Atlanta Hawks: The next step
No, there is nothing new to report on the Hawks and Dwight Howard. As far as I know, nothing has changed since what I wrote two days ago. If I hear anything different, I promise I won’t keep it to myself.
With that out of the way, on to some housekeeping . . . .
Once the trades become official on July 11, and after the Hawks compete an expected buy out of Jordan Farmar, they will have nine players under contract. Draft picks John Jenkins and Mike Scott will make it 11 once they sign their deals. Ivan Johnson will make it 12 if he signs his qualifying offer.
Here are the cap salaries for those 12 players (in millions):
Josh Smith: $13.2
Al Horford: $12.0
Devin Harris: $8.5
Zaza Pachulia: $5.2
Anthony Morrow: $4.0
Johan Petro: $3.5
Jeff Teague: $2.4
Jordan Farmar: $1.5*
John Jenkins: $1.2
Ivan Johnson: $.96+
DeShawn Stevenson: $.852.33^
Jordan Williams: $.76
Mike Scott: $.40
Total: $50.4755.95
*Amount of buyout.
^Cap charge for minimum-salaried veteran with three or more seasons.
(Update: Luke Adams of HoopsRumors.com notes that Chad Ford reports Stevenson’s first-year salary as $2.33 million, not the minimum. And reader Tyler Cromey emailed to point out I left Morrow off the salary list.)
+Amount of qualifying offer extended by Hawks.
According to Larry Coon, the salary-cap level is expected to remain at about $58 million for 2012-13. But that $7.5 2 million or so in cap space is theoretical for the Hawks.
They still would have about $18 million in cap holds because of their free agents. Those holds won’t be released until those players sign a new contract or the Hawks renounce them. Even if the Hawks clear all of those cap holds, they would take a roster charge of $400,000 for having less than 12 players on the roster following Farmar’s buyout.
All of that is a long way of getting to this bottom line: The Hawks can clear up to a maximum of roughly $7.0 1.5 million in cap space. They can then sign free agents using that space and/or the “room” mid-level exception that allows a two-year contract starting at $2.5 million. So that means, theoretically, the Hawks could spend up to about $9.5 8 million on anywhere from two (to get to the roster minimum of 13) to four players (to carry the maximum 15).
(Update: Because their cap space would be less than the amount of their exceptions, the Hawks would be limited to using all or part of the $5 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception; all or part of the $1.96 bi-annual exception; and minimum-salary exceptions to sign from two [to get to the roster minimum of 13] to four [to carry the maximum 15] players.)
(If any of my calculations appear off, blog people, shoot me an email: mcunningham at ajc.com.)
After the Hawks made trades that set them up to have maximum flexibility to make moves in the long term, they still believe they can remain competitive in the short term. It’s not hard to think they can do so with the remaining core of Smith, Horford, Teague, Pachulia plus new additions Morrow and Jenkins.
Once the trades are completed and Farmar is bought out, Atlanta’s depth chart will look something like this (just for example, so please save your outrage if you disagree):
PG: Jeff Teague/Devin Harris
SG: Anthony Morrow/John Jenkins/Devin Harris/DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Josh Smith/Anthony Morrow/DeShawn Stevenson
PF: Josh Smith/Ivan Johnson/Jordan Williams/Mike Scott
C: Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia/Johan Petro
The Hawks could use a starting lineup with Zaza at center and Al and Josh shifting over–Larry Drew said he could envision that alignment even before the trades–but the Hawks clearly need a true wing. They could probably use another center, too, to guard against needing to use Petro or Johnson there for major minutes if Al or Zaza goes down.
I’d expect the Hawks will get serious about free agents once the market shakes out. They’ve expressed interest in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis but obviously those players will see what the market may bear.
The Celtics already have offered Allen $12 million over two years and he’s set to pick from that offer, the Clippers and the Heat. Lewis says he’s seeking to play for a championship contender.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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583 comments Add your comment
ryan
July 6th, 2012
1:45 pm
@Buddy G i hope your right just keep hearing the Nets Horford and 2 draft picks how can Orlando turn that down throw in Devin Harris .
BIG DOG
July 6th, 2012
1:47 pm
stven a smith 2012 Team
Harris, Jenkins, Pietrus, Horford, Al Jefferson
Famer, Stevenson, Steven Jackson, Ivan, Johan Petro
Pargo, Morrow, Scott, Zaza
BIG DOG 2012 Team
Teague, Gerald, Josh, Horford, Zaza
Devin, Jenkins, Morrow, Ivan, Petro
Farmer, Scott, Stevensons
My team beat your team by 30points every game, SMH
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
donte080
July 6th, 2012
1:51 pm
Buddy G, I think you may be the only one here with some basketball I.Q…..Brandon Bass is as good as Al Horford? I can’t believe anyone would even sign their name to that one!
