Atlanta Hawks: Roster report
The season ends abruptly and fans immediately engage in the annual tradition of wishing their team had different players (if they wait that long). But before you start dreaming about the Hawks adding quality free agents, it’s best to take a sober (somber?) look at their payroll and circumstances.
This summer looks a lot like last summer for the Hawks: They have no cap space, lots of roster spots to fill and not much room under the luxury-tax line to do it.
The Hawks have approximately $61 million in guarantees committed to six players. The salary cap this season is about $58 million and the luxury tax threshold is about $70 million. Each of those figures could increase next season (they can’t decrease) but unless there’s a massive increase in BRI the Hawks won’t have any cap space and won’t gain much additional wiggle room under the tax threshold.
I don’t have to tell you the Hawks are unlikely to spend above the tax line again next season. They tried to avoid doing so this year but the run of injuries forced their hand. The Hawks sold a draft pick to help offset the tax bill. Their payroll is at least 75 percent of their revenues and they are skeptical the new CBA will provide much significant relief through revenue sharing.
Those circumstances don’t suggest a franchise looking to take another luxury-tax hit. Assuming the tax threshold remains at about the same level, that leaves the Hawks roughly $9 million to sign a minimum of seven players to get to 13 on the roster. The player they select with the No. 23 overall draft pick (assuming they keep it) will eat up another $1.2 million or so (assuming the prospect signs for 120 percent above scale, which is standard). That would leave the Hawks $7.8 million under the tax line to sign at least six players.
The mid-level exception for non-taxpayers will be $5 million again next season. If the Hawks use all of that on one player, they’d be left with about $2.8 million under the tax line to add at least six additional players. That’s obviously not feasible even before you consider that a player who signs for the full mid-level commands a multi-year contract, adding future payroll just when the Hawks have a chance to clear some cap space after next season.
So in regards to free agency the Hawks are looking at trying to again build a roster with minimum-salaried veterans and/or young players and probably needing a couple of those players to accept non-guaranteed deals. And this time the Hawks don’t have Kirk Hinrich under contract and so need even more of those kinds of free agents to fill key roles.
Hinrich’s $8 million comes off the books along with roughly $5.6 million in cap salaries from the seven minimum-salaried vets plus Ivan Johnson’s rookie salary*. But Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Jeff Teague all get raises.
*The Hawks can claim salary-matching rights for Ivan by extending him a one-year qualifying offer of about $960,00 by June 30.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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460 comments Add your comment
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
6:44 pm
“i am as sure that doc would have shut jamal dwn just as effectively as thibs did. at least i am just as sure of this as anyone that suggests that jamal couod have been the gate to the ecf. got it? i too can play the santa claus game and make stuff up. neither santa claus or any statement of what difference jamal might have made have any basis in reality. i prefer reality. my reality is there were no funds for jamal.”
The reality is Jamal’s numbers against the Celtics when he played for Atlanta were much better than his overall career numbers. That is reality. It’s not fantasy. Look them up. You are a doctor, do your research. Could it be because they don’t have anyone who can check him, except maybe Rondo? Are you as sure about Doc being able to shut him down like Thibs did, as you were about Drew not backstabbing Woodson to get the job. If so, I would tend not to trust your opinion, as much as I trust mine. LOL
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
6:45 pm
Grandmaster JeJe (GM),
Pure comedy. The sad thing is it’s probably about 95% true. SMH
Ken Strickland
May 17th, 2012
6:47 pm
No matter how someone trys to explain the Hawks financial situation, some of you still can’t see the forest for the trees. Even though we’ve all been told over and over that this franchise is financially stapped, we still get these stupid comments about amnesting JJohnson. It somehow doesn’t seem to get through the thick skulls of some that amnesting a player still obligates a team to pay his salary, it just doesn’t count against the cap.
When you have to add an additional salary to replace the player you amnested, how in the hell does creating more financial debt help the team? Man, some of you are so dense. Barring new ownership, we need to look at coaching. The 1st question that needs to be asked is, can better coaching get better results from the talent we have.
