just reading about this four-team deal spearheaded by Dallas and Toronto to bring Shawn Marion to the Mavs and allow the Raptors to snag Hedo Turkoglu (among other benefits) should be enough to satisfy your thirst for pure craziness in the NBA summer.
Monty Hall should be hosting this stuff.
It’s a genius deal by all involved, if you ask me. It’s a just reward for the folks willing to dive into these deep, treacherous sign-and-trade waters and hook the big fish they were looking for. Who knows if it all works out the way the teams involved hope. That they are even willing to swan dive into a deal this complicated makes them winners in my book.
Yeah, I’ve campaigned for prudence around these parts in most instances, but I’m no NBA neo-conservative. I realize that in this day and age, as always, those who take the greatest risks stand to reap the greatest rewards.
That doesn’t mean the Hawks’ recent work to keep both Mike Bibby and Zaza Pachulia in the fold should be dismissed (and there’s nothing bubbling on the Marvin Williams front. Crickets on Flip Murray, too. And I suspect things will be relatively quiet around the Hawks for the next few days, no matter how many times someone tries to stoke the Amare Stoudemire-for-Josh Smith trade rumor that refuses to die). They are doing the business that good teams do in the summer. And that’s a welcome change from some of the puzzling and pulse-free summers of the Hawks’ recent past.
But if your thing is daring and dazzling trades and high-risk acquisitions, this is your time.
Since before draft night we’ve seen the Spurs remake themselves with the addition of Richard Jefferson and now Antonio McDyess. The Magic recharged themselves with Vince Carter. The champion Lakers stepped up the pace by acquiring Ron Artest. The Cavaliers grabbed Shaq. And the Celtics have added Rasheed Wallace. And those are just the major moves by the true title contenders.
Again, time will tell which moves worked and which moves were for not.
But in this day and age, simply making moves is enough to legitimize an operation. While it’s still a bit too early to judge, I’m wondering which move you think will be the best (not that I had to ask any of you to tell us what you think)?
I’ll admit, I can’t help but think the Spurs have shifted the balance of power in their favor, provided Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili return healthy and hungry this season. The Magic’s move might be underrated by some of us non-believers in the VC movement, but Ryan Anderson is legit and will help offset the loss of Turkoglu. Trading Artest for Trevor Ariza (which is what the Lakers accomplished by allowing Ariza to walk and sign with Houston did) improves the Lakers on paper, so perhaps they’ve done what was necessary to retain their championship aura. Then again, snagging Shaq usually means a greater chance at a title for his team, so maybe the Cavs have pushed themselves over the top …
What say you?
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870 comments Add your comment
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
8:18 pm
Anyone know what Caldwell Jones is doing these days? I recall that he was still blocking shots in his 37th year in the league.
Hoops
July 10th, 2009
8:19 pm
O’Brien,
What do you think about the Hawks using some combination of Marvin/Chills/Andersen/Morris in a trade to the Hornets for Chandler and a draft pick? That lets Horford play some PF and some C.
Melvin
July 10th, 2009
8:22 pm
Anakin,
Crawford avg 3.3 rebs with the Warriors last year. What’s not to like…
Hoops
July 10th, 2009
8:24 pm
Anakin Joe,
Wilcox? Swift? You are in a panick! Calm down.
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
8:25 pm
I’m gatting worried. All of the FA big men are dissapearing. Wht are we doing? We’re not even linked to anyone in the rumors….we suck sometimes…Must be because we are actually bringing andersen over.
A topic that was discussed earlier was about Atlanta not being a premier destination among FA.
My take on it is oh well, their loss. One thingg that’s for sure is that once a FA get’s here, they absolutely love the team and the city. Joe is from the south(if you couldn’t tell from his heavy arkansas accent) and ATL is close to home for him and his fam comes to visit him all the time. So he knew what he was doing when he signed here. I don’t know how we change our organizations perception around the leauge, but we have the best group of guys you could ask for.
You know that saying, “A rejection from man is a blessing from God in disguse.”So what that baisically meas is we have bigger and brtter things coming to the ATL”
…..and players with higher character than Rasheed hehehehe….and not as soft as Frye….non delinquents ubnlke Verajeo
Chris Wilcox maybe?
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
8:27 pm
Melvin, I know lol.
