Atlanta Hawks: And now for something really important: J.J.

very important week.

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lets do a sign and trade with chills and a big. if that happens we can go to work.

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my question is he worth all the money to keep him…would the hawks be better served by spending saved money on someone else..

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If we have JJ and Childress back, and Teague can successfully make the transition from bench warmer to floor general, we’ll certainly improve.

I agree though MC, Free agency is wayyy more important than the draft for the Hawks this summer.

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If Joe J

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Just show me the money baby! Joe is a little sore about the fans but when he sees that money he will forget real quick. JJ you have the chance to continue to have a team that is considered yours why turn your back on it. This team is showing a lot of promise and is on the incline, they are young and very talented.Can’t wait for next season! Looks like Joe will sign and everythings going to be alright!

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If they resign JJ, they would then need to move contracts such as Bibby, Paculia or JC in order to improve the team.

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Buck! Buck! Buck! Buck! Buck! BooooYAHAAAH! YO MC I hear you or going against The Black Allstars Of Ghana! Watch out son the Black Stars will be shining on Saturday! BRREEEEEEEEEE!

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Of course you realize that IF the Hawks offer Joe the max deal, there will be one less Crawford on the roster.

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If the Hawks can find their defensive-minded big man by trading Jamal Crawford — which I’m still convinced they set themselves up to do by drafting Jordan Crawford — they would then be able to use their mid-level and veterans’ minimum to improve depth at other positions. Assuming they keep Joe, they are still going to be stuck in a conference with three superstar-led teams; the way they can counteract this with no superstar of their own is by improving depth and overall talent across the board at every position.

In the event they keep Joe, what do y’all think about this trade possibility:

Hawks send Jamal Crawford ($10 million, expiring) to the Portland Trailblazers for disgruntled SG Rudy Fernandez ($1.5 million/year, rookie-scale contract), C Joel Przybilla ($7.5 million, expiring), and a future first-round pick.

Why the Hawks would do it: Przybilla is coming off a knee injury and is no sure thing, but if he’s healthy he could easily be the defensive center the Hawks need off the bench, and if he’s not the Hawks are not tied down with any long term financial liability. At 7′1″ and 250 pounds, he is easily big enough to guard the league’s bigger centers one on one, and with the addition of Marcus Camby the Blazers no longer need Przybilla as insurance for Greg Oden. Fernandez provides a cheap, versatile, athletic scorer, shooter, and ball-handler off the bench who can run the floor, and combined with Jordan Crawford’s contributions they can probably come close to matching Jamal Crawford’s production. Hawks would save about $1 million on the salary cap by making this trade, and the future pick gives them an additional asset they can use in a subsequent trade.

Why the Blazers would do it: Jamal’s contract is also expiring, so the Blazers don’t incur any long-term financial liability either. He is a proven scorer who can play a similar role in Portland as he does here, playing the majority of the bench minutes at the guard positions and playing at least some of the time alongside Brandon Roy. Considering that Fernandez is demanding a trade and Przybilla is coming off an injury, they would be getting a lot of value in return.

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Me-Lea: If your job gave you a max contract you would be the envy of your job! Thats what sports teams pay their stars today. Yes its sad, and we know you won’t see that much money in your life-time. You complain that your hawks don’t spend money and are cheap Let them pay their star.

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Adding to what I said above, if a Crawford trade nets the Hawks the big man they need as well as additional depth somewhere else, they have plenty of possibilities going forward. Any big man acquisition makes Zaza expendable, meaning they could dump his contract for depth at other positions or even just salary cap space. They could use the mid-level on a veteran PG and make Bibby expendable (not that he isn’t already), or bring in a SF who could challenge Marvin for his starting spot.

Bottom line is, I agree with MC: if they keep Joe, Jamal is the most attractive trade piece this team has, and drafting Jordan Crawford just made him less untradeable.

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“can we really expect Joel P to return to the Hawks? It seems that he may not have enjoyed his prior stop here when BK was clearing cap space for the rebuild before he hired Woody. Camby might be a better trade target due to age and 2 yrs on contract.”

Camby is a better player, no doubt, but I don’t know that Portland would part with Camby and roll with the injury-prone Oden and Przybilla going into next season. And anyway, there was a different GM and coach the last time Przybilla was here, not to mention it’s not really up to him where the Blazers choose to send him.

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Najeh- Thats a weak trade neither one of those guys play defense and they disappear in big games.No i don’t like it. Camby alone would be better.

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We should have traded Joe 2 years ago and got something in return for him.

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TO NAJAH DAVENPOOP : YOUR TRADE SCENARIO IS POOPLY HORRENDOUS !! NO WAY THE HAWKS ARE GETTING RID OF JAMAL CRAWFORD

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D-Wade said $30 Million is alot of money? Yoou fogure for what the NBA players get paid we could see some hussle—The play offs and the championship series was so week and lame. Over paid and I honestly think Kobe was all show after they won…..please prove me wrong.

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Fat Face these was the best Finals in a long time get your biased comments off this blogg.

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@Najeh–As of last night there is a change of GM in Portland. Who knows what they are thinking now?

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@Fate…if you got 30 mil tomorrow, would you be more or less dedicated to things like hustle? Seems that a guaranteed pile of money is less of an incentive to do the little things. At least I heard that a lot this week when they talked about guys not getting in top condition for the draft.

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I met J.J. at my work once. We were outside admiring his multi colored hummer/truck/tank looking ride. A lady pulled up behind his car and was asking for directions. J.J. comes back out and says to my co-worker “hey bro, tell that bitch to get out of my way.” It was insulting to the lady,who clearly heard it, and my co-worker. JJ can go bye-bye.

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Read Sund’s comments from yesterday. He thinks we could’ve played better and competed vs. Orlando. LOL

This guy is such an idiot. He didn’t even mention that Cleveland OWNED us last year or that ORL and CLE on the whole OWN us in the regular season.

We sold picks to save $90,000 (7 owners — LOL!!!!) so we can resign and dish out the world to someone who isn’t even a superstar.

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sams the man- You got to b talking about JJ on Goodtimes!

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LEA- Don’t want and I don’t need it. I bet you have heard that line before in your life time.

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A max contract for Joe Johnson will equal the worse financial move in team HISTORY!
1. A max contract player is supposed to fill the stands! When was the last time you heard anyone say “I’m going to see J.Johnson play”? NEVER!!!

2. A max contract player is supposed to make everyone on the floor better! I don’t see that either!!!

3. A max contract player is supposed to marketable in your city! I don’t see anyone knocking down doors for J. Johnson endorsements!!!!

Offer that money to Amare STUDomire!!!!!

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I wouldn’t pay to see Bam Bam aka Amare Sorrymire.

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MannyT,

I’m with Najeh. Hawks have different coaching staff, and different management than the last time Pryzbilla was here. Plus isn’t he under contract (I’m assuming he will pick up his option coming off injury).

najeh,

I’ve been suggesting trading Crawford for a while now (if JJ resigns). And your trade proposal is one of the better ones I’ve seen. I would do the deal.

To my fellow bloggers, if ASG offer JJ 6 years $119 mil, then we cannot complain about them selling #31 this year. Because offering a Max contract to JJ is a major financial commitment.

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Sams the man, if she pulled up behind JJ, how was she in his way? Just wondering. And if she pulled up behind him and the only way he could leave is to back out, she deserved to get cussed out. You cant just block someone in. Especially a famous person with clout. You’re just asking for trouble. I dont care what kind of question you are asking. If that’s your only reason for wanting JJ out, then you need to holla at Doc or Mary B. Get yourself checked out. lol!

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Just saw that Omar Samhan is on the Hawks summer league team.

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“If the Hawks are going to trade Jamal for a big then I rather it be for Tyson Chanlder. Younge then Camby and better than Przybilla and he has a expiring contract.”

Chandler would be a fine pickup too, although you wouldn’t get the benefit of a Fernandez-caliber player in addition to him. In fact, the Hawks would probably have to throw in Mo Evans to get salaries to match.

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Amare – Stare!

Unless he can defend the paint and get rid of those “Bees-Knees”? Why is his name even coming up?
We need a big clogging center – Not another PF!

Check our NEEDS! Check the NEEDS! & Better yet- Check the Knees!

Come on people. We need to tweak and re-tool our team! Not re-build it!
We are not that far off, especially if Joe re-signs. We have possibly 4 All-Stars including Joe.
It ’s just that. we’re young! We do need another HOF type veteran though to work with Joe.

No more youngins’. Its time to WIN!

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I hear comments from Sund and LD. They are saying they are going to do everything to bring Joe back. I hate to hear that because for all the grief the ASG went thru to sell a draft pick and swap choices to save all of $190K, they will offer Joe a max, 6 year deal?
Please someone tell me, they are just maneuvering to get a S&T done with this guy. He doesn’t deserve a raise from his 14.1M last year.
Whether we get to the 2nd round of the playoffs or the 1st round, neither product is championship caliber.
Its completely embarrassing to try and state that Joe is the guy that can get us to the next level.
Are we as fans really that ignorant to see Joe making Kobe type $$ at the age of 35? Give us hope ASG…..all you are doing by signing Joe is selling your soul to the next potential buyer once thin-skinned Joe rakes every potential profitable dollar out of your pocket.
It is truly sad to watch what we all know is an oncoming disaster: the 2010-11 Hawks, led by perennial playoff bust Joe Johnson.

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I want to see Ja. Crawford and Jo. Crawford as my 2nd string PG & SG. Not many teams can match that kind of fire power off the bench. They’ll give up some points, but as long as our bench outscores the other team’s bench, we’ll be OK more times than not.

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Read Sund’s comments from yesterday. He thinks we could’ve played better and competed vs. Orlando. LOL

This guy is such an idiot. He didn’t even mention that Cleveland OWNED us last year or that ORL and CLE on the whole OWN us in the regular season.

We sold picks to save $90,000 (7 owners — LOL!!!!) so we can resign and dish out the world to someone who isn’t even a superstar.