Can a stronger and more experienced coaching personality with a fresh and different perspective get the attention of JJohnson and JSmith, who are our 2 most disruptive players, as well as 2 of our most talented? Can a HC like Nate McMillian, for instance, have that type of effect on them, as well as the team overall. If so, that should be our 1st move.
If JSmith can’t be convinced to resigned after the season, or it’s believed he’ll continue his same bad habits and immaturity, then trade him for something we can use. I think Teague can run this OFF with ease as long as he doesn’t have to constantly deal the dominant and/or disruptive personalities of both JJ and Josh.
Since Josh is a FA after this season, and he seems to want out, we need to trade him for some needed assets, preferably a young athletic center or a high pick that will allow us to draft one. We then need to use our own 1st rd pick to draft an athletic scoring SF that plays DEF and rebounds.
That would give us a starting lineup of Teague-PG, JJ-SG, Draft Pick-SF, Zaza-C, and Horford-PF. Our bench could be Draft Pick-C, IJohnson-C/PF, Pargo-PG, WGreen-SG, Marvin-SF/PF, filler. The most important aspect of this team would be having a HC with the willingness and will to insist that everyone stick to the OFF and play solid DEF.
We’ve seen how effective and productive Zaza can be as a starter, and we’ve seen how Horford can impact this team, even at less than 100%. With Horford at PF, DEFs won’t invite Horford to launch jumpers like they do Josh. And having a SF that can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim and/or FT line will really balance our OFF out. All JJ needs to do is launch open jumpers and post up. No more ISO Joe. Just my opinion.
Clarification
May 17th, 2012
6:54 pm
“Your argument/point/case/premise is basically the following:”
“the Hawks [team] w/o Jamal Crawford is better defensively but may not better overall vs. the Hawks [team] w/ Jamal Crawford is better overall.”
This is BS, because I HAD no “premise”. Unlike you, I was making no overarching point. I was just saying flatly that the Hawks are a better defensive team without Jamal, IMO. Notice that, once again, I am saying IMO. I’m not disallowing your precious JC1 set of precepts.
The numbers are what they are. It’s a testimony to just how much those numbers bother you, that you have now made post after post to try and discredit them. LOL. You cannot discredit what the numbers say. We are better off defensively without Jamal. Argue all you want about some “other” point you think you are making, but you cannot deny the numbers.
Rufus1
May 17th, 2012
6:55 pm
Rod and High-sider,
Not making the 2nd rd..
Was more about not playing the Magic and the injuries to our front line, that was the difference this year….NOT Jamal.
We DESTROYED the Magic this year without Jamal and would have beat them in the playoffs if we would have played them.
We played a better team this year in the 1st rd and lost.
We had injuries this year and lost.(Everyone was healthy against the Magic)… Health matters
Repeating that we made it to the 2nd Rd last year can’t be argued, but I could argue that Zaza was the difference if I use your line of thinking.
Everything we did this year say we were better without Jamal…Except the 1st rd exit.
We didn’t have a healthy Josh(except in game 1 and we won)
We didn’t a healthy Al
We didn’t have a healthy Zaza
but you say we lost because we were missing a “Ball chucking”, defensive liability in Jamal Crawford, who DISAPPEARS against great defenses….REALLY?
PS. Jamal made 11mil last year and got shut down by some journey man in the Bulls series, but he would have been the difference in this series…Really, Stop make excuses?
Just Joe
May 17th, 2012
6:55 pm
Marvin Williams rankings among SFs in the regular season: 16th in PPG. 12th in PP48. 9th in RPG. 8th in RP48. 9th in 3pt%. 13th in FT%. Some will say better than half the starting SFs in the league.
We know him too well, but another team will be willing to take a chance on the duck. They’ll say he only turns 26 next month. He’s avgd 11 & 5 in 30 minutes for his career as the 5th option on offense.
Rufus1
May 17th, 2012
6:56 pm
Great post Jeje
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
7:02 pm
Funny stuff, Grandmaster JeJe (GM).
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
7:16 pm
@Rufus1
“…Everything we did this year say we were better without Jamal…Except the 1st rd exit.
