Atlanta Hawks: Why ASG wants J.J. back (even for the max) UPDATE: Still waiting
UPDATE: Still no word on an agreement between J.J. and the Hawks. There’s been no indication that a deal won’t happen soon, with J.J.’s agent telling Marc Berman of the New York Post: “[H]e’s comfortable in Atlanta, happy, and they can offer him one more year.”
If J.J. likes the team and the money, all that’s left for the Hawks is to wait . . .
Talked to a person with insight into ASG’s rationale for offering J.J. a max contract. Basically, the plan is for the Hawks to re-sign J.J. and then add the necessary pieces to make them a true contender in the Eastern Conference.
Letting Joe leave would mean the Hawks would be worse in the short term, and the Hawks aren’t prepared to take that step back (the sign-and-trade options aren’t so appealing as to assure the team would maintain or improve). Once they made that philosophical decision, they took a look at the market for J.J. It quickly became clear that a few teams with cap space were ready to offer him the non-Bird max, so the Hawks made an aggressive play to re-sign him and hope that pays off with a commitment from J.J. soon.
Atlanta’s basketball people recognize that re-signing J.J. alone isn’t enough to improve the team (because, well, it’s basically the same team) and ASG is not opposed to exceeding the luxury-tax threshold to sign the right player. That’s a good thing since they don’t have much choice. If J.J. re-signs, the Hawks would have about $68 million in committed salaries when including Chill’s $4.8 million qualifying offer and Jordan Crawford’s rookie-scale salary. The NBA projects the tax threshold will be about $68 million, so the Hawks would be bumping up against it with only 10 11 players under contract.
That leaves a minimum of three two open roster spots. If Chills signs an offer sheet (Washington is interested) and the Hawks don’t match it (they haven’t ruled out matching or working out a sign-and-trade) then the committed salaries would be roughly $63 million with four three open roster spots. The Hawks want a bona fide center and ASG is open to using the mid-level exception to sign one. They also will explore trade opportunities, though there haven’t been any serious discussions about potential moves because Rick Sund is focused on J.J. right now.
Here is where the draft ties into ASG’s thinking. The Hawks traded down with the belief that Jordan Crawford (he needs a nickname, right?) would still be there at No. 27. They liked Kentucky’s Daniel Orton and would have taken him with the No. 31 pick but he went 29th to the Magic and they didn’t like any of the other centers available. So they sold the No. 31 pick for close to $3 million, and that money could help offset their potential luxury tax bill and also the hit they would take for missing out on the tax escrow rebate.
ASG rejects the view expressed by David Aldridge and others that a potential sell of the team influenced the max offer to J.J. Michael Gearon Jr. has insisted that he is not interested in selling his share. It’s expected that Steve Belkin eventually, finally, mercifully will be bought out and another investor will be sought. The Hawks are said to be one of the few teams with no debt on their franchise.
So a future sell of the team is not what’s driving the decision to max out J.J., according to the person privy to ASG’s plans. It’s about the belief that re-signing J.J., adding more pieces and improving their tactics and approach under L.D. will allow the Hawks to finally take the next step. As far as I know, all the speculation about using J.J. in a sign-and-trade is off base, perhaps a way for skeptical observers to rationalize what they see as a bad contract offer from the Hawks. It’s always possible, I guess, but I haven’t heard anything that leads me to believe they want to send J.J. along (a sign-and-trade obviously would require his permission) and everything to suggest they really want him back.
I understand why many of my blog people (and it seems pretty much everyone on the Interwebs) believe this was a bad move. As I said before, Hoopinion, Peachtree Hoops and HawksStr8Talk all offered reasonable, clear-headed explanations as to why they feel the Hawks should move on without J.J. if his price is too high. I’m just trying to offer you as much insight as possible into why ASG did made the decision to offer the max.
If J.J. re-signs and the plan doesn’t work, with J.J.’s contract becoming a burden and their other moves also falling flat, then the Hawks will be judged harshly.