Melvin
July 10th, 2009
8:30 pm
Anakin,
Check the link and please join Rick’s campaign. Operators are standing by the phones right now..lol
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/03/23/nba_20090323_ricksrant.nba/index.html
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
8:30 pm
Wow, I’m killing it with the errors today. But I still refuse to proof read lol.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and Randolph will actully turn into something special lol.
Blast
July 10th, 2009
8:35 pm
Ariose,
Hawks continue to win, and free agents will come. Believe that.
Oh, yeah. It is their loss.
Melvin
July 10th, 2009
8:37 pm
Oh my, Ariose has result to quoting the good words to us…lol.. It hasn’t gotten that bad, man…
The Truth
July 10th, 2009
8:47 pm
Anakin Joe
Don’t discredit the list. Yes I agree that Morris sucks, but he is under contract. It is highly likely that Solo will return since he has been tendered an offer. He is RFA. I throw in Siler since he is prospect and he makes the list look better since he is biggest.
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
8:49 pm
Melvin, I had Crawford on my fantasy team last season and Nellie’s lunatic act hurt me toward the end of the season. The GSW are far more dysfunctional than the Hawks… or at least, we hide our dysfunction far better than the GSW. I wasn’t surprised by Jamal’s “I’m ecstatic to be in Atlanta” quote. After dealing with that crazy Nellie, he would have welcomed a trade to the Grizzlies.
cdog
July 10th, 2009
8:56 pm
the hawks should do everything in their power to sign marvin and childress. forget about the last time. it’s a new day. we need to check out lamar odam and or amaire stoudamaire. jermaine o’neal would also be a name to look at.plus eddy curry
Melvin
July 10th, 2009
9:05 pm
Ding
Hoops
July 10th, 2009
9:16 pm
If Marvin and West accept their QO, the Hawks will have spent roughly 63M on 11 players. Assuming they are only going to sign 13 players, that would leave 6M under the L. tax to spend on two players.11850
Tyson Chandler will make $11,850,000 with the Hornets next year. They are trying to drop some salary to get under the L. tax. I think they would listen to a trade for Chandler. The Hawks could really use him in the center position. I think, if Chills and Andersen would come back to the NBA, we could get Chandler for some combination of Chills/Andersen/Marvin/Morris/Evans. That would really help in the post for the Hawks and could relieve some salary for the Hornets.
kgbsfinst
July 10th, 2009
9:24 pm
Next years salary cap, which isn’t set in stone, but looks to be about $10 million cheaper is going impact whats going to happen this year for every team, but it will really effect the Hawks. The Hawks wont be able to afford two big salaries, therefor it is really going to depend on what they want to do with JJ next season. If they want him back, and want to sign him to a long term deal (anywhere from 16-20) we wont be able to afford to go after Bosh or Amare, or any other star that will want the same money as JJ next season. I would be very suprised if this ownership, and this coach(especially the coash) didnt want JJ back. I think if they are looking at the future, they wont even consider going after anybody of that caliber (unless it was just to rent.)
I personally would like them to keep Joe and build around him, like we have been. We have a great core of players and I’m not ready to blow it up and take a chance going in a whole different direction. We have improved every year, why not wait until they have at least peaked out before we buy the C4?
CaliHawks
July 10th, 2009
9:34 pm
I say sign marvin he deserves it he has done a good job and improves everyyear.. As far as Chills and Anderson lets be realistic they wont and cant come here.. As much as i would like to 2 have em both here i dont see it happenin.. Hawks cant afford to get both the should go after a Channing Fyre or millsap or hell even lamar odom but they wont .. There gonna keep tha core of tha team and wait till next befor doin sumthing BIG.. The Hawks will make tha playsoffs but its just goin to be a question of how low wit this team..
Nique
July 10th, 2009
9:50 pm
Trade Williams or Smith & Chill for Boozer & Kiralenko. Or Chill & our 2cnd next year to get Chandler, or simply go sign Lamar Odem or Chris Wilcox because we need some ppl up front who can board, only Al & Zaza currently board consistently & if one gets in fowl trouble we are stuck when the other one needs rest. All 3 of those guys hit the board hard & Chandler is a big time shot blocker, while the other 3 provide a scoring punch up front which we are lacking because both Smith & Al are inconsistent & timid, especially during the playoffs.