We didn’t have a healthy Josh(except in game 1 and we won)
We didn’t a healthy Al
We didn’t have a healthy Zaza
but you say we lost because we were missing a “Ball chucking”, defensive liability in Jamal Crawford, who DISAPPEARS against great defenses….REALLY?
PS. Jamal made 11mil last year and got shut down by some journey man in the Bulls series, but he would have been the difference in this series…Really, Stop make excuses?” – Rufus1
One of the major themes Larry Drew tried to impress on the Hawks [team] this past season was “No Excuses.” You, Rufus1, listed at least three excuses [as to] why the Hawks didn’t advance past the first round this postseason and then you, Rufus1, [attempt to] command me to stop making excuses [concerning Jamal Crawford]. If that isn’t hypocritical, [then] I don’t know what is. [smh]
“Practice what you preach.”
“Check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
Just Joe
May 17th, 2012
7:16 pm
Pacers are fired up.
Buddy Grizzard
May 17th, 2012
7:16 pm
“I totally agree, except for the Kirk Hinric stuff. He is just as useless as Marvin.” – Rod from C.P.
Agreed! He’s just not nearly as useless as Pargo and Green.
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
7:26 pm
Dufus1,
“PS. Jamal made 11mil last year and got shut down by some journey man in the Bulls series, but he would have been the difference in this series…Really, Stop make excuses?”
Really, yet your whole post is full of excuses . You are even dumber than I thought. The purpose of the regular season is to be good enough to get to the playoffs. Once you get to the playoffs the best teams advance. So if we advanced to the second round last year, but lost in the first round this year, how are we better? Typical Atlanta fan logic. I’m proud of the team because they had injuries but still played well. Losers mentality. Guess what Boston had injuries also. Ray Allen was injured. Rondo missed game two, a game which we still lost, and Paul Pierce played injured like Josh for the 5th and 6th game of the series. Guess what, they still won and advanced. Maybe since your mental capacity might not be that high, you need to look up what making excuses means, and then re-read my post and re-read your post. LOL
“excuses are tools of the incompetent used to build monuments of nothingness. Those who use them seldom amount to anything”
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
7:29 pm
High-sider,
Great minds think alike. Fred Sanford says it best. “YOU BIG DUMMY”. Notice his name in all my post is DUFUS1. Must be related to Marvin.
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
7:35 pm
@Clarification
“This is BS, because I HAD no “premise”. Unlike you, I was making no overarching point. I was just saying flatly that the Hawks are a better defensive team without Jamal, IMO. Notice that, once again, I am saying IMO. I’m not disallowing your precious JC1 set of precepts.
The numbers are what they are. It’s a testimony to just how much those numbers bother you, that you have now made post after post to try and discredit them. LOL. You cannot discredit what the numbers say. We are better off defensively without Jamal. Argue all you want about some “other” point you think you are making, but you cannot deny the numbers.” – Clarification
I hope you realize that [the Hawks] “being better [off] defensively without Jamal” did not translate into more playoff [postseason] victories for the Hawks this postseason. Give me more [Hawks] postseason victories with Jamal Crawford instead of less [Hawks] postseason victories and better team defense without Jamal Crawford. It’s really a “no-brainer.”
Thanks for making my point, Nullification, I mean, Clarification – Freudian slip [parapraxis].
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
7:38 pm
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
7:29 pm
High-sider,
Great minds think alike. Fred Sanford says it best. “YOU BIG DUMMY”. Notice his name in all my post is DUFUS1. Must be related to Marvin.
—————————————————————–
Co-sign.
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
7:47 pm
Rod from College Park,
It’s actually easy to defend yourself when you are on the “right” side of the argument/debate. The “right” defends and takes care of itself; it’s the “wrong” that needs to be corrected. Some of these “bloggers” are just taking the wrong side of the argument/debate. If some of these “bloggers” were honest, they would concede the point[s] and admit their wrong[s].
Clarification
May 17th, 2012
7:55 pm
High-Sider,
Once again:
It’s a testimony to just how much those numbers bother you, that you have now made post after post to try and discredit them. LOL.
Post after post. Shall I count them? Too bad you can’t let what the numbers say inform you. Even Rod admits that Jamal was a poor defensive player. My point was in a vacuum, but you would think that I was personally accosting you. You “wear” your Crawford colors so proudly that any mention of something negative about him and you over-react. I guess you don’t see it.
So will you claim a victory and do a dance again like a teenager? An empty victory if you do, since I was not arguing with you, but listing statistics. Statistics that apparently are an Inconvenient Truth for you, based on post after post attempting to discredit them.
Jay Dubu
May 17th, 2012
7:57 pm
If the Hawks are not willing to pay the lux Tax, why would anyone think they would just pay a player not to play for them (amnesty)?
It’s not going to happen.
The only hope is to make some very good & creative trades.
Melvin
May 17th, 2012
8:01 pm
Contrary to some on this blog, I still think Joe to the Pacers would be a good trade for both teams. I prefer Paul George, pick and cap space in return for the Hawks but the Pacers may be more inclined to send back Granger instead but I would still make the trade if I was the Hawks. Moving Joe contract is the main reason for this trade to allow cap flexibility going forward.
Watching the Heat/Pacers game, its evident that the Pacers are missing a better wing player to go along with Hibbert/ West. Granger is not on the Joe level and Joe would be a better fit/option for the Pacers than Granger.
Big Ray
May 17th, 2012
8:04 pm
I hate Mike Gearon.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
8:05 pm
“Teague at 80 & Joe and Al at 84? Funny.”
Well, the point was more to show that Josh > Joe & Al > Teague. But I suppose if Teague had sat on the bench all year, he would be ranked higher.
Maybe the Hawks should sign up The-Dream to play PG. With those outstanding courtside seats, he must fully understand the point guard position by now.
Big Ray
May 17th, 2012
8:11 pm
It’s actually easy to defend yourself when you are on the “right” side of the argument/debate. The “right” defends and takes care of itself; it’s the “wrong” that needs to be corrected. Some of these “bloggers” are just taking the wrong side of the argument/debate. If some of these “bloggers” were honest, they would concede the point[s] and admit their wrong[s].
And in other news, a local village has lost it’s idiot…..
Melvin
May 17th, 2012
8:15 pm
Jay Dubu,
Keep in mind there’s a slight difference in amnesty and paying the luxury tax if the Hawks execute it effectively. If the Hawks amnesty Player X then sign another player (s) and remain under the luxury tax line, then they will still receive Luxury Tax revenue sharing funds at the end of the season to help offset the salary that’s being amnesty. Also, if the signing of the new player(s) improve the team and produce more playoffs home games than that will create more revenue to help offset the team bottom line. So using the Amnesty effectively could result in more revenue and team improvement.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
8:16 pm
“Game 3 of the Boston series proves the notion that without Josh the team would fall, to be absolutely wrong. All you need is for people to simply step up.”
First of all, the Hawks lost Game 3, just so you know.
Secondly, none of those players who “stepped up” have a track record of “stepping up” for more than one game at a time in their NBA careers. It’s not going to happen. Teams with superior talent win in the NBA because lesser players cannot “step up” every game.
“The thing that most of you forget about this team, is that we DO have someone who can replace Josh Smith at PF. And his name is Al Horford. And we simply move Zaza to center. And we wouldn’t lose a beat.”
Neither Al nor Zaza is a good help defender. This team got by all season with Zaza at center because he was playing next to one of the best help defenders in the league. Zaza at C and Al at PF = layup line.
Say what you want about Josh’s mental lapses and shot selection but he is the reason this team finished 5th in defense.
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
8:18 pm
“And in other news, a local village has lost it’s idiot…..”
Everyone look out for Big Ray. He’s lost. LOL Still want to defend Marvin Williams huh?
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
8:19 pm
“Those of you who think that JJ can’t be traded, aren’t paying attention to the league. If the Hawks wanted to move JJ, they can and will find someone who will take him.”
He can be traded, but he’s not going to get traded for a better player. Pau Gasol is a better player than Joe at this point in their careers, and it is harder to find good 7 footers than good swingmen. The Lakers are not going to trade a PF/C for a SG/SF who isn’t as good and has a worse contract.