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“why the hell would you trade crawford”

Ideally you wouldn’t. I’m a fan of Jamal and I’d like to see him remain in his current sixth-man role on the Hawks. But if the Hawks are serious about acquiring a defensive-minded center, they are more likely to get one by trading Jamal and his expiring contract than by signing someone with the mid-level exception. Like MC pointed out earlier, Jamal is the most attractive trade piece the Hawks have, unless you are cool with trading Smoove or Horford. And let’s face it, streaky scorers like Jamal are easier to replace than defensive big men. There’s a good chance the Hawks just drafted his replacement.

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KevinM

You and the fans, should be thankful that Mr. Johnson boarded that plane to come here 5 years ago.t
Thank our LUCKY stars that he came here and turned this franchise around.
Do you remember a 13 year play-off drought? I for one, sure do.

No other Star, would have, did have or, is going to – COME HERE! Hello, anybody home!
So, if ASG don’t pay Joe? Then, WHO?

Who do YOU see – walking through that door?

Joe has some very young pieces placed around him, they are budding, home grown All-Stars in the making!
Patience is a virtue. Joe may already have his BIG-THREE, yeah … Right here in his own backyard!

You people better recognize and stop hating so damned much!
Where does all this basketball arrogance come from?
If you want to see historical banners? 17 or 18 of them hanging in the rafters, then
You need to book a flight to Boston or LA!

Get Real!

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They desperately want to sign johnson… and trade his overrated ass.

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Everyday and moment is important last nights draft was important but Hawks ignored bettering there team. So, Mr.Cunningboy once again shows how incompetent he is, Joe is no more important than the draft unless you make him be. We could have drafted a player that will have more impact than Joe but we did not, because we did not take it seriously.

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three words…LEBRON and BOSH

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Just out of curiosity, suppose the Hawks make the following moves:

1. Re-sign Joe
2. Trade Jamal for Przybilla and Fernandez
3. Sign Childress to the 1-year qualifying offer
4. Use the mid-level on a guy like Brendan Haywood, Drew Gooden, Ronnie Brewer, or Kyle Korver — a quality rotation player who can fill in at a position that currently needs depth
5. Use the veterans’ minimum on a guy like Anthony Johnson or Earl Watson — a veteran point guard and locker room leader who can spell Teague and make Bibby expendable
6. Unload now-expendable Bibby and Zaza if necessary for anything you can get to keep the payroll manageable

You’re looking at a team, following these moves, that starts Teague at PG, Joe at SG, Marvin at SF, Josh at PF, and Al at C, with a bench of Anthony Johnson and Jordan Crawford at the guard spots, Rudy Fernandez and Josh Childress backing up the 2 and 3, Joel Przybilla backing up the center position, and whoever you signed to the mid-level providing additional depth — either Haywood backing up C (probably ahead of Przybilla on the depth chart) or someone like Brewer or Korver backing up the 3 and pushing Marvin for his starting spot.

In other words, you take this year’s 53 win team, sacrifice some of the scoring punch off the bench, but significantly improve depth at other positions, provide more personnel to deal with the league’s bigger teams, and go into next season with 9 or 10 quality players on the roster (as opposed to the 6 the Hawks had this year).

My question to y’all is this: how many games does this team win next year, and what is this group’s ceiling?

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nba tv doing a draft review.. our division is currently on..

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Najeh, lots of good stuff there, but me, I think we need to improve our starting 5, whether that means moving 2 or 3 pieces.
Chicago had all that young talent and it didn’t pan out. They have been moving away from that talent, literally piece by piece.
I like where Chicago is right now. They only have one more bad contract in Deng, but Deng can still help a team. They have potential.

And like I said earlier, if we are guaranteed to stop at Round 2, let’s formulate another strategy.

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G Man . . . let’s talk about that. Omar Sahman

He’s the guy that ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED Villanova in the NCAA tournament . . and messed up a lot of brackets. And to be honest, I had forgotten all about this guy, with all of this talk about these other centers.

Sahman led the NCAA in PER amongst all centers. Yes, he played at small St. Mary’s, whose main competiton in the West Coast Conference was Gonzaga, but it’s still a pretty good feat.

The major drawback with him is that he’s not quick nor athletic ( maybe about as athletic as Zaza ). And that’s going to be a concern on the next level. But did manage to put up decent shot blocking numbers, and he was a good rebounder.

Go to youtube and watch the St. Mary’s – Villanova NCAA tournament game. Omar is a fundamentally sound big man that has a variety of post moves, and can make a midrange jumper. If he can overcome his lack of athleticism with solid fundamental play, Rick Sund may be seen as a genius around here.

The summer league will indicate if he can play backup minutes at the next level. Honestly, he’s a better prospect all around, than those guys most people were drooling over.

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The Hawks say they’re “optimistic” that they can sign Joe Johnson. I don’t know about that. If they think that this going to be all about money, I think they’ll be mistaken.

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LOL, a max contract would cripple the franchise, Mike C, who have the hawks actually paid in the last 10 years? JJ doesnt put butts in the seats, when nique was here the fans didnt come out, atl is a horrible sports town. ASG should move the team to Seattle if they will provide a new stadium.

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Kevin M

I definitely see your points! But this is Atlanta and Not Boston or LA, no one wants to come here as an
UFA nor FA. I can list many names of players and coaches who have refused to board the plane.

Kobe was drafted by Charlotte at age 18 and through his agent demanded a trade to LA.
Eli Manning refused to be drafted be San Diego and demanded to go to The Giants.
There are many similar stories. Would you KevinM. Be happy to play for the Clippers?

Well, Atlanta is not far off perception – wise from the clippers!
We have to Pay to Play ’round here! We have to pay dearly!

Do you believe Joe can convince LeBron or Wade to join him here in Atlanta?
What, we goto three consecutive play-offs, so now we can start firing people and throwing away talent?

Joe is not the only reason we got bounced outa round 2! No Sir, you can spread that blame around like
Peanut Butter on white bread!

Start with the front office and work your way down to every one on the bench.
Start with no PG and no bona-fide Center, don’t just blame Joe!

LeBron, Wade and Dwight all got beat! So, go get rid of them too!
Pay Þhe damn man! What are you saving money for – Draft picks, coaches or role players?

Better yet, give us your replacement for

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Joe Johnson ain’t worth a max contract

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Go jump off a bridge Joe. We don’t like you because you don’t like us. Go hang out with some of your ego buddies ego maniac.

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M. Cunningham ,

I’m glad you got the go-ahead on the summer league assignment. I can’t wait to hear about our summer league team (for once). There should be a lot of explosion from the backcourt tandem of Teague and Crawford.

I would like to know how Sy fares, and if Omar Samhan is good enough to get an invite to training camp (and manages to stick there). We haven’t done so well with big men in the summer league or in training camp.

I’ve always believed that part of it had to do with who we brought in, and part had to do with what the head coach thought. Well, the head coach has changed, but are we going to bring in better caliber players? I’m about done with the RandMo and Jason “Hamburgler” Collins types on our bench. And no more old guys who won’t get playing time (Joe Smith). That wasn’t the answer in the frontcourt last year, and it damn sure won’t be this year.

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JSS

Nice goin’…..I’m going to check those clips out right now…

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I see that chillz is talking to the wizards can’t we do a sign a trade for Mcgee a big!!!! And we can use our mid level for a lesser need as in depth at SF and more bigs

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No time to go through the game by footage pulling out plays right now, caring for a ailing Mother who just had surgery… You are welcome to go to http://www.dailymotion.com where STB Le Havre archives their games and pull out Sy’s stuff…

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Just wanted to get a few things out there since he is supposed to be such a mystery… They can’t say he’s not athletic…

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STB LeHavre plays a freaky version of a zone offense (yeah I really typed that)… They spread the bigs and will pop to the wings and the guards will drive and dish and then spot up… Their two and three score most of their points and they feed the post in a weird way but get a fair share of their points from two. They play a lot of games which aren’t really high scoring but they win…

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i hope the hawks are wise to offer free agent contracts to scotty reynolds and joe dukes of georgia state

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Sign J.J., at least he came here to play in the Atl when no one else would. Joe doesn’t have any major injury history since he’s been in the league either. Sign Joe, Chillz, and Mbenga and see what happens.

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N.D.T.K.A.

Get ‘em! Co-Sign that ish!

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drmaryb

You’re the voice of reason, someone that finally makes sense.

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I MUS WRITE,

You say Stoudemire “held his own in the playoffs”. Yes, he did. On OFFENSE. But on defense? He was bad. In the playoffs, he averaged 6 rebounds per game against the Lakers, and 6 rebounds per game against Portland. He is 6’10”, 250 lbs, and you call that holding your own?

Ken Strickland,

Let me ask you this. How would you distribute the minutes if we kept everybody?

If we keep Jamal Crawford, Jordan Crawford, Mo Evans, Marvin Williams and Josh Childress, where do we find the minutes to play them? Between SF and SG, we have 96 minutes total.

If you give Marvin 20 minutes, Chills 28 minutes, and JJ 36 minutes, that’s already 84 minutes. Only 12 minutes left over for Jamal, Jordan, and Mo Evans.

If you include PG, that’s another 48 minutes. But Teague will probably get 25 minutes, Bibby will get 15 – 20, so that only leaves 3 – 8 minutes.

That’s the reason why we would trade Crawford. We have too many SGs (4 to be exact: JJ, Jamal, Jordan, and Mo). And there is not enough minutes to go around. And Jamal is our best trade asset.

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Not that JJ needs me to play agent for him, and I doubt I even get the 3% commission as a blog credit much less in real cash, but here goes.

The Hawks were willing to give up a player (Diaw), a pair of 1st round picks, and $20 mil in 1st year salary to get Joe 5 years ago. Now that he has produced and is definitely the best player on this team, you balk at giving him about $20 mil/yr for 6 years in his prime. If he walks, the team gets worse; there may not be playoffs…and that means even less revenue.

He has been the best player on this team every year he has been here. He will likely be the best player on this team for the majority of that new contract. If the Hawks don’t step up, another team will. That probably means that the Hawks get NOTHING for him leaving. Even if you warm up to a sign & trade option, what you get back isn’t close to comparable. You won’t get Hinrich in a S&T with the Bulls. The only options left on the Miami roster aside from Beasley (who they may keep) are the lockers…the roster is empty.

It is too tough to rebuild a roster when most of your contracts have multiple years on them. The Hawks could be in salary cap purgatory for years. If you don’t like the fact that your best player is ONLY one of the top 20 in the league, how happy will you be when your top player is one of the top 40 instead?