Sautee
July 10th, 2009
9:55 pm
“only Al & Zaza currently board consistently & if one gets in fowl trouble we are stuck when the other one needs rest. ”
Like hunting pheasant out of season?
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
9:56 pm
Duck season.
Rabbit season.
Duck season.
niremetal
July 10th, 2009
10:01 pm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1661954687975599938
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
10:01 pm
LOL @ AJ!!!
niremetal
July 10th, 2009
10:01 pm
http://www.alexross.com/CJ027.jpg
And now – back to work
Sautee
July 10th, 2009
10:03 pm
BTW, Nique,
Your “big time shot blocker” Chandler blocked 1.29 per game last year.
Horford blocked 1.42 per game.
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
10:04 pm
Nire, I knew what you were linking b4 I even clicked on it Hehehe…
Ken Strickland
July 10th, 2009
10:05 pm
ANAKIN JOE-JJ was’t moved to the 3 when the players you mentioned were out. Zaza replaced Horford when he was out, and Horford moved to PF when JSmith was out. When Marvin was out, MEvans started in his place. We didn’t start getting badly outrebounded until Woodson went exclusively to his switching DEF to cover for Bibby’s poor lateral movement, inability to fight over screens and overall poor DEF.
Teams took advantage of our switching DEF by using pick and rolls to isolate our bigs on their guards out away from the basket, which leaves our guards to fight their Bigs for rebounds. Are you telling me that all of a sudden, after switching to a different DEF, the same 5 frontline players(AHorford, JSmith, MWilliams, ZPachulia & SJones)we’ve had for the last 3yrs, have forgotten how to rebound and block shots? We need to upgrade more than just our Bigs.
THE TRUTH-name a player that we can possibly get that wouldn’t lose a battle with Shaq’s weight. The fact is, weight is about the only thing Shaq has going for him at this stage of his career. That’s why he was shipped out of both Miami and Phoenix. The problem with most of you is you’re thinking just like Woodson. You’re concerned with trying to match up to a player or teams strengths, rather than forcing them to match up to ours. No, Horford and SJones can’t match Shaq’s strength and size, but Shaq sure as hell can’t match Horford’s or Solo’s speed, quickness and athleticism, expecially in the open court and in transition. You don’t have to stop him at this stage of his career, you just have to neutralize him by using speed, quickness and athleticism.
WE NEED TO STOP TRYING TO BEAT TEAMS AT THEIR GM AND FORCE THEM TO BEAT US AT OURS. THE PROBLEM IS, WE DON’T HAVE A DEFINITIVE GM BECAUSE WOODSON HAS BEEN SO BUSY FORCING US TO PLAY MATCHUP WITH THE OPPOSITION, WE’VE YET TO ESTABLISH OUR OWN IDENTITY, AFTER 5YRS.
Results have consistently shown when we push the ball and play uptempo, we get much better ball movement and we are often dominate. It has also ahown when we try to match up with teams by playing control halfcourt basketball, our ball movement becomes stagnant and we end up getting too much ISO and one on one play from our guards. Again, it’s not the players, but rather the fact they’re being forced to play a style that our talent and skills aren’t best suited to play.
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
10:06 pm
Frightening how quickly you accessed a great piece of American art. nire, all I can say is… I’m proud of you.
Sportznutt23
July 10th, 2009
10:06 pm
I have been wondering for months why there has not been any RUMORS involving BOOZER and the HAWKS. Utah doesn’t want him as much as they want Milsap. He’s only got one more year on him and he’s relatively cheap. Trade the rights to some of our Euro’s and maybe a draft pick for him. He would be AN ABSOLUTE STEAL FOR THE HAWKS!!! But Nique, no way do I take on the huge contract of A.K. 47 in that same deal. That’s just crazy.
SO SEKOU! WHY NO TALK ABOUT BOOZER! UTAH OBVIOUSLY WANTS TO DUMP HIM!
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
10:08 pm
Ken, you’re right about the alternate starting line-up. But I know what I saw and Woody went with his 3-guard line-up a lot when one of our front court players was injured or in foul trouble. How he started and how he finished was often different.