Ray
July 6th, 2012
1:51 pm
People getting hung up on if we should get Dwight Howard or not.
I say just stop the presses I’d rather not get Dwight for what Orlando is asking for. Imagine this for a second.
We trade Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Zaza, all our draft picks to Orlando for Turk, and Dwight.
Then come 2013 Dwight leaves and Josh decides to leave as well assuming we don’t make the Finals or even if we did.
Then what we’re stuck with a contract that is much worse than Joe Johnson’s ever could have been cause at least he was an all-star Turk isn’t even a sixth man for Christ sake.
So virtually we lost our entire team and now would have to rebuild. This is why Danny Ferry isn’t going all in for the Dwight Howard sweeps I’d rather he wait till Summer 2013 go after him that way.
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
1:51 pm
His “dog’ may have ran away when he got clothes lined by Griffin? Hmmmmm
Stevie Wonder may vote this buster in but the Fans[not to be addressed as clowns] would never in a million years…
His only weapon, the[1950's set shot] is rendered obsolete most of the time in 4th quarters and playoff games..
Hey even a blind squirrel locates a nut from time to time…..Sheesh…
Ray
July 6th, 2012
1:56 pm
People keep talking about Horford SMDH people are bigger headcases than Cousins or Josh Smith.
If Horford is sorry as you guys say he is then why does Orlando want him hmmm? Why do other teams want him as well I’m certain just like Smith other teams want Horford as well.
yoursporthousedotcom
July 6th, 2012
1:56 pm
Ray, you must go to Ken Strickland’s school of not knowing. Ferry will not trade for Howard unless there is a sign and trade done. Ferry is not like previous GMs, that would be plain stupid. Please, I’m tired of reading this one year and done crap. HE IS NOT MAKING A DEAL UNLESS AN EXTENSION IS ALREADY IN PLACE!!!
GoldDawg
July 6th, 2012
1:57 pm
I just got off the phone with Dwight’s friend Josh. Be ready guys, big news is forth coming.
yoursporthousedotcom
July 6th, 2012
1:58 pm
And Al Horford is too one-dimensional on offense. He has no post up, he makes many mistakes as well, he’s not as good a shot blocker as Smoove. He’s not this great player that some of you think he is. He’s a little above average at best.
SteveW
July 6th, 2012
1:59 pm
Looks l like Kirk H is probably heading to Chicago – Hoopsworld.
OB – Yeh, best case scenario I see for us is the 5 seed as constructed. Worse case is lottery.
But we may still add some pieces and make some moves. The situation is fluid.
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
1:59 pm
Put him at the 4 and watch these much quicker defenders closeout on his midrange set shot in a hurry..
Whats plan B? Swing it to the #1 scoring option and will be an Allstar Josh to complete the task…
doc
July 6th, 2012
2:00 pm
rod, the problem with the relevance of your statement about al being shut down by those guys it applied to all of our hawks at crunch time. too many teams had the answer to our scorers going back to chicago on ya boy jamal among others.
jj, josh with kg on him, teague and al have all taken turns being cut down by the opposition. with jj being paid lbj, dirk, d wade numbers and not delivering got us to where we are today still searching for the guy. everyone else is filler but not generational including jamal, good when performing great for him turrible when off and we are depending on him.
remember i like the jamal especially the 2009 version but if he were “the man” he would get more than 5 to 6 mil a year. he was a nice piece but we had too many pieces, b players getting a type salaries to afford the likes of him. even crawford at his was it 10 mil a year was a money on a b player, yes hinrich was in the same boat as was marvin and jj and yes even bibby had a terrible contract and why he was available for trash. josh and al have really good contracts for what they do, i hope there are more of those to come.
NORRIS CHUCK
July 6th, 2012
2:01 pm
Write up for Anthony Rudolph:
Attended the Serrano HS in Phelan, California, Little Rock Catholic and Woodrow Wilson HS in Dallas, Texas.
Played college ball at Louisiana State in 2008-09.
Selected by the Golden State Warriors as 14th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Signed with the team in July.
Traded to the New York Knicks in July 2010.
Traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in February 2011.