You want excitement, hope LD opens up the offense to run more, watch Josh dunk, or count those handful of 4 pt plays that Jamal will get. If you want wins-show Joe the money.

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jeje, BINGO! YOU ARE DEFINITELY RIGHT.I DON’T SEE WHY MANY OTHERS COULD NOT SEE THIS ABOUT RICK SUND.REMEMBER ALSO, HIS STATEMENT, “YOU DON’T TRADE FOR SUPERSTARS, YOU DRAFT THEM” WELL, DO YOU KNOW ANY SUPERSTARS HE’S EVER DRAFTED? I CAN’T NAME ONE.

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For the sake of argument, why don’t we do for JJ what we did for Josh Smith; ask him to find the best market contract so the Hawks could match and then even add 10% to be the highest bidder. It maybe that JJ can’t come back with a $92 million max contract offer. His stock has fallen and apparently there is a growing whisper (around the league) that his true value is second tier or less then elite. Yes he could just take less and send us off mad. Remember, we weren’t the only ones that saw him lay numerous eggs in the play-offs. Other sports pundits witnessed it too and gave testimony statements about his performance on national TV (Kenney and Charles B just to name a few). For the Hawks to just hand JJ a 119M max contract because they fear they may lose him is outrageous. What image does that create about the Hawks Organization around the league? If JJ couldn’t deliver during his contract year with his money on the line, what could possibly motivate him after he cut himself a max deal? The obvious answer is a title. But as we all know, the Hawks are not a title contender team (yet). On a tight budget, will we be anytime soon? If this becomes a revelation to JJ after he cut his max deal, then what would drive him to become the Hawk expected superstar? However, If JJ somehow pulls off this apparent rip-off of a deal, should we really be mad at JJ or Hawks Management Inc (HMI)? As they say don’t hate the player, hate the game or in this case, the administrators of the game (HMI).

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And I do recall KG being traded. I guess he wasn’t a superstar 3 years ago. T-Mac too

idiot

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Coyote Ugly!

When a fat-old-greasy UGLY man – gets a Beautiful Woman to come home with him?

He knows he’s Lucky! Before he throws her away?

He has another Beautiful Woman lined up to take her place!
If NOT?

He’s just a fat-old-greasy UGLY man. -see Joe Johnson-
-drmaryb-

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If Joe Johnson stays in Atlanta he will only be staying just for the money cause he knows the hawks aren’t going to win a championship during his time with the team. If he really wants to win and still have a good contract he will go to Chicago or Miami.

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Has Drew even picked out his coaching staff yet? When will this happen?

No. I have to wait until Sund tells me who to pick.

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good to hear that you will be able to follow the guys at the summer league – will be nice to see how they’re improving and how that offense is. and btw, always good work mc!

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see ya joe
see ya bibby
see ya joe smith
collins who?
focus on TEAM D
get a real point guard. j. will?
sign j. chill
buy a big or 2. j.o., camby, theo, chandler?
trade marvin for a 3 or sign kyle korver
put willie anderson on the bench next to john drew.
reduce tix prices

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Obrien- Stoudamire is a stud,name 5 Pf’s that you would take over him right now. In the LA series he was unstopable on offense at times and his defense was okay. I mean what do u expect from the guy playing 1 on 3, with Frye shooting 3’s and lopez getting limited minutes due to injury. The Lakers have the best/biggest front line in the league-I say he held his own.

Big Ray- Hope ur Mom is doing well,just wanted to wish her a speedy recovery.

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Blue – Ray
(Picture – Perfect)

Is your Mamma – Ill?
I pray she get well soon!

Let’s Go!

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I just got home & I haven’t read everything – okay.
-Now-
We had our Big & we sold him.
-So-
Obviosly, the Hawks don’t give a crap about Bigs.

It’s time to quit worryin’ about [4's] & [5's]
-and-
Just find us five guys who function as a single-minded
unit, develop chemistry, then make every attempt to become
as close as possible to a “TEAM” that resembles the:
86 CELTICS !!!
-Then-
find 3 or 4 scrappers to come off the bench & play as if…
their pants are on fire.
We already have the makings of that kind of team. They’ve
been together for a long while, grown up together, &…..
-now-
They finally have a coach to mold them into a unit.

Really thats more important than whether a center is,
6-10 or 6-11. Of course we must have talent, which we
already have a great deal thereof. Re-sign Childress &
Joe…the pieces are almost together.

*REMEMBER* five guys + single-minded purpose = success.

Really – it’s that simple.

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Joe Johnson is a good player, but I’m not big on the hype about him. Joe Johnson has been playing in an offense, where all the coach did was allow him to get the ball, hog it, and do whatever he wants. With the ball in his hands so much, JJ’s stats have been a little padded.

How well will JJ play and how will his stats look in offense that involves more player and ball
movement, without the ball in his hands so much??? (I have to assume Drew’s offensive scheme is gonna be more than just everybody else standing around and watching ISO-Joe).

Even if Joe leaves, I think there are several scenarios where the Hawks could be just fine or better.

PG Upgrade, another “scorer” (doesnt have to be a big name), more size (or atleast some serviceable, gritty “tough guy” in the front court)

I think more player and ball movement will benefit the athleticism of Marvin, Horford and J-Smoove as well, which should make them more productive.

We can do it without this clutchless star.

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The Hawks will probably offer Joe the max or something like it, even if he tells them he isn’t coming around. Word is that he’s already hanging out in Chicago and places like that. Well, you do as you must.

If we max him out contract-wise, and Larry Drew convinces him that chemistry and accountability will be better…he probably stays. If he’s not convinced that we can play better as a team and have better chemistry, or the Hawks fiddle f-ck around with the contract details, he’s gone. Above all, Joe is going to do what he wants to do, and he’ll make up his own mind. The ball is entirely in his court. All the Hawks can do is make promises and offers, and as everybody else says…”show him the money.”

I don’t even see the point of talking anymore about what he brings to the game. We know the guy can play. We know the playoffs went all wrong. What we don’t admit to enough is that this team did not act like a team, and that the strategies and tactics involved did not work (or change). We had given up by the time the second quarter of the first game in the series against Orlando was over. Nobody played well in that series. Nobody played as well as they could have.

As for Rick Sund….

People keep forgetting one small thing: the man can only do what his group of bosses lets him do. I don’t care how many times Michael Gearon and the rest of his clown possee says he has autonomy. He doesn’t and that’s that. Those guys have him on a tight budget. Now, does he do all the things you want him to? No. I still think he should have treated the Josh Childress situation a little differently.

But was anybody complaining about Jamal Crawford? Sund turned two guy we had no use for into a guy that I guarantee we wouldn’t have won 53 games without. Is this the kind of move that crappy GMs make? On the other hand, he did re-sign Bibby, Pachulia, and Williams, but who knew that all three would have subpar years (to be honest, Zaza was the best of the three, so how’s that for putting it into perspective)? And besides, that was something Mike Woodson wanted as well.

I wasn’t overly impressed with anything else he did, including signing Joe Smith. Then again, I expected Joe to play more, and to produce more. Neither one happened. I do have to say that he (and in reality, the ASG) must follow through with his comments on veteran players.

I’m not sure I want Randolph Morris to get another chance with this team. Offensively, he has some skill. However, he doesn’t put forth the effort on the boards in the amount of playing time I’ve seen him get, and he is a foul machine. Can’t blame those last two on Woody. I don’t want another Jason Collins situation either. The guy is overweight, out of shape, and very one dimensional. I think we clearly saw why he didn’t get the PT. Get me some better vets in here, or I’ll be bangin’ the drum right alongside the others.

Until then…

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It’s really simple, Johnson will go to the highest bidder.

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TheTruth……..the diff with the Smoove offer and the JJ offer is JJ doesn’t have to come back to us. All we had to do was match what Memphis gave Smoove. So like David Aldridge said in TV last night when reviewing the Hawks after the draft, JJ is after the first max offer and he thinks he will take it. That’s after communicating with him and off the record. JJ by the way, does not offer the same core value to a team that Dwight does. He doesn’t even have Durant’s impact.
JJ is headed for a max contract and if the ASG doesn’t offer first and they couldn’t get a home discount last year, then JJ is gone. Under those circumstances, he can leave because other teams don’t have the budget limitations that the ASG Circus presents to us.
So going forward, we are going to like the Spurs, we are going to have to grow our own within to stay within our budget. The review on Sund is still open, for his hands were tied with the coaching hire, but he did execute a nice Crawford trade which at least gave us hope for last season. We have to see how the Teague draft pick turns out before any criticism. I don’t like what Sund did with Bibby or Marvin’s contract, but they wanted to give it another run. That run is going to cost us dearly starting this year.
Now, we have to make major strides to offset any JJ loss for if we don’t get a S&T done with him, we can only apply 7M towards a replacement, a la John Salmons.
I am willing to take that risk for we aren’t currently configured for a championship run, with JJ on this team. He hasn’t produced in ANY playoffs yet. Why doesn’t everyone see that? Along with the fact that he isn’t a #1 superstar. Put him on the wing and let him stand there and wait for LeBron to give him the ball…..doesn’t matter, he is going to get paid.
Give me a selfless unit of 8-9 guys who pick up each other and excite the fan base. Crawford will take up the slack for JJ and we need some defense to stop the superstars that we can’t afford. Orlando put some depth on that bench and did overspend in places, and yes, they were disappointed. But they are probably only 1 move away from contending for the Finals again. (Move Vince Carter)

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Please do not give JJ a max deal. I would love to have him back for something reasonable but max money for anyone other than a legit superstar would be a disaster.

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DRMARYB-I agree. Miami, who already has a superstar in DWade, wants to sign CBosh, as well as another shooter to compliment DWade. If they’re successful in signing CBosh, I think they would turn their attention to a player like RAllen, who’d be a hell of a lot cheaper than JJ, and has proven he’s able to effectively playing with a player like DWade.

Chicago could sign him, but if they signed Lebron, along with LDeng and DRose, JJ would end up being a high priced #3 scorer at best, and there’s only one basketball. In other words, if he signed with Chicago, he’d be putting himself back in the same situation he went to so much trouble to get out of in Phoenix.

The Knicks wouldn’t offer him any advantages, other than money, as far as winning, being less stressful and fan friendly is concerned. The Nets would be a better option than the Knicks, but the situation would basically be the same. And if he had issues with Woodson’s gruff, my way is the only way mentality, he’d certainly have issues with the Little General, Avery Johnson.

I’m not certain at this point if even JJ knows where he wants to go. But if he’s looking to fit in with an East coast team that has a chance to possibly win it all, the Heat and Hawks are his best option among the teams that can afford to sign him out right.

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@ I_MUS_Write
My Momma is on the mend, big follow-up appointment on Tuesday; so I let’s a;; hope for the best… Thanks for the well wishes!!!

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I MUS WRITE,

Stoudemire is a stud on offense. But if his shot isnt falling, what else does he do to help the team? He doesnt block shots, defend, rebound or pass very well. So 4 things to keep in mind.

1. He has Steve Nash, 2 time MVP passing him the ball. How will he look playing with an average PG?

2. Defense wins championships.

3. He has had knee surgery and eye surgery.

4. His price tag.

So given his price tag, lack of defense, and injury history, I say no thank you to stoudemire. Give me Josh Smith for 5 years $60 mil instead of stoudemire for 5 years, $90 mil. That extra $30 mil can be used on another player.

Ken,

Players have to earn their minutes, I agree. But we are not very deep in the frontcourt, and the hawks don’t have much money to spend, especially if they resign JJ.

Also, Jamal is an expiring contract, so he can walk away from the hawks next year (if we don’t pay him) and we would get nothing in return.

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O’brien ,

That makes more sense in regard to Amare Stoudamire, than most things I’ve heard on him. Stoudamire needs to be handed the ball. He creates offense for himself once he has the ball in the setting that he likes, but mostly…he needs to have it delivered to him. Which is all well and good, but as you said – what happens when he isn’t playing with a Steve Nash type? Oh, and he’s not a passer by any stretch of the imagination…

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drmaryb

You’re right. The Hawks can’t low ball Joe. They just about have to offer him the max (for some reason, I think he won’t accept less to stay) and then hope he doesn’t decide he’d simply rather be somewhere else. After all, how do they suppose WE got him?

It’s a crappy fate, but we put damn near all our eggs in the Joe Johnson basket years ago. Now, after shoddy drafting and free agency maneuvers, we can ill afford to lose him. Asset Management. Some people may hate Rick Sund, but I’ll bet he wouldn’t have gone all “mediocre forward crazy” in ‘05 and ‘06….

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And for those of you who say Horford isnt a center because he cant guard Howard I have this to say. How many players can guard Lebron, Wade, or Kobe? Not many. Now should these players move positions because they cant guard the elite? You cant beat Howard. He is the best at his position and he is an animal. If you think youre going to beat the magic by beating Howard youre mistaken. Let him do what he wants. Youre not going to stop him. Defend the rest of the team

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And for those of you who say Horford isnt a center because he cant guard Howard I have this to say. How many players can guard Lebron, Wade, or Kobe? Not many. Now should these players move positions because they cant guard the elite? You cant beat Howard. He is the best at his position and he is an animal. If you think youre going to beat the magic by beating Howard youre mistaken. Let him do what he wants. Youre not going to stop him. Defend the rest of the team.

For a “nobody”, you sure make some intelligent posts…

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The Truth

Very nice conversation you started here. I see your points! I also have my doubts if JJ will find
that Max-Money either. Because, no team can pay him more than the Hawks, (see Bird rule)
and, no other team will value his services more than the Hawks! Joe, himself was a big
fan of ISO-Ball either. That’s what the HC asked him to do and it was asking too much from
one player. Joe, eluded to the teams chemistry and schemes as well.

Who, in their right mind would want to work that hard to get a good shot off?
But, that’s what happens when you have no penetrating PG and we never had that,
Ever, since Joe arrived, not to mention his own frustrations of how many franchise
PG’s the GM as passed over in recent draft history.

Its just a shame!

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* joe himself was NOT a big fan of ISO – basketball …

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And for crying out loud people. What do you have against Ray Allen? He would be a good fit here. We havent had a pure shooter in a while. Allen would be really nice on this team. Especially if joe could play the 3. But i doubt we have money for that

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yea joe didnt like iso ball thats why he dribbled for 20 sec & then forced up bad shots thats why he came here for. if there is such a thing as an iso player its joe we need him to go some where else.

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Good post drmaryb but I think that someone may be willing to overpay Joe once their hopes are dashed by Lebron-Wade-Bosh-Dirk-Amare signing elsewhere. Although I hope not.

And there’s no way to truly grade a draft until the season’s done, but flipping the low pick of a 50 year old man, into a proven scorer and 3 million dollars is looking like a passing grade to me.

I’m excited to see how Teague’ll do. I actually got to talk to Drew at the draft party Thursday last week, and he says Teague has been going hard all summer.

Still, I’ve yet to hear the Hawks address defense. Our perimeter defense has got to get better in order for us to truly improve.

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Jlewis

Thank You for the shout out last night! I got fired up after reading all the gloomy posters.
So, I got dressed to the 9’s and went to “The Velvet Room” for the Michael Jackson Party!
It was off the damn chain! Whew, still hung-over now.

But, the blog is awesome and hot this morning. All, the kids are still asleep (thank God!)
I couldn’t deal with them fools this early on a Saturday morning! ROF. LOL.

Blue-Ray
(Sharper Image)

Thank – You for the holler-back! Smile
Hey, what’s up with the Giants NFL Rookie Chad Johnson (of LSU)? Slammed his
SUV into a pole? (What? Fell asleep or DUI?), severely injured leg, exposed nerves and bones requiring
emergency surgery to save the leg. Ball game over before it started for this guy.

When will these rookies learn to party at home? Growing up. We called it a “House Party”
The only time you see the Po-Po is if the neighbors call 911 for disturbing the peace!
Be smart rookies! That contract is a very valueable thing as Ex-Governer Blagoiavich-sp
would say. SMH.

Anyway, I believe Joe has 27 million reasons to re-sign. No team can sign 2-Max players in their
primes. You just can’t win without 5 + A Bench! Its sounds great, but in reality, this is
not X-BOX 360. But, it does make for great conversations and fantastic dreams!

Besides, the other 12 players would have to buy into that and sign up to be “Punks on a Team”
And that, my friends will lead to “Snakes on a Plane” for the 41 road games! Not a good look!

I predict the Super-Stars will stay with their current teams and the second tier UFA’s will
move and migrate to those teams. At the end of the day? It is about the MONEY – make no
mistakes about that!

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The summer of 2012 is for the Hawks what the summer of 2010 is for Miami, Chicago, and the Knicks. If we had Pritchard as GM and an owner of Mr. Blank’s stature (instead of a knock-off of the Clampetts at the tail end of their wealth) we’d be well along in laying the foundation for that summer and feverishly competing during the interim. If the proper foundation is in place in ‘12 (i.e., complementary pieces required to immediately compete with Wade and crew in Miami & LeBron and crew in Chicago, capable and competent coaching, absence of nitwit ownership, etc) Superman WILL return to his roots. He won’t (can’t) say it allowed, but in fact he’s eager to get back. Wants his child to grow up around an early childhood environment similar to his own; wants a closer daily connection with his SACA mentors; and wants to re-connect with his life-long hometown crew (Smoove, et al).

What would be ideal would be to get Stevie Wonder (Sund), Ray Charles (Penderwhatever), and the misfit owners out of town ASAP, and replace them with a front office and ownership worthy of what the side could become. But while the blind boys continue to collect checks from the BASG, all of their moves need to fully consider the extent to which they might help or hurt come July, 2012.

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nobody

Look at your right hand. Now spread your fingers and blow on it.
Now, yell at it and say, “You HOT man! – You HOT!”
LOL

Great Stuff today!

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Let’s examine JJ’s time at Phoenix, the obvious picture was a man wanting to be the #1 scorer on the team, and coming to Atlanta was a way to do that. That takes away the idea he was a superstar when he came to Atlanta. Has Phoenix fallen off since he left, and that’s a resounding no. I take nothing away from Joe Johnson, but he never was or ever will be a deal breaker like Bryant of James. His aspirations to be like them simply will never happen, so do you want him on this team with his personality baggage, or go after another free agent than can fill the gaps, while the draft picks get their experience levesl up.

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Lets go ahead and put it this way. Joe Johnson is a nice top of the line Accord. He is serviceable. A good strong athlete. And a very good player. Now when u have an accord you cannot expect it to be a show stopper, head turning car. It is what it is. A nice car that gets you places. Some people on this blog want to make this Accord into a sports car that will turn heads and go from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Thats not happening. If this team decides they want a nice car that has some luxury but not as much as possible Joe is fine. But we cannot sign him expecting to receive a sports car from our purchase.

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Going on what O’brien has said. Joe is a pretty good defender. He is also pretty big for a 2 guard. He has said he would make the transition to SF. Do it. Sign someone to play the 2 spot because Crawford cannot be moved. He is the only man on our 2nd team that provides scoring. Leave him where he is. Get another Scorer out there and see if Joe will be a little more physical in the lane. Salmons would work. Not ideal but he would work. I would hate the headache it would cause but imagine if we had arenas playing the 2.

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newkid…

you and i are on the same page sir..

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Obrien- I hear you,but I never said I would trade Josh for Stoudamire. I was saying that Right now Stoudamire is the better player-IMO…..

Their rebound numbers are roughly the same 9/10 per game.On ball defense about the same. Josh gives u more as far as passing,steals,weak side D,which is why I wouldnt trade him for Amare.
On the flip side Amare has a much better offensive game-face up as well as back to the basket. Yeah Steve Nash has alot to do with making his teammates better but Stoudamire is not Shawn Marion- If u put Stoudamire with Utah and D Will his numbers would be the same. Shawn Marion left PHX and he has been servicable at best. Stoudamires knee looked fine to me -just ask the many victims he posterized this year.

Listen people we are broke or atleast the ASG seems to be -we’ve been doing this for years JJ is not getting a max deal here. Im standing by that until the ownership changes. Let him go else where- yeah we may not be as good but i dont see us as rebuilding if he leaves.

