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
terrell barron
July 17th, 2009
6:20 am
Good to see Dionte Christmas’ name.
Samuel
July 17th, 2009
7:21 am
Ariose,
Two true “team 1st” guys. The guys are already rich. Why leave for a million or two. Why not finish what you started. Woody Haters, eat your heart out.
Sekou Smith
July 17th, 2009
7:27 am
Told you about Summers Melvin. He’s the truth. Budinger has been impressive, too. I’ve been watching the Vegas stuff and having seen summer league games for the last decade, I’m sad to report that they don’t always provide a true measure of what a guy will do during the season. But you can generally tell who can and cannot play the game based on what they do during the summer.
Barkin, I love the word cats (sorry Dog). And don’t ever call me “bro” again, it’s annoying. Just kidding.
Fantastic ideas Jay. Mo Evans is solid and an excellent guy, but Josh Boone fills a much more obvious need for this team, particularly with JCrawford in the fold. Funny thing is, Al Horford and I were talking about Boone the other day (just talking, there is NOT ANYTHING brewing there. But we were just scanning rosters and brainstorming about big men that would help this team).
I hate to dive back into the D. Andersen waters here … but here goes. Anyone that suggests the Hawks showed no interest in signing Andersen is clearly mistaken. But when you’re juggling two guys (Zaza and Andersen) and one is clearly a priority over the other, it makes sense that things change after you get Priority No. 1 signed. Andersen’s deal is Houston is better (financially for sure and in fit as well) than what he could have hoped for with the Hawks. His agent realized that and made sure to facilitate a deal that benefitted his client as well as the Hawks and Rockets. It was a good deal for all sides, considering Andersen had no desire to join the Hawks after Zaza signed.
KevinA
July 17th, 2009
7:44 am
Anybody got links on Crawford having the ability to lead or finish a fast break?
Samuel
July 17th, 2009
7:48 am
Yea Ariose,
The interesting thing about that video is that Bibby looks and plays exactly the same as he does not. people keep saying he’s older and slow. His game hasn’t changed a bit.
ALTAman
July 17th, 2009
7:49 am
We gotta get Jackie Moon…guy can play three positions and he does an awesome Harry Carey impression. White guys can jump–get Jackie Moon. And if he gets Woody Harrelson to come over, whoa look out now!
doc
July 17th, 2009
7:51 am
jay, you da man! step aside all other suckas. heh heh
Melvin
July 17th, 2009
8:17 am
Sekou,
I knew Summers was a player b/c I’m a Hoyas fan. Oh well, we’ll see what he do under the big lights.
Nire,
Fair enough on the Andersen thing I will leave it alone but we will revisit the Chills situation in the future…lol
KevinA
July 17th, 2009
8:23 am
Jay, I like the idea of Boone, a young guy who playes with hustle. Solo would have to work hard to find court time.
Big Ray
July 17th, 2009
8:26 am
Kirk,
Your completely opposing opinions on Childress and Andersen are both perplexing and amusing at the same time.
I agree that there is a need for urgency this year, but find it strange that there wasn’t one last year.
Heh….summer is always fun.
Daniel
July 17th, 2009
8:32 am
Jay-
I really like your Josh Boone idea. I don’t think you would have to give up Evans for Boone. The Nets are trying to rebuild and a draft pick plus a “developmental” player like Solo or RandMo should get the job done. Although, I wouldn’t totally disregard the idea of trading Evans for Boone.
Nice pull, man.
doc
July 17th, 2009
9:07 am
ray, somebody caught “expectations”. heh heh
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
9:36 am
nire, I stand corrected. Sund did “exploit” the situation by getting $2M in cash for Andersen. That is a premium for a guy who will likely start for them. I question why the premium was cash and not a player. Yes, cash is good but for a team with 10 roster players and no big man depth, one of their many tweeners would have been better. As hard as I’ve been on Sund, I refuse to believe that he spent a year “evaluating” this team and decided to prioritize upgrading our backcourt depth. And since it doesn’t appear that we will use the MLE (since most MLE-worthy bigs are quickly finding jobs elsewhere), I have convinced myself that a trade for a big is coming next month. I simply can’t envision that Sund finishes this off-season with a Solo/Petro/Mikki Moore/Robert Swift type addition as the answer to our big man depth problem.
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
9:59 am
Anakin,
I think Sund evaluated the team and realized “Gee. It would be nice to get a guy who will make opposing defenses think twice before zeroing in almost exclusively on Joe Johnson.” That definitely WAS a major area of need for us. You can’t just look at the team position-by-position…
I.MUS WRITE- INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
July 17th, 2009
10:02 am
OMG…….. Weak Wrists- Weak wrists-…….KS what makes you say that,do they have an NBA test that measures wrist strength…… Small hands maybe but his wrists look pretty strong cradling the ball before a monster dunk…???
VAVA74 are you a psychic or do u have a crystal ball- Dionne Warwick is sum where mad as hell at you…….
Weak wrists that was a good one…funni stuff
gwite
July 17th, 2009
10:10 am
^^
Yeah. Everybody knows that.
Shaq’s got the same “wrist ailment”. hehe
ILL-logical
July 17th, 2009
10:29 am
Sekou,
Nice riff on you and Calypso Al’s tet a tet; please give us more of what the various guys are doing and thinking during the off season-it breaks up the litany of who should be traded/fired/ signed.
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
10:29 am
nire, even if Sund believes that we need another offense weapon, I struggle to believe that he thinks that is a greater priority over front-court depth, low post defense and rebounding. And if he is truly working closely with Woody on his off-season roster mkeover, I certainly don’t think that a SuperFlip is at the top of their collective list. It may be there somewhere, but not at the top spot. Nope, not buying it. Something is coming. Next month.
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
10:33 am
AJ,
I think we’ll sign a fourth rotation big man. I don’t think we’re gonna make some huge trade. Both because I don’t think Sund is interested in trading away any of the “core” pieces and also because without Speedy’s contract to use as filler, there aren’t many trades that could work salary-wise (and the few that would work would involve trading Josh).
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
10:58 am
nire, my initial reaction to the Crawford deal was “he spent $10M on SuperFlip and will spend $1M on Robert Swift… what an idiot”. Now, I don’t believe that he would do something that bone-headed. A trade is coming. Next month.
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
11:07 am
Haha…ok, AJ. There’s really no feasible trades out there that could give us a starting center or PF better than Horford or Josh, unless Sund put together a package for Bosh or Amare (which won’t happen). But at least I know now to fully expect you to call Sund an idiot if we close out the summer by signing Adonal Foyle or Jamaal Magloire instead of trading for Dwight Howard…
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
11:09 am
No, nire. But seriously, if we sign Earl Barron am I supposed to run out and buy season tickets?
How about Crawford & Evans for Chandler and then sign Flip?
Melvin
July 17th, 2009
11:19 am
Anakin,
I guess you really don’t like Crawford. You are really trying to ship him out of town. Has he tried on his Hawks uniform yet????
nick shay
July 17th, 2009
11:23 am
For those bloggers who have been suggesting the Hawks go after Gerald Green: forget it. I watched him wander around the court looking absolutely lost for a couple of years here in Boston. He never really understood how to work within a half-court offense. He’s got a great shooting stroke, but he doesn’t know how to work off screens or pick-and-rolls, so all of his shots come off of iso plays. Unfortunately, he’s not really the guy you want with the ball in his hands because all ball movement comes to an screeching halt once it finds its way to him, and he’s not quite good enough as a decision-maker to make sure that he actually gets a good shot off. And to say that he was indifferent on defense would be a rather dramatic understatement. He drove Doc Rivers crazy, and Doc is more forgiving with young players than Woody. And then he wore out his welcome in ‘Sota. And he couldn’t stick in Dallas either. There’s a reason for that. He just hasn’t learned what it takes to be an NBA player. Plenty of teams have talked themselves into the idea that they’re going to be one that will be able to “mold” his skills into an effective player, but so far, no one’s actually succeeded. And it’s highly unlikely that the Hawks current coaching staff is going to be able to work any miracles where other teams have failed.
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
11:27 am
How about Crawford to Pacers for Troy Murphy?
Melvin, I want big man depth (with really good big men). If I could have secured it via trading Andersen or Chill, that would have been great. We didn’t. I don’t want to trade Josh. I’m hopeful that his USA Basketball experience will help him take his game to a consistently high level. I agree with Ray, give Josh a full season before trading him. If he is still teasing us (like a Lamar Odom), then find a way to move him for a consistent force.
That leaves only Crawford. And no doubt, I believe that his value could be closely (not equally but closely) replaced by others at a cheaper price. I continue to ask why I’m supposed to be impressed by a $10M guy who shoots 41% from the field for losing teams. Get me a quality big man… not a lower tier fringe player.
Sekou Smith
July 17th, 2009
11:33 am
Earl Barron has been added to the Hawks’ mini-camp roster.
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
11:45 am
I rest my case
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
11:46 am
Anakin,
You’re actually advocating us trading a Sixth Man who gives us a 3rd rotation guard and who’s making $19M over the next two years for a guy who’d be our backup center and our 4th rotation center who’ll make $25M over the next two years?? That would just be partially solving one problem while creating another.
Remember, I was a skeptic of Crawford at the outset too. But we are NOT going to make it any deeper in the playoffs if we don’t have someone next year who will take some offensive pressure off JJ. Crawford is the ONLY player on our roster who can do that right now (I think Marvin would be able to if Woody gave him more touches, but Woody won’t do that so it’s a moot point).
Despite all the whining about our interior D, we were one of the league’s top 10 in points allowed per 100 possessions last year. I honestly think we’ll be fine in the defense and rebounding department if Josh rededicates himself to crashing the boards and if Josh/Al/Zaza play defense as well as they did at the beginning of last season. Give us a fourth big man who can play 10-15 minutes regularly and 20-25 as needed, and we’ll be fine.
But hey, if you’d rather pay $12M next year to a backup big man and watch teams double and triple team JJ all day while everyone else on the floor stands around twiddling their thumbs AGAIN, be my guest. Because that’s what our offense will look like AGAIN with Woody’s “offense” unless we have another scoring threat like Crawford.
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
11:47 am
*4th rotation big man, not 4th rotation center. And yes, I realize that either Murphy or Chandler would be an upgrade over Zaza. But I also think that Crawford is a bigger upgrade over Flip than either of those guys is over Zaza.
Melvin
July 17th, 2009
11:50 am
Anakin,
Looks like you got you wish with Barron… Uh, could at least ask for Jermaine O’neal…lol
niremetal
July 17th, 2009
11:51 am
Oh, and lastly AJ – there’s this whole other small issue of getting the Pacers or Hornets to agree to a deal like that. The Pacers have even less need for a scoring guard than we do, and the Hornets will be looking to acquire an expiring contract for Chandler, not simply trade his two year contract in exchange for two individually smaller but in-total identical two-year contracts.
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
11:52 am
nire, if Joe throws the ball out of the double team to an open and healthy Marvin, we’ll do better. Or an open 3 from Murphy would work. Or Smith emerges from this summer as a half-court weapon, great. Are you telling me that asking Teague to shoot 40% is asking too much?
But to answer the question, I’d rather pay a big man like Murphy $25M over two years to play 30 minutes/game than Crawford $20M for the smae 30 minutes. Absolutely all day, everyday. I’d gladly pay a 20% premium for a 6′11″ player who could stretch the defense and pound the boards. Yes, Yes, Yes!
And where’s Jamal Sampson? Is he too busy for our mini-camp?
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
11:57 am
nire, I disagree. Pacers don’t have a shooting guard (the kid from Kansas, let him grow and learn from the bench). Ford, Crawford, Granger, Hansbrough and Center du Jour (Hibbert/Foster) would be a solid line-up. Surely they are not thinking Dunleavy will play 80 games next season.
Frankly, it’s less about Troy Murphy and more about fixing pot holes. And our offensive issues in the playoffs were more about Joe and Marvin being hurt than anything else. Meanwhile, even if Marvin (and Al) were fully healthy, we would have still been short a quality big man.
Hawks Number One Lady Fan
July 17th, 2009
12:00 pm
Glad to hear the Hawks had an alternative to not having a summer league team. Mini camp doesn’t sound bad.
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
12:04 pm
Scott Pollard is looking for a ticket back into the league and claims that he’s healthy. He made a cameo appearance in a Hawks uniform once before. He’s a hard foul waiting to happen.
Mike is back
July 17th, 2009
12:10 pm
Ummmmmmm!!! Interesting stuff Sekou. I like a low risk guy like Siler. As for Mario…I love the guy…but we gotta get more out of that position…that’s why all the guards. Teague may have made Mario expandable.
I’m not sold on SUND…but to his credit…his approach seems to align well with the ASG. He appears to have the full backing of management…that should also bode well for the organization. We can only hope that some team sets the market on Marvin before all the remaining Bigs are gone. Someone mentioned Theo Radcliff…I would love to have him back in the ATL.
It was Solo that everyone wrote off for dead last off season…who is to say this kid RandMo IS A TOTAL LOSS. For all his many faults…he actually has decent offensive moves in the Post…we didn’t get see them…CUZ u gotta play defense to get PT from Woody…plus the KG BERATING and FLOGGING didn’t endear him to fans at all. Heh heh
The guy was never the same…but at these bargain basement prices for Bigs…what do u expect…WHY NOT BRING SOMEONE IN TO DEVELOP THESE GUYS…not name THill…i forgot redundant.
Time to got back to sleep now…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Wake me up when we sign Marvin or get a BIG!!!!!
What’s up DOC!!!!
Clyde
July 17th, 2009
12:11 pm
The Atlanta Spirit is so broke that they can’t even send its team to a summer league.
Big Ray
July 17th, 2009
12:16 pm
Astro Joe,
You sound so much like HB Ando these days. I’m not even sure how to feel about that one….
So there’s a trade coming next month, eh? Care to make any wagers on that? No, not with me, I never do that. Just wondering how confident you feel on the issue. I hope you’re right. Even moreso, I hope it meets your approval this time. Heh.
Lately, all the conversations are chock full of assumption. Assumption that Sund has not tried (or at least not made the effort that some think he should have made) to secure a good big man for this squad. Assumption that such possible attempts may have been rebuffed. Assumption that trading for Crawford was the first, or even only target he had his eyes on. Assumption that there’s no way Woody is on board with what has happened so far, or what is being planned on. Assumption that because we don’t agree with or like what has happened so far, that something else in particular must be coming. Assumption that Childress was looking to betray the organization from the start. Assumption that David Andersen was never given a fair shake by the organization. Assumption, assumption, assumption.
I love blogging…;)
Joe's place Joe speaking
July 17th, 2009
12:16 pm
Sekous Twitter feed:
Hawks hunting veteran bigs. Heard two names last night. Can’t repeat yet. Either one helps solve the bird’s big man issues, if they get ‘em.
Big Ray
July 17th, 2009
12:20 pm
Astro Joe,
Agreed on Earl Barron. He could help. Not agreed on Troy Murphy. I know you say that it’s less about him in particular, but in that actual case, you are trading a very good offensive option for a guy who is as likely to be injured as not. Which leaves you STILL in the pothole. There are more devils in these details than usually meets the eye of the average fan, regardless of how rabid he/she might be (that would include you and me
).
Anakin Joe
July 17th, 2009
12:31 pm
Ray, agreed. But isn’t it about results and not effort? Does a GM get measured because he had the right list of players to be added or because he went out and actually acquired the right players? If Woody has the team working on the right plays in practice but they fail in the game, does he still get credit for the right idea? Of course not.
And if we don’t have our assumptions (hopefully based on something close to evidence) then what would we talk about during the off-season?
Samuel
July 17th, 2009
12:36 pm
At least Barron is from Mississippi. But then again, so was Lo Wright.
Clyde
July 17th, 2009
12:39 pm
Here we go again. Sitting here waiting for something to happen. Following the Hawks is just like going to the Pink Pony. They look good on paper but they don’t give you nothin’. When will the Hawks give the city of Atlanta a championship?
Clyde
July 17th, 2009
12:43 pm
Samuel don’t get me started on Lorenzen Wright. I think he appeared more times at the Luckie Lounge on Wednesday than in games played for the Hawks. I’ll give the man credit he wears some nice suits on the sideline when he’s injured.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 17th, 2009
12:46 pm
“So there’s a trade coming next month, eh? Care to make any wagers on that?”
Damn, you just reminded me… HB Ando still owes me and Lacsho 5 bucks. No wonder he has disappeared…
A
I.MUS WRITE- INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
July 17th, 2009
12:46 pm
Nick SHay…… i hear u concerning gerald green, U say he’s not good at much but scoring out of iso situations…. Hmmmmm -90% of our offense iso iso- sounds like a match made in heaven LOL….
U dont watch our games do u…..When was the last time one of our guys ran off a double screen or a base line screen…… If he is a 10-12th man and he can brake ankles or hit the open j consistently then he is well worth 800k…… We dont have jerry sloan out here we have a defensive minded coach that is mentally challenged when it comes to drawing up effective plays in the half court.
Jamakl Sampson – I see were getting desperate around here…. Jamal Sampson = Luke jackson ..never gonna make it in the big boi’zleague……
Dam -i forgot all about j boone- My god i would gladly trade mo for him….hell throw in a pick or what ever it takes
Then sign back the iso king FLIP THE SWITCH………
While we’re at it why not invite john koncak to camp-i saw him like 3 months ago and he looks great…HAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAH….
Wait what about Ol George Murissan…. Vlade divac anyone LOL
Earl Barron….Hmmmmm well atleast he’7 foot
Mike is back
July 17th, 2009
12:49 pm
Good one Clyde, I needed a laugh. I hope the chatter about Sund signing a Big is true!!!
Cameron
July 17th, 2009
12:51 pm
Dionte Christmas can play. He tore it up in college at Temple. Taggart is a qulaity big, but he isn’t a banger. Sundiata Gaines is gritty and can defend, but I don’t see any room for guards on our roster. Maybe one, but that is it.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 17th, 2009
12:52 pm
About the ongoing blog discussion about the value of SuperFlip to the team… I don’t dispute that the Hawks need a big man more than Crawford, but realistically who is going to provide the Hawks with an equally talented big man in exchange for him at this point? Crawford may not fill a position of immediate need, but he does make this team a lot better, and I’d definitely rather have him than an overpaid role player like Chandler.
I.MUS WRITE- INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
July 17th, 2009
12:53 pm
I knew it wouldnt be long…….Spit that hate Clyde…. O yeah