Won the gold medal at the Under 18 Tournament of Americas with the US Team in 2006.
Played at the Nike Hoop Summit in 2007.
Named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2008.
Honorable Mention All-SEC in 2008.
Gifted offensive player… Can shoot and post-up… Excellent ballhandler for his size… Good rebounding skills… Plays with great confidence… Pretty skinny… Much more focused on the offensive end than defensively… Won’t pass the ball much.
SteveW
July 6th, 2012
2:02 pm
I do agree I could see Pietrus as a good fit on this team.
Carlos Delfino
CJ Miles (not so much)
Minny said Randolph wasn’t fast enough (quick) to handle 3’s on a consistent basis.
And you do not want EBrand on the Heat – Kwame for that matter either. Brand is still a cement block in the low post.
BIG DOG
July 6th, 2012
2:03 pm
Ray – Hawks need not rush, every thing will play it self out.
If the Hawks sign Gerald Green
Player under contract at end of the season.
Al Horford 12mIll
Teague 3mill
Gerald 3mill
Jenkins 1mIll
Scott 5Hun
5 Players sign at 19mill.
Sign Josh 5 years 75mill
Sign D12 4 years 80mill
Teague, Gerald, Josh, Horford, D12
5 Starters at 53mill.
18mill fill your bench.
This team would win and NBA Title.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Ray
July 6th, 2012
2:03 pm
@ yoursporthousedotcom
First off I know you didn’t read my post correctly I hope Ferry doesn’t make a deal for Dwight Howard, and not only that I didn’t say Ferry was stupid.
I’m trying to tell people that want to trade for Dwight Howard their the ones that are stupid cause our roster would most likely be gutted by the time Summer 2013 arrives which basically means Ferry blew up the roster for the most part. If Howard and Josh both decide to leave that is.
Also BTW Horford isn’t as one-dimensional as you fools keep trying to say the only guy I know at PF that fits the bill is Blake Griffin He can Dunk and Rebound that’s about it.
Ray
July 6th, 2012
2:06 pm
@ BIG DOG
I understand that I just saw a crap load of posts telling the Hawks need to go after D12 now I’m saying we need to slow down I purpose to wait until Summer 2013 instead.
ryan
July 6th, 2012
2:07 pm
76ers release Elton Brand Phillie is getting into the act of clearing cap space T Wolves signed Brandon Roy .
vava74
July 6th, 2012
2:09 pm
Gerald Green is clearly worthwhile considering.
I don’t think that last year’s production was a fluke.
He drove, posted players his size and shot the 3 ball, which is a complete package that Marvin can’t show at all. Heck, he can’t even post Ridnour!!
What GG might not have is the defensive discipline that Marvin showed consistently, although not at a level of effectiveness that many – including me – thought that he could display.
Marvin rotated well on D, rebounded well for a SF, hit a few wide open jumpers, made some flipper shots in the lane if he did not have to put it down on the floor and that’s it.
Marvin is a deeply flawed player and even so he started for us years and years.
Steve Nakasone
July 6th, 2012
2:10 pm
I think Anthony Randolph would be a good pick up for the hawks. Then they should trade Josh Smith to Detroit for center Greg Monroe and small forward Corey Maggete.
Hawks roster
PG- Jeff Teague, devin Harris
SG- John Jenkins, Anthony morrow
SF- Corey Maggete, FA
PF- Al Horford, Anthony Randolph
C- Greg Monroe, Zaza Pachulia
Now that would be a solid roster without giving up everything for Dwight Howard.
kwooden
July 6th, 2012
2:11 pm
Lou Williams would be a very nice addition to the team, but at this point its Dwight or bust for me!
yoursporthousedotcom
July 6th, 2012
2:12 pm
All Al has on offense is that jumper and the occassional finish at the rim. The example of a multi-dimensional offensive 4 is Amare, Garnett and Duncan. Rebounding, outside shot straight up 18 and in, off the glass from 15 and in, post turn around game, post drop step game, pass out of the post when the double teamed, and finishing on the break. Al doesn’t do all of that.
yoursporthousedotcom
July 6th, 2012
2:14 pm
Ray,
Why wait? Trade for him now and lock him in for 4 years. What are you waiting for? For another team to come in and sabotage the deal. THAT’S THE OLD HAWKS WAY OF THINKING. It’s a new day, sometimes you have to reach down and grab the nads every once in a while. You were probably one of the guys happy when Marvin was resigned for $7.5 million per year.
vava74
July 6th, 2012
2:18 pm
look at Gerald Green’s advanced stats.
best numbers in his team
http://www.82games.com/1112/1112NJN.HTM
vava74
July 6th, 2012
2:21 pm
posted a very respectable PER at SF whilst keeping his opponent at a much lower PER level
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:23 pm
You can handle the truth.. Too revert back to kindergarten name calling is beneath you Brutus…
moboman
July 6th, 2012
2:26 pm
@ ray
Guarantee you that Ferry doesn’t pull the D12 deal unless both he an Josh will extend FIRST. Not gonna be another Danny Manning deal where the Hawks get left with nothing after a year.
