Atlanta Hawks: ‘Dynamic pricing’ for tickets in 2010-11

Last season the Hawks charged “marquee” prices at Philips Arena for games against the Celtics, Cavaliers and Lakers. They are expanding that concept in 2010-11 with “dynamic pricing,” a technology developed by Qcue that allows prices for individual game tickets to be adjusted in real time.

QCue says it’s technology “allows event promoters to respond to the real variables that drive fans to attend events, enabling every event to be priced independently and updated when market conditions changes.” So when you check the price for those Hawks tickets at Ticketmaster one day, the price for the same seat could be different the next day–or even later that same day.

The strategy allows for more flexibility than static prices set months in advance. For example, if the Heat comes to town and LeBron and D-Wade are both out with injuries (or sitting out that final home game), then the market for any remaining tickets could be expected to soften. Conversely, if a blockbuster trade at the deadline suddenly makes a middling team “marquee,” then prices could be expected to go up when that team visits.

The Hawks (and Thrashers), Rockets and Jazz have announced they will use the dynamic pricing next season. Tracy White, chief sales officer and senior VP of sales and marketing for Atlanta Spirit, said he’s still not certain how often the team will adjust prices since this is a new concept for sports teams.

“The best comparison is the airline industry,” he said. “They’ve been doing this for years. This is us taking that concept and applying it to sporting events.”

Theoretically, tickets for low-demand games could be had for less than face value but don’t expect to get rock-bottom prices. White said season-ticket holders are guaranteed to pay the lowest prices per game. Feedback from season-ticket holders played a part in the decision to try dynamic pricing.

“Some season-ticket holders choose to sell seats for some games,” White said. “They asked for a system that better reflected the value of each game.”

The Hawks have yet to set a a date for the start of sales for individual games; White said they hope to finalize a date next week.

– After declaring the Hawks painfully thin at point guard, Kelly Dwyer at Ball Don’t Lie gave more love to Atlanta’s shooting guards and small forwards. Jamal rates No. 12 on Dwyer’s list of 2 guards, J.J. is No. 4 and Marvin is No. 21 among small forwards (one slot ahead of Chills).

No real argument on Dwyer’s takes for the Hawks guys, though I think he shortchanges the threat Jamal presents with that crossover.

Bret LaGree at Hoopinion was among the bloggers to propose deals for Melo to Nuggets blogger Jeremy. Both proposals were good enough to make Jeremy’s “win now” category but it seems some contracts are hard to move even in fake deals.

LaGree offered J.J. but Jeremy passes on the deal “with gusto” because of J.J.’s contract. LaGree also offers to send Smoove and Marvin for Melo but Jeremy turns that one down, too, because “ultimately the four years and over $30 million owed to Williams is a difficult pill to swallow.”

– Have a good weekend, blog people.

MC

168 comments Add your comment

Nathan

August 20th, 2010
5:59 pm

I Heart Atlanta

August 20th, 2010
6:09 pm

Second, highest ever!!

JeJe

August 20th, 2010
6:19 pm

THE HAWKS HAVE THE WORST STARTING PG IN THE NBA AND SUND THINKS THEY WILL COMPETE

LOL

Nathan

August 20th, 2010
6:26 pm

How about a trade that sends Carmelo Anthony to the Hawks for Williams, Bibby, Evans, the TPE and lots of draft picks.

Buy low

August 20th, 2010
7:01 pm

I’ll be buying a few hawks tickets, but only on the street or on craigslist for way below face. The prices on ticketmaster are a ripoff—plus, you have to pay all those obscene fees.

OK

August 20th, 2010
7:11 pm

OK

August 20th, 2010
7:20 pm

smh, last month CP3 was “supposedly” leaving NOLA. Now “Supposedly” Carmelo wants out. The guy hasn’t even said anything yet. He probably just wants a longer deal with the Nuggets like Joe did with the Hawks. Not signing that extension also forces Nuggets management to keep improving the team. Hopefully it won’t end up like it did for CLE lol. Unless it involves playing for the Hawks.

Lets not forget that ‘Melo is a lazy defender (matador defense) and has a penchant for chucking jumpers early in the shot clock. If we could get him for Marvin/Mo straight up i’d do it. I wouldn’t give up anyone else for him though.

If the Nuggets do trade Anthony, we can then harass them into trading us Chauncey Billups for a slirpie and a pack of skittles. That’d be awesome.

truthspitter

August 20th, 2010
8:03 pm

Noone cares about the pricing there will not be anyone there because Sund and the ASG have shown they are either incompetent or dont care about putting the best product out there. The Knicks are stupid enough to be offering Wilson Chandler for Rudy Fernandez and all people do is make excuses for the ASG and call others trade proposals stupid. The ASG and anyone that feels that we can’t do something right now to better this team are the stupid ones. On the other hand, to think the ASG and Sund are competent enough to do it makes anyone thinking that stupid also.

I propose:

Knicks get: Rudy Fernandez
Blazers get: Mo Evans and his expiring contract along with a 1st round
Hawks get: Wilson Chandler

or

Knicks get: Jamal Crawford and Zaza

Hawks get: Eddy Curry and Wilson Chandler

ryan

August 20th, 2010
8:18 pm

Hey Cunningham i been hearing about X. Henry are the Hawks pursing him .

Najeh Davenpoop

August 20th, 2010
8:33 pm

Good, this probably means more tickets get sold for the less attractive games on the schedule.

Nathan

August 20th, 2010
8:58 pm

truthsplitter, I like trade #1

SteveW

August 20th, 2010
10:43 pm

No way I trade Smoove and Marvin for Carmelo – wouldn’t trade Smoove straight up for ‘Melo – just my opinion

- Smoove is younger
- Smoove is a much better defender
- Better Rebounder
- Cheaper – let’s you be more creative at other postions

Now I would trade JJ for Carmelo

Carmelo is 3 years younger
And we have a pretty decent SG to replace JJ with already in Jamal

Just my take – if we could trade Marvin, Bibby, Mo’ and some draft picks, even 2 1st rounders – then yes, I’ll do that deal.

Carmelo shoots under 46%
Terrible at 3’s
Is hurt alot

Great moves in the low post from what I’ve seen

He could help our team – but not at an exorbiant price.

Grandad

August 20th, 2010
10:45 pm

G-dad’s Trade O’ The Day:

Memphis gets;
Marv, Bibby, Mo & Jordon Crawford.
Hawks get,
Zach Randolph & Xavier Henry.

Memphis motivation:
move Henry & gain Jordo in return,
along with young talent Marv,
& Mo’s exp contract. ?
[weak, right, best I could do]

Hawks motivation:
XH…?
Zach Randolph, all-star…?
ZR can lean on DH.
ZR can score.

Works on RealGM trade checker.

Would you do it?
Do we improve?
Sure would make us hard to defense.

jason

August 20th, 2010
10:51 pm

Who are we gojng to sign for our 13th guy?

truthpsitter

August 20th, 2010
10:55 pm

Cunningham your starting to fail. Where is the Jamal Crawford related post

truthpsitter

August 20th, 2010
10:57 pm

Jason: The cheapest person we can find.

SteveW

August 20th, 2010
11:05 pm

Grandad – Might would do that

– Would need another PG – but Rafer Alston, Anthony Johnson types are readily available at the vet minimum

- Would we put X Henry at SF, or let him take JoCrawford’s place as basically the 5th Guard?

- Again we could easily sign, Jarvis Hayes, Wilkens, or Carney at SF for probably the vet minimum.

SteveW

August 20th, 2010
11:08 pm

Grandad – I do like what this does for us inside

Maybe a good trade?

truthpsitter

August 20th, 2010
11:11 pm

We could also make a deal for Rudy Fernandez then send him to New York for Wilson Chandler. I seriously doubt if Henry is available.

northcyde

August 20th, 2010
11:42 pm

Dynamic pricing huh?

I wish we had dynamic ownership.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
12:03 am

SteveW

I don’t know about Memphis;
how they feel about Z.Randolph?
-But-
It sure would make us loaded on offense.
All of a sudden folks would go;
how we gonna guard ‘em?

ZR @ least has the heft to guard DH.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
12:10 am

jason

‘Paps’

Drew

August 21st, 2010
12:12 am

So if season ticket holders are guaranteed to be the lowest price, how will that help out the average fan? It sounds like a way to bilk us for more money, making the crappy games normal price and the interesting games more expensive. I guess that just means more games at home on my HDTV for me. SMH.

Cotton

August 21st, 2010
12:51 am

24th! (I hate when people say 1st)

drmaryb ^•^

August 21st, 2010
3:01 am

Sign Me Up!

Like the Jackson 5: I’ll Be There!

Travis C

August 21st, 2010
3:21 am

They have been doing this in English soccer for years – different opponents are placed in A, B, or C brackets based on quality and the prices are based on the team. An A-level team like the Lakers? $60. A C-level team like the Pacers? $30.

It was only a matter of time before that came to America. Next up: sponsors on the front of jerseys.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 21st, 2010
6:27 am

“Dynamic pricing huh?

I wish we had dynamic ownership.”

http://instantrimshot.com/

JoJo the Godfather

August 21st, 2010
6:35 am

Grandad, I don’t think Memphis would go for that one. When they added Randolph, they immediately became one of the better rebounding & post scoring teams in the league. Also, its not a good cap move for them and look what it does to their roster(puts them one over the max # of players and makes them a much smaller team):

Conley / Bibby / Law / Vasquez
Mayo / Allen / Jo Craw / Evans
Gay / Marvin / Carroll / Young
Arthur
Gasol / Thabeet / Haddadi

JoJo the Godfather

August 21st, 2010
9:41 am

I’ve got a trade idea to throw out:

Za Za Pachulia & a second round pick for Carlos Delfino & Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

Milwaukee is loaded on the wings but only have Gooden, Ilyasova & Larry Sanders as guys over 6′8″ behind the oft-injured and still rehabbing Bogut.

dstdeelite

August 21st, 2010
10:30 am

Obviously Dwyer doesn’t watch a lot of Hawks game. Jamal drives more than anybody else in our back court. He goes to the foul line more than anybody on the team besides Smoove. I don’t put too much stock in a list that puts Ben Gordon ahead of Ray Allen.

Ticket prices are comical.