MC
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444 comments Add your comment
tony
July 2nd, 2010
10:02 am
JJ doesn’t deserve that kind of money. What has he done anyway? His 1st year(2005) as a hawk the team was a sub 500(26-34) team. The team didn’t do that much in 2006(30-52) with him. In 2007 they drafted Al Horford and signed Mike Bibby around the last part of the season thereafter making the playoffs with a 37-45 record. After Mike Bibby played a full season(2008) as a hawk they had a 47-35 record. When they sign Jamal Crawford ended up with a 53-29 record.
JJ did less for this team than Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford so why are they willing to sign this guy to a max contract?
tony
July 2nd, 2010
10:05 am
Thats a 26-54 record with JJ.
vava74
July 2nd, 2010
10:09 am
Tony,
And Paul Pierce – who @ 33 years old is getting 15 million for at least 3 more years, “led” the Celtics to a 24-58 record before he got Allen and Garnett playing next to him.
Now go and look at the Celtics blog and see that EVERYONE is happy that they re-signed their captain.
dap01
July 2nd, 2010
10:09 am
By the end of JJ’s contract, the Hawks will be “blowing everything up and starting over”. Which will end a poor attempt at the rebuilding started many years ago.
doc
July 2nd, 2010
10:13 am
tony we would be flirting with the lottery if jj walks or thta 28 and 54 record. well maybe not but close to it. there isnt enough cap room to sign enough players to make up for what we lose in him. simple fact that most discerning fans understand.
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:20 am
i_am_soulstar
July 2nd, 2010
8:45 am
I have a different perspective on the hawks offense. I agree that they were predictable, but what team isnt?
What makes the hawks predictable is having only one or two guys capable of creating their own shots. Outside of JJ and Crawford the hawks have no real offensive talent. Josh has all the moves in transition and in rotation but has no perimeter shot to create an in/out game that would make him unstoppable. His 16pts per game is a testimony to his athleticism around the paint and paradoxically his ability to go coast to coast. Al’s best shot is a 12-15 ft face up but has no real tools. Hes not a good slasher, leaper, cannot shot over bigger guys, not a good dribbler, in fact outside of that face up shot Al has very limited offensive tools to work with and must be set up to get his shot off, which means every one else has to stay out of the way (stand around) to get Al involved. In fact Al’s offensive game is so mild that Mike Woodson responded to the many complaints about Al’s lack of offense by promising through the press that hed do more to get Al involved. And he did run plays for Al who responded by raising his career average from12pts to 14pts a whooping 1 basket increase. Marvin? Strangest case known to man. Marvin can shoot,create a shot, pullup fade away, crossover, change directions, change hands(in the air) finish,drive etc.etc. Marvin has shown he has all the tools but for some reason he is very inconsistent. Woodys fault or Marvins? Id have to say Marvin because Marvin has been a starter for Woodson and a high draft pick. A lot was expected from him. He was to be a serious part of the flow, so nobody is going to say anything to Marvin for getting his game on.
The bottom line is yea, the hawks are predictable as is any team. Name me a team that I cant predict whose hands the ball will flow. The Hawks problem is not predictability is stop-ability. Double and triple JJ and no one else can hurt you. The birds problem is not an offensive scheme issue, make me laugh, its a defensive problem.
31 times the hawks final score was 10pts or more over their opponent and 39 times the hawks score over a 100 pts in a game. Nothing wrong with that! I actually credit Woody with doing a great job considering the resources. Atlanta was # 13 out of the 30 teams for offensive scoring, right behind the lakers. But the difference is the Lakers were # 2 on DEFENSE and the Hawks fall 15 steps behind them to #17. If you are going to compare us, do that with the standard bearer.
What kills the hawks is two areas, 1 low post defense and 2 is half court offense”. I have well document our inability to defend the rack so I wont go there but I will focus on the point that our half court set is stymied by the lack of offensive tools. With only jj and Crawford able to create. Its easy for opposing coaches to scheme. We did Iso’s on JJ and Crawford because thats all we could do. Running the ball through horford hands only netted 1 basket more per game. You cant develop an in/out game with that. Horford cant shoot over guys bigger than him which is imperative for the position he plays. Josh has no perimeter game so hes limited and predictable, Marv is inconsistent.