John Salmons would be a nice pick up,
Sign-Chillz

Look into aquiring the following bigs… R Lopez,Mcgee,Pryzbilla if the knee is healthy, Possibly Haywood

DJ Mbenga is hot garbage,I dont think he helps anymore than Collins did. If we were able to get a RLopez or Pryz -this team could be just as effective with a new offensive mind set

Teague,Salmons,Chillz,Smoove,Horford

Bench-JC,JC2.0,Marvin,Bibby,ZAZA,Lopez/Pryz

Also Anthony randolph might be a player to look into-6′11 athletic guy with a fluid game -He just doesnt fit into what Nelly does -no need for the guy to rot on the bench,im pretty sure he can be had for cheap.

JSS- No problem man, we all go through things,I just wanted u to know ur mom was in our prayers.

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A few slices of canteloupe chased by exhaust fumes from the mower drmayrb. Must be the influence of the smell of freshly cut grass on a beautiful Saturday morning.

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the nets had 12 wins….

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Id much rather see this team spending this money on our true franchise player….Al Horford

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thank you davenpoop. It just seems that our division is going to be filled with talent and scoring capability. The Nets want a max player. The heat want wade and a max player. And the wizards just blew through the draft and trades. Charlotte will still be charlotte. But if we want to compete we are going to need a lot of points and many people that can score those points. Not only are wade and lebron good scorers but they are great defenders. I think Ray Allen would be a perfect fit for this team if Joe resigns and plays the 3. Finally he has someone to dump the ball off to that can confidently knock down the three.

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Although if Joe goes, Horford is all but the undisputed franchise player.

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haha big ray. But if I had to pick one player on this team and say I want to build around him, it would easily be Al Horford. He is a leader and also has a wealth of talent.

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Bigdave

I’d like to say yes, but I think we’d be reading too much into it. Joe calling Larry Drew back was the courteous thing to do, and it says something about his relationship with Drew. But, I also heard he got along fine with Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix. He left Phoenix.

What are Joe’s priorities? What does he want most? Does he want to play for a team that has another star player? Does he want to contend for a title? Does he want the most money he can get? Does he want a better fan base (..grass is always greener…you know the rest)? Does he want to play for a team that has better chemistry? What does he want his role to be? What kind of gameplan does he prefer? So many questions.

Now we ask ourselves this question: can Drew give Joe anything he really wants? So does the phone call mean anything? My guess is that Joe was just doing the courteous thing. And that’s all. I don’t think Drew can convince Joe of anything unless he sells him on a plan to get this team to play better together, and be more focused. And that will be one heck of a sell.

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Nobody ,

I can only agree with you. I just like to joke about the noise that comes with saying anything positive about Horford to some people.

People think I’m a big Josh Smith fan. I am. But if push comes to shove, I choose Horford every time. It is what it is. He’s a guy you can build around, period.

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m. c. stop whining, and write some better articles. and the 2 guys from duke who didn’t get drafted their is a reason. so stop bashing the hawks because they felt like every team in the league did about the duke players and it aint like duke is a factory for nba players

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Big Ray I think we feel the exact same. I dont know why everyone on here wants to destroy the hawks completely. Trade him. Trade this guy. Blah blah blah. We had 53 wins. thats damn good. We just need to bring in a winning post season attitude.

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Very true bigray on the Thunder. and Mark- Duke Players off the top of my head. Shane Battier. Elton Brand. Carlos Boozer. JJ Reddick. Quite a few good NBA players right there.

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Nobody

That’s possible. As for Joe getting a max contract, I believe that as well. Or rather, I am sure he’ll get a big contract. Other teams can offer him five years, we can offer six. If we don’t offer six years and upwards of $117-$118 million, we’ll be out of the race in no time flat, I think. But he’ll get a big contract. Just like Elton Brand did, when he went to Philly, despite more lucrative deals offered by Golden State and the Clippers.

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I got a player for you. Brad Miller. Fiery kinda guy that so many of yall want. Can score and is big. Good guy for the second team.

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Dr can u share the results of the secret MRI u performed on Stoudamire- I mean what did u see that suggests his knee wont hold up. The guy is 2 years removed from his microfracture surgery and looks as good as he ever has.
Were talking about him because its the middle of the summer and a week before free agency offically begins. he wont get 23 mill a year and he wont be on our roster nex year -just comparing his game to similar players is all- For all the amare haters name me 4 better PF’s in the league-go ahead i’ll wait.
True Nash was their MVP but they wouldnt have got past Portland or won 2 games against LA without the guy. His second half of the season was just as good as any other PF in the league.

Sum ask what has Amare done……Well what has Josh Smith done? They’ve been in the league about the same amout of time -i year difference and amare has been an All Star multiple times while yung josh is still knocking on the door. I’ve never seen Smoove dominate arguably the best PF/C in recent history -Tim Duncan but Amare has just say’n the numbers dont lie

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Nobody-I agree Horford is the player we hould be try’n to extend. He made a huge jump last year and he is only going to get better. The way his midrange game is improving he could easily be a 20 pt guy with more touches.

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Okay Josh is cheaper and a better fit for our cash strapped organization-thats not the argument- Who is the better player right now….Stoudamire hands down.

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The Hawks need to sell tickets they have to bring in at least one top free agent its not going to be LeBron or Wade but someone like Bosh or Stoudamire that is only way to make money and sell jerseys ASG group wants to survive as an ownership they have to make some big moves.

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STEEL

Thanks for the link. I’m still waiting on hearing from Crawford himself. We’ve got nothing on him around here so far. Nothing on how he feels about being drafted, then having his rights traded, playing for the Hawks, nothing…

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No one on the hawks has ever won anything in the NBA. except for the guys that are too old to make a difference on the court. Thats our problem. Horford is the only true hawk with a championship and that was back in college.

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@ MC

The people who don’t like you, are just jealous you have a job that ‘they’ could never have. You do an excellent job, which is difficult, because we were spoiled for the time Sekou was here. Keep up the good work.

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nobody, we already did that start over that is and we were one of the few to do that formula after chicago did in the new cba cap era. sadly, it took us six years to get where they got in three. yup, they do have a franchise player but we overlooked three while we were at the bottom of the pool. we had our shot and now we got to pay or go back to the end of the line. i was very envious of the okc franchise last year. they were the best team in the east you know as they slopped it on all of the big boys from the east both away and at home. they look ready. didnt they play l a about as well as most teams did during the playoffs?

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2 years yunger than my mom……typo

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Oh wait I forgot dont tripp, sexxxxy, and the all important fa real. Did you say you were educated and mid 30s?

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IMUS WRITE too

I would not recommend a MRI to evaluate the bony structures of the knee. The preferred
technology would be a CAT – Scan. Avascular Necrosis is an extremely serious condition because
a loss of blood flowing through the Trabecular Canals of the bone tissue, (marrow) causes
Immediate death oft he bone tissue itself.

Because, the bone marrow is the sole site of red blood cell manufacturing, this is critical to not only the
body itself but also a death sentence to the bone. In this case the patella (knee cap).

Why is the patella so important to the knee, one might ask? Well, the patella’s number one funtcion is
actually four – pronged. To protect, pad and stabilize the most complex joint in the entire body,
specifically, the distal femur (the largest bone in the body) and the proximal tibia. The fourth
function is to provide an attachment site for the Anterior Cruciate Ligament along with the
Tibial Protuberance and Distal Femur Protuberance.

Micro-Fracture Surgery is innovative and leading edge technology. Before, this procedure was
developed, careers ended abruptly. Jamal Mashburn was the first player in the NBA to undergo this
procedure and Anfernee Hardaway (I believe) was the second. Because, there were no
precedented protocals established for the rehabilitation and therapeutic components?
Their subsequent rehabs went very badly, they did not begin the running therapy soon enough after
surgery, which would have strengthened the bone.

Micro-Fracture Surgery involves drilling tiny in-holes into the patella itselfan thereby
stimulating new blood vessels to form which will re-supply blood flow through the newly
formed vessels. Osteogenisis only occurs where there is hemeopetic production.
In other words, the bone can only grow if there is vascular blood supply.

Because, the knee is a weight bearing and pivotal joint, it allows you to jump and change directions when
mobilizing the body.

Greg Oden and Blake Griffin had this surgery this past season and they will benefit from the
Modified Rehabilitative Protocals that are now in place as did Amare. Bigger players,
like 7 footers rarely suffer this condition because they are not leapers and high jumpers.
Also, better shoe technology absorbs the landing shocks better for the dunkers and leapers.

Sorry, for all the medical terminology, but it is what it is. I hope I was able to explain the
Injury and corrective procedures in an understandable way. But, when you said MRI?
I had to go there. CAT-Scan my friend, not MRI.

I feel that Chris Paul’s injury is more severe, because he had one of his meniscuses
completely removed! Next for him is oseto-arthritis and a total knee replacement is likely
In his future after he hang up the shoes for good. Which may be sooner than later.
I don’t know of a procedure to replace the meniscus, only God knows that answer, since he
created and designed the knee itself.

God help us all!

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Jamal Mashburn and Anfernee Hardaway careers ended because of Avascular Necrosis of the Patella
(Knee Cap)

Knee Caps are nice to have. BTW, Amare has lost a lot of explosiveness due to the knee
condition. I noticed in the playoffs he is quickly becoming a jump shooter away from the basket.
So is, KG in Boston. Amare, is not the same player, post surgery (how could he be?)

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Blue-Ray
(3D – HDMI)

Thanks.

Extremity Joint Alignment is my specialty and passion. As well as the skull and spinal bone joint alignments!
I do the corrective manual adjustments and rehabilitation care.

Thanks for reading all that boring stuff that I love so much! That’s my story.

Healthy strong joints properly aligned can only be achieved when the spinal and peripheral
nerves are flowing at high levels (preferably 100%). Chiropractic Care removes nerve flow
Interference and turns an average Joe into a Super-Star! (Pun intended!). LOL!

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Black-Berry typing makes the paragraphs very choppy- sorry guys and gals.

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dmb microfractue is done on the tib fib and is for exactly what you say chris paul has. i was wondering if paul had his cartilage removed why they didnt do microfracture surgery which is actually done on the femur and tibia to promote cartilage like ingrowth to replace the meniscus injured and ineffective. amare is the best example of how it works well. i was amazed how he came back from his surgery.