Michael Cunningham

August 21st, 2010
11:37 am

@truthspitter: “Cunningham your starting to fail. Where is the Jamal Crawford related post”

what is it you would like to know? and it’s “you’re.”

juice sourcer

August 21st, 2010
11:55 am

The pricing structure that the airline industry has sucks. I am a frequent business traveler and many times have to make plans at the last minute and I get totally hammered on the price. Is this the way it will be for the Hawks. Oh it’s Wednesday and let’s catch a Hawks game…great…go on line and find that a ticket price is now $150 per so I say screw that and don’t go and that ticket goes unsold. Pricing should be more like hotels…they have rooms the day I make the reservation and they give a better price so the room doesnt go vacant and they collect some money then they can get me to spend money at the hotel as well….and in the Hawks case they get me in a seat cheaper and then can screw me over by charging $8 for a crappy beer.

Publix

August 21st, 2010
12:06 pm

here is what we need to do:

send Zaza and Bibby to LA, they send Odom and second round draft pick to Portland, we get Rudy Fernandez and Joe Przybilla

Then we trade Marvin and Evans for Chandler.

PG- Fernandes/Teague
SG- Johnson/Crawford/Crawford
SF- Smith/ Sye
PF- Horford/Powell
C – Chandler/Przybilla

That is great Defense and great Offense. We win chapionship with this team.

WHAT YA’LL THINK???

Publix

August 21st, 2010
12:06 pm

here is what we need to do:

send Zaza and Bibby to LA, they send Odom and second round draft pick to Portland, we get Rudy Fernandez and Joe Przybilla

Then we trade Marvin and Evans for Chandler.

PG- Fernandes/Teague
SG- Johnson/Crawford/Crawford
SF- Smith/ Sye
PF- Horford/Powell
C – Chandler/Przybilla

That is great Defense and great Offense. We win chapionship with this team.

WHAT YA’LL THINK???

Publix

August 21st, 2010
12:09 pm

All the trades would make sense. LA could use another PG and a C, plus Phil Jackson would turn Zaza into something productive. Bibby would be saved for the playoffs. Portland would love to have Odom to go with their young core group.

drmaryb ^•^

August 21st, 2010
12:15 pm

MC

Thanks for taking out that “Hot-Garbage!”
Some fools will NEVER learn.
smh

Dynamic Pricing – huh?
That’s sound thinking, I would pay more to see the Lakers and would like to play less to see the Pacers. It makes sense to me, a Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt should cost more than a USA Polo Associaion Shirt.

-smile-

Melvin

August 21st, 2010
12:15 pm

Yep, Nenad Krstic is a real tough guy. I wonder why he was back pedaling as the big guy was appproaching him….

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Serbia-and-Greece-brawl-in-pre-World-Championshi;_ylt=AmvOP7qt2PD0I8fcoUgTPg68vLYF?urn=nba-263872

Michael Cunningham

August 21st, 2010
12:22 pm

@ juice sourcer: “The pricing structure that the airline industry has sucks. I am a frequent business traveler and many times have to make plans at the last minute and I get totally hammered on the price. Is this the way it will be for the Hawks. Oh it’s Wednesday and let’s catch a Hawks game…great…go on line and find that a ticket price is now $150 per so I say screw that and don’t go and that ticket goes unsold. Pricing should be more like hotels.”

i feel ya on the airlines, and i’ve also never understood why they don’t follow the hotel model of trying to fill every vacancy. but i’m guessing for the Hawks, as game time approaches and there are unsold tickets, then the soft demand will make the ticket prices go down.

truthspitter

August 21st, 2010
12:25 pm

Cunningham: I apologize you put the article up and that’s for correct my grammar, which I don’t care about by the way.

truthspitter

August 21st, 2010
12:25 pm

I meant thanks, really bad at this spelling stuff,lmao

drmaryb ^•^

August 21st, 2010
12:27 pm

Grand-Daddy

Z-Bo? Is he a PF/C? We already got one of those. Don’t we need a
6′11″ Center and PG? We need some more size in the paint to bother the Big Boys – don’t we?

Melvin

August 21st, 2010
12:34 pm

We often talk about team chemistry and how adding or subtracting players would impact the team chemistry. Interesting article concerning chemistry.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17134

Michael Cunningham

August 21st, 2010
1:48 pm

@truthspitter: i’m just giving you mess, no big deal. but, seriously, what is it you want to know about Jamal? there’s been no new development on the extension talks. Sund is on vacation.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
2:22 pm

JoJo the Godfather

Memphis has not signed Vasquez or Henry.
Same reason, [rookie incentives].
One would assume they trade one, then they
trade the other: [draft choice - perhaps]?

Understand; I’m not necessarily promoting
these trades, [G-dad's T.O'T.D] I just put
them out there as interesting scenarios which
occasionally promote discussion.
(as in your 9:41 am post)
Plus in each of my propasals they are always
beneficial to the Hawks. (in my mind, @ least)

MC says Sund is on vacation.

“That’s the worst thang about bein’ retired;
you never get a day off.” ‘G-dad’

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
3:22 pm

I just read where Chauncey said:
[paraphrase]
If Denver goes into rebuilding mode,
(result of Melo leaving)
he’d want to finish career on a team
with chance to win. Although Denver
is his home town, it would be tough
but still he would most likely move on.
[once again paraphrase]

Having said that;
next to Shane Battier, no one could help
the Hawks (regardless of position) more than
Chauncey Billups. His leadership is impeccable.
All other intangibles are off the charts.
He says he can play four more years.
He is both a winner & a champion.

-Now-

Hawks to Denver:
Marv, Mo, Jordon Crawford.
Denver to Hawks:
Chauncey Billups
Works on RealGM trade checker.

We automatically become *relevant.
*relevant = Championship relevant.

SteveW

August 21st, 2010
3:42 pm

Drmaryb – ZachRand is probably a good 15 lbs. bigger than Al, and maybe a little taller also. Yes, he is a PF/C, but bigger thank Al

Grandad – your last trade may work as well – then sign Carney, Jarvis, or Wilkens at the 3, get Trey Gilder to back him up..

We would probably need another trade to dump Bibby at that point if you got Billups – and maybe sign Stackhouse to take JoCrawford’s place – it could work..Or even trade Bibby for another 2 Guard maybe.

drmaryb ^•^

August 21st, 2010
3:57 pm

Grand-Daddy

Are you OK with getting rid of our JORDAN?
Don’t you want to see what we got there first?
He could be the next LeBron or Wade … You never know?

I do like Chauncey tho. Any other way we could make that work?

wuffe

August 21st, 2010
4:37 pm

I say have the ASG have Isaah Thomas come in as a silent partner , and use him to judge talent, and let him screw up the team so badly by selling the ASG on some ideas … bottled air or something. Then they just have to sell out. ;)

wuffe

August 21st, 2010
4:38 pm

Just kiddin… heh

MsDee

August 21st, 2010
4:45 pm

Untouchables AS OF RIGHT NOW (only) would be:

Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford & JOCrawford.

Untouchable PERIOD would be:

Al Horford & Josh Smith!!

MsDee

August 21st, 2010
4:48 pm

Oh, include Pape Sy with the UNTOUCHABLE PERIOD!! LOL..it something about Pape Sy that I like and I havent even seen him play a single NBA game YET!! As soon as he join the team for good, I WILL be getting his JERSEY!! Go Pape SY!!

ant banks

August 21st, 2010
5:35 pm

i have read so many trade proposals that won’t happen. in the short, it is good convo, kinda like WHAT IF I WON THE LOTTERY. then reality sets in. i like our reality. we have 4 ARGUABLE allstars on our team: jj, horford, crawford, smooth. with perpetual ball movement, that larry drew will draw up, constant bench rotation due to heavy activity on the floor, the hawks should do just as good as last year.

i would hold ALL trade possibilities until the feb deadline. why break the bank now, in the beginning of the season?

GO HAWKS!!

Hawks Fan

August 21st, 2010
6:33 pm

Now the hawks ownership wants to talk about selling tickets and how the tickets will be priced, well I have one message for them considering their crappy offseason and unwillingness to spend some money buy your own damn tickets!!!

truthspitter

August 21st, 2010
6:41 pm

Michael Cunningham

August 21st, 2010
1:48 pm

@truthspitter: i’m just giving you mess, no big deal. but, seriously, what is it you want to know about Jamal? there’s been no new development on the extension talks. Sund is on vacation.

That explains the whole offseason Cunningham. Sund is on vacation. A true professional is always on call.

northcyde

August 21st, 2010
7:17 pm

LMAO @ drmaryb

I’m mad that I know what a U.S. Polo Association shirt is. I’ll do you one better though. Back in the 90s, there was a brand called “Beverly Hills Polo Club”. That was a cheap brand of clothing that you’d find in urban clothing.

But your point is well taken. And that’s the reason why I don’t have a problem with the dynamic pricing concept either. They just have to be careful how much they charge to see the marquee teams.

And for those fans that by them staying home when a big name team comes to town, is going to make the ASG lose some money, they better think again.

Selling out Philips when the big boys come to town isn’t the problem. It’s getting more people in the building when the “little boys” come to town, that’s the real issue.

And if the Hawks can get 16K on a Monday night when the Pacers come through, instead of 12K, then dynamic pricing will be a good thing.

Had the ASG brought in “the box office draw” ( i.e. – starts with an S, and ends with a Q ) here, we wouldn’t need any gimmicks to try to convince fans to buy tickets.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 21st, 2010
7:29 pm

All these “Marvin/Bibby/Zaza for players who are actually useful” trades are making my head hurt. Nobody is going to trade for any of them unless they dump a locker room cancer or an even more crippling contract on the Hawks. If you want to find players the Hawks can realistically acquire for them, start with Emeka Okafor and Gilbert Arenas and go from there (not that I want either of them).

Najeh Davenpoop

August 21st, 2010
7:30 pm

Mo Evans, on the other hand, DOES have trade value, because as average as he is at least his contract is expiring.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 21st, 2010
7:33 pm

That said, nobody on this team is untouchable. Al Horford is the closest the hawks have to an untouchable player, and that is more because he still gets paid rookie money. There is no Kobe or LeBron or Dwight Howard on this team.

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
8:36 pm

MC ,

Anything new on the Pape Sy situation?