Hoops
July 10th, 2009
10:15 pm
The Hawks have watched a lot of really good FA BIGS get signed by other teams, that could have helped them, up to this point. The Hawks signed their own big man in Zaza. After we know what Chills and Andersen decide to do, the Hawks can put together a trade for Tyson Chandler and really make up some ground on Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston!!! Chandler could give the Hawks that big man (7′1″, 245lbs) that can block shots and match up with the big post players on the Magic, Cavs, and Celtics! Chandler gives some serious help to Horford J. Smith, Zaza & Morris to battle inside with the EAST!
Anakin Joe
July 10th, 2009
10:19 pm
Hornets are looking to trim payroll, what do we have to offer that helps them? We don’t have any expiring contracts to send.
doc
July 10th, 2009
10:32 pm
RA that was an imposter as was pointed out by sautee and confimed by me in my note and if you look closely he gave it away in the text of his note. cool that you are able to not take it personal even though it was a pretender and sad individual to put you in a place to cowardly try to get back at me. nothing but respect sir.
niremetal
July 10th, 2009
10:34 pm
Actually, most of the drop in rebounding came because we were worse on the offensive boards, not the defensive boards…
Hoops
July 10th, 2009
10:41 pm
Anakin Joe,
The Hawks need to push for Chandler from the Hornets. The Hornets do not have a strong SG in my opinion. Childress would start for them at SG easy! Andersen would give them a Big to help replace Chandler. If Chills signed for 6M and Andersen signed for 3M, that would be 2.5M in salary that they would lose in that trade for Chandler ($11,500,000). The Hawks have around 6M left to spend under the L. tax at this point. They could take on the additional 2.5M for a possible starter at center and still have 3.5M left.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 10th, 2009
10:46 pm
“Here is our center lineup:
1) Al Hordford- 6′10″ 245 lbs – under contract
2) ZaZa Pachulia- 6′11″ 275 lbs – agreed to new contract
3) Randolph Morris- 6′11″ 275 lbs – under contract
4) Solomon Jones – 6′10″ 245 lbs – tendered offer made
5) Garret Siler – 7′0″ 291 lbs – Schedule to report to Hawks Camp
What are we really saying if we are still screaming for another “Big”?”
We’re saying that 3 and 4 are non-factors and 5 is a small school undrafted free agent who has proven nothing, and relying on any of them to play minutes this year is not a good idea if the Hawks want to improve.
“I’m also having trouble figuring out the logic, or lack thereof, of the individuals that constantly claim AHorford(6′10″ 245lbs) is too small to play the center position, or SJones(6′10″ 245lbs) isn’t big enough to be effective. Yet, some of these same individuals are constantly advocating that we acquire AStaudemire(6′10″ 249lbs), MCamby(6′11″ 235lbs), CWilcox(6′10″ 235lbs), LPowe(6′8″ 240lbs) or BBass(6′8″ 250lbs).”
I don’t think it makes sense to go entirely by heights and weights. The Hawks need a physical presence who can body up Dwight Howard and provide 6 more fouls to deal with him. Even though Solo and Horford supposedly have the same measurements, Horford has shown that he can and will mix it up inside and get physical with opponents. The biggest disappointment about Solo to me is that he’s been completely unwilling to do that throughout his career. He’s a finesse big man who doesn’t have the ball skills to get important minutes in the NBA. And his finesse-ness doesn’t really have to do with minutes played either — even the scrubbiest of scrub big men in the league can come in for a few minutes and knock people around when called upon. In fact this is how players like Brandon Bass gain more playing time and improve their other skills.
Wilcox is no All-Star, but he is energetic and more physical than Solo. I don’t know if he (or other big men for that matter) will be willing to sign here after seeing Solo’s minutes, or whether Solo’s minutes will even affect their decision. But I do think Wilcox, Bass, etc. provide a dimension that Solo does not, despite having somewhat similar measurements to Solo.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 10th, 2009
10:49 pm
“Next years salary cap, which isn’t set in stone, but looks to be about $10 million cheaper is going impact whats going to happen this year for every team, but it will really effect the Hawks. The Hawks wont be able to afford two big salaries, therefor it is really going to depend on what they want to do with JJ next season.”