This is not an offensive scheme problem it a talent and execution problem. In order to have a more balance offense than JJ and Crawford you need the talent to make it happen. But again our offense is comparative to the World Champions. Our defense is not!
The real Issue that we should be addressing is not our offense. Its our DEFENSE!
GET US A FREAKIN CENTER!
D21
July 2nd, 2010
10:21 am
@i_am_soulstar
I don’t think majority of ATL fans want Joe out because of what you are talking about, I simply think that it’s because he needs 120M to stay.
Even last year, they were people thinking that 60M/4yrs was overpaying him, and then he did not make good playoffs. If he asked and accepted 90M/6yrs, you can be sure that it would be a different story.
Even if you talk about the short-term vision of some fans, most also know the long-term cheap attitude of ASG.
They never show they spend to win, why would you believe them when they say that after giving Joe this albatross contract, they will spend to improve, and I am talking about “real improvement”, not another minimum veteran…
We hear that a guy like Brad Miller is already in talk with BOS, HOU,… why is he not with ATL ?
Just an example at why we can’t believe them, until they do something for real.
There is a world between Joe out and Joe at 120M, and majority of people wanted a intelligent deal, both on Joe and ASG sides. Joe thinks he’s a Max guy, well show it. ASG want to say that he deserve 120M, then prove that you want to spend for the team, and not for one player.
The only problem, if ASG continue to work like they did before, is “Joe at 120M”, not “Joe only”.
Think that SAS has Ginobili for 40M/3yrs, that MIL has Salmons (the supposed plan B is Joe leaves so not so much of a difference in ASG eyes) for certainly 40M/5yrs, or even Salmons+Maggette+Gooden for the same amount than Joe. Is Joe really worth these three guys together (Salmons was good in playoffs and since he came in MIL, Maggette is a “get FTs machine” we don’t have, and Gooden could only help our big rotation).
SAS gave that kind of money to Duncan, and Duncan only. Parker and Ginobili never got that kind of money, and the guys fight for a better extension by playing as hard as they can, and they got several titles these last years.
ATL got at best swept two times in second round, and we give a Max contract to a player ?
there is something wrong in this world.
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:21 am
vava74
July 2nd, 2010
9:43 am
Nice post Vava my sentiments exactly
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:26 am
D21
July 2nd, 2010
10:21 am
@i_am_soulstar
I don’t think majority of ATL fans want Joe out….
Can you show me the result of the “joe statisfaction poll? I did not get a chance to vote. Can you post a link with the results of the survey? Can you present the numbers so we can crunch them and find out how great that majority is ?
I for one am happy hes staying. Post a link to the ” Are you satisfied with Joe’s decision poll ” so I can cast my one vote.
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:27 am
i_am_soulstar
July 2nd, 2010
9:57 am
vava74,
Yeah, I wish we had better fans sometimes.-
Co-sign that, I wish they
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:28 am
… were more knowledgeable.
D21
July 2nd, 2010
10:44 am
@ Truth Serum
You misread me.
I am saying that people are certainly more against the decision of “Joe at 120M” than only “Joe”.
And you know that Haters are the first and the most to vote in any poll
And you know that those polls are always missing the “in between” and just show Yes or No.
I would bet that if you add “Would you be satisfy with Joe at 90M/6yrs ?”, there would be more people in than in other answer like “Joe out” or “Joe at 120M”, just because it what should have happen to improve the most you can.
Even if ASG agree to pay some tax, use the MLE,.. and they end up at 75M, but don’t want to spend more, then the 20M of Joe could have been 15M + one more guy at 5M.
And you will always regret it.
And we are talking about 15M/yr, isn’t it enough to play when you don’t have any title ? We are talking about Joe at 5M.
It’s not because you agree with Joe at 20M that you are a better than fans asking Joe at 15M, because those fans think about how to build a team with salaries matching performance and building a contender like SAS or DET at a time did.
