Mini-camp invitees
Hawks rookie point guard Jeff Teague will make his on-court debut with the Hawks in a mini-camp next week at Philips Arena.
HAWKSVILLE - While most of the rookie/free agent attention is focused on the happenings in Las Vegas, the Hawks don’t have a summer league entry in Sin City.
Therefore, the only chance we’ll get to see rookie point guard Jeff Teague in action this summer is during the Hawks’ mini-camp next week at Philips Arena (it’s not open to the public, sorry, and is barely open to the media – we get to see the last half hour of action everyday, which usually consists of cats shooting free throws and trying half court trick shots).
There is good news, though. Intriguing news, even, when you consider who will accompany Teague on the floor during these mini-camp workouts.
If the (tentative) invite list I glanced at today doesn’t change between now and Monday, recent second-round picks Sergiy Gladyr (last month) and Cenk Akyol (2005) will also be in town for the workouts. I know how much you guys love to examine the web-footage of these guys to determine what you think of their games. But I’m looking forward to seeing them in action and on the floor with guys who could potentially be their teammates some day in the future.
Also joining the party will be blog-fave/road grader Garret Siler, the 6-11, 305-pound big man from Augusta State. We only got a chance to see a glimpse of what he can do when he was in for a pre-draft workout with the Hawks. Now we’ll see what he looks like in game-type action during mini-camp. Then and only then will it be clear if he has any chance at all of coming back for training camp and trying to make the Hawks’ roster (which remains a distinct possibility, from what I’m told).
Other names to chew on the next few days as we get ready for the mini-camp include: G-David Huertas, G- Dionte Christmas, G-Sundiata Gaines, F-Shawn Taggart, G-Corey Williams, G-Anthony Goods, G-John Lucas III, F-Yaroslav Korolev, F-Ivan Harris, F-Frank Robinson (a returnee from last summer and one of my favorite cats), F-Leo Lyons and C-Chris Taft.
I know this is a slight detour from our recent free agent/trade conversations, but this mini-camp should be an interesting study in where youngsters like Teague, Gladyr and Akyol are in terms of when they can be expected to contribute to the Hawks.
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487 comments Add your comment
niremetal
July 16th, 2009
7:38 pm
On another note, it would be hilarious to see Nate Robinson and David Lee both end up in Greece with Chill. About the three most different types of players imaginable…
Juicy
July 16th, 2009
7:49 pm
Marvin Williiams is a “mechanical athlete.” He is very athletic but doesn’t move as fluidly as a Josh Smith, Shawn Marion, etc.. He is long, has worked on his 3 pt shot, and plays hard (most of the time). But his robotic nature is a big reason why he’s not going to blow up into this mega star some people are waiting for. Plus, he just doesn’t have it in him. He is a nice guy, good teammate, and generally great person to be around. He does not have that nasty streak in him, though.
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
8:03 pm
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/07/16/nba_090716_phi_williams_camp.nba/
Pride of South Gwinnett!!! Sweet Lou!!!
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
8:21 pm
Actually, Matt Barnes isn’t a great defender…..,i’d rather get Green. Large wingspan, bigger, and hyper-athletic….he can be molded…
vava74
July 16th, 2009
8:25 pm
Juicy,
And J-Smoove is a wild physical specimen which means that he will never have any discipline in his moves and will not fulfil his perceived potential.
Look how he has not been able to improve his shot and how he rarely incorporates in his actions the footwork and the fakes he was supposed to have learned with Hakeem, two summers ago.
With this I am not saying that we should ditch J-Smoove, but merely that his lack of discipline will always make him underachieve and I don’t really think he will even evolve into a dependable offensive option.
I would rather see him as a 5-star role player, proving rebounding, interior defense (not only blocks) and limiting his shots to the ones which can hit (within 12 feet). If he concentrated in rebounding, he could snatch 12/13 rpg easily, with at least 2 or 3 putbacks, giving gim 4/6 ppg just on that.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 16th, 2009
8:30 pm
“Actually, Matt Barnes isn’t a great defender…..,i’d rather get Green. Large wingspan, bigger, and hyper-athletic….he can be molded…”
Molded by who?
vava74
July 16th, 2009
8:33 pm
Molded by nobody.