I keep hearing people make comments like this, both about the Hawks as well as other teams. So I’m posing this question to niremetal and others who know the cap better than me: isn’t the max contract based on the cap number, meaning that if the cap number is lower the max contract level gets lower as well? From what I know, the max contract number is not a fixed value, but rather one that changes on a year to year basis depending on the cap and its fluctuations. So wouldn’t a lower cap actually help the Hawks and hurt Joe Johnson, or do I have this situation completely confused?
Najeh Davenpoop
July 10th, 2009
10:56 pm
“A topic that was discussed earlier was about Atlanta not being a premier destination among FA.”
I don’t know where people are getting this from. Everyone knows Atlanta is the place athletes come to see some t*tties and get their d*cks sucked. It has been since before the Gold Club. And even besides that, a lot of athletes with no other real Atlanta connection make their homes here. Atlanta has not been a premier destination for free agents for a long time because the teams sucked. Now that Atlanta sports teams are actually good, I think we will start seeing that change across the board, not just in basketball. Sure, it’s probably never going to be the destination that New York, LA, Boston, or Chicago are — those cities are bigger and the history of the franchises is greater. But on that next tier of free agent destinations, Atlanta is right there. I definitely don’t think it’s accurate to call Atlanta a non-destination just because LeBron and Wade are unlikely to come here.
And in a league where Iverson is deciding between Charlotte and Memphis, I don’t know how much of a role the city even plays. It really comes down to money, more than anything.
The Truth
July 10th, 2009
11:22 pm
Ken
I will agree, some of your points regarding quickness vs. size have merit, but don’t lose sight of the realities of the NBA. At the end of the day, if it is the frontline, size usually win over quickness. If you don’t believe that look at the win/loss records between the Hawks and the teams I mentioned. They all got the best of us on the boards and in Cavs case; it was before Shaq moved eastward. Specifically, the problem with Solo; for an undersize backup center, he is not that quick. He’s a foul magnet waiting to happen. There is a reason why the Hawks were ranked 23rd out of 30th in team defense. Our tweener frontline played a role in that among other things. On the other hand, as I said, there is some merit to your comments; we could exploit our quickness more if we had a coach that knew how. Our offense should be up tempo, running and fast breaking to exploit our frontline quickness. But Woody lead by no-lay-up Bibby, plays a half-court ISO game suited to a big frontline which we don’t have. So while you gave a wonderful explanation of how quickness could win of size, you apparently forgot that Woody is the coach.
The Truth
July 10th, 2009
11:33 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
Regarding our center lineup:
Amen
bigdave
July 10th, 2009
11:39 pm
“Everyone knows Atlanta is the place athletes come to see some t*tties and get their d*cks sucked. It has been since before the Gold Club.”
Najeh… this was the funniest shyt ive ever read on here…. yet so true..
train
July 10th, 2009
11:41 pm
With the signings by Bass and Frye today , and the impending signing of Millsap,that is three more big men off of the board ,with no move by the Hawks.Does management see the same problems that we see? Also, no movement on Marvin . As a long time season ticket holder ,I am very worried.We simply have not improved at the same rate as our competitors in the East, and may actually regress if we lose Marvin.
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
11:44 pm
Poop, lol. That’s what I meant, They live hereand they frequent the clubs, but they don’t want to play for the squad.
I’m just sayin’ if current FA’s can’t see the Change that’s going on here then they probaly aren’t suited for this squad anyway. We’ve got something special going on I beleive…..we shall see.
Getting a Freaking Big would be nice though….
Ariose
July 10th, 2009
11:58 pm
Hoops, You forgot about BYC. I wish it was that easy though.
kwooden1
July 10th, 2009
11:59 pm
Ken, I agree with your frustration with the coach and his system. I saw some flashes of a system in the Miami series, but nothing that makes me think they’ve turned the corner. We just have to hope that Woody continues to improve like the players. I was hoping that we could upgrade at the backup Center and PF positions, but by the way this off-season is going that improvement might have to come from the inside. Zaza needs to be consistent in terms of his rebounding and his offense. Solo needs to improve his overall game. I think the chemistry of the team is good, but if I just plainly what I think they need to do to get better: Play more inside out basketball! They need a guy that can draw a double team in the post and then make the right decision on the pass out. Hopefully Josh and/or Horford will be ready to be that guy.
GO HAWKS!!