Sund is on vacation…..heh heh. That’s great. I hope he enjoys himself. As far as I’m concerned, he’s been on vacation since Josh Powell and Jason Collins got signed…

Najeh Davenpoop

August 21st, 2010
8:37 pm

“he’s been on vacation since Josh Powell and Jason Collins got signed…”

You mean, since Joe Johnson got signed…

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
8:38 pm

northcyde ,

This ownership group is about gimmicks, not actual substance. And while fans have to make a decsion about supporting the team when they play at home, that’s what they’re supporting, one way or another. Gimmicks.

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
8:39 pm

Najeh ,

Point taken…

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
8:39 pm

That said, nobody on this team is untouchable. Al Horford is the closest the hawks have to an untouchable player, and that is more because he still gets paid rookie money. There is no Kobe or LeBron or Dwight Howard on this team.

True. We had our shot at big name, bit time players. We muffed it badly. Two years in a row…

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
8:41 pm

Because, you don’t get guys like that in a trade, unless the perfect circumtstances fall into place just right (Boston’s Big 3, Miami’s big 3). You also have to have an ownership and front office that are determined to do big things, not stand pat and be peripherally relevant.

Most teams do that via draft. We have epic fail on both fronts…

vava74

August 21st, 2010
9:00 pm

“We had our shot at big name, bit time players.”

Incorrect: we did not have the money nor the pull/draw to get anyone actually relevant.

Might as well just sign minimum wage guys than to overpay either washed up or below average players.

vava74

August 21st, 2010
9:04 pm

Ray,

Tell me who have we missed this Summer? Who was a big name, big time player which was an actual possibility?

Shaq? He did not want to sign with us for the middle-level. It was rumored that he wanted 7/8 million to sign with us which would make him a “mercenary signing” which is the opposite to what he made by signing with Boston, where he signed because he really wanted to sign with them and have a shot at the title (which he did not consider an actual possibility with the Hawks).

So, who else did we miss out???? Barnes??? Exactly the same story.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
9:10 pm

Najeh

Most of my trades of late have included Jordo.
For the reasons you mentioned.
He’s a legitimate chip.

Big Ray

Sund needed a vacation after spending that week in Vegas
watching B-ball all week.
What would I do on vacation;
go to Vegas & watch B-ball all week,
among other things.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
9:19 pm

vava74

There are moe ways to skin a cat than signing FA’s.

I know the question was for Ray but……sorry,
I didn’t mind my own business.

However, I agree, Sund is not proactive.
*The Jamal deal notwithstanding.

MsDee

August 21st, 2010
9:20 pm

@Najeh “That said, nobody on this team is untouchable. Al Horford is the closest the hawks have to an untouchable player, and that is more because he still gets paid rookie money. There is no Kobe or LeBron or Dwight Howard on this team.”

Call me ole fashion, but I dont want a COMPLETELY different team for Atlanta. If we traded JJ, JSmoove, Al Horford, Jamal, basically our core guys, then we would have a the LA Hawks, or the Miami HAwks, or Cleveland Hawks..get my driff. I think that is why Charles Barkley and others were upset with LeBron cause he left something that IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITH CLEVELAND!! You dont get rid of a player who IDENTIFIES with a team, you take it yourself!!

U also say no one is like a Kobe, or LeBron, or D Howard..well why cant they be??? JJ needs to live and die in the gym like MJ did, like Kobe does, like LeBron & Wade does..that’s why they are as good as they are, nothing magical about it!! They live and die basketball!! JJ, Josh Smith, Marvin, and even Bibby only cares about the money and looking flashy. Al Horford is the ONLY player who cares about Basketball and improving on his position. Josh does too, but he REALLY needs to grow-up and work on his B-ball IQ.

So again, I say non of those guys should be on the trading block, they just need to work on their “weaknesses” ALL OFF SEASON LONG!!

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
9:40 pm

Vava ,

In your zest to challenge my line of thinking, you missed the very next post (at 8:41) which explained what I was saying. Here’s a hint. When I said “two years in a row”, I was referring to 2005 and 2006.

I didn’t say a word about this summer…

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
9:42 pm

Grandad ,

Yeah, that sounds like my idea of a vacation, too. I guess it’s work for him, though how it could be is beyond me.

I agree that the Jamal Crawford acquisition was a good one. But one wonders if he sought that deal, or if it fell in his lap. One is as likely as the other. I don’t have any complaints, though.

And don’t worry about minding your business. Vava (like most others on a blog) don’t know how to mind HIS either. :lol:

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
9:46 pm

Incorrect: we did not have the money nor the pull/draw to get anyone actually relevant.

Might as well just sign minimum wage guys than to overpay either washed up or below average players.

As Grandad said, more than one way to skin a cat. As for the part about signing minimum wage guys, you act as if the only other option was to sign overpaid and washed up types. Funny, I saw a number of other teams making decent moves without being stuck by those two limiting options, but what do I know? I don’t work in the basketball business, so I guess that means I know nothing (honestly). How about you?

Besides, I’m enjoying playing devil’s advocate to your summer optimism. After all, I know you’ll turn sour next spring, just like you did this last spring. Hee hee hee..

northcyde

August 21st, 2010
10:03 pm

vava . . you talk like Shaq turned dow an MLE offer from us. According to MC, we didn’t offer much more than a vet minimum contract to shaq the entire time. And he was saying that from the beginning.

If we’d legitimately offered Shaq a 2 year deal at the MLE ( 2 yrs – 11.5 mill ), and gave Shaq and his people a 7 – 10 day deadline to respond, I’d bet $500 that Shaq is a Hawk right now.

Even if he wanted 7 – 8 million, he probably “settles” for 5.75 mill to play in ATL, instead of “settling” to play for Boston for 1.3 million. Boston wasn’t his first choice. They had already signed Jermaine O’Neal for the MLE. They had no desire to get Shaq, until Rasheed retired.

The fact are that either the ASG never really wanted Shaq, but acted like they were active in getting him . . . . or they tried to get him at the cheapest price possible, and it blew up in their faces when Boston entered the picture.

If Shaq in 2 yrs wanted 16 million . . . and we offered 11.5 miillion . . . but nobody else offered more than 3 million . . . who in the world do you think he’s signing with?

Big Ray

August 21st, 2010
10:10 pm

Northcyde ,

Watch out, now. Vava will cite a Bill Simmons article to prove you wrong. And we all know Bill Simmons is the be-all, end-all in NBA basketball, no matter what the subject is.

;lol:

northcyde

August 21st, 2010
10:13 pm

There’s no way that Shaq’s ego would have let him come here making 3 times as less money than Zaza. Surely the ASG had to know this.

northcyde

August 21st, 2010
10:25 pm

LOL Big Ray . . . you mean the same Bill Simmons who writes ( or used to write ) for the Boston Globe? He’s the same guy that was blowing the trumpet to get Doc Rivers fired . . . . before K.G. and Ray Allen came aboard.

Simmons’ fluff piece holds no weight with me. If Boston and Atlanta are offering the same amount of money, of course you go to Boston. You even go to Boston if the Hawks are offering 2.5 a year.

But at almost 6 million, he’s not “settling” for 1.3 million. No way.

Instead of “dynamic pricing”, I wish this front office do some “dynamic thinking” every once in a while.

doc

August 21st, 2010
10:54 pm

shaq will be better and less expensive than sheed was for them last year. now that was a huge mistake and throw away of money. thankfullly we didnt fall for that rap.

amen to the enlightened northcyde. i have to say so little with him around preaching with clarity.

Grandad

August 21st, 2010
11:57 pm

Bill Simmons is an interesting and
humeorous writer.
One whom I enjoy reading very much.
On the other hand, one must understand
that everything, and I mean everything
he writes is skewed with favoritism
for his teams, Boston in particular.

However, he does share some of my ol’ timey
philosophies concerning the game I love.

Also, he did write a really, really good book.

Big Ray:
“And we all know Bill Simmons is the be-all, end-all in NBA basketball, no matter what the subject is”
and if you don’t believe it just ask him.

Grandad

August 22nd, 2010
12:04 am

*humorous…..^…..spelling above is:
funney, hillarieous, comicale, & ammuseing

joBjo

August 22nd, 2010
12:20 am

Sund has been rumored to be vacationing with Pres Obama.

truthspitter

August 22nd, 2010
12:48 am

joBjo: I’m sorry but your dry humor is a sign of ignorance and disrespect. President Obama and the officials that run our country just removed all combat troops from Iraq and you compare his contributions or put him in the same since or sentence as Sund. Removing those troops saved some lives. Sund doesn’t care about our lives, not even the happiness that would come in our lives with acquiring enough talent to actually win a championship, or he would do more, he and the ASG would go over the luxury tax or whatever it took if they cared about that bit of our happiness. So, don’t come in here with that Republican ignorance. Please keep politics off of this blog. It would be better if we all keep our political views to ourselves for the sake of this BASKETBALL blog. Thank you.

Reggie

August 22nd, 2010
1:30 am

lmao…dam joBjo, what a way 2 try to be funny and end up look like a horses a**!

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
4:48 am

MsDee, you read way too much into that post. I was only talking about trade value. The reason Kobe/LeBron/Howard and the handful of other players of their caliber are untouchable is because there is nobody in the league for whom their teams would realistically trade them. I’m not saying the Hawks should get rid of any of their core players, just that none of them is an unequivocal superstar who can’t be upgraded. Joe is nice, but you can’t tell me that if the Lakers traded Kobe for him the Hawks wouldn’t be better. Same for Josh as compared to, say, Kevin Durant, or Horford compared to Dwight Howard. On the other hand, there is really no scenario where the Lakers could trade Kobe or the Magic could trade Howard and those teams would get demonstrably better. That’s the difference between a quality player — of which the Hawks have several — and an untouchable player, of which the Hawks have none.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
4:56 am

“Funny, I saw a number of other teams making decent moves without being stuck by those two limiting options, but what do I know? I don’t work in the basketball business, so I guess that means I know nothing (honestly). How about you?”

Exactly. Plenty of quality players are getting paid less than twice what Jason Collins makes, and every second-rounder — any of whom the Hawks could have had, and at least one of whom will definitely make the All-Rookie team — makes much less. Matt Barnes and Dexter Pittman would have contributed far more to this team than Collins/Powell and they would have cost them less.