Matt Barnes is a journeyman and will never be relevant on this league.
He may have one or two acceptable seasons until he retires, but his contribution on winning teams will always be limited.
A taller, slender and lighter Mo Evans but probably less effective on defense.
KevinA
July 16th, 2009
8:36 pm
All is love between ZaZa and Woody. Look for the minutes for ZaZa to go up when we play against bigger teams and Al to drop a few. In the playoffs the time split was Al/ZaZa 28/23. During the regular season the split was Al/ZaZa time split was 33/19.
The real question is who is the best pine rider for the money in case of injury. How much should we spend. We should be looking for the best value at the 3/4/5 position. I would rather see one good player signed than 2-4. Evans and Solo fit the bill now.
For Woody to change his 8 man rotation to 9 it will take a player at least the skills of of a Gooden type. Is that a Evans up grade?
Solo or an upgrade will never crack the rotation. Who is better than Solo to play situational C/PF. How much will it cost.
Do we want a back up players to guard Shaq or someone good enough to crack the rotation.
vava74
July 16th, 2009
8:36 pm
And Green already failed his oportunities and soon will be out of the league. Just like AC Law.
There is a small window of oportunity to make it and he missed it. He is already on his 4th or 5th team and if he signs with anyone, it will be his 5th or 6th team in 3 years.
He will end up in Europe if he keeps his head on the right spot.
Samuel
July 16th, 2009
8:37 pm
Matt Barnes=Marvin Williams
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:14 pm
Nire,
You need to go back and read the old Hawks Hacks blogs. I was the one defending (w/o a law degree) the ASG against claims that they was broke and a cheap ownership group. I mention that they may have more financial resources than folks on the blog were giving them credit for. Don’t take my word for it, go back and read the archives. However, I do believe they tried to low ball Chills and Andersen.
It’s funny how you always pull the SOURCE CARD when you disagree with an publish article. Since you want to reference Sekou (whom I have the upmost respect for), look at this response on his twitter page. You want to bet money wasn’t an issue. Let’s see, if he was making $3M over seas and it’s reported that the Rockets will pay him $2.5M then base on what Sekou said the Hawks must have offer him between 1-1.5M. Do you really expect for him to take a 50% paycut? Who’s to say that his agent hadn’t spoken to other teams (like the Rockets) and they were willing to pay him more (like the Rockets).
@sekousmith01 NE idea what ATL offered Andersen? Accord to Hou Chron & Marca.com he got $2.5M/yr for 3yr, last yr is team option.
@ProtonPill half of what Houston offered, if that.
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:26 pm
I can go for Matt Barnes. Sign him and we can dump Mo Evans…
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:31 pm
Look like Chills was ready to be Buck…
@JChillin How close did things get with Milwaukee after your visit a couple weeks ago?
@PaulImig very close. Very very close
O'Brien
July 16th, 2009
9:35 pm
As a SF, Matt Barnes > Mo Evans. But Marvin > Matt Barnes. However, Marvin will cost $7-$8 mil, whereas Barnes will cost $2-$3 mil.
I say give Marvin a 1 year deal. We complain about how passive Marvin is. I am afraid he will be even more passive if he signs a 5 year, $40 mil contract. (We see it all the time. Guy signs big contract, performance drops off). Plus, we need to make sure he is healthy.
Give him a 1 year deal, and see what happens next year.
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:38 pm
O’brien,
I was hoping we could sign Marvin and Barnes then we could dump Mo on somebody else….
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:41 pm
Utah matches the Blazers offer. I wonder if the Blazers will go after Lamar…
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/07/16/milsap/
Sautee
July 16th, 2009
9:42 pm
Sorry Samuel, but I’ll disagree
Barnes 29 y.o. 6′ 7″ 226 Career avg: 7.0 points 4.1 reb
Williams 23 y.o. 6′ 9″ 240 Career avg: 12.5 points 5.5 reb.
I’ll gladly take the kid (and his upside and huge wingspan) to a journeyman.