Ariose
July 11th, 2009
12:10 am
Poop, I think you are correct regarding JJ’s next contract. I’m pretty sure it’s based on the Cap….or at least the % annual increase from his old salary to his new one is.
Ariose
July 11th, 2009
12:12 am
Hoops, also we are no longer under the cap so we cannot just take on salary like that.
cp
July 11th, 2009
12:17 am
I would stay away from Chandler. He has a bad back. Big men with bad backs are not a good look. He has had maybe two good years since he has been in the league and he has been in the NBA for a while now.
Ken Strickland
July 11th, 2009
12:51 am
THE TRUTH-when Bibby arrived, there was 9PPG increase in our scoring, but there was also a corresponding 9PPG increase in points allowed. That increase in PPG allowed wasn’t due to our frontline’a lack of size, length or sudden inability to play DEF, but rather Bibby’s inability to put any pressure on the ball. Neither Bibby or Flip did much to help our frontline with their poor DEF pressure on the ball. Because of poor ball pressure, opposing PG’s had little trouble getting into position to make easy entry passes to their Bigs. It makes it even more difficult when you play a DEF that allows your Bigs to be pulled away from the basket and isolated on the oppostions guards, and your guards end up trying to defend the oppositons Bigs under the basket.
Look, if people don’t like a certain player, or you want their favorite team to get bigger, just say so. They should stop trying to justify their preferences by making excuses. Before acquiring Shaq, the Suns were probably the NBA’s smallest and shortest team. Their tallest and biggest starter was AStaudemire(6′10″ 249lbs), and their 2nd & 3rd tallest and biggest starters were PF SMarion(6′7″ 228lbs) & SF JJohnson()6′7″ 240lbs). With that small lineup they managed to become one of the NBA’s winningest teams over a 4-5yr period, and that includes going up against Shaq, Duncan and other prominant Bigs. Only an injury to JJohnson one yr and AStaudemire the next prevented them from reaching the finals and possibly winning a title or 2.
As it happened, Suns GM Steve Kerr thought just like you’re thinking now and decided his team needed to get taller and bigger, so they acquired Shaq. Low and behold, they ended up actually getting worse instead. Do you remember the Rockets during the Olajuwan era? They won 2 consecutive NBA titles with a frontline of center HOlajuwan(6′9″ 255lbs), PF OThorpe(6′9″ 225lbs) and SF RHorry(6′10″ 240lbs). People need to stop trying to convience everyone of something that can’t be supported by fact. The Hawks can win big and get to the next level with the frontline they currently have, but not as long as they’re being misused and overused by Woodson.
niremetal
July 11th, 2009
1:11 am
Najeh/Ariose,
You’re right that the max salary is set based on a percentage of the cap. Specifically, the max salary for players with 7-9 years of experience (which will apply to JJ as well as LeBron, Wade, and Bosh) is $11M or 30% of the cap, whichever is greater – and the cap, in turn, is set based upon league revenues. Unless league revenues drop by levels that would basically bankrupt the league, 30% is gonna be the greater number.
Assuming that the cap number is around $53M next year, which is what they’re projecting, the max salary will be ~$15.9M. But keep in mind that the “max salary” only applies to new contracts. Thus, Dwight Howard’s salary under his current contract won’t be reduced even though it almost certainly will be greater than the salary he could get under a new contract.
Also, the “max salary” only applies to the first year of those new contracts. The rule is that players who re-sign with their current team can get annual raises equal to 10.5% of their current contract. Players who sign with another team can only get annual raises of 8%. That’s why players’ current teams have the inside edge in re-signing them. That’s also how players like Marbury can have such massive salaries in the final year of their contract. Anyway, the max contract for the big guns who come up for free agency next summer will probably be in the 6 yrs/$120M if they stay with their current teams or 5 yrs/$90M if they sign with another team.
jj
July 11th, 2009
1:26 am
Ken,Ihear you talking.We lost our mojo when our bigs had to cover for our guards and Mo never did replace Chills on the defensive end.When JJ,Chills,Josh,AL,and Marvin were together on the floor the other team could not get an advantage with their pick and rolls because there was no advantage to be gained.Ask Boston.Man I used to love to see those Boyz play together.Bibby is ok but he sure causes problems on D.As you said Ken,The Hawks need an offensive coordinator.Woody needs help.Solo plays good when he plays as I believe Law probably could also.