It’s not just that the DASG doesn’t spend; it’s that when they DO spend, they spend unwisely.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
4:58 am

“Please keep politics off of this blog. It would be better if we all keep our political views to ourselves for the sake of this BASKETBALL blog. Thank you.”

Also religion.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
5:06 am

Ray,

First:

Please explain me where we can interpret from you 8.41 post that you were talking about the 2005 and 2006 off-seasons.

Second:

The fact that MC stated that there was no offer on the table does not mean that there weren’t any exploratory talks with Shaq’s people.

Shaq made public through the media that he was interested in the Spurs (for little money) and spurned the Hawks saying that he would only sign for more money.

Given that info, I think that the Hawks should not “beg” to sign him. That would have been humiliating IMO.

Third:

You can all bet your asses that Shaq would always prefer to sign with BOS rather than the Hawks even with such a different price tag.

Fourth:

I don’t care that you do not consider Simmons’ relevant. He thinks well and his article is, in my opinion, a pretty solid analysis on Shaq’s motivation this summer.

He has been signing contracts simply for money in years past, not getting in shape, not caring enough about the game, most coaches do loathe him and consider him a cancer and you all – who have absolutely no part in the business beyond being fans – think that you know better…

Also, again on that article: do you have any doubts that Kobe was indeed ecstatic about passing Shaq in # of titles and do you have any doubt that Shaq got pissed about it when he certainly was told about Kobe’s locker room commentaries?

SH!T! Do you know so little about human nature?

Finally: given the Hawks extremely poor rep and ATL’s fame as Losersville, USA don’t you think it is likely that Shaq, a guy who has shown that he cares so little for the game, would not look at the Hawks as a mere paycheck, completely distrusting our ball clubs’ chances?

If we manage to make any splash we will need to doing the Detroit way. We will not be able to do it by adding names who would not commit to leave their blood on the floor.

Shaq would not do it for us. He might for the Celts for a huge number of reasons, including history, fan pressure, peer pressure (KG, Pierce, Allen and even Rondo command respect from him – which is something that a “physical-prodigy-but-no-personality-and-no-brain” like Lebron couldn’t do and a quiet guy like JJ would not ever be able to do).

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:06 am

“U also say no one is like a Kobe, or LeBron, or D Howard..well why cant they be??? JJ needs to live and die in the gym like MJ did, like Kobe does, like LeBron & Wade does..that’s why they are as good as they are, nothing magical about it!! They live and die basketball”

Come on now… at some point, talent wins out over everything. Sure, every Hawks player could stand to work harder on his game, but MJ/Kobe/LeBron etc. are who they are because of talent as much as hard work — talent that no current Hawks player has or will ever have regardless of work ethic. I’m more or less the same height and weight as Allen Iverson, but I could spend the next year of my life in the gym and I still wouldn’t be one tenth the player he was. Joe is more or less the same dimensions as Kobe, and if he works harder he might be able to develop some of Kobe’s moves, but he will never have Kobe’s athleticism and explosiveness. Some things are just inborn talent and have nothing to do with work ethic.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:08 am

“Finally: given the Hawks extremely poor rep and ATL’s fame as Losersville, USA”

And Phoenix and Cleveland are Winnersville, USA?

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
5:12 am

Najeh,

Phoenix had Nash and Cleveland had Lebron.

And in both occasions Shaq landed there via trade with him earning a load of cash under an existing contract.

Where is the parallel?

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:15 am

“I don’t care that you do not consider Simmons’ relevant. He thinks well and his article is, in my opinion, a pretty solid analysis on Shaq’s motivation this summer.”

Nothing Simmons says about an athlete’s mindset is “analysis”. His article is convincing, but at the end of the day it is speculation, just like most of what he writes. Simmons is a columnist, not a beat writer or a reporter. He isn’t communicating with players and coaches on the daily and he doesn’t really have any further insight into Shaq’s mindset than you or me. He is just taking an educated guess based on what he knows about him. It’s perfectly reasonable to agree with his argument; all I’m saying is, don’t fool yourself into thinking that’s anything more than one man’s opinion. The only thing that separates Simmons’ articles from our blog comments is the big ESPN logo at the tip of his page.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
5:18 am

Najeh,

Barnes was a “mini-shaq” during this summer.

He signed for little money because on the other side of the table were the Lakers.

Don’t even think for a minute that he would sign with us for the same money.

As for Pittman, I agree that at least on paper he has more potential than Collins, but again, I doubt that THIS YEAR he will be effective defensively as Collins could still be for 5/7 min per if he got in shape and was used with some consistency.

Just go and review his minutes against Howard in the playoffs: all fouls were whistled the opposite way they should have. He had excellent positioning and anticipation. He simply dd not get the calls.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:24 am

“Where is the parallel?”

I was only addressing your implication that the ATL’s rep as a sports town has something to do with where Shaq (or any other free agent for that matter) wants to play. This is an overly convenient and wrong argument put forth by way too many people to explain free agents not wanting to come here (not just in basketball). Any player will sign with a team provided he’s given enough cash and/or he’s convinced that team has a legit shot to win. ATL’s rep — which has more to do with strip clubs and less to do with championships anyway, as far as free agents are concerned — is irrelevant.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
5:29 am

Reggie said:

“Please keep politics off of this blog. It would be better if we all keep our political views to ourselves for the sake of this BASKETBALL blog. Thank you.”

Najeh said:

“Also religion.”

drmaryb is saying:

Also sex.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
5:32 am

* sorry Reggie:

truthspitter said that, ” ….. This is a BASKETBALL BLOG.”

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:33 am

” effective defensively as Collins could still be for 5/7 min per if he got in shape and was used with some consistency”

You are making the same mistake as Ken Strickland. I also could defend Howard effectively if I grew a foot and put on 100 pounds of solid muscle. Anything could happen; not everything is likely to happen. The chances that a guy who has averaged more fouls than rebounds per minute over the last three years is suddenly going to show up in shape and become a viable defensive force against the game’s premier center is, at the very least, much lower than the chance that Shaq with a mid level deal would have defended Howard effectively.

And if Collins was getting no calls in the playoffs this year, what makes you think he will get calls in the playoffs next year?

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
5:37 am

Najeh,

Shaq did not chose to play in PHO, he was traded there.

And in Cleveland (again via trade) he landed in a situation where he thought he would win a championship with minimum effort due to Lebron’s talent.

In relation to ATL’s rep, I beg to differ: it’s a notoriously bad pro sports town with the exception of the golden days of the Braves when – even then – only 1 title was “milked” out of an exceptional situation.

The Hawks are constantly diced by the media and Shaq would have felt “diminished” if he had signed for us for less than a comforting bundle of money.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:43 am

“Barnes was a “mini-shaq” during this summer.

He signed for little money because on the other side of the table were the Lakers.

Don’t even think for a minute that he would sign with us for the same money.”

Uh… no. First of all, Barnes opted out of his deal, which is generally an indication that a guy wants to get paid more. Barnes is getting paid less under his new deal than he did with Orlando. Secondly, he didn’t sign until the 23rd, long after the market had cooled down. If any team had gone up to him with a similar offer on the first day of free agency, they would have had a leg up on everyone else. The Lakers were able to get him at that price because the market for him wasn’t nearly as hot as he thought it would be, so he was forced to settle for less than he wanted. Sure, being able to play for the defending champs helps, but you think he wouldn’t rather be somewhere where he can challenge for a starting spot instead of being assured to be a bench player like he is in LA?

If the Hawks had given him the exact same offer and said he would have a chance to beat out Marvin for a starting spot, I can guarantee you he would have come here. If he goes to a team where he can start and play well, it inflates his value the next time he hits the market.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
5:56 am

“The Hawks are constantly diced by the media and Shaq would have felt “diminished” if he had signed for us for less than a comforting bundle of money.”

They get diced by the media because they have a joke of a front office that signs mediocre players to five year extensions, sells 2nd round picks to pay the electric bills, and signs centers who shoot under 40% to veteran minimum deals while being afraid to offer actual difference makers legit money. They get clowned because of their joke of an ownership group. Same with the Falcons until Arthur Blank came along; now the media talks about them like they are a Super Bowl sleeper. Same with the Braves until Ted Turner came along; now that franchise is by and large talked about as a model of long term success. Funny thing is, if the DASG had overpaid Shaq to come here, the national media buzz about the Hawks’ ownership would instantly becomembetter than it has ever been.

And Atlanta’s perception as a pro sports town is, at the very least, no worse than LA, a city that is indifferent to the nation’s most popular pro sport and whose fans take four innings to fill up a baseball stadium.

jeff

August 22nd, 2010
6:08 am

Sund on vacation? What has he done this off-season to warrant a vacation? It had appeared to me he has been on vacation all summer long.
As for tickets. I think most fans are fed up with this ownership group and their inability to follow through with their plans of adding FA’s as they have said they would do. I don’t think ticket prices will have any impact on filling seats, They want to fill seats, put a product on the floor.

It goes to show they know before the season starts seats are going to be hard to fill, since we are going to have basically the same team again this year.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
6:18 am

Back before northcyde came over to the dark side, he used to make similar arguments about how free agents don’t want to come to our fine city for whatever reason — usually some combination of sh-tty fans and lack of championships. I took the trouble to go through every NBA roster and show how many “core” players actually chose to be with their current team (in other words they either joined as free agents or via sign-and-trade). I’m not going to do it again since it is time consuming and boring, but if you take it upon yourself to look this up, you’ll find that the Hawks are no worse than any of the so-called marquee franchises at attracting free agents. (I should add that this was before the big offseason free agent bonanza, where the Heat proved themselves to be head and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to free agent recruiting). Most of the league’s A-list players were either drafted or traded for by their current team. In the last 15 years, the Hawks have convinced two All-Star caliber players — Joe Johnson and Dikembe Mutombo — to come here; you’ll find that most teams haven’t convinced more than one player of this caliber to join them.

It’s also worth considering that there are a lot of athletes who live in Atlanta despite having no connection to the local sports teams or even necessarily the metro area (Terrell Owens is one example) which would lead one to logically conclude that any of our local teams would have no problem attracting free agents if they demonstrate their commitment to winning. Just in the past few years, Michael Turner, Dunta Robinson, Derek Lowe, and Billy Wagner signed here as free agents while John Abraham and Tony Gonzalez orchestrated trades to the ATL (Abraham by holding out and Gonzalez by requesting a trade).