Wouldn’t mind Barnes behind him though.
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
9:45 pm
Sekou,
DeJuan Summers is killing them in Vegas….
Anakin Joe
July 16th, 2009
9:53 pm
Come on guys, Sund didn’t make a deal with the Bucks likely because in order to receive “equal value” he would have had to take back salary. We traded a player who will likely start at center for Houston for a 2nd round pick. Don’t tell me about his perceived value to the Hawks, his value to a Yao-less Rockets team could have (and should have) been exploited. We’re waiting to close on Marvin before choosing between vets and undrafted FAs to fill our roster. (I’m guessing that the minimum salary for Siler is less than it would be for Magloire as an example). So I say, “follow the money”. Either Sund has been told that future expenditures need to be reviewed at the line-level or there is a trade in the works for August that will land us dangerously close to the luxury threshold (and thus Sund needs to watch his pennies). I think the latter. A trade. A big one. Next month.
O'Brien
July 16th, 2009
9:57 pm
Mo makes $2.5 mil. If we can trade him for a big man, and sign Barnes, I would be very okay with that.
So Portland got burned by Hedo (who signed with the Raptors), and then they lost out when the Jazz matched the offer to Milsap. I wonder what Portland does now? I think one of two things will happen.
1) The Jazz trade Boozer to Chicago, and Portland will get Hinrich.
Or 2) The Blazers go after David Lee.
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
9:59 pm
…..molded by Hard work, playing time, and his fellow teammates of coursw
…David Andersen looks like he should be playing for the Austrailian Volleyball team intead of hooping.
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
10:03 pm
vava, I disagree, there are plenty of young rebuilding teams that would be happy to develop him slong with their core. OKC and Memphis are two examples.
niremetal
July 16th, 2009
10:06 pm
Melvin,
I saw Sekou’s tweet. And I never, ever said that we offered as much as the Rockets. All I said was that Andersen didn’t want to come here and be the 4th guy off the bench and be relegated to a role where he would was not guaranteed a spot in the rotation. And no matter how much you want to grumble about Andersen’s trade, you have to admit that he will be getting a far, far bigger role and a role far more suited to his skill set in Houston than he would have gotten in Atlanta, and that the role he was being offered in Atlanta was far from ideal for a guy who is already 29 and won’t have too many shots to be an NBA rotation player. Because if you can’t admit that, then you’re just being stubborn.
And we’ve gone over and over the issues with Chill. I won’t re-hash that.
The “source card?” Dude, read the headline. It says “Commentary.” In other words, it’s an OPINION piece. So as with any Bradley “article,” you have to realize that what you’re reading might not be based on anything but the author’s own hunches. Considering how tight-lipped the Hawks front office is, do you REALLY think that a freaking sports opinion writer from Houston has any clue what the Hawks’ interest-level in Andersen was – either before or after the Hawks re-signed Zaza?
Sekou is a beat writer. He travels with the team. He knows everyone from the GM to the agents to the players to the guy who sweeps the floor. That’s why I trust what I read by him (and other team beat writers).
BUT I did misspeak. You haven’t always been an ASG critic, so my bad on that. But you have made a habit of viewing everything Sund does with skepticism. You slammed him at the beginning of the offseason for not being more open (and held up the Bucks GM as a model – which you have to admit looks off in retrospect since the Bucks are getting reamed in free agency) and also for the way he handled Chills (again, let’s not re-hash that). I think you tend to be a skeptic of Sund far more than is warranted.
niremetal
July 16th, 2009
10:09 pm
Anakin,
Enlighten us. How could we have “exploited” Houston’s situation. Do you actually think that they’d give up a first round pick for Andersen? Or any halfway decent player at a position where we have a need (a look at their roster should make THAT answer self-explanatory)?
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
10:11 pm
….I mean mo’s not what we expected him to be,but he’s more athletic and plays better defense than Matt Barnes, that for sure.