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
8:20 pm
“Neither Al nor Zaza is a good help defender. This team got by all season with Zaza at center because he was playing next to one of the best help defenders in the league. Zaza at C and Al at PF = layup line.
Say what you want about Josh’s mental lapses and shot selection but he is the reason this team finished 5th in defense.”
Ding.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
8:26 pm
“Fact: The Hawks scored 20 fast break points and had 52 points in the paint in Game 3 Both were series highs. Now why do you think that was?
Was it because Teague FINALLY got to function as a PG that could push the ball down the floor and control the offense? Was it because a guy like Marvin grabbed a defensive rebound, and got it to a guard, instead of playing Magic Johnson by bringing it up himself? Was it because guys like T-Mac and JJ were able to create enough shots on their own to get in the paint?”
Nice theory. Here’s one major flaw with that theory, though: the Hawks posted their lowest offensive efficiency rating of the series in Game 3. Without Josh Smith and his jumpers.
Why? Because for all the talk of bad jumpers and unnecessarily running the point, Josh is still (along with T-Mac) by FAR one of the two best passers on this team. And without him on the court, the half court offense doesn’t run through Teague. It runs through Joe, who grinds the ball movement to a halt and ensures that nobody gets any good shots in the half court.
Fast break points are nice, but playoff games are won in the half court, as a result of good ball movement and execution. Nobody on the Hawks executes particularly well, but the way the team is currently constructed, Josh is vital to half court ball movement.
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
8:27 pm
“So will you claim a victory and do a dance again like a teenager? An empty victory if you do, since I was not arguing with you, but listing statistics. Statistics that apparently are an Inconvenient Truth for you, based on post after post attempting to discredit them.”
You do know that stats can be used to justify almost any argument Nullification. Stats say Marvin Williams in middle of the road. Hawks fans know better.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
8:34 pm
That JeJe post was classic, and the sad thing is those Gearon quotes are EXACTLY what he is going to say.
KevinM
May 17th, 2012
8:34 pm
MC has his LD interview/story up and LD talks about how he was a positive reinforcer for the players.
Yet, “Swingman Tracy McGrady complained the loudest. In February he said he deserved more playing time and that Drew hadn’t adequately explained why his minutes had been erratic.
“I was more disappointed than anything,” McGrady said at season’s end. “It was frustrating. I felt like I could have gave more.”
Is T-Mac just accepting the fact that Kirk and Marvin has bigger roles since their paychecks were so big? T-Mac doesn’t sound on the same page with LD.
There is no way you can state that this team played hard night in and night out. The Atlanta Hawks have a limited knowledge on what it takes to be a real contender.
Willie Green calls it a great year…I guess you can say that when you’re on the brink of being out of the league, and you get a full year’s salary.
No matter what comes of LD, the players will never come out and state that they can’t beat teams over .500 with regularity.
My prediction at the beginning of the year was the Hawks would lose to Miami in the playoffs. They didn’t even meet that expectation of getting to the 2nd round.
I dread the thought of Sund bringing in a coach of his liking.
Clarification
May 17th, 2012
8:35 pm
Stats also say that the Hawks are a better defensive team without Jamal. Hawks fans know THAT, too. Well, most of them, including you, Rod.
KevinM
May 17th, 2012
8:43 pm
“glw
May 17th, 2012
5:41 pm
The only way Cleveland does that is if you do
Luke Walton for Marvin and 1st round draft pick”
Please don’t tell me you’re starting to think like Rick Sund….the guy would ooze with exuberance because we bring in Bill’s boy here, and his natural ability to lead.
At least we can say like with Josh Powell, we have a guy here who knows what it takes to win a championship ring!
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
8:48 pm
I’ve followed the Jamal debate a few years, and Rod can speak for himself. But I don’t think Rod is arguing the Hawks are a better defensive team with Jamal on the court. He says Jamal is not a Point Guard.
What he does say is that Jamal is a scorer in a scorers league. And that you need that explosive scorer (or at least it’s good to have anyway) for floor spacing, and keeping the double team off JJ and maybe some other guys. Keeps the D honest, and opens up opportunities for others, even when he’s cold. You still have to respect a Jamal when cold, because you never know when he’s going to heat up and change the game.