Our city’s rep has nothing to do with this. Ultimately it comes down to the team projecting the image of a winner. The Braves and Falcons have figured out how to do this; the penny-pinching, in-fighting DASG still doesn’t have a clue.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
8:05 am

Najeh,

I grant you that the ASG’s ownership situation does not help, however, ATL is not a pro basketball town by default, so there is no quick route to solve the problem.

Almost nothing can be reduced to “black” or “white”.

Even when Wilkins was here and the Hawks were “relevant” their attendance at the Omni was not high.

Same thing with the Lenny Wilkens’ Hawks, same thing with the 53 win Hawks last year.

From a spectacle point of view there was absolutely nothing wrong with last years’ team (substance is a different thing) since we defended home court well and playing with a good degree of showmanship.

I agree – to some extent – that the ownership (this or a new one) has to change the “franchise’s genetic code”, however, it’s not by overpaying Shaq or Barnes that you would accomplish that.

If it was that simple, why do you think there are so many suitors to buy the Pistons and there aren’t any to buy the Hawks?

Don’t you think that from a business point of view there is a clear perception that the Hawks are not a good business opportunity due to several factors beyond having a good GM and an ownership willing to spend top dollar?

And if you think that re-signing JJ was a bad deal, I can assure you that letting him walk would have been far worse (but far cheaper).

JJ is the #3 SG in the league and will continue to be within the top 5 for the next 3 to 5 years and is, in my opinion, well inside the league’s top 20 players.

If we had signed Shaq, it would have been Mo Malone all over again: an over the hill C who was looking for a paycheck, would play disinterested and bring zero to the table.

Don’t fool yourself in thinking that a guy who has not been really “into the game” for ages would be nothing more than a distraction over here: he would come and think he was the “king of the hill” when in fact we would need him to come as an elder statesman willing to have a limited role on court.

Add to it the fact that his game does not suit at all what we should be doing next year (I don’t care if Drew thought that he would be good for us, as MC reported, there is where I think he was completely wrong since Shaq would have gotten him fired in 3 months).

Shaq fits BOS’ geriatric offense but his lack of D will hurt them badly if KG is not able to get his legs back at least to 80% of what he was.

Also, if Thibodeau was such a defensive wiz, without him won’t the Celts suffer? We should not forget that it was their impeccable D against CLE, ORL and LAL that kept them afloat.

If I were a Celts fan, I would be at least slightly worried since opposing teams will pick and roll them to death whenever Shaq is on court.

sam'l

August 22nd, 2010
8:37 am

Somewhere a disenchanted center is giving the message to his team……..”Either treat me right or trade me to the Hawks.”

Full moon trade….you heard it here.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
8:40 am

It’s already old news but it is always interesting to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ste4A1v5W-o&feature=player_embedded

It’s funny that Euro ballers are usually soft when playing in the NBA but back home when their most basic instincts come alive, it’s a completely different situation…

At least Zaza is the exception since he keeps it pretty aggressive over here as well.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
11:01 am

VaVa74

Sounds like you pretty much summed it up, after that, what else is there to say.

KevinM

August 22nd, 2010
12:11 pm

“If the Hawks had given him the exact same offer and said he would have a chance to beat out Marvin for a starting spot, I can guarantee you he would have come here. If he goes to a team where he can start and play well, it inflates his value the next time he hits the market.”

I disagree Najeh because Sund dealt with him last year after rumors surfaced that we were negotiating with him. That in itself gave Barnes no shot at coming here. Another factor: the basketball wives reality show probably impacted this as well because the ASG is not bringing in controversy to the core. It is so obvious.

Me myself, Barnes is much better than Marvin. He fits the role we need better. We don’t need another jump shooter standing in the corner. Barnes is also a better defender. I feel he has the intangibles to help us, and he is a low cost vet. If there was someone who should be making the MLE, it is Barnes. Such is life because Barnes never had a shot at coming here. Not that he doesn’t improve our team, but the attitude of the ASG to not threaten a core position is just blatant.
And don’t say Teague, because he hasn’t won anything yet.

As for Shaq, there are just too many reasons why it made sense….no need to get into it again. The most simple reason is the fan base. This one singular move of acquiring a big man other than a journeyman vet would have brought some life to the fan base. The Shaq talk would have dominated the blogs and talk shows would have had a reason to address the Hawks. Whether he was the same talent level as an aging Moses Malone remained to be seen, but he held his own stat wise against anyone on our frontline. Sad to let this opportunity go by.
The only thing that may have played against us is Shaq being the actual leader when it came to showing us how to win in the playoffs. It may be too little too late for him but it sure would have been interesting and I know fans would have been more satisfied with Sund and the ASG had they brought him in. As of now, they are not convincing me anymore and numerous people here that there is enough on this roster.

Imbeciles comes to mind when discussing the ASG in more ways than I care to write about.

My main question was: why rush to sign Collins? Who was threatening to take him? Wouldn’t he still be available at this stage? Josh Powell maybe made sense, but whose minutes is he going to get now that we have heard LD is going to move Al to the 4 plenty this year.

Now that Sund is on his vacation, and deservedly so, because he has worked tirelessly to improve this team (eyes rolling in my head).

We left last year with lots of questions to be addressed, and I don’t think we solved a single problem on this team going into next season. The ASG will have to use that creative ticket ’scheme’ going because you won’t see the Hawks as a Georgia lottery game this season.

Looking through some Orlando stats this past year, and it was amazing to see how many FTs that Howard put up? 822! Are you kidding me? Our highest number? Of course, like Orlando, it was by our worse core player percentage wise: Smoove, who put up 422. Smoove let 150+ points and a 20ppg scoring average go by the wayside. BTW, the Magic put up 260+ FTs more than we did last year. A simple stat that could make a dramatic difference.

And for someone who thought Jason Collins would help us this year in the post: 115 min ALL YEAR in 24 games. Even if he doubles both stats, it will still look puny. Shaq played 53 games and 1240 minutes last year! Another stat to shove at the ASG for their incompetent decision making. I guess you could say Collins was less that 1/2 a Shaq last year!

KevinM

August 22nd, 2010
12:16 pm

Just thought I’d share 5 places where AI might end up….sounds like he still has a shot at getting back in the league….
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/fran_blinebury/08/19/allen-iverson-possible-teams/index.html#?ls=iref:nbahpt1

Heat, Nets, Knicks, Cavs (probably the best choice) and the Bobcats. With the exception of the Heat, AI would probably make each team better.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
2:12 pm

Grand-Daddy

Here is a trade that never happened for the Pacers.
Maybe you can find us a scenario, where we can get this Big Guy:

“Pacers likely to trade for frontcourt help

Danny Granger (F) – Indiana Pacers

(Sat, Aug 14 – 11:12pm ET)

Pacers management has told Danny Granger to expect another trade before the regular season, and he assumes they will try to acquire a big man.
“If we see a deal we like, we’re going to make it and we’re not going to wait,” said Pacers president Larry Bird, after they traded for Darren Collison last Wednesday. For what it’s worth, Granger seems eager to get some frontcourt help — “I can play (power forward) but I’m not a true (power forward). So we’re definitely going to have to add another big, and I think that will be our main focus.”
Source: Fanhouse.com

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
2:13 pm

G-Daddy

I saw that on rotoworld.com

Besides, how are you doing these dog days of Summer?

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
2:27 pm

G-Daddy

Sorry, I posted the wrong trade that never happened for that Big:
From rotoworld.com. (How do you feel about Dampier, BTW)

Bobcats tried to get a PG in Wednesday’s deal

Erick Dampier (C) – Charlotte Bobcats

(Thu, Aug 12 – 10:26am ET)

The Bobcats wanted to get involved in Wednesday’s massive trade, according to David Aldridge on NBA.com, using Erick Dampier’s non-guaranteed contract to acquire a point guard.
Aldridge writes that “Under one scenario, Dampier would have gone to Indiana … with T.J. Ford going to Toronto and the Raptors sending guard Jose Calderon to Charlotte.” This is somewhat irrelevant, since it didn’t happen, but clearly the Bobcats want a PG, the Pacers want to dump Ford, and the Raptors are ready to keep overhauling their roster.
Source: NBA.com

Grandad

August 22nd, 2010
2:35 pm

From earlier:

Lets keep politics, religion, history, poetry,
math, science, chess, baseball, football, art,
music, opinions, references, yankees, dissenters,
republicans, bigots, referees, administrators,
quantum physics, statistical analysis, comedy,
stupidity, brilliance, irony (intended or not),
medicine, anatomy, fiction, recipes, Norway, law,
ignorance, [different from stupidity] the Vols,
off this blog and keep it on topic, nothing but
B-ball, unless you’re a cunning linguist.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
4:06 pm

“If it was that simple, why do you think there are so many suitors to buy the Pistons and there aren’t any to buy the Hawks?”

Where are you getting this information from? When did the Hawks actively try to sell the team and find that there were no suitors? Every time Gearon has been asked about a possible sale he has denied it. I can prove that there is at least one guy who wants to own the Hawks — David McDavid, who is in court trying to prove that Time Warner f-cked him over when they sold to the DASG.

I also find it interesting that you bring up the Pistons but fail to mention the Nets, who were dead last in attendance last year and still managed to get sold to a Russian billionaire. It is harder to sell anything in this economic climate, but if the DASG actually wanted to sell there would surely be people stepping up to buy. You’re going to have to provide some sort of proof to back up that statement.

“And if you think that re-signing JJ was a bad deal, I can assure you that letting him walk would have been far worse (but far cheaper).”

I don’t know why you are jumping to this topic, but I have never said the Hawks shouldn’t have kept Joe. I have always said it was the best option out of several less than ideal options.

“If we had signed Shaq, it would have been Mo Malone all over again: an over the hill C who was looking for a paycheck, would play disinterested and bring zero to the table.”