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
10:13 pm
Nire,
You right I did slam Sund for the Chills and Andersen situations but I did give him credit for the re-signings of ZaZa and Bibby along with acqusitions of Crawford and Flip. But geez, you act like the man can’t do any wrong. I even said if the pick and cash that we received from Houston turns into a valuable piece then I will give him credit at that time. However, I will voice my opinion when I dont agree with a decision that he makes. Such as the Chills and Andersen deals….
Melvin
July 16th, 2009
10:15 pm
Nire,
One more thing, if playing time was the only issue with Andersen coming to the Hawks then how did they progress to the point to even make him an offer?
Ariose
July 16th, 2009
10:22 pm
…..chilldress still can’t shoot, and Andersen is still softer than cottnell tissue….it’s REALLY not an issue.
The Truth
July 16th, 2009
10:27 pm
niremetal
You make this sarcastic comment:
“Well, Melvin and The Truth, I guess y’all would know better than Sekou”
I responded with this:
Don’t bait us like that. Just using common logic. If A=B, and B=C then A=C
And then you start your wild assertions.
Your comments are so amusing, I can’t stop laughing. You sound like a drama queen looking for something to do. (For the record, I didn’t say you were actually a drama queen, I said you sound like one)
This is what you said about me among other things:
“Do you even read Sekou’s articles? Like at all? The issue wasn’t MONEY. It was MINUTES.”
This is what I actually said in my comment regarding Anderson: “We were lead to believe by Sekou and others that Anderson didn’t want to play here because of available minutes for him.”
That comment suggests that I too understood the problem to be about minutes. The main theme of that comment was the notion of “old-school “hard-ball” style negotiation by Sund”. No, I don’t know for sure and neither do you. You know the saying, opinions are like azz holes, everybody’s get one including you; your hole is no bigger then the rest of our holes. If you don’t like my comment then fine, but please don’t assert false statements by me for your personal gains.
The only comment I made about Anderson regarding money was the notion from this statement: “Sund is not willing to make a serious financial commitment to the frontline bench players” I used Anderson just as an example. Since there has been no frontline bench deals made so for, I stand by that statement. The main theme (once again) was financial commitment to the frontline bench. I hope I’m wrong. We shall see. I want the Hawks to succeed. Since I am a season Hawks ticket holder, I can weigh in on things I don’t like. Like all of us ticket holders, we care about the success of this team otherwise we wouldn’t spend our money. I assume you are a season ticket holder since you are so passionate about other people comments.
esitser
July 16th, 2009
10:27 pm
The window of opportunity is closing.Trade Joe Johnson for Ronnie Brewer and Carlos Boozer. Talent and salary will work.
BarkingBulldawg
July 16th, 2009
10:28 pm
um, Sekou, ever thought of calling players something other tha
BarkingBulldawg
July 16th, 2009
10:29 pm
um, Sekou, ever thought of calling players something other than “cats” ?? Seriously, it’s kind of annoying. Thanks bro.
Ken
July 16th, 2009
10:57 pm
At this point, it doesn’t really matter whot the hawks get, they are still going to get killed on the boards. Now that is not saying they won’t do well or have success, each team presents different challenges. Cleveland got Shaq who will man the middle better (if healthy), but he may slow them down or make them self destruct with the two big egos. Either way we still have to worry about Lebron. I know we were hobbled in that series, but Lebron practicly beat us by himself. Boston’s big four are all over 30 and gettin’ older by the day. Plus, Rondo may be disgruntled after being drudged through the mud all off season by his own team. None of this will matter come playoff time, but they do have a great chance of an injury occuring. Lastly, the magic will not be the same team after losing Turkoglu to run their offense thru. What we don’t know is if that’s good or a bad thing. With getting Brandon Bass in the fold and keeping Gortat, they will be even tougher down low. They still have all the 3 pt shooters as well. If Vince brings it this year and they figure it out how to play together it could be ugly. The hawks have to first and foremost stay healthy, 2) Use the bench wisely so that starters aren’t dead in the playoffs, and 3) Horford, Smith, and Marv have to continue to develop and get better as previously mentioned.
niremetal
July 16th, 2009
11:16 pm
Melvin,
My guess is that the Hawks were talking more intently with Andersen’s folks before Zaza re-signed. Once Zaza was re-signed, both sides probably realized that there wasn’t going to be a deal to bring Andersen here that would make sense for both sides, and so they started looking for a trade partner. That’s speculation, but it fits with how 95% of the business world works when you’re dealing with property that would be more valuable to someone else than it is to you.