KevinM
July 6th, 2012
2:27 pm
“kwooden
July 6th, 2012
2:11 pm
Lou Williams would be a very nice addition to the team, but at this point its Dwight or bust for me!”
I have to agree. Once Danny makes his next move, that will tell you whether we are still in it for D12. And throw in JRich if they have to.
I will also say that no matter whether we end up with D12, we need to be left with one captain from last year.
I’d rather have Josh, but as long as we move Josh or Al and get something of value in return.
Big Ray
July 6th, 2012
2:27 pm
I’m thinking we’ll take the “start over” approach and just fill out the roster with minimum vets. Kinda doubting the “pursue superstar” method. To do so, we’d have to take on bad contracts, and unless they are short bad contracts, it just won’t do.
We’ll roll with this, maybe do one more trade to let Smith go somewhere if he insists, then hope to get a lottery level pick. But, I could be wrong. The big thing is to not get caught in bad contracts. A LOT of teams are doing that right now but some (Lakers, Celtics, Rockets, Spurs, Thunder, to name a few) are avoiding that. Oh, and that’s what the Mavs are CLEARLY doing…avoiding bad contracts.
Big Ray
July 6th, 2012
2:29 pm
rod, the problem with the relevance of your statement about al being shut down by those guys it applied to all of our hawks at crunch time. too many teams had the answer to our scorers going back to chicago on ya boy jamal among others.
YEP!
KevinM
July 6th, 2012
2:30 pm
#Twolves source says the 2nd yr on Roy’s contract is not guaranteed. He only gets the $ if he can play.
That’s a fair deal IMO. If he fills their void at SG, you have a good big 3 of Love/Rubio/Wade.
KevinM
July 6th, 2012
2:30 pm
Roy, not Wade..duh!
Astro Joe
July 6th, 2012
2:30 pm
Rasual Butler for the SF. If this team has any chance of being better than average (with essentially the current roster), they need 2 deadeye shooters on the weakside waiting to get the pass from Josh, Al or a penetrating Teague/Devin. So give me Morrow/Jenkins at SG and Butler/Jarvis Hayes’ remains at SF. If we can get Rashard Lewis on a one year minimum deal, I’ll that him (even though I doubt that he can guard SFs, but at this point, we’re trying to make a dollar out of $.50).
The one thing that will be enjoyable to watch next season… a rotation of Horford, Josh, Zaza and Ivan. There’s a lot of flexibility if those 4 guys are used properly.
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:32 pm
Rod in the money game, elimination game All had 7 turnovers..He did not look so good?
Gerald Green can ball…Plus he has a measured 50 inch vert at 6′7″! What? OMG!
Steve Nakasone
July 6th, 2012
2:32 pm
Trade josh for Greg Monroe and Corey Maggete. Greg Monroe is a solid center and is only 22. That will leave us to still be flexible in the future and continue to build the team without distractions from selfish big ego players like Dwight.
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:33 pm
Gerald has 3 pt range on his jumper and he can cross you over and take it to the rim and challenge the bigs with his 50 inch vert!
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:34 pm
For comparison: Lebron vert has been measured at 40.3″!
Cowa
July 6th, 2012
2:37 pm
Steve Nakasone, Detroit wouldn’t make that trade. Monroe averaged a double/double last year. He is their cornerstone.
Now, if you could get Josh to sign an extension with Detroit, you might be able to get Maggette and Drummond. But the extension would have to be in place, otherwise forget Detroit.
Rod from College Park
July 6th, 2012
2:39 pm
doc,
“rod, the problem with the relevance of your statement about al being shut down by those guys it applied to all of our hawks at crunch time. too many teams had the answer to our scorers going back to chicago on ya boy jamal among others.”