Even if this was true, Shaq would have been signed to a short term, tradeable deal, and there would have surely been suitors for him in the trade market if he hadn’t worked out here. The risk in signing him wouldn’t have been much.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
4:12 pm

One more note about the Nets — there is precedent to indicate that moving to Brooklyn and spending a lot of money won’t automatically equate to greater attendance. Another NYC-area B-team, the New York Mets, have spent big money and had mixed results over the past decade, and their attendance has wildly fluctuated from year to year; some years they finished near the top, while in other years they finished in the lower half of the league.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
4:28 pm

Najeh

You are correct, the DASG has never indicated the Hawks were for sale.
Gearon did dispel that rumor on a interview on 680 The Fan.
I heard him specifically say the Hawks are NOT for sale, and that they were shopping for an investor to join them and all that Hot – Mess they got going on downtown!

Good LUCK with that Gearon!

How is that working for you?

sam'l

August 22nd, 2010
4:36 pm

Forget trading for a circus act to energize the “fan base.”

Build a strong, courageous, intelligent, well directed basketball team that wins games, doesn’t self-implode at critical times and the fans will come. Those are the only fans that matter.

The good news is you already have al, josh, joe and jamal. EVANS and WILLIAMS can play if the spirit moves them. Drew is a questionmark, but he SAYS the right things. Simply having a new coach should net 10 victories in itself.

Teague could go either way…..personally, I like his speed, but I don’t like his “leadership” skills. You already have Mark Price on the payroll. Make Teague Price’s personal project……have him watch tapes of Rondo and Parker till he can’t stand it anymore and he begs to get out on the court.

This is a pretty good team…..there were all sorts of great games last year. We beat every team except OKC at least once. But it all fell apart against (well, Milwaukee almost) and then Orlando. This was predictable. The team had no plan, no lead time, no special practice time, walked into the slaughter.

That’s why we have a new coach…….

Grandad

August 22nd, 2010
4:48 pm

David McDavid went bankrupt.
I doubt he wants to buy any team.
Kinda glad he didn’t buy the Hawks.
We’d be the Tex Rangers of hoops.

mario

August 22nd, 2010
4:51 pm

hey i still say marvin, bibby and josh smith to the nuggets for carmelo and either Nene or KMart..it benefits both teams.. the nuggets reamin in the playoffs but maybe not teh no. 2 or 3 seed, they get young athletic guys that may trhive in a west coast system in marvin and josh andeven Bibby, he has already prove the Western conferenc is where he needs to be.The hawks get another proven 20+ scorer. I agree Carmelo is not gonna carry a team, but neither is Joe but put these 2 guys together, they relieve each other of the pressure and we immediately become a better team. 2) we get a mean domnant, at least byt talks, post player in Kmart..I know smoove blocks shots but I woudl give up his defense for another guarnteed 20 points per night and tougher post play from KMART…
tHE HAWKS NEED TO MAKE SOME MOVES..THE FUTURE IS NOW, LEBRON AND DWADE ARE GONNA BE IN THE LEAGUE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS, KOBE ANOTHER 5 PROB, DHOWARD ANOTHER 10..SO WAITIN FOR THIS TEAM TO EVENTUALLY GROW, WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN CAUSE THEY WON’T AND I THINK THEY HAVE REACHED THEIR PEAK, DOESNT MAKE SINCE…. RSUND NEEDS TO ADD ANOTHER BIG PIECE TO THE PUZZLE, EVEN IF IT MEANS SUBTRACTING 1 OR 2, for us to compete one and 2 to keep his job..HE FAILED TO GET AVERY WHICH AT LEAST WOULD HAVE GAVE US A VEERAN RESPECTABLE COACH WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE OTHER STARS WONT TO COME HERE…ALSO HE FAILED TO SIGN SHAQ, GIVING HIM 5 OR 6 MILLION IS WOULD HAVE SUFFICES EVEN IF HE ONLY PLAYED IN 40 PERCENT OF THE GAMES THIS YR…

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
5:08 pm

mario

You had me until the Caps started. The yelling and screaming makles my eyes hurt. I can’t read that Ish! Sorry, but I would Never trade Josh for the Kmart
Kool-Aide. Besides he is injury proned big-time.

Denver is not sending Melo, Nene and Kmart for what you offered.
We may have a better chance at getting Chauncey!
He is more of a need for the Hawks that Melo IMHO.

Again, kill them Caps, Sir.
-smiles-

JeJe

August 22nd, 2010
6:34 pm

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
7:21 pm

“David McDavid went bankrupt.”

I typed in “David McDavid bankrupt” in Google and the only place where I saw anything about David McDavid going bankrupt was a previous Hawks blog when drmaryb mentioned something to that effect.

If he did go bankrupt, Google doesn’t seem to know much about it.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
7:47 pm

Najeh,

On the Hawks being for sale: I saw it reported somewhere reliable AFTER Gearon dispelled the rumors. Maybe it was on Sekou’s blog.

The reason which was presented to the fact that the rumors were dispelled was that they did not want it to go 100% public since there were no actual suitors and they did not want it to lose even more value.

vava74

August 22nd, 2010
7:48 pm

On JJ’s signing:

You said that the ASG only managed to sign a mediocre player to a huge contract. Wasn’t it about JJ?

Isn’t it a negative remark?

northcyde

August 22nd, 2010
8:07 pm

I don’t know why people keep bringing up Moses Malone in the Shaq discussion. That dude averaged 20 pts and 10 rebs when he became a Hawk. But the reason why the team didn’t advance, was because of the Kevin Willis injury. It wasn’t Moses fault. Moses did his job.

Shaq, at this stage in his career, is not a better overall player than Horford, but he’s a MUCH BETTER player than Zaza. That in itself would give the Hawks a good rotational player to play on the frontline, which would really allow Horford to play PF.

And to me, that’s what it’s about . . upgrading a bench that, outside of Crawford, was absolutely horrible last year. That’s also a reason why people tossed around Barnes’ name.

People talk about Shaq disrupting chemistry. Come on now. This is a team that has gotten destroyed twice in the 2nd round. At least try to upgrade the team, in order to get us past that point.

This ownership group has only fooled a few people, putting on the show that we’ve done all we could do.

Najeh makes a great point. What was the hurry in signing Jason Collins, of all people? He’s one of the most useless players in the NBA. And yes, Dexter Pittman would’ve bee a better player than Collins, because if Dexter couldn’t do anything else, he could at least rebound the basketball. Collins is a worse rebounder than Marvin.

KevinM

August 22nd, 2010
8:50 pm

Somehow, something tells me that Indiana will get a big man. How they pulled off that Collison deal blows my mind still. They filled a role with Ariza, so it may turn out in their favor.

Bird will find a big man, even if it ends up being Dampier. It could end up being Eddy Curry. There will be plenty of reasons why Sund doesn’t bring in more frontcourt help: “We like what we have”.
Personally, I like neither of those guys.

I am still wishing for DeAndre Jordan before someone else picks gets him away from the Clippers. He played well in limited opportunities late last year. How about this guy? He has had 2 years on the NBDL and has a one year contract with the Jazz…..24 years old.

http://hoopshype.com/players/kyrylo_fesenko.htm

I’ll give you one more…with the arrival of Cousins and Dalembert, what about Jason Thompson (pick #12 in ‘08)? He finished last year very good and be gettable this year. He could the 4th or 5th guy if Whiteside gets the nod over him. His salary numbers: 2.1M, 3M, and 4.1 the next 3 years.

Face it folks; we aren’t getting rid of anyone of significance. We are going to select someone based on him making the vet min and has a 1 or 2 year deal. Thompson is a reach with the numbers alone, but I like his size and he fits under the remaining cap for this season.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 22nd, 2010
9:47 pm

“You said that the ASG only managed to sign a mediocre player to a huge contract. Wasn’t it about JJ?”

I was referring to Marvin’s deal that he signed last year, not Joe’s deal this year. That’s why I referred to it being a five-year deal. Joe’s deal is 6 years.

northcyde

August 22nd, 2010
11:02 pm

And Najeh . . . while I may have come over to the “dark side”, I still believe everything I said about Atlanta as a sports town, or specifically, as an NBA city. We pretty much have to overpay just about everybody just to come here or stay here.

But ownership doesn’t help itself, with some of the moves, or non-moves, that they’ve made over the years. I don’t think this current ownership group understands the ATL market at all. So tactics such as “dynamic pricing” has to be tried out.

The organization has failed on 2 fronts. They’ve failed to bring in a marketable star player to Atlanta. But even worse, they’ve failed to properly market their OWN star players to the city. At the very least, Joe Johnson’s and Josh Smith’s face should be plastered all over metro Atlanta.

I would love to know what the advertising/marketing budget of the Hawks is. I mean damn . . . an independent rap artist like Rasheeda, with her various Youtube videos, markets herself better than the Hawks.

drmaryb ^•^

August 22nd, 2010
11:04 pm

Najeh

I heard it on 790 The Zone, 2 Live Stews that David McDavid was rumored to be looking at filing Bankruptcy due to his fleet of car dealerships were going under in Texas. He was hit hard by the Wall Street Financial Crisis in November of 2008 when Obama was campaigning for his USA Presidency.

The Chrysler and GM Corporations were in process of the Federal Bail Outs and McDavid got caught up in all that. Then he won the TBS Lawsuit this year for what? 25M? (Correct me if I’m wrong of the amount), but you know that ruling was immediately appealed by TBS and will be tied up for probably the nexþ 10 years.

But, he may have filed or not, if so – probably as a S – Corporation to spare his personal name and personal assets. I never heard any more confirmation of him having actually filing though. I hope he can someday get another crack at owning a NBA Franchise though, he was definitely screwed on the Hawks purchase though.

But, Najeh thanks for checking that rumor out for us. You’re awesome on this BLOG! Mad respect bruh!

Grandad

August 22nd, 2010
11:41 pm

Najeh

I stand corrected.
I am the victim of misinformation.
However, not from this blog.
I cannot remember where I read about,
Mr McDavid & any financial, monetary,
or economic related news concerning him
or his “Auto Group”.
Therefore I’ll chalk it up to:
“misremembering”
although it’s dangerous to quote
Roger Clemens as one’s excuse.