On D, you try to hide him by putting him on a Bradley or Peitrus for example.
Is Jamal a great all around player? No, nobody is saying he is. But I would guess if you would ask Doc if he would want to face this Hawks team with Jamal he would say “no”. He just causes headaches because of his scoring abilities.
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
8:54 pm
And I will go ahead and make a statement for which I will get pilloried – I think if the Hawks had Jamal this season, and he was properly utilized, we win the Celtics series. A player of Jamal’s caliber – rated 75th best player in the NBA this past off season by ESPN, surely gives you what you need to win that Game 3 and 6 in Boston, and maybe even hold that lead in Game 2. Jamal is durable also.
But would LD have used him properly? The same guy who left Teague to rot? The same guy who tried to have ZaZa traded for Miller, because he didn’t like ZaZa for calling him out about his inconsistencies? What kind of mess would we have been if that trade had gone thru?
The same guy who cost us Jordan Crawford, a shot a Kenneth Faried, Mo Evans, because of his incompetence?
I’m not sure he would have used Jamal properly.
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
8:56 pm
@Clarification aka Nullification
“…Post after post. Shall I count them? Too bad you can’t let what the numbers say inform you. Even Rod admits that Jamal was a poor defensive player. My point was in a vacuum, but you would think that I was personally accosting you. You “wear” your Crawford colors so proudly that any mention of something negative about him and you over-react. I guess you don’t see it.
So will you claim a victory and do a dance again like a teenager? An empty victory if you do, since I was not arguing with you, but listing statistics. Statistics that apparently are an Inconvenient Truth for you, based on post after post attempting to discredit them.” – Clarification
Check out this statistic, Nullification. With Crawford from 2009-2011, the Hawks accumulated ten [10] postseason victories and made two EC Semifinals playoff appearances. Without Crawford from 2011-2012, the Hawks accumulated two [2] postseason victories and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs; 10>2.
Once again, game, set [and] match [with the throat slash gesture doing a (dance) medley consisting of the ol' school "Prep," "Running Man," "Snake," "Roger Rabbit," "Smurf," "Bankhead Bounce," "the Robot," "Pop-lockin' ["Re-run"-style from 'What's Happening'],” “Moonwalk,” “Crip Walk,” “Krump,” and “Jerk.”
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
8:59 pm
Go Pacers!! 66-55 in the 3rd
High-sider
May 17th, 2012
9:03 pm
Correction: Once again, game, set [and] match [with the throat slash gesture and* doing a (dance) medley consisting of the ol' school "Prep," "Running Man," "Snake," "Roger Rabbit," "Smurf," "Bankhead Bounce," "the Robot," "Pop-lockin' ["Re-run"-style from 'What's Happening'],” “Moonwalk,” “Crip Walk,” “Krump,” and “Jerk”].*
Melvin
May 17th, 2012
9:23 pm
Big Ray,
How you like Roy Hibbert now?….. LOL, I told you he’s gotten better…
Clarification
May 17th, 2012
9:25 pm
High-Sider,
(Notice that, unlike you, I don’t make the juvenile attempt to change your name in a smarmy fashion. Perhaps when you grow up, you’ll learn better manners).
Boy, those stats against Jamal’s defense must have really stung. You can go on and on all you want, but you will NEVER change the fact that the Hawks defensive numbers were BETTER without JC1 in the lineup.
Post after post trying like hell to change the subject back to “which team was more successful in the playoffs”?
That was never my argument. Have at it, all you want.
Doesn’t change a thing about my viewpoint. Though, I’ll have to say that if you are NOT a teenager, you certainly post like one. All the maturity of maybe a high school sophomore.
I’m not sure what argument you thought you won, but you can’t deny the numbers shown for the Hawks defense. And THAT was my point all along. Simply that. Dude gave up at least what he scored, mostly more. The numbers show it, as Inconvenient as that may be.
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
9:25 pm
San Antonio acquiring Stephen Jackson, and using him effectively in the playoffs, should answer this Jamal question for all really. Nit pick about Jamal and Jackson’s differences all you want, but they essentially serve the same purpose, and have throughout their career’s.