And it’s no disrespect to Joe that saying is worth 15M/yr, no disrespect at all.
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:45 am
July 2nd, 2010
10:20 am
*Shoot
* Al did not raise his career average, It is 12 pts per game but he had an stellar year(for al) at 14pts per game
nobody
July 2nd, 2010
10:50 am
The only reason Al doesnt score more is he doesnt get many touches. He has a good % and he has tools to be a 20 pt scorer. That just hasnt been his role so far in his career.
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
10:56 am
D21
July 2nd, 2010
10:44 am
I hear you. Maybe I should have asked you for clarity. I still disagree however. Joes salary is not a measurement of his ability on the court solely. You have to consider Where this franchise is at. For once (and only once) I agree with Sund and ASG in the position that with out JJ we take steps backwards and who know when and if we get back to this level. Its worth more money to the Franchise to be at this level than to regress. You can speculate all you want about what if we get this player and that player when joe leaves but the bottom line is thats speculation. We know what joe can do and where were at know. Its also a reward to Joe for where he has brought us from…13 games winners, lest we forget. In a few years Joes contract wont seem as much. Id rather pay to play,(has a familiar ring) with the elite teams than wonder how long before the lottery. this contract not only makes this Joes team again, but it says “We want you to be apart of the Hawks organization for a long time.
Like VaVa is saying get joe the right piece like the Ricky Pierce situation and I think we can produce the same or better results.
Lets go Hawks!
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
11:00 am
nobody outside of Al’s 12-15 face up jumper he has no offensive tool
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
11:06 am
And you know that Haters are the first and the most to vote in any poll
Roger that!
oldboy
July 2nd, 2010
11:07 am
The Bucks got Corey Maggette,John Salmons,and Drew Gooden for 20 million less than the Hawks got for Joe Johnson.
nobody
July 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
Al is one of the best jump shooting big men first off. He also has a good right handed hook shot and I think he will work on the left hand this summer. He is a very skilled bigman and is very powerful.
tony
July 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
vava74, don’t give me that nonsense young man. Paul Pierce was drafted by the Celtics sir. They built the team around him not sign him as a free agent to make the team better. Once the Celtics signed Garnett and Ray Alley the Celtics became a contender their 1st yr in a Celtics uniform. That’s not the case with JJ. He did not make the team better when they signed him. The team got better when they signed Mike Bibby.
i_am_soulstar
July 2nd, 2010
11:10 am
Truth Serum,
Makes sense, but I don’t negate that the defense is our biggest problem. I’m responding to those that use Joe’s offensive output during the playoffs as a means of labeling his reacquisition unjustifiable. I’m in the field at work, so I can’t post a link with the blackberry right now, but 70% of respondents from Peachtree Hoops said they wanted him gone. It didn’t mention a contract, or figures, or anything. Playoff basketball is different from regular season basketball, and Atlanta was shut down offensively during the Magic series. Now everyone’s offense is predictable, and sure we can benefit from more weapons. But what I’m saying is that it was Woody’s utilization of our current weapons that lead to such a poor showing. Fire away. It’ll probably be awhile before I can check your response because of work.
Peter
July 2nd, 2010
11:12 am
Al doesn’t get touches, Smooth doesn’t get touches, and Marvin disappears because he doesn’t get touches………with the lack of touches comes the soft D, because the guys are discouraged, and FRUSTRATED.
THE BALL STOPS WITH JJ……..
We are going to sign JJ to the MAX, and all of a sudden the ball moves ?
How will the rest of the guys feel, and react once JJ gets the big money…….and the ball stops with JJ……IS THIS A WAY TO BUILD A TEAM ?
There is no JJ in TEAM !
Chris E
July 2nd, 2010
11:14 am
Its sad to hear fans in their hurt lash out on a player that brought the Hawks out of the dark ages. Oh how quickly we forget!!! We it not for JJ the Hawks still would not even be relevant. Whenever you have a talent like JJ the young players get better faster. Without JJ we would not have gotten Bibby and the groundwork for obtaining Crawford would not have been laid as well. Every team needs a centerpiece.
Now moving forward, if JJ resigns and its true that ASG goes after a true Center then the Hawks organization is doing what needs to be done. Who else could we have gotten and how does anybody in their right mind believe the hawks could have improved without JJ. With a true center the Hawks can move Josh to the 3 & Al to the 4 where he truly needs to play and be much better off.
I just hope that some so-called fans would shut up, wait and watch!!! If it doesn’t work out this year then u can judge all you want. But realistically speaking the Hawks could not have been expected to do much better than they did last year without a true BigMan.
WHAT
July 2nd, 2010
11:14 am
120,000,000.00 Man jon contract is rolling over
vava74
July 2nd, 2010
11:19 am
TS:
On peachtreehoops, the poll had a 70% voting against the re-signing of JJ for the max…
vava74
July 2nd, 2010
11:22 am
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ajo.gOywxw4_ZsJwQssXAMS8vLYF?slug=ap-celtics-pierce
Note how Pierce’s age is kept at 32 on the piece regardless of the fact that he will start the season at 33 whilst all pieces on JJ emphasize that JJ is “already 29″…
Truth-Serum
July 2nd, 2010
11:23 am
i_am_soulstar
July 2nd, 2010
11:10 am
We dont have any weapons out side of JJ….. Crawford.
Nobody All of the five starters have a chance to produce. You can blame horford 12 pt career average on woodson if you like, I wont waste the time to argue. I give you facts in return you give me opinions.
Fact, In nearly the exact same number of minutes as horford averages per game with the hawks he averaged in his best year in college (senior year). His career average with the Hawks is 12 pts. His best year collegiate,13 pts.
Bottom line is the man at best is 12-14 pts regardless of who the coach or team is. Thats because he doesnt have the tools to be a big scorer. You say hes going to work on his left hand this summer: how cool is that?
JJ
ryan
July 2nd, 2010
11:24 am
If the Hawks are shopping Marvin i am also hearing Josh Childress as well. There was a another stupid rumor that Hawks are interested in Chris Duhon.
vava74
July 2nd, 2010
11:24 am
oldboy,
an between the 3 signings, the Bucks are getting ZERO DEFENSE out of those 20 million…
Melvin
July 2nd, 2010
11:27 am
Tony,
You are talking in circles. The Celtics became a title contender after that add argubaly 2 hall of famers (KG,Ray) to go along with Paul and a budding pg (Rondo) who is now an all-star caliber player. So that’s 3 all-stars added to a roster after Paul arrival. Joe got his first all-star teammate this year in Horford. Paul still has a 2 all-star players advantage.
Sautee
July 2nd, 2010
11:33 am
Truth-serum,
You said this: “In fact Al’s offensive game is so mild that Mike Woodson responded to the many complaints about Al’s lack of offense by promising through the press that hed do more to get Al involved. And he did run plays for Al who responded by raising his career average from12pts to 14pts a whooping (sic)1 basket increase.”
First, do you have a link for reporting that “Woodson responded to many complaints about Horford’s lack of offense”? That’s a provocative story.
Complaints from whom? And why would Woody, who ALWAYS went his own way, NEED to respond to “complaints” about Al’s alleged “lack of offense”?
Wouldn’t he WANT more production inside to free up shooters anyway?
This is BS. And you won’t find a link, because there WERE no “complaints”.
And once again you try to belittle Horford by talking about a “whooping (sic) 1 basket increase”. Of course you FAIL to mention that Al’s Field Goal attempts only increased by a whopping 1.5 per game.
At 1.5 extra FGA, the MOST he could raise his average would be 3 points (if he shot 100% on two pointers). He raised his average from 11.5 to 14.2 which is 2.7 points. But instead of seeing THAT as very efficient, you choose to mock it.
It seems one would look at that kind of efficiency and say “That young man needs even more shot attempts, if he’s THAT efficient”.