The Truth,
Fair ’nuff. I do sound like a drama queen. My persona on here has developed into the role of playing Devil’s Advocate with regard to management, and since I’m rather busy these days, I’ll admit to not reading posts as carefully as I should before I write an amped up response. My b.
Ken Strickland
July 16th, 2009
11:35 pm
The reason JSmith has trouble with his shooting, especially midrange shooting, is he has weak wrists. That’s why he shoots 3’s better than he shoots 2’s. The long range shot allows him to compensate for his weak wrists by using more elbow and arm in his shot. Shooting shorter jumpers requires more touch, and he can’t use as much arm and elbow. Until he works on strengthing his wrists, he’ll always have trouble shooting jumpers.
No basketball player is perfect. It’s amazing how some people can fixate on a certain player’s perceived flaws, especially if it’s one they don’t like, to the point his attributes are totally ignored and goes unmentioned, like MWilliams, and even JSmith. It’s like those who were so focused on criticizing JChildress’ awkward jumpshot, they totally ignored the fact he was one of the teams most accurate jumpshooters, especially from 3pt range.
Something tells me SJones isn’t going to get a FA contract because it’s believed the Hawks will match any offer because we haven’t signed a big to replace him as the #2 backup center. If he signs a one yr tender and becomes a UFA, he’ll get plenty of attention. After becoming an UFA, no HC, but Woodson, is going to allow a young, talented, though potential ladened, athletic, versatile and mobile 6′10″ 245lb center with a 7′ wingspan, to go unnoticed, unappreciated and underused. I guess with RMorris sitting on the bench, rather than Solo, Woodson can make a legitimate case for not playing the #2 backup center or giving him consistent mins.
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
12:09 am
WOw guys….lol
Oohh!!! I got a GREAT QUESTION!!!!1 Better Shooter. Mike Bibby or Stephen Curry???
Speaking of Bibby, I don’t the we appreciate the guy enough around here. I mean, remeber what it was like for T-Lue’s defender or Anthony Johnsons defenders to alway leave them and double only to have them MISS the open Jumper….I mean they’d make them OCCASIONALLY at most(You’d pray they went in but most of the time those other PG’s just contributed to our scoring droughts). When Bibby came abord it was like OH MY GAWD THIS DUDE JUST HIT FOUR THREE POINTERS IN A ROW WTF!!!!!!! IS THIS A JOKE?????? All of a sudden out offense just became a whole lot more fluid. He may not be a great defender but the guy is still a beast.
..That’s another reason we should bring back flip. Our offoense promotes scoring droughts. We finally have a roster stocked foll of “anti-drought” guards lol. Flip is one of em’(just don’t respond to the flip comment, it’s rhetorical I promise)
Anyhoo….
~Sir Links A Lot~
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
12:12 am
ummm…typos…yeah…it’s late and I didn’t feel like proof reading or backtracking while typing…..yeah…
Maxx
July 17th, 2009
12:26 am
For all of you worrying about David Anderson becoming a dominant force with Houston and coming back to haunt us, you have nothing to worry about. Such worry is natural and warranted for us long-time Hawks fans, but being an avid Hawks fan and basketball fan in general, I made sure I saw about every minute I could of David Anderson playing for Australia in the Olympics last summer, and he was terrible. ,He will get physically dominated in the NBA if he tries to play down low, and he sorely lacks athleticism. The only thing he really has going for him is height and pretty good shooting ability, but he wouldnt have been able to crack the Hawks lineup because he is not a very good defender and lacks aggressiveness and toughness, so Woody wouldn’t play him anyway. Good riddance, glad we got a 2nd rounder for him. Siler could be an interesting player, he’s got good size, but is about as raw a prospect as there is. A worthwhile priject for us. I love Dionte Christmas, he has great size and can score from anywhere. Jamal Crawford was probably the best trade the Hawks have ever made
Jay
July 17th, 2009
12:30 am
Sekou and my fellow bloggers,
Although I’ve given you previous thoughts about how the Hawks could improve their bench, I present the following three-step scenario for your consideration:
1) Trade C Randolph Morris to Dallas for PF Nathan Jawai (just because). Jawai is a 6′10″ project from Australia who’ll get no PT behind Dirk Nowitzski and Shawn Marion.