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Dang IMUS!

Whew! It’s gettin’ HOT in here. You got me hyper-ventilating up in here.
IDK what to say? Blushing and Fanning myself now. Whew!

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WOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KuRlX12Rjo

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KevinM ,

You’re right. But the ASG can thank Billy Knight’s unique vision that the world will be ruled by forwards. Since then, it’s been impossible to find that rock solid 1 or 5 to anchor from. Bibby is not a pure pg (and never was), and we got him too late. Everything else has been either a failure or we got precisely what we paid for. In the meantime, we are left hoping that a young talented mid/latter first round pick can break the streak…

And we can forget getting that 5-10 year starter at center unless we mortgage away one of two excellent PFs…

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“Okay Josh is cheaper and a better fit for our cash strapped organization-thats not the argument- Who is the better player right now….Stoudamire hands down.”

Amare is a better scorer than Josh, by far. So is Bosh. But neither one is even close to the defensive player Josh is, neither one has Josh’s passing ability, and Amare is definitely not as good a rebounder as Josh. (It’s debatable whether or not Bosh is a better rebounder — his numbers are better, but nobody else on his team even tries to get boards, so who knows whether or not he’d put those numbers up playing next to another strong rebounder like Horford.)

So if you’re asking who is the better player… maybe Josh is not better than either of them, but he’s certainly not worse.

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I am really lovin ‘nobody’ ideas..Putting Joe at SF and getting Ray Allen would be ideal..How is it, O’Brien, that we dont have the money to sign anybody else to play SG? Ray Allen is 34/35 yrs old..I cant see him costing too much to get. Also, Salmons should not be all that too expensive either. Rick Sund should at least check out that idea cause like they said, ‘u can never can have too many shooters’.

Also, I was too on that bandwagon to get rid of Joe, and still kinda is if we have to pay him max to keep him. We all have to understand that Joe was playing under Woodson’s system to play ISO Joe, but with Larry Drew’s system, Joe may be THAT top scorer we have always wanted in Joe b/c 1st of all, with Drew’s system, Joe wouldnt be all worned out cause it would be more like a catch-and-shoot thing. If the play is run correctly, and I mean CORRECTLY Josh and Jamal, Joe and Ray Allen for that matter would be our ‘Orlando Magic’ shooter clones. Teague could be the clone of Jameer Nelson with his speed to the basket, Joe and Allen would be the clones of Barnes and Rashard Lewis, and Josh/Horford could only wish they could be the clone to Dwight Howard but hopefully could give him as much trouble as possible. Our bench would be Shun Livingston(if we could get him cheap)/Bibby-PG(trade bait),Jamal C/Jordan C-SG, Marvin/Mo Evans-SF(trade bait), Horford/Morris-PF, Mcgee/Zaza-C(trade bait). Trade Chills rights 4 McGee. Trade Bibby, M Evans, & Zaza 4 cash (lol) or another back-up PF if Morris dont pan out.

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MsDee,

If we resign JJ, we will be over the salary cap. If we want to sign free agents, all we will have is the mid-level (approximately $6 mil or so), and the bi-annual exception (approximately $3 mil or so). And we cannot combine them to sign one player.

In my opinion, Salmons will probably get $8 mil or so. And if Ray Allen will take a huge paycut, I dont see him leaving Boston.

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Avery Johnson has tagged Sam Mitchell as an assistant .. i figured he would be in play here given his GA ties..

i wonder who coach Drew has in mind..

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There’s at least one good thing about all of this FA posturing, and that is, it will all come to a head within the next 2 weeks. If we do offer JJ a max, or near max contract, and he accepts, look for the Hawks to help pay for it by trading JaCrawford’s expiring contract.

If we end up resigning Childress, we can look for MEvans’ expiring contract to be moved as well. That would leave a bench with MWilliams, ZPachulia, JoCrawford and MBibby under contract. We could definitely afford to sign another FA Big, and maybe a vet PG, and we could get either or both in the JaCrawford and MEvans trades.

If we lose JJ, I really like the JSalmons option. He might not give us everything JJ has to offer, but he’s solid, and could end up being just as effective in HC LDrews OFF system. The thing I liked most about him was his willingness to roll up his sleeves and go toe to toe with JJ, especially defensively. He just didn’t back down.

He’ll have a lot more OFF and DEF help playing with us than he’d have with the Bucks. Even without JJ, with the right off season moves, this team could still end up better overall than last yrs team.

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G4 – SUMMIT

The World Financial Powers are holding the G-2O Summit in Canada today. The protesters are out in
full force and are being gassed by what looks like the National Guard!

Wow! The people are really upset about the Financial Systems of the World and should be, as am I.

Did the NBA’s version: The G4 – Summit add 16 players? There seems to be that many opted – out
Players available to attend that meeting. LOL!

And, when they meet? Will the National Guard be called in to keep the Owners at bay?
And, should they meet somewhere like – well, Canada – for safety pre-cautions as well?

Just wondering? Haven’t heard any updates on the big meeting! Maybe, they will add
The Financial Woes of the real world to the meeting’s agenda. Just – maybe.

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the thing that makes Atlanta fans mad is that their teams never spend in free agency. They’d rather have some grass roots movement with a player they draft and then when the player is ready for a big contract they let him walk. The Braves were notorious for this and still are. I just love how the Falcons let Deion get outta here and the Braves let all that Hall of Fame pitching walk out the door…Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, Steve Avery (lol)

The biggest thing the Hawks have done has been pass on CP3 and Deron Williams, trade Pau Gasol on draft day, let Dominique Wilkins walk. We’ve never had a notable coach of any significance.

I remember when we traded for Rasheed Wallace and everyone was excited. He was here for 1 game then traded to Detroit (I don’t even know who we got for him) where they would go on to dominate the Eastern Conference for half a decade. That’s the type of stuff the Hawks do.

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O’Brien,

Ok than well what u say is true, “the mid-level (approximately $6 mil or so), and the bi-annual exception (approximately $3 mil or so)” how is it that we can get Salmons for $8 mil, if we cant combine both? And I can see Ray Allen taking a paycut cause again, he will be 34/35 yrs old, I cant see NOBOBY over paying Ray when he all but had 1 true showing in the Finals. He went ghost in the last 3 games. If we can pay Salmons $8 mil, we should definely be able to pay Ray that much.

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Obrien..

absolutely. ill be interested in who joins Thibodeou staff, on a comparable salary..

wouldnt ya love Hubie/Cheeks..

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If Ray Allen can ball and run around like crazy (ala Reggie Miller & Rip Hamilton) at age 34/35?
Why can’t Joe still ball at age 33? Seems like all that running keeps you young.

I heard Ray Allen hasn’t eaten a cheeseburger in what? 8 years? And Rip, runs like what?
Everyday to stay conditioned. Joe also appears to be in fantastic shape as well.

I believe, his only injury was a ruptured achilles, before the NBA, I think. He definitely
can play 6 plus more years, why not? Kobe is what 31 years old? Also, see the Big Three.

Just Pay the man his money! And – Let’s Get it On!

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MsDee,

I meant Salmons can get $8 mil on the market from another team, but not from the Hawks. The most we could offer him is the mid-level ($5.8 – $6 mil).

Even if Ray Allen takes a HUGE paycut AND leaves Boston, I can see him going to Miami or Chicago to be the shooter they need.

The bottomline is, I dont see any big name players taking a pay cut to come and play for the Hawks. They will take a paycut to play for teams like the Celtics, Lakers, Heat, Magic, Cavs (if LeBron stays), Suns and Bulls (those kind of teams)….but not the Hawks.

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Oh..ok

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O’Brien,

Well if we trade Bibby, Mo Evans, & Zaza for cash, (u know Sund and the ASG loves the cash) we could get the big name players..right??

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Woah….. Well Dam Dr LOL… You really broke the microfracture thing all the way down. Now maybe you can teach Nobody how to talk to women, and to stop hate’n on his elders.

Almost forgot HAHAHAHAHA…………………….

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http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2010/06/21/draftfree-agent-bits/

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LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS:
Let’s hope that 3rd day possible match up of #2 pick Stephen Curry vs #1 Pick John Wall occurs. Although it’s iffy whether Stephen Curry will play. We will also see #4 pick Wesley Johnson and 5th pick DeMarcus Cousins participate. Preliminary rosters are based on several different sources. Roster movements are in flux, therefore we will update them continuously.

Atlanta Hawks:
Jordan Crawford
Omar Samhan* May end up on Mavericks Summer Roster
Pape Sy
Jeff Teague

Detroit Pistons:
Austin Daye
Marquez Haynes
Jonas Jerebko
Greg Monroe
Edgar Sosa
Aj Slaughter
DaJuan Summer
Terrico White

Chicago Bulls:
Matt Bouldin
James Johnson
Trent Plaisted
Samardo Samuels

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Christian Eyenga
Danny Green
Tasmin Mitchell

Dallas Mavericks:
Dominique Jones
Jeremy Lin* has to make summer league team invited to pre mini camp
Dominique Jones
Omar Samhan* May end up on Atlanta’s Summer Roster

Denver Nuggets:
Brian Butch
Coby Karl
Jamahl Mosley
Ty Lawson

Golden State Warriors:
Stephen Curry *Only will play 2 games
Anthony Randolph*Not certain to participate
Ekpe Udoh
Reggie Williams
Jeremy Wise
Brandon Wright
Ben Woodside

Houston Rockets:
Chase Budinger
Jordan Hill
Patrick Patterson
Jermaine Taylor

Los Angeles Clippers:
Al Farouq Aminu
Marqus Blakely
Eric Bledsoe
Williw Warren

Los Angeles Lakers:
Derrick Caracter
Javaris Crittenton
Devin Ebanks

Memphis Grizzlies:
Xavier Henry
Greivis Vasquez

Miami Heat:
Dexter Pittman
Damian Johnson* has to make summer league team invited to pre mini camp
Jarvis Varnado

Milwaukee Bucks:
Tiny Gallon
Darington Hobson
Larry Sanders

Minnesota Timberwolves:
Nemanja Bjelica
Lazar Hayward
Wesley Johnson
Paulo Prestes
Jamar Smith

New Orleans Hornets:
Craig Brackins
Darren Collison
Quincy Pondexter
Marcus Thorton

New York Knicks:
Jaycee Carroll
Landry Fields
Jerome Jordan
Andy Rautins
Michael Washington

Phoenix Suns:
Earl Clark
Dwayne Collins
Taylor Griffin
Dwayne Jones
Gani Lawal

Portland TrailBlazers:
Luke Babbitt
Mike Green
Ekene Ibekwe
Armon Johnson
Joe Krabbenhoft
Reyshawn Terry
Elliot Williams

Sacramento Kings:
Wayne Chism
DeMarcus Cousins
Sylven Landesberg
Ryan Thompson
Hassan Whiteside

San Antonio Spurs:
James Anderson* injured hamstring may sit out
DeJuan Blair
Alonso Gee
James Gist
Malik Hairston
Curtis Jerrells
Ryan Richards
Garrett Temple

Toronto Raptors:
Solomon Alabi
Ed Davis

Washington Wizards:
Trevor Booker
Cartier Martin
Raymar Morgan
JaVale McGee
Hamady Ndiaye
Kevin Palmer
Jerome Randle
John Scheyer
John Wall
Nick Young* May participate

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While we’re on the JJ discussion, Sekou had this comment on his hangtime blog. It was a comment JVG made during the finals;

“Your best player can’t be your best-liked player,” Van Gundy said, meaning being Kobe has often meant getting in teammates’ faces during practices and games.