And your contention that Al “can’t shoot over bigger guys” made me laugh. Hell, according to you they’re ALL bigger guys than Al, but he STILL shot .551. (sixth in the league among centers).
Your hate seems to make you blind to all the little things Al does well. But the coaches know and rewarded him as the second-best Center in the Eastern Conference.
Not Shaq. Not Lopez. Not Bogut.
Al Horford was the center picked for the All-Star team by the head coaches of the league (or was it a vile conspiracy?). DHoward was picked by the fans.
You can keep trying, but you’ll never erase that from the league’s history.
Chris E
July 2nd, 2010
11:49 am
I believe it was the offensive system more than anything else that stymied the Hawks offensive production. No creativity!!! We forget that JJ was not a ball hog with the Suns. A better system will produce better results offensively. Hopefully LD’s ball movement will address that. Also the need for strong pg play alone will improve the other 4 starters on offense. Why do u think CP is so valuable. Great PG make everybody better.
A servicable Bigman who is althletic, can rebound and run will make the Hawks deadly!!! A good PG and ball movement will create easier baskets for the other starters. I actually still like BIbby starting so that Teague can learn from a seasoned player.
Yes Bibby is slow, but with a Bigman in the middle and no switching all the time Josh could easily help out more on a penetrating PG. Josh is a better help defender than straight up defender and with a Big down low with Al the middle will stay well defended. Bibby will also continue to put more pressure on the D with his perimeter shooting. Then u have a bench of:
Teague
Jamal
Mo
Marvin
Zaza
Not bad at all!!
Jerry West
July 2nd, 2010
11:53 am
They shoulda done a S&T with Joe for a pick/ young player on his rookie deal and a trade exception which could have then been used to nab…
RIP HAMILTON
Think about it, he doesn’t need the ball all the time, he’s actually done something in the playoffs, and you’re paying 12.5 mil per over the next 3 yrs, with the last yr not fully guaranteed. Roughly the same production, but cheaper.
GeeMack
July 2nd, 2010
11:57 am
lets go!!
The problem had nothing to do with JJ comments.
The fans were disappointed that he took his frustration out on the fans instead of holding his teammate accountable for playing like punks.
I’ve been to hundreds of games in my life time and I have never seen fans boo a team that gave it their all every time.
I like JJ and I think the Hawks are a better team with him, than without him.
KB
July 2nd, 2010
11:59 am
The problem with paying someone this amount of money is the player has done things to achieve it. Unfortunately, JJ hasn’t. He is not the most indispensible player on the team. That would be A. Horford. You can bring a team around Horford, not JJ.
Section 303
July 2nd, 2010
12:04 pm
vava74, maybe fans of the Celtics are not saying those things because Allen never ripped them? I’m thinking that might have something to do with it.
I stand by what I’ve been saying….until I hear “I’m sorry” (which, for all you saying it was just frustration, I’ve never heard any apology), I don’t want Joe here. If he apologizes, I’m all in. Gotta hear an apology first, though.
GeeMack
July 2nd, 2010
12:06 pm
The Dragon
Why would the Hornets give us 2 of their top 3 players for scrubs like Marvin William and Bibby.
I’m sure the Hornets would ask for Josh instead of Marvin.
nobody
July 2nd, 2010
12:07 pm
Sautee: Best post ever. Not even joking. People need to leave horford alone. Those people throwing out nothing but career PPG averages dont know basketball and how things are all working. Amazing post and good work
nobody
July 2nd, 2010
12:09 pm
Geemack: I have no clue, but I did see on RealGM that they almost traded paul and okefor to the Trailblazers for Pryzbilla, Bayless, A pick, andre miller, and some bynum guy. So I guess the hornets are a little confused.
doc
July 2nd, 2010
12:13 pm
section 303 though now as filled with vitriole i agree the hawks and jj will have to address his lapse in judgment. his coach already said so that he expected better of jj and he will be coached to maybe soften it a bit. just the same i am not holding my breath nor does it make any difference to me at this juncture. got to move on in life and accept it for what it is and there are some that say he regrets his remark.
nice work sautee, now that you are at the pinnacle maybe let the crazy dog go. heh heh
you going to see j byrd sat?