Grandad

August 22nd, 2010
11:48 pm

Asbury Automotive Group owns 70% of McDavid Auto Group.
Asbury Automotive Group is a corporation based in California.

doc

August 23rd, 2010
12:11 am

how can the chemistry be any worse than it was for the last 8 games, four against milwaukee and four against the magic. that was the problem, the chemistry that folks talk about, never showed up dod it? there was no balls in that chemistry, none whatsoever. that was also sen by early january in the lackluster efforts and the way they threw games in the fourth quarter. many pinted to it but it was thought of as negative but it was true as rain is wet.

how could shaq have made it worse? tell me that? maybe it would be to maybe point it out loudly to that effect. shaq sometimes made deserved waves in his efforts to stir the drink. mr october did the same in the resurgence of the yankees.

vava you keep bringing it up but specifically what do you think shaq can do or would he do to this team? give some specifics rather than slander. is this team that weak? if we are then we are already done.

grand dad,i dont think you were sworn in to the senate hearings on that one, so i will post it up the the problem i have from time to time…. CRS disease … CANT REMEMBER SH!T. btw a nice pick up by the najeh man as i had accepted the mcdavid rumor of bankruptcy as the business he has been in came crashing down to even the best like the guy in columbus, ga, bill heard, i think it was.

dr mb it was a cool 250 mil settlement from turner. guess even that isnt chump change for turner.

Najeh Davenpoop

August 23rd, 2010
12:48 am

“how can the chemistry be any worse than it was for the last 8 games, four against milwaukee and four against the magic. ”

Exactly.

Team chemistry matters when the actual result is better than what you would expect on paper, like with this year’s Braves. It doesn’t matter when the actual result is worse, like with the 2009-10 Hawks. That team needed a personnel upgrade and they didn’t get one.

Big Ray

August 23rd, 2010
1:58 am

Vava ,

In response to your reply to my post.

1) I think anybody BUT you who has known me on these blogs for even just the past year knew I was referring to the ‘05 and ‘06 drafts, especially after my follow-up post. You just like to argue with me.

2) I don’t give a crap about the Shaq situation, and he is not what I would have considered a big time player for us at this point in his career. Now you’re just SEARCHING for stuff to argue about. When did I mention Shaq? If you can’t tell that I was talking about the ‘05 and ‘06 drafts in my post, then how do you manage to assume I was talking about big time free agent acquisitions this summer especially when I said we BLEW IT TWO YEARS IN A ROW (hint, hint) .

3) I don’t understand human nature? I’m a cop. I understand it better than any lawyer. :evil:

4) I don’t care what you think about my opinion of Bill Simmons. I think he’s funny. I also think he’s a fan who has hit the big time with his writings. I also KNOW he’s a self-proclaimed Boston Celtics fan (a diehard at that), and I think that maybe, just maybe a piece that he writes on Boston might be just a tad slanted.

And pardon me if that offends you. Or don’t. I don’t care. :lol:

Big Ray

August 23rd, 2010
2:02 am

What’s worse? Fans of other teams that hate Atlanta fans, or fans from out of town that are fans of the Atlanta team, that hate Atlanta fans? Oh who cares, Iran just unveiled a new pilot-less bomber, and they REALLY hate us.

One must prioritize things in life….

2 FOR JOHN DREW

August 23rd, 2010
2:06 am

@ drmary
I’m starting to think you’re a sister … If not you sure got soul !!!!!!
Oh yeah it’s oozing out !!!!!!!!

Paddy

August 23rd, 2010
5:02 am

Good players will veto any deal that sends them to play for the cash strapped ASG. Just look at what happened in FA!

O'Brien

August 23rd, 2010
8:05 am

As for Hawks and their Chemistry issues, the ASG has made it clear that all Chemistry issues were as a result of Woody (directly or indirectly).

But that should not have stopped them from giving LD a better bench.

drmaryb ^•^

August 23rd, 2010
9:35 am

doc

250M – wow! That’s a lot of duck-bills! I wonder IF McDavid will ever see a dime of that? Again, that will be a 10 year battle at least. I think he should get the money in trust and transfer rightful ownership of this team to him, or at least give him a 70 percent stake in the current ownership group.

Sometimes, Justice does prevail. This ASKG should have NEVER seen the keys to the arena, IMHO.

2 for John Drew

You sir, are correct!

doc

Yes Sir, there were thousands of failed dealerships on the East Coast.
Bill Heard Chevrolet was definitely in that group! I literally drove by some hundreds of empty lots in Atlanta. It happened so quickly and felt like brush fires. Sad thing is, unemployment and home foreclosures are still on the rise.
Doc, it ain’t over!

That’s why everyday people have very little disposable income to venture down to the sports arenas to see mediocre team play. The Hawks are who we thought they were, a second tier team who plays above it’s pay – grade.
Entertaining yes, but NOT a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination.

Fundamentals

August 23rd, 2010
10:09 am

MC we need some news! What happened to Sy? What bigs are we hunting? What are our players doing to prepare for the season? Who will get Rudy F? What FA can Joe claim he actively recruited and got denied from? How did Teague feel about all the slaps in the face you gave him?

KevinM

August 23rd, 2010
10:53 am

Fundamentals….I’ll try…
Sy is still needing that buyout and since Sund is on vacation……..
I hard Marvin went back home and is getting accolades for his giving back. Congrats Marvin….now come in ready.
I hear Al is working hard between his trips to basketball w/o borders.
Zaza is a boxer now…

I haven’t heard about any other players’ offseasons.
Rudy F probably ends up in a big market, like NY or NJ.
Was our #2 responsible for getting Collins to resign? Ugh….When you have the chance Joe, please, just say no comment.
I looked back at Teague’s SL stats and he is what we think he is; a slashing ball handler who needs to work on the following:
1) His 3pointer
2) getting to the line during a game. Did you see how many times Bibby went to the FT line last year?
3) His ability to defend Rondo/Nelson/Jennings/Rose/Wade(because he will have the ball alot)/Stuckey/Wall….he needs to finish in the Top 30 in the league for this team to move forward. (Smoove was 11th).

KevinM

August 23rd, 2010
10:57 am

Oh, and big men we are scouting? Couldn’t tell you….perhaps Randolph Morris might have to come to camp ready to fill that role.

“Teague could go either way…..personally, I like his speed, but I don’t like his “leadership” skills. You already have Mark Price on the payroll.”

Sam’l,I’m sure Mark Price was let go a couple of weeks ago. Teague needs another coach to lean on.

The Truth

August 23rd, 2010
12:33 pm

KevinM

Are you suggesting that this is likely the inevitable and we should get comfortable with the idea in advance of the announcement?

“perhaps Randolph Morris might have to come to camp ready to fill that role”

If this happen, it would be the ultimate insult, then why not also bring back Mario? If nothing else, at least we can say that Sund is consistent; consistently idle in his lack of pursuit of quality FAs. If anymore of his carry-over sub pars show up on this year’s roster, then it will be official. Sund would have earned the NBA version of the Dr.Do-little award for the year (and the year hasn’t even started yet). For those that may not be familiar with this award:

It is an award given to a deserving GM who shuns quality FA players in favor of mediocre players, with whom he can only speak in their own languages.

Nobody Cares

August 23rd, 2010
12:59 pm

I will not be going to a basketball game for the foreseeable future seeing as we have no realistic shot at doing anything anyways. Never will until Miami’s bus crashes or something like that. Might as well go ahead and give the Heat the trophy and not waste anyones time next year. Basketball is pathetic.

Nobody Cares

August 23rd, 2010
1:00 pm

Hawks are more pathetic too. Screw the Atlanta Spirit group morons. Have fun losing all your money this year.

KevinM

August 23rd, 2010
1:14 pm

Truth, I haven’t heard one way or the other, but being a UK fan, I am going to keep up with Randolph and no one wants him to be successful more than me. I have serious doubts though as it doesn’t appear the work ethic isn’t there. How else can you explain Collins getting the nod before Randolph?

To me, I thought since Randolph was close to Smoove and Dwight, that he could become a very good pro. I have since seen the light and realize his days may be better spent overseas.

But if you are a big man, and can’t make it with the Hawks, who have had a big man need since Dikembe, then I think you aren’t gonna make it period. I mean, can you not motivate yourself to eat, sleep and drink basketball to make sure you have given it your all?

So Truth, yes, I can see Randolph getting an invite to camp. I have yet to hear otherwise and Sund does have that way about him where he will likes what he has versus what he could have and could like.

KevinM

August 23rd, 2010
1:17 pm

I should have said the work ethic is in question.

Kind of the norm around here to see an athlete decide to work a bit more on the last year of his contract….Marvin comes to mind. Collins, however, goes against that rule as for some unknown reason, he earned a pass this year.

The Truth

August 23rd, 2010
1:44 pm

“But if you are a big man, and can’t make it with the Hawks, who have had a big man need since Dikembe, then I think you aren’t gonna make it period.”

My rational as well; But I also wish RandMo the best. I just don’t want to see him in a Hawk uniform. It would be a public perception of rewarding mediocrity since he had his chances (the latest being the summer league)

GeeMack

August 23rd, 2010
2:13 pm

Nobody Cares

The Lakers and Celtics are convinced Miami is invisible.

GeeMack

August 23rd, 2010
2:13 pm

Nobody Cares
The Lakers and Celtics are not convinced Miami is invisible.

Fundamentals

August 23rd, 2010
2:23 pm

I begged for Randmo to get his shot last year after training camp, if not after the All Star break to get him ready. Woodson buried the kid. Summer League proved he either doesn’t have it or he doesn’t want it, but either way he might need to look overseas. I too had high hopes he could pal up with Josh, be a great backup and help this team.

All we need Teague for is to run the offense and occassionally drive the bucket. Folks are demanding he be the next Magic. We have plenty of folks wearing C to lead the team. Teague just needs to follow orders and get the play moving. He’s absolutely capable of that. ALl this talk of 3 point shooting, averaging certain points, ect is bogus. Just fill the role of starting the offense and pushing the ball. His defense will come after actually getting solid time on the floor. He’s athletic enough to keep up, jut give him consistent minutes.

Heat haven’t won a game yet. I predict they won’t get along and the holes in their roster might come back to haunt them. They’ll win, but I don’t see them easily winning the East or a championship. That’s why we play the games people! I honestly thought Joe, Smoove and Horford would’ve been good bait for a marquee player. At least in terms of rising talent?

Fundamentals

August 23rd, 2010
2:26 pm

When I said bait above I meant something to lure a player to our team. Not trade bait.

I hope Randmo doesn’t get a camp invite. He bombed bad enough in summer league.

Grandad

August 23rd, 2010
3:00 pm

From where I sit,
I don’t see Miami either.