Although JJ might not be our best liked player, I think all his teamates like him. If we resign him, we need him to be more vocal, and to get in guys faces. Horford is on his way to being a leader, but JJ is still our best player, so he needs to contribute some leadership.

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Nibiru Johnson

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IMUS WRITE

Micro-Fracture. What little I know about the surgery itself is what I learned from reading
the sports papers and articles that tried to explain Amare’s procedure, when he had it done.

I was wrong about the site of the drilled pin-holes, Doc helped me out with that part.
It’s the distal femur and proximal tibia and fibula bones, in other words, where all the long bones meet up at the knee joint itself. I said it was drilled into the patella.

Again, thanks Doc for the help there. Also, Doc said that this would be the right procedure
for Chris Paul’s injury. To stimulate new cartilage growth in the meniscus location.
I refer many patients to my favorite World Renowned Spinologist for consultations, evaluations and treatment options for spinal care. And, to the Orthopedist for extremity options as well.

Anyway, I will get onto that stank ole mule named: nobody. He started off on a tootsie roll today,
got a few shout-outs and compliments, stated to believe his press – clippings, got the big head,
chest swole up:

And, now we got to beat hia azz back down to earth! Shall I send nobody to his room?
Or, make him go face the wall and stand in the corner. They are both highly effective
corrective techniques and works great on kids ages 6 and under.

that shouldn’t be too hard? After all, he said it himself, he is nobody! ROF. LOL.
Now leave my baby IMUS alone, nobody – just stop it!

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Also, at the time the Hawks traded for Sheed, he was big time damaged goods. The general opinion on him was that he was a locker room cancer and off the court disaster waiting to happen. This is why the Blazers unloaded him for Shareef, a player with an expiring contract they had no intention of keeping. When the Pistons acquired him, he was seen as a huge risk by Joe Dumars and Larry Brown. Chances are if he had stayed in Atlanta, he would have been the same malcontent he was in Portland, in light of the instability and lack of a strong locker room presence the Hawks had at the time.

And anyway, at least from a statistical point of view, Josh Smith is at least as good as Sheed.

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Blue-Ray
(Clear – Image)

Here’s a joke for you, from Rush Hour 3:

Why I don’t like the Police, is even when he is with a woman, he always thinking about getting his man,

TBS Very Funny

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LeBron is not going to accommodate for any one.

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It does not look good for us folks Chi Town is going to be the big winners they had great NFL off season getting Peppers and now there going to get the big prize in LeBron James and CB4.

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Phillip I disagree with, you can’t just let your best player just walk a way with out atleast trying 2 get him back or get somthing for joe, if there is sports where it’s very hard 2 make it 2 the top then basketball is that sport, team are alway’s trying 2 build threw the draft but never succed.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

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Hawks have a few pieces and joe is part of that part, bringing joe back is a big plus for the hawks, and if you can add either a star player at the 3 or 1 position along with joe then you have a chance come playoffs.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

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If ASG want 2 make money they are going 2 have 2 spend the money period and stop being so cheap.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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Let say hornet want horford do you make that trade i say yes.
MARVIN AND HORFORD for PAUL.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!

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Darrell, the thing is its gonna be awfully hard to get that other star player to go along with Joe. If we keep him we have hardly any room left to add anybody else. Joe is a shooting guard (albeit a very good one), probably the easiest position to fill these days. Just don’t think spending that much money on his worth it. I’d much rather spend max money on a PG who makes everybody on the team better or a C/PF with a post up game that you can build an offense around. Joe is neither and as long as he is here we are going to be stuck in the 40-50 win and 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs. Just face it Joe is a guy who should be playing 2nd or 3rd fiddle on a championship caliber team but here he’ll always be our top guy.

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dmb;
“What is the MOI and Etiology of the knee injury requiring, Micro-Fracture surgery.
Is it Immunological (Auto Immune System) in nature or repetitive stresses?”

to my knowledge it is for severe injury repetitive stresses, in general early degenerative arthritic changes in someone who needs a very radical procedure to continue to function at a previous level of activity. it is not the run of the milll guy on the street with osteo of the joint yet though it may be, it is a painful operation with significant specialized rehab ad i imagine the long term hazards are unknown.

for that reason, if it wasnt done as it is something they do in anticipation of problems, i suspect paul’s injury is partial tear though i havent read anything about the nature of his injury. because of federal hippa rules and regs this information is just not out there as much as it used to be about athletes and their injuries.

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First the Hawks Sign Joe Johnson

Then Trade Josh Childress and Mo Evans to Washington for JaVale McGee a young 7 footer

Then in Free Agency sign Brendan Haywood (Shoot blocker and veteran) and Anthony Morrow (a great 3pt shooter)

The Line up should look like this:

PG-Teague/Bibby
SG-Johnson/Ja.Crawford/Jo.Crawford
SF-Williams/Morrow
PF-Smith/McGee/Pachulia
C-Horford/Haywood/McGee

Reserves:Pape Sy lol
Sherron Collins

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PHILLIP if you not sign joe back and lets say you sign saloms, and the hawks try 2 go the cheap route, i guarantee the hawks win no more than 30games with and avg of 7,000 fans per game, and ASG will loose at lease 30mill or more.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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LET SAY THE HAWKS GO CHEAP.
STARTER TEAGUE, JAMAL, CHILL, JOSH, HORFORD.
or
STARTER TEAGUE, SALMONS, MARVIN, JOSH, HORFORD
30 WINS AT BEST WITH NO ONE AT THE GAMES.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!

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Now if you sign joe and chill and haywood and trade marvin, horford for paul.
STARTER PAUL, JOE, CHILL, JOSH, HAYWOOD
GAMES WILL SELL OUT AND YOU WIN AT LEAST 50 GAMES.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!

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CHRIS PAUL WILL BRING FANS 2 THE GAMES WITH CHRIS PAUL JERSEY EVERY WHERE.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

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Is it me or do the Hawks have the worst PR team ever. All the other teams have publicly introduced their draft picks. We haven’t done squat. Another reason why this team doesn’t have that many fans. There is no connection with them.

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Yea Grandad thats what I’m saying. What is wrong with this team???? Man why can’t we have the OKC Thunder. They actually seem like they care. The Hawks PR team (if they even have one) is one of the worst in ALL OF SPORTS IN THE COUNTRY.

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lewis thats the same thing that JJ said about woodson. I guess JJ would consider the hawks more seriously if they could get a STARTING CENTER, so they would have a chance to compete seriously.

Please no more 1 and done will trying to convince the fans that Horford is a center.

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Grandad what if the Frenchie turns out to be a find like Diaw. I for one is looking forward to the summer league to see how our young one are developing. Ill reserve all comments til we really see if we have any ballers undercover.

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Need to sign Kurt Thomas. Bring a little toughness in here.

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http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jordan-crawford

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I meant a 6′9sg, 6′9sf, and 6′9pf and a 6′10 C. lol!

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Come on now, lets be real. Did you forget D. Howard is in our division and destroyed us. Who on your roster is going to help with that situation? Al is all we have against him and he has his limitations against him.

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If anybody has espn insider….POST THIS on here…it talks about Joe Johnson’s free agent value….VERY INTERESTING!!!!..http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=5322898&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5322898

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I’d be cool with salmons. I think our core of talent (even without Joe) is much better than what he has played with the last 2 playoffs. Both seasons his teams have surprised people and stretched series to 7 games against Hawks and Celtics. Plus dude plays in the playoffs. JOE JOHNSON WAS NOT A LOT OF HELP IN THE PLAYOFFS. More like a hinderance that wants max money.

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Thanks MC;
Glad you didn’t take the sarcasm personal.
As always,
I’ve got your back.
Starved for info.
Draft was like X-mas – now that all I got was…
‘underwear again’ – @ least I’m not incontinent yet.
Me & or the Hawks have not stooped to drafting *Depends*.
*NY Knicks 1st pick [2nd round] *Landry Fields* for X-mas.

I’m still upset over *Pleiss = future *Gasol.
Why do you think Sam Presti wanted him so badly.
They needed a [5] just like us.
Presti considered [pretty] smart by peers.

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Lebron leaning towards Chi?

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5333896

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TERRELL-When a HC or GM drafts a particular player, although he may not be perceived as the best available player talent wise, he just might be the best player or fit for the particular OFF and/or DEF system that HC employs.

We know LDrew will employ an OFF system that’s completely different from the ISO, jump shooting dependent one Woodson relied on. But until we know precisely what it entails, we can’t determine how effective any particular player will be at any particular position while playing within it.

As far as MWilliams is concerned, it’s not a matter of finding out if he can do better than last yr, it’s a matter of getting him to duplicate or exceed his previous level of achievement. If LDrew’s OFF system involves everyone, and if Teague runs the team properly, Marvin will produce, despite what negative minded people might say about him.