2) Sign New Orleans free agent SF Ryan Bowen (shooter) to a 1 year-$1M deal. Bowen is another guy who received little time because he was behind Peja Stojakovic, James Posey and Rasual Butler.
3) Trade G/F Maurice Evans to New Jersey for F/C Josh Boone. Boone is available because the Nets picked up Tony Battie in the Vince Carter deal and I’m sure the Nets would prefer to have a veteran SG on the roster along with second-year SGs Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts.
These moves would give the Hawks C Zaza Pachulia, PF Boone, SF Bowen (Ryan not Bruce), SG Jamal Crawford and PG Jeff Teague as the second unit with Mario West, Solomon Jones, Jawai and either Garrett Siler or the rookie free-agent combo guard of your choice filling our the roster.
Thoughts?
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
12:53 am
maxx, EXACTLY. We didn’t need solo-lite on the roster hehehe….
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
1:37 am
Jay, if we could swing that deal for Josh Boone that would be perfect. He still has a lot of developing to do but he’s a lot better than Randholh(who needs to be thrown in the deal as well).
Mark
July 17th, 2009
1:38 am
Let me Charm in guys: How about this and tell me what u think?
How about taking the money that Marvin is trying to get from $8-$9 million.
And lets trade Marvin and go get Barnes, Green, Wilcox, and Gooden.
Maybe it would put us about $64 million that we have spent.
And maybe $3 million up under the cap.
Maybe to sign one or two more Christison from Temple and maybe Gaines from Georgia.
cdog
July 17th, 2009
1:51 am
mark, why did the hawks trade andersen’s right to the rockets when they need a big man themselves? also, what kind of players is cenk?finally,is sund going to wait for marvin williams to sign before he trieds to sign a big man?i hope not. sund is getting foolisher day by day with the way he is opperating
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
2:24 am
http://www.nba.com/hawks/video/2009/07/13/BibbyZazaPresser.nba/index.html
~Sir Links A Lot~
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
2:31 am
LOL@ Bibby quick, just like his jumper hehehe…
I loved Zaza’s interview….what a guy. He wants a title folks. You heard it first.
cdog
July 17th, 2009
2:32 am
trying to stay awake, hard to but mr smith, instead of mark, why did the hawks trade andersen’s right away when they needed a big man themselves? plus what kind of player is the cenk guy? will sund wait on marvin before he signs a big man
Curtis
July 17th, 2009
2:39 am
That Kid Gaines From Georgia Is a Problem I seen Him Score 51 on Omar Cook Steve Burtt Andre Barret at Nike Pro city Then The next game he Had 38 on Marko Jaric, Darko Millic and Yi jillan All pros He is Averaging great numbers in a well established NYC tournament. They say he is the most feared basketball player in NYC 09
KevinA
July 17th, 2009
3:28 am
Enter your comments here
KevinA
July 17th, 2009
3:44 am
Lol I finally figuerd out how to to do that
Crawford, Evans, Solo, Flip are what we are working with. I will assume Marvin is a must sign. Evans is already in the fold. If Flip will sign for 2 mil we got to keep him. If Solo will sign for 1.5, a keeper. Just in case Marvin has bk problems a Gooden signing would be as good as it gets for the money.
I know most bloggers want a big. I would stick with youth. We are not a championship team. A solid playoff team is good enough for today. I don’t think Gooden will sign thinking of the chance for a ring. However I would make the Spurs go into lux tax to keep him.
To bad we mised Chills, would have been a nice fill in at mulitple positions.
Ariose
July 17th, 2009
4:16 am
KevinA, I agree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8paV0ve_U&feature=rec-HM-r2
Favorite Bibb highlits on tha tube….sick.