Grandad

August 23rd, 2010
3:04 pm

doc

CRS:
I gotta remember that one.

uh oh!

ryan

August 23rd, 2010
3:16 pm

Kwame Brown has just signed with the Bobcats thats is it my friends ASG better hopes the Hawks make the playoffs because if they don’t there will be hell to pay .

KevinM

August 23rd, 2010
3:22 pm

Brown off the market, Dampier sounds like he is going to join the market.

Is Sund off vacation yet?

So does Indy or the Hawks get Dampier for a vet min?

The Truth

August 23rd, 2010
3:25 pm

Dear Rick Sund

Since I heard you were on vacation, I thought you might enjoy watching this classic hit. Your inspirational source in managing the Hawks is no secret anymore since this discovery has been made. Enjoy!

Sincerely

The Truth

Rondo

August 23rd, 2010
3:41 pm

Rudy Fernendez = No Defense, shaky ball-handler, misses more wide open jumpers than Marvin
Let someone else have him.
Eric Dampier = Ok rebounder, terrible footwork, occasional shot blocker, less drama than shaq, wouldn”t hurt to try to get him, better than Randmo and Collins combined

Rondo

August 23rd, 2010
3:46 pm

Hey Big Ray Krispey Kreme or Dunkin Doughnuts!

The Truth

August 23rd, 2010
3:47 pm

Garret Siler (for much less) = Eric Dampier

JoJo the Godfather

August 23rd, 2010
3:55 pm

Dampier is my guy…Hawks are one of very few contenders that can offer him any kind of deal north of $2.5M…A 2 or 3-yr deal for anything less than what Za Za makes ($4.2M), is a steal.

As far as the Bobcats…I don’t see why they don’t cut Dampier rather than trade him so that they can get below the luxury tax…I know that team is getting some solid corporate $’s thanks to MJ, but they can easily avoid the tax and still get a PG by going back to their Diaw for Calderon trade that was on, and then off, earlier this offseason…Not sure if Indy would swap Ford’s expiring for Diaw’s 2-yr deal, but it would make them a better team.

Get Dampier! (if he ever gets cut)

Rondo

August 23rd, 2010
3:57 pm

Just kidding Big Ray. I got a question for you Big Ray, since you say you are a cop,I was just wondering if you could help me. I got a ticket about a month ago for running a stop sign heading to work. I admit that I did bump and go at the stop sign, but the officer wrote on the ticket that I didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign at a totaly different address. Should I go to court and fight the ticket since the officer wrote the incident happening at the wrong address? Oh and I almost forgot…..Go Hawks!

Rondo

August 23rd, 2010
4:07 pm

Signing Dampier or Siler = Quiets Fan-base
Dampier or Siler = 0.3 wins (my guess)
Dampier or Siler = 6 more fouls on D.Howard
I say beg Rasheed Wallace to come out of retirement, he may be having a case of the Brett Farve Syndrome.The guy just gets all up in D.Howards grill and somewhat shuts him down.
Rasheed Wallace = D. Howard’s Kryptonyte

Astro Joe

August 23rd, 2010
4:21 pm

So ESPN’s Broussard & Hollinger are ranking the teams and today they focused on the bottom 5. They have 4 Eastern team in that group (along with the T’Wolves), Pistons, Raptors, Pacers and Wizards.

Like I keep saying, just because 2-3 teams got better, it doesn’t mean that a few teams won’t be worse. Hawks fans should expect 50+ wins. You may choose to make that a secondary goal (to losing better in the playoffs) but it doesn’t change the notion that a team bringing back the same roster with a more competent coach (according to most) should not reasonably expect to take a step backwards during the 82-game campaign.

drmaryb ^•^

August 23rd, 2010
5:00 pm

MJ

Is he drinking the Kwame Kool-Aide again?

WOW! What happened since MJ drafted Kwame #1 in DC?

doc

August 23rd, 2010
5:19 pm

astro if i dont take your bait and say 50+ wins is not to be expected am i then a non-hawk fan? for some reason i see you setting a trap. i also saw a lot of things happen last year like certain teams not fortifying themselves hoping to get in on the FA pool, a new system to learn this year, an aging point guard or a not ready for primetime one and our side having ZERO injuries last year. there are WAAAAY too may other variables and you are playing me the fool to suggest i buy that or you are just plain stupid …. ahem, which i know you are not. ;-) i cant argue the other one.

so just change the tune dude already, that one is so old. you are much more creative than that.

intheKnow

August 23rd, 2010
6:10 pm

East Standings Predictions
1.Miami- Wade LBJ CB is greatest offseason signings for a single team in NBA history , not to mention Mike Miller, Hashlem
2.Orlando-Dwight owns the paint, and orl is bout the same as last year
3.Bos- Rondo will control games and PP & RA will continue to hit big shots, could you imagine the celtics pf/c roation if it were the 2002 season?
4.Chi- Chicago leaps the hawks by making offseason acquistions, Boozer and Noah downlow are going to make scoring inside tough and Rose is the fastest man in the NBA
5.ATL- I like but dislike signing joe. I like having joe back because we are going to the playoffs again for sure. Maybe last seasons playoffs were a fluke and joe can return to the 08 joe. I dislike signing joe because having a 29 year sign a max 6 year contract who couldnt do anything in the playoffs makes me think the Hawks are content with being a playoff team but not a championship team. I hope joe challenges himself and proves me wrong. Also can the hawks please sign a legitimate 7 footer. No more 6′9 pfs, were good.
6.Mil- B jennings and Bogut will secure the #6 spot again
7.Was-Washington will make the playoffs this year with a renewed agent 0, as well as john wall winning rookie of the year honors over BG32. Andray Blatche is a great player and continues to improve and jhow or al thornton at 3 is a good platoon. I like Javale defensively as well at C.
8.NY- Im putting NY 8th for now as Amare, Anthony Randolph, Danillo Gallinarri will be a very tall athletic 3,4,5. If a trade happens and NY lands Anthony NY could jump the Hawks and get the 5 seed

drmaryb ^•^

August 23rd, 2010
7:46 pm

InTheKnow

Well, Sir, let’s see about that?

“3.Bos- Rondo will control games and PP & RA will continue to hit big shots, could you imagine the celtics pf/c roation if it were the 2002 season?”

- Well, let’s see, w/o Tony Allen (didn’t he jetson? Correct me IF I’m wrong?)
Rasheed was unstoppable on defense (he’s gone out like a champ!)
Perkins will need at least two solid years of re-hab a very severe knee blow-out/PCL & MCL tear – ewee! real bad stuff, very rare injury to a weight bearing and pivotal joint). Add, a few more rings to the old oak tree and I see major slippage from the 3rd Seed. J-Oneal (arthritic knees)& S-Oneal will be alright, but will NEVER out run the Hawks – Never!-

“4.Chi- Chicago leaps the hawks by making offseason acquistions, Boozer and Noah downlow are going to make scoring inside tough and Rose is the fastest man in the NBA”

-Boozer is a very nice player on Offense & Rebounds, but has never put up those numbers against the Hawks. Does NOT patrol the paint nor rim on defense, Not a shot blocker whatsoever. The same team we handled very well last year.
No more Heinrich to defend the perimeter and where is Deng?-
Not convinced they will topple the Hawks with the New Coach who is more intemse than Doug Collins, wears on players and stares holes through people.
They will have their own chemistry issues to battle when you add the owners who punches the HC in their front offices for playing Noah extended minutes w/o permission from the owners booth! Too much micro-management and HC intensity. They will play uptight and never loose! Count on it!-

“6..Mil- B jennings and Bogut will secure the #6 spot again”

-Bogut’s elbow blew up like an IED last season. I read on rotoworld.com last Staurday that the re-hab is NOT going well at all! That elbow is severly inflamed right now, keep in mind the elbow was completely dislocated with shredded ligaments and tendons ripped off the bone. As worse as Grant Hill’s ankle – the good news is that the elbow is not a weight bearing pivotal joint, but an eliptical gliding joint, that will need minimal 2 years IF it heals completely.
He will then need a sports psychologist to re-gain mental strength and confidence. He will be hesitant to contact, rebounding and terrified of dunking ever again. IMHO, I would not pencil him in next season, chances are Bogut will not start the season either. Don’t count them Bucks in yet!-

Listen, the Hawks are healthy, young, long and athletic! IF, they learn to play defense? They will be awfully scary as is! But, they definitely need some size and rebounding in the paint to put it all together!

Meanwhile, Slick-Rick is on vacation? I hope he is somewhere scouting talent for his roster – They Need It !

drmaryb ^•^

August 23rd, 2010
7:55 pm

Oh yeah!

And Bogut got substantial nerve damage in the elbow. The median nerve and radial nerve supply forearm muscle strength and to the hand. Peripheral Nerves unlike the Central Nervous System can regenerate some, but I don’t know about
100%? I doubt it (help me out doc, what do you think?).

Had that been Bogut’s ankle with his size and weight? Probably a career ending injury. In the elbow, he has a chance to play again. Gotta’ do some serious rehab though! Sports Medicine has come a long ways. I sure hope he comes all the way back though!

Wink

August 24th, 2010
3:57 pm

Dynamic Pricing – no thank you! As stated earlier “Dynamic Management” would be nice.

The already have a flim flam pricing structure. On the day of the game I have gone to the window to purchase a ticket to a Sacramento game. Since the competition was the Kings, I just wanted a cheap seat, in the 300 section somewhere. Upon requesting said ticket I was told those ticket had sold out. Thus, I would have been forced to buy a more expensive seat. I elected to watch the game at Taco Mac and low and behold the there were seats a plenty in the upper areas of the arena. Bad ticketing policy on game day. So I certainly don’t want to pay 3 times the price for the 300 section to see the Lakers or Miami games. So I guess I will be in a sports bar or on the HD screen at home.

Set a price for your seats and sell the tickets as listed until each section sells out, period.

The Truth

September 14th, 2010
9:32 am

Interesting prospective from Etan Thomas as Sund prepares to deal with Jamal

Nothing against him or any other GM, but GMs say a lot of things and sometimes (I won’t say most of the time) the things they say aren’t exactly… Hmmm… How can I say this… The truth. Any player will attest to this. They’ll look you in your eyes and tell you that you are in their plans and a part of their future, then as you are driving home you’ll hear on the radio that they are looking to trade you.