Jackson shot 38.7% from the floor in the regular season, 28.8% from 3, but THE BEST COACH IN THE LEAGUE saw where he could use a respected scorer like Stephen Jackson for another run at a title – A CHAMPIONSHIP.
So Jackson has been playing 20-30 mpg in the playoffs – because THE BEST COACH IN THE LEAGUE KNOWS THE VALUE OF A SCORER IN THIS LEAGUE.
Really, this settled it for me. Again, nitpick if you want. Nuance if you want. But Jamal properly used helps the Hawks this season.
But we didn’t have him, so no use crying over spilt milk.
Rod was right. Hawks built for the compressed regular season schedule. But sure could have used Jamal in the playoffs.
And contrary to popular belief, I’m not a Jamal pangyrist.
BigTimeTECHFan
May 17th, 2012
9:43 pm
don’t Hawks still have there exception, where the can release anyone one they want to free up cap room
Rod from College Park
May 17th, 2012
9:45 pm
“San Antonio acquiring Stephen Jackson, and using him effectively in the playoffs, should answer this Jamal question for all really. Nit pick about Jamal and Jackson’s differences all you want, but they essentially serve the same purpose, and have throughout their career’s”
Exactly correct Steve W. I will give Jackson a little more defensive credit than Jamal but they do serve the same purpose. They are gunners. Hired assassins. Coaching will and always has been the issue with the Hawks. Most of these idiots on the blog said no way would they take Steven Jackson (because of attitude and shot selection), or Boris Diaw, or Javale McGee. They all go to teams with great coaching and look like totally different players. I wonder why? Jamal did many things offensively for this team that people who don’t know the game don’t understand. He opened up the floor, commanded a double team, took pressure off of Joe, was one of the best on the team in the playoffs at getting to the line, handled the ball well……. But all they see is his defensive weaknesses. We averaged 81 ppg in a playoff series. Speaks volumes. Philly is averaging 88ppg vs the Celtics so far in their series, and we were better than then offensively this season.
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
9:45 pm
Way to go INDY!!! Miami is a team in disarray. But I think they’ll come out hard in game 4 and try to get homecourt advantage back. That series is not over.
But Indy is sure fighting them. Hope Indy wins it
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
9:47 pm
Indy is deep – If they had a backup C, they may win this thing – but I think OKC is the team to beat. Nazr, DFish, and Perkins gives them the experience they need.
And Westbrook is their Josh; He can both win and lose games for OKC at the same time.
SteveW
May 17th, 2012
9:50 pm
If Woodson is with the Knicks next season, Jamal may end up there – and thrive. Not sure of JR Smith’s status however.
Yeh – And Captain Jack does play D a little better than Jamal – but the point remains.
Rusty
May 17th, 2012
9:51 pm
SteveW agree 100% what you say about LD,a poor exuse for a good team,but be careful or grandpa will diagree with you & call you stupid.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 17th, 2012
10:00 pm
I realize this is way premature, but if the Pacers win this series, do the Heat break up their big 3? They are going backwards too, right?
NOT AN AL HORFORD NUT HUGGER
May 17th, 2012
10:06 pm
Hey Al real center play defense and own the boards. You are the reason why the Hawks will never get to the championship game. Your attitude sucks as much as your All Average Play.
Hibbert was your Judge tonight with 19pts 18rbs and 5(FIVE) BLOCKS. If Al hoford played like the Hibbert did wed be going to the championship…. and Hibbert is a scrub.
Al your whining and mediocre play along with fighting in the locker room Hurt the hawks again this year. You should be the 1st one that should be traded. Perhaps the only one. You have done nothing for this team.
You have peaked
you are average
You done play defense
you fight your teammate
and you wont play center
GET LOST AL HORFORD
NOT AN AL HORFORD NUT HUGGER
May 17th, 2012
10:11 pm
Hibbert plays under the basket Al….
Al horford is 6′ 10 1/2″ 255lbs and pure sorry. You dont play defense We will never get to the finals with Al horford in your front court.