Astro Joe
July 2nd, 2010
12:14 pm
I hope that the Hawks STRONGLY suggest a PR campaign for Joe, because while I agree that his comments during the Magic series were out of frustration, he clearly needs to “heal the wounds” with some fans. He does very few radio interviews but I would start by having him do 2-3 rounds of media tours during the off-season. Maybe 1 right after the contract is signed, another before vet’s camp begins and the last right before the season starts. Let the customers hear from him and in a setting different from post-half interviews. And that is on the Hawks (and maybe Joe’s agent) to figure out on his behalf.
BehindEnemyLines
July 2nd, 2010
12:15 pm
re: “We it not for JJ the Hawks still would not even be relevant. ”
Newsflash: They still aren’t remotely relevant. This Wizard of Oz team — no brain, no courage, no heart — proved their relevance in round two & The Invisible Man is a big part of the reason there’s no rational hope for them.
JoJo the Godfather
July 2nd, 2010
12:17 pm
nobody…that portland package features a starting PG & C on expiring deals, a young PG in Bayless, a draft pick, and “some bynum guy” is a highly regarded SF named Nicolas Batum…no long term contracts…just young players, draft picks, and expiring contracts.
Get Over It!!!
July 2nd, 2010
12:21 pm
I was not really for giving JJ max $. That being said, the ASG was in a tough spot, and the deal is (almost) done. Personally I think that JJ is a very sensitive young man. Yeah, yeah, rich spoiled brat, should be grateful, etc etc. The point is that I think he needs early fan support this year after all that has happened. I know, I know…”It’s his own dam fault” etc etc. But fan support could actually make a difference in him sulking and playing half-azzed.
New coach, new style, bygones be bygones…GO JOE GO HAWKS!!!
nobody
July 2nd, 2010
12:24 pm
Oh ok JoJo. I never thought CP3 was in our reach anyway. I like the montae ellis rumors tho. However true they may be
Get Over It
July 2nd, 2010
12:26 pm
Astro Joe – Did not see your post…Agree 100%
Section 303
July 2nd, 2010
12:26 pm
Astro Joe, I agree with you. I’m not alone in my feelings on JJ. I go to a lot, I mean A LOT, of games. Spent a lot of time, money, etc. following what is was not always a good product. I took Joe’s comments very personnaly.
I can get past it, but need to hear an apology. All I ask is an apology.
Jerry West
July 2nd, 2010
12:33 pm
The rumored Hornets/ Blazers deal had to be something that was floated by Portland. The Hornets would need a better deal than that to trade Paul. If the sale of the team goes wrong, then maybe they’ll trade him. The proposed new owner is a Louisiana oilman, and there’s this matter of a spill that’s messing things up for folks down there. But if everything goes through, he’s said he wants to keep Paul.
Grandad
July 2nd, 2010
12:34 pm
-Hatter-
Although, I don’t agree with each & every point.
Well spoken & presented.
I’ve got your back on the Joe thing.
We’ll talk about Al later.
Bobbito Heat
July 2nd, 2010
12:38 pm
Would a package around Teague and Marvin get CP3 in a Hawks uni?? Need more… How about next years 1st round pick?? If the money doesn’t work… whynot throw in Zaza or the rights to J-Chill?
Everyone of you is hesitant to give up Teague in the deal, but he will have even less playing time to develop if CP3 come to the ATL. Plus, I think he would entice New Orleans to make that deal.
Chris Paul would fit into LD’s point guard led offense, take pressure off JJ, and improve the play of Josh Smith (i.e. Tyson Chandler)…. Oh yeah, I forgot… AND MAKE US A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER!
CP3 Bibby
JJ Jo. Crawford
Ja. Crawford Mo Evans
Smoooooove
Horford (Mid-Level Exception for a Big-man, C or PF)
ASG and Rick, Please make this deal!