Marvin can certainly play DEF well enough to play SG, and if he’s required to move around and/or come off picks, rather than clearing out and standing around watching JJ and Crawford go ISO, or Bibby launch 3’s, he could possibly function at SG. He certainly wouldn’t be the best option, but he could be a good option.

I took a look at John Salmons’ career, and MCunningham was right, he has been very inconsistent, especially for a player with his talent. Just think about it, until getting traded to the Bucks, he hasn’t shown much consistency. And you have to factor in the fact that his play last yr was influenced by the fact his will be his last chance at a big contract.

For those who think JJ has been inconsistent and unable to rise up at crunch time, imagine how disappointed we’d all be if we signed Salmons to a big contract and he reverted back to the same inconsistent player he’s been throughout most of his career.

Anyone who thinks the Hawks will automatically become a lottery team again if we lose JJ, most not realize MWoodson is no longer the HC of the Atlanta Hawks. Here’s why I say that:

1-LDrew only has to get Marvin’s production back up to the 13-15pt range, assuming we don’t resign JChildress.

2-With JTeague replacing MBibby at PG, our overall team speed, quickness, penetrating ability and DEF will improve, as well as points and assists from the PG position. If JoCrawford starts, which is very likely if LDrew wants to maintain JaCrawford’s firepower off the bench, all he would have to do is average 13-15PPG. And by all indications, he certainly has the ability to do just that, especially in Drew’s OFF system.

We can certainly look forward to having an improved AHorford at C and JSmith at PF to go along with JTteague @ PG and JoCrawford @ SG. A bench of MWilliams, ZPachulia, MEvans and JCrawford, along with any FA’s we sign, would certainly get us back into the playoffs.

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OBRIEN-If JJ doesn’t resign, we will likely do a sign and trade with him. If that’s the case, and depending on what we get in return for him, we’d be wise to hold onto JaCrawford. Even with our offensive limitations last yr, JaCrawford made up for a lot of our OFF short comings last yr, and won numerous gms for us.

His firepower off our bench could allow us to start rookie SG JoCrawford. Again, if we get more overall production from our starting SF and PG positions, we wouldn’t have to get as much OFF production as we got from JJ at the starting SG position. Also, improve efficiency and/or production from PF-JSmith and C-AHorford would also compensate.

We also have to factor in the improvement that will come about as a result of the HC change, and the overall benefits we’ll derive from that. I may be the only one that believes this, but while having JJ on the team will make us much better than last yrs team, not having him won’t make us any worse.

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Joe Johnson has been the consemate pro for the Hawks. The man obviously respects himself and in turn his team recieves the same respect. No strip club, gun club, cheating on the spouse club, smoking tree club, DWI club, female abuse club, dogfighting club incidents with the guy. He played out his original contract, imagine that, playing out your contract and not asking for a raise. Now he recieves a good bashing from the fans because he’s about to get paid for his patience. You say he’s not worth this and max is too much because he ain’t all that. The NBA market will decide how much he is worth. On a final note, look back over the playoffs and you’ll see that Lebron, Dwight, Dwayne Carmello, KG, Dirk, Tim, Steve, Amare Deron all laid eggs in the playoffs not just Joe. Peace

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Why are people BOWING DOWN to Joe like he’s somebody legendary. Many of you on this blog make Joe seem much better than what he is. He’s nowhere near a max deal player. I guess I’m one of the few ones who could care less if Joe leaves.

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“While the Hawks hope to keep Johnson in Atlanta, several sources said the Knicks have emerged as his first choice. If they must lose him, the Hawks’ preference is to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Knicks.”

“But if no players on the Knicks’ roster appeal to Atlanta, Johnson, believing he will make up the difference through endorsements and through buying stock shares in Madison Square Garden, is willing to take less money to play with the Knicks, according to sources.”

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That would be pretty hilarious if he signed with the Knicks while the real superstars like LeBron and Wade either stay put or went to Chicago. I’d like to see him win 53 games with that mess of a franchise.

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Hawks 4 life, thats what FA is for. Not to mention Woody never used the bigs he had against Howard. And btw, it was Nelson and the wide open 3’s that destroyed us when we played the Magic, not Dwight. Now that’s keeping it real.

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PPierce Career 22/6/4
JJohnson Career 18/4/4 (scoring with the Hawks in his Career = 22 PPG)

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If Joe has made up his mind to go to New York, I wouldn’t mind sign-and-trading him for Wilson Chandler and T-Mac on a one-year deal with a draft pick or two thrown in… you get someone who can potentially start over Marvin in Chandler and a guy who is at worst a massive expiring contract and at best someone who can recapture some of his old superstar magic.

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Here’s the thing — if Joe stays and the Hawks keep this core intact, we are assured of having a playoff team in our city for the next 4 or 5 years, but we are also assured of never winning a title with that team. If Joe leaves, the Hawks are sure to take a big step back in the immediate future, but it leaves them with more possibilities going forward to retool the team and possibly acquire the players needed to win a title.

If I had to choose, I’d rather keep Joe, simply because I trust Joe to keep this team in the playoffs more than I trust Rick Sund to rebuild a Joe-less team into a title contender. But I gotta admit, neither option is all that great.

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Co-sign Najeh pretty much 100% all of the time

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Ken Strickland,

I agree with your post. But I think you missed my point. Larry Drew will not start a rookie (Jordan Crawford) at SG, when a guy like Mo Evans (who started at SG for Orlando 2 seasons ago and is better at SG than he is at SF) is available. In your scenario, all I’m saying is Mo Evans will start, NOT Jordan Crawford.

Najeh,

T-Mac is an unrestricted FA, so I dont think that deal would work. Are you interested in David Lee though? In the past, I have proposed the Hawks trying to sign T-Mac for 2 reasons.

1) Marketing – He was almost voted a starter in last year’s ASG, and I think fans will buy his Hawks jersey and come out to game

2) He could be a low risk, high reward player.

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“T-Mac is an unrestricted FA, so I dont think that deal would work. Are you interested in David Lee though? In the past, I have proposed the Hawks trying to sign T-Mac for 2 reasons. ”

I was thinking the Knicks could sign-and-trade him to the Hawks if the Hawks were to sign-and-trade Joe over there. I don’t know if a sign-and-trade for a sign-and-trade is permitted under the CBA or not, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I agree that T-Mac would be a potentially high-reward player who would probably boost attendance somewhat, and wouldn’t be too risky if he was signed to a short-term deal.

I think David Lee is a terrific player, but he’s not a center. The Hawks already have two All-Star caliber PFs. I don’t know that Lee would necessarily help the Hawks fill a position of need.

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Najeh..

now i know how athletes feel when journalist take a quote out of context and use it in isolation.. but you’re absolutely right. however, to my point, how Joe is maximized in Drew’s mystery system where he is the primary option out of 4other “attackers” is still unknown…

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I’M GOING TO MIAMI?

Wait! Miami does need a redundant perimeter layer to compliment Wade.
Just as Chicago doesn’t need that to assist James, Bosh makes more sense there.

Same in Miami, Boozer makes more sense to help Wade.
So, the average Joe has to look at NYC – and he thinks the – fickle fans of Atlanta booed him, then go to the
greener pastures of NYC and see what a real HOT kitchen feels like.

What next, try New Jersey and see if anyone can tolerate the antics of a Little General?

Joe is running out of options very quickly. Loyalty? Not amongst owners nor players!
LeBron has already dissed Joe and Wade will be next. Why? Because he Need them more than they Need him. Period.

IF Atlanta is Joe’s 4th option and choice, then MannyT’s scenario on Blue-Ray’s Blog this morning?
Should go into full effect! MannyT mapped out a dynamic strategy for the ASG to implement
in dealing with Mr. Johnson. “Big Willy Style”. Go check that out!

That explains Joe’s return call to Larry Drew as more than Blue-Rays back up explanation as possibly
being the courteous thing to do – or, the right thing to do! If Joe has crow in his gums?
then he need to look hard at Atlanta being a suitor WHO really appreciates and wants him back here!

All parties would be well served and the 27 million extra dollars should come in handy when he hangs up the
Nikes! Hey, if doesn’t insist on a No-Trade clause, we can always trade him down the road to the
Clippers … See Dominique Wilkins!

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Question:

Can Mr. Johnson play without the ball in his hands – like Ray & Rip & Reggie Miller does?
If so, resign him NOW!

I believe he can play within a sound offensive system where everybody is constantly in motion.

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OBRIEN-I understood what you meant. The only way I see LDrew not being willing to start rookie JoCrawford is if he doesn’t demonstrate during training camp and preseason that he’s ready. Keep in mind, LDrew is only on a 2yr contract, and MEvans in in the last yr of his. I just don’t think he’ll start Evans knowing he might not be here next yr. I just don’t see him having the same stupid bias against rookies, and repeating the same stupid mistakes that doomed Woodson.

It would make more sense to start JoCrawford now and allow him to get his feet wet and learn from his mistakes. LDrew is not MWoodson. Besides, if we’re successful in resigning JChildress, his versatility and Marvin’s presence on the bench would likely signal the end of MEvans tenure here anyway.

I believe we’ll sign another center, but it will be whoever accepts our MLE. TChandler will become a FA only if he opts out of the final yr of his contract, which is expected. If he does opt out, we won’t have to make a trade to acquire him. I definitely don’t see LJames going to the Knicks. With his desire to win a championship, and after the way he reacted to losing in the playoffs the last 2yrs, there’s no way he’d go to a dysfunctional and talentless team like the Knicks.

If he leaves the Cavaliers, he will likely sign with the Bulls. I can see some serious adjustment and chemistry issue with Lebron, JJ, DRose and only one basketball. They would need a PF more than another perimeter player like JJ. I can certainly see Lebron doing some serious damage teaming up with Dirk and JKidd of the Mavericks. Even JJ would be a serious addition for that team.

The truth is, we have so many options available to us if JJ decides not to resign.

1-We can do a sign and trade with him and get a player(s) and/or draft pick.

2-We can either resign JChildress, or do a sign and trade with him as well.

3-We can sign a FA SG to replace JJ and trade JaCrawford if we do.

4-We can start rookie JoCrawford and continue bringing JaCrawford off the bench.

5-We can start JaCrawford and bring JoCrawford off the bench.

The Pistons won their last championship without a bonafide star. They did it by using the team concept and by developing and using a solid bench.

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testing 1 2 3

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