Jamal and Joe were doubled in that series. Al Horford has never seen a double team. The Chicago and Orlando coaches both stated that the top priority against the Hawks was shutting down Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson. A Horford was an All Star. No All star in the league should be shut down in one on one coverage by Brandon Bass or Ryan Anderson. All star Al was. I wish some of you guys actually played the sport at a high level, so you could really understand how hard it is to score with double teams coming at you all game. That’s one reason I never really bash Joe. I hate his demeanor, and his attitude, but Joe has probably seen more double teams than any other player in the NBA over the last couple of years. The Hawks have had nobody else on their team to really take the offensive load off of Joe over the past couple of years except Jamal and Josh last year. Joe will be a very good player in NJ, with a treu point guard who can score also.
yoursporthousedotcom
July 6th, 2012
2:39 pm
moboman, Thanks that’s what I’ve been saying all along.
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:40 pm
Hey Josh, gas up that race car you got { LA and Dallas} appear to be out of the mix for D12 services and go pick up your boy pronto!
Big Ray
July 6th, 2012
2:42 pm
“Al lost his dog when he almost took that little guys head off on a fast break in Atl. put the little feller in the hospital.
ain’t been the same since.”
I actually kind of agree. Boss Al died a little the day he sent TJ Ford to the emergency room.
Oh wow. I didn’t know that was what happened. I’d surely like to know what the professional sports psychologists on this blog suggest to snap him out of it.
No seriously, in this two camp “hate Josh” or “hate Al” foolishness we have going on here…I’m fine with trading Al….IF…we get a pg in here that will run this damn team and help Josh keep with what he does best (which is actually a lot of things, but the timing is often the issue”….and IF we can get a big man in here who actually likes to play rugged in the pivot every day, and doesn’t care a bit about shot opportunities (but scores on dump-offs when asked to).
Otherwise…
And really, you have to get the same thing if you trade Josh. Something I think a lot of folks don’t realize with one of the best big men in the game – Tim Duncan. If you notice, Duncan has been playing PF all this time and the Spurs never put him in a position to where he had to be the rugged guy in the pivot.
NO…I’m not comparing Horford to Duncan. There IS no such comparison. But if you have a good, solid starter-quality guy like Horford on your team, who clearly is NOT best manning the pivot, then you put a goon next to him to take him out of that role. Duncan is not a goon. Horford isn’t, either. The players aren’t the same, but the concept is.
Similary, but for some different reasons, you’d have to have such a guy next to Josh Smith.
Rod from College Park
July 6th, 2012
2:44 pm
“Rod in the money game, elimination game All had 7 turnovers..He did not look so good?”
The Al star Al supporters never bring that up. If he does not have so many turnovers and can sink two free throws we might be in the second round. They will however continue to bring up the fact that Josh shot a bad jumpshot at the end of the game, but leave out the fact that the great midrange shooter Al Horford can’t sinl two free throws with our season on the line. LOL
Jay Dubu
July 6th, 2012
2:48 pm
If Dwight wanted out of Orlando so badly, why did he opt in on his contract? Was he trying to help Orlando get something in return for him when he leaves?
lewis
July 6th, 2012
2:48 pm
horford is my savior
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:50 pm
Those 7 turnovers meant he tried to do to much outside his limited skill set which is exposed time and again in da PLAYOFFS, sorta like that other overrated Probowler Matty Ice Melt… zzzzzzzzzzz
Rod from College Park
July 6th, 2012
2:50 pm
“NO…I’m not comparing Horford to Duncan. There IS no such comparison.”
Agreed. End of story. Duncan is deadly in the post, Al is not. Duncan is a great shotblocker, and intimidator, Al is not. Concept is in no way the same. Duncan allows you to play a goon or a defensive center next to him because he is a true offensive threat. Al is not. Al never demands a double, Duncan does……..
Slimjr
July 6th, 2012
2:51 pm
“horford is my savior” -lewis-
camie agrees…..lol
lewis
July 6th, 2012
2:53 pm
Josh and Al were both hurt in the playoffs, people forget Josh was on one knee and Al couldn’t hardly hold his arms up over his head. I love the Josh and Al combo – i don’t want to get rid of either of them. They’re my two favorite players.
BIG DOG
July 6th, 2012
2:56 pm
Josh, Horford, D12, Gerald Green, Teague
Would be the beast of the East.
Nobody would stop D12 in the paint.
Horford 15foot elbow jumshot all day.
Josh 6′9 Posting up 6′7 or 6′8 in the paint all day, Josh would have a field day in the paint against guys 2 or 3 inches smaller than him.
Teague and Gerald with Josh out on the wing would be the most exciting team in the NBA.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE