Quick hits: With Jamison to Cavs, do Hawks need upgrade? (UPDATE II)
Josh Smith and the Hawks now will face Antawn Jamison in a Cleveland uniform, not Washington's. (Jenni Girtman/AJC)
Hello. I am back.
After a few days off for family reasons, I wasn’t sure what to lead with this morning. So I figured I would just offer up this snack pack of morning items. Let’s call it, “Quick Hits.” The NBA trade deadline is at 3 p.m. today and I plan to speak to Hawks general manager Rick Sund about the Hawks’ plans (which is expected to be to do nothing). Which leads me to the first item:
♦ 1.) The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Antawn Jamison from Washington Wednesday as part of a three-team trade with the L.A. Clippers. Great trade for the Cavaliers. It now gives them a front court of Jamison (power forward), LeBron James (small forward) and Shaquille O’Neal (center). The Cavaliers also had a chance to get Amare Stoudemire from Phoenix but it’s hard to argue with this deal, which gives them a 6-9, 235-pound forward averaging 20 points and nine rebounds. They’re clearly the team to beat in the East.
Question: Are you OK with the Hawks’ standing pat, or do you think they need to make a move to try to keep pace with Cleveland and Orlando?
(UPDATE: For what it’s worth, Sund, who had been open to speaking this morning, now has passed along through a spokesman that he would prefer not to talk until after the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Read into that what you like. If there are any worthy developments Hawks-related, I’ll pass them along.)
(UPDATE II: The Hawks will go after former Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas if he is released by the Washington Wizards, which is expected. Here’s why it’s a good move.)
This is Michelle Damon. And that's all I have to say.
♦ 2.) When I left town, I expected Johnny Damon to be signed by Detroit by the time I returned. Hasn’t happened. If the reported numbers are accurate, the Tigers have offered by far the most dollars (two years, $14 million or one year, $7 million), far north of the Braves and Chicago White Sox. So why hasn’t Damon signed? There have been reports that his wife, Michelle, doesn’t want to live in Detroit. I would say that makes her fairly human. She prefers something more “cosmopolitan.” Hey, Michelle — how about Atlanta?!? I’m posting a picture of Michelle Damon. I figured that would be the best way of starting a write-in campaign for Damon to sign with the Braves, even if the letters come from mostly dirty old men.
♦ 3.) Speaking of letters: Got an email a week ago from somebody wanting to know if I thought the Thrashers-to-Winnipeg rumors were true. Never had a chance to answer before my time off. But I see where the rumors mutated to the point where the team felt the need to respond. For the record, only half the rumor would shock me: It’s easy to see the Atlanta Spirit putting the team up for sale, but the relocation part doesn’t make sense — at least not yet. Commissioner Gary Bettman reaffirmed he wants the franchise to work in Atlanta. He presides over a league with a number of weak
Tiger Woods won't be taking questions at his news conference.
markets already. Do you believe he really would be open to swapping Atlanta for Winnipeg? The Phoenix Coyotes went into bankruptcy and were taken over by the NHL. That puts them far ahead of the Thrashers as a candidate for relocation. This doesn’t mean the Thrashers aren’t in danger of being moved — they are. But I don’t believe it’s imminent. Bettman wants to make sure all avenues of possible strong local ownership are exhausted first.
♦ 4.) Tiger Woods has announced he will end the silence on his personal problems and sex scandal Friday. He will meet with the media but only a select few members. (The Count has not received an invitation.) He will read a statement but will not take questions. I understand the whole “this is between my wife and I thing,” but I’m not sure this is the way to go about it either. This saga has grown far beyond the usual celebrity marriage infidelity story. Fortunately, Nike has a lot of skilled speech writers.
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191 comments Add your comment
Freshmaker
February 18th, 2010
9:51 am
Why why why do people want us to move Horford to PF? He’s an All-star at C and just dropped 31 on another All-star C in Kaman. How many centers in the NBA would you take over Horford? Howard, Ming, Stoudemire maybe? I mean who else? Shaq maybe for this year, but he doesn’t have too many years left. Don’t forget if you move Horford, you push Smith out farther from the basket at SF, or to the bench. I don’t think there’s any more that you can make that would improve the Hawk’s frontcourt, cause Howard and Ming aren’t for sale.
AtlSouthside
February 18th, 2010
9:55 am
Perkins (Celtics) is a better actual Center than Horford. Horford is more of a finesse player, which makes him better suited for the PF position, rather than a true Center. Horford isn’t as physical in the paint as he needs to be…. Watch Horford against taller Centers, he cannot defend them.
MightyQuinn
February 18th, 2010
9:58 am
Wasn’t Michelle Damon in the SI Swimsuit issue a few years back? Athletes and their significant others? I would go look and post the link but I don’t care enough!
#1 GT fan
February 18th, 2010
10:01 am
Hawks: ummmmm……. YES the hawks need to up-grade. Why do the Hawks not try to get Amare Stoudemire?
Braves: Man….. I hope his wife makes him play here…… he would be a great addition to the braves.
NHL: I am not a fan of hockey……….so who cares (atleast I dont)
Tiger Woods: That man screwed up his life. Good luck unscrewing it.
GO HAWKS
and
BRAVES.
Sorry tiger, like I said, screwed!
Hoops
February 18th, 2010
10:02 am
You want a young BIG that has a huge future? Talk the Nets into trading Brook Lopez. Remember you have to give something up if you want a really great Center. Send them Horford and Childress. Now we can compete with the post players in the East!
#1 GT fan
February 18th, 2010
10:05 am
Hoops: ARE YOU CRAZY……………………………………………..
HORFORD IS A BEAST……… he makes the centers work……. and he is shorter then them……..
CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
February 18th, 2010
10:08 am
I think the Hawks could run Orlando to 7 games ….. if they had a coach. Given the Block of Wood they do possess and have installed on the bench, the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain (Or Nate Thurmond. Or Wes Unseld. Forget another Bill Russell, can’t be done in this era.) would not be enough for this Hawks team -with its coach- to get by Orlando. And I don’t see any way that they get by Cleveland: Jamison is a product of the UNC system that teaches fundamentals. Marvin would have done well to saty 3 years there. Antawn will become the staedy force LeBron needs to make his game untouchable, and that includes by Kobe. Cleveland in 6 vs. Lakers.
BigTimeTECHFan
February 18th, 2010
10:09 am
Hawks stay put, off season trade Williams for Center, resign JJ, sign maybe Troy Murphy from Pacers.
Daniel
February 18th, 2010
10:11 am
Hoops: you can’t send them Childress because he is not under contract with the Hawks. And you don’t trade an All Star this early in his career. You just don’t do it.
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:18 am
No Brainer!
Schultz, great subject with an easy answer. No brainer. That is if the management is serious about stepping up and competing for a championship.
Hoops, Excellent! Another no Brainer. As good a player and hard worker as Horford is, he is a power forward who cant or doesn’t play effective defense at the 5 spot. He is a liability at the basket. The key to beating the Hawks is to get to the rim on a half court set, so you can take Josh out of the equation and isolate Horford under the basket where he has been touched repeatedly. Horford cannot protect the basket from the interior and that’s exactly what a center MUST do!
We watched, J Oneal, Shaq, Camby, Stoudamire and other centers become available and made 0, zero,non, nil, nada,not at all, we made no freaking effort to get what was clearly our weakest link coming into the season and is still our most venerable spot.
Lets trade Horford for Lopez or Stoudamire and maximize our potential. Otherwise we will be having this same discussion this time next year.
Right now we are at a point where we should move on a real time basis and not wait to play catch up in the off season. That never works because every body gets better in the off season. Move while the chase is on!
AtlSouthside
February 18th, 2010
10:19 am
Nobody in the East is gonna trade with the Hawks. Conflict of interest.
(Has anyone looked at Dallas’ roster since the trade. Dallas will challenge LAL for the WEST. I guarantee it.
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:23 am
Ross- Good post but im not sure I agree with the conclusion. I think the Hawks can make move and have a lot of talent to offer. They are either gun shy or afraid of the backlash that may be generated by the Horford supporters. Down the line its clear that you cant keep both Josh and Al, Between the two Josh is better. As good as Horford is, this team would be better with a solid center who can protect the rack!
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:25 am
Can someone tell me why we didnt go after marcus camby???? that would of been a great move urgggh
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:25 am
A last place team thats going no where will make trades irrespective of division or conference as long as they are getting better. Lopez could be had if the price is right, as can any player.
AtlSouthside
February 18th, 2010
10:26 am
Yep, Josh & Horford & Marv Williams are the same type of player, in essence Josh gives you a greater edge than Marv or Al.
Horford/Williams are both young enough to have good value on the trading block…
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:26 am
and for the idiot who said trade hortford please kill yourself…
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:27 am
Mr wise they did not even sneeze at Camby who clearly would have kept us in the thick of things even after the Jamison move.
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:28 am
marvin ok i agree tade his ass for anything but unless were getting a game changer then trading horford does us no good right?
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:28 am
I agree with the many people who agree that horford is trade bait. Get past your emotions, Bytch WISE.
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:28 am
trade*
AtlSouthside
February 18th, 2010
10:29 am
Where is Joe Johnson gonna go if he doesnt re-sign with Atlanta? Lakers, Cavs, Magic, Mavs dont have any room, and those are the best options for Joe if he was tryin to go to a better team…. Hawks might be able to call Joe’s bluff…. the only team I see with enough room to make Joe a competitive offer is Boston (they have like 6 unrestricted free agents on their roster)
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:29 am
You cant get some thing for nothing, Bytch Wise.
Resign or Resign?
February 18th, 2010
10:30 am
Contrary to some of the comments posted here about her appearance, Michelle can live at my house while Johnny makes up his mind. “Man hands”?, “Not Attractive”? Are you kidding!
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:31 am
hahaha im just saying if we get a big time center okay i agree trade him but if not then i dont get it. if we went and got camby then paired him with horford we would of been hard to handle
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:32 am
and yes michelle is beautiful….
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:32 am
I dont see Joe as bluffing. Hes getting to the age where championships matter. Clearly the Hawks organization is not championship caliber.Believe me, championship teams will make room, trades or cuts to get a player like Joe on their team. Believe that !
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:32 am
Thats true mr Wise
WISE
February 18th, 2010
10:35 am
yeah i mean after LBJ and DWADE i bet you joe is a lot of teams back up plan. There gonna show him the money even tho we can show him the most
All I'm Saying Is...
February 18th, 2010
10:37 am
Schultz: Thanks for commenting on my post. We don’t have to agree and I appreciate the feedback. Michelle would definitely add some seats to Turner Field especially early in the season on some cool spring nights—yowzah!
Back to the subject at hand: No way we should trade Horford. That would not be a smart move. And, better yet, we don’t need to do this to combat our perceived deficiency in the front court vs. Cavs and Magic. For the Hawks, given their current roster and the inability of Sund to manufacture a deal, what they need to do is simple. Either:
1.) GO BIG by playing Jason Collins and Horford together (rotating in Za-Za and Randolph Morris) and putting Marvin on the bench. Start Bibby, JJ, Josh, Collins, and Horford. This is our big line-up and half-court offense option (for the slow down, bump and grind that is the NBA playoffs at times) as well with either Iso-Joe or Iso-Al or Iso-Josh (I prefer two-man pick and roll featuring Bibby and either JJ, Al, or J-Smoove) enabling Bibby to spot up for a 3. Crawford is still our super sixth man with Marvin next up off the bench.
or
2.) RUN THE FLOOR and feature a three guard line-up whereby Bibby, JJ, and Teague are on the floor simultaneously with Josh and Al. Crawford is still our super sixth man and again Marvin is next up off the bench. Rotate in Joe Smith and Za-Za (who will run the floor and finish) for Al and J-Smoove. Teague, JJ, and J-Smoove would blitz out to the hoop on the fast break with Bibby coming down on the secondary break to spot up for a 3 pointer while Al crashes the boards and runs the other teams center silly.
We have the pieces people–we just need Woody to use them. Deploy the GO BIG option during the last 10 games of the regular season and then use it in the playoffs when needed.
LET’S GO HAWKS!
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:39 am
Schultz can you get me Michelle’s number?-LOL
AtlSouthside
February 18th, 2010
10:40 am
Joe isnt bluffing but Lakers, Cavs, Magic, Mavs are set. There are not that many teams who are actually an upgrade from the Hawks. Joe might get a bigger offer, but not from a better team…. He would be rolling the dice, to some degree… Especially with LBJ & Wade & Chris Bosh in free agency
Walker, Texas Ranger
February 18th, 2010
10:42 am
Question 1 on Upgrade: Hell yes, this team will never get past Cleveland with what we currently have.
On Damon, pay his a$$ whatever, fund it by doubling prices near the wives section and put me down for 4 seats. This could be the greatest show on earth.
As for the Man Hands, it is an optical illusion due to the proximity to the camera. Her hands look bigger because of that along with other parts. Never mind on the other parts, they are closer to the camera because they are huge.
Walker, Texas Ranger
February 18th, 2010
10:43 am
Truth, he number is 38 DD
Walker, Texas Ranger
February 18th, 2010
10:43 am
her
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:43 am
All im saying, I thought about getting the most out of the tires on my truck but hell, that tread was so worn down it was a hazard.
Them old dogs wont hunt! They are all some other teams reject and the only running they to is to McDonalds. Get real.
Thats not an upgrade thats a surrender….scratch my belly please.
Reid Adair
February 18th, 2010
10:45 am
The Cavaliers made a good move signing Antawn Jamison, but I really can’t think of a deal I would like to see the Hawks make (at least, not one that has any chance of actually getting done).
I had never seen a picture of Michelle Damon before today (thanks, Jeff). Where do I send my letter? Seriously, though, I am just waiting for Damon to sign somewhere else so Frank Wren can tell everyone that the Braves’ offer was close to the one Detroit or Chicago made.
Bill
February 18th, 2010
10:47 am
Welcome back Jeff. Well he!! yes sign Damon and put Michelle in PR dept.
Ranger…forget the hands.
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:47 am
AtlSouthside I can see your point. Id like to keep Joe and pay him what hes worth, we are on the brink of competing for a title and Joe is key, It would take too long to revamp a team around or Dwade; who may never win a championship,or Lebron, but but bosh is another story.
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
10:48 am
Walker, Texas Ranger- LOL
Mike Jay
February 18th, 2010
10:49 am
I don;t get the obsession with trying to snag a ‘true’ center. There are maybe 5 in all of basketball and you don;t need one to win it all. Plus you would have to move J smoove to the three which would be a terrible idea. Unless you all want him to start shooting all those long range jumpers again?
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2010
10:49 am
Jarvis — Yeah, yeah, guilty as charged.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2010
10:50 am
Asheville — thanks. … Actually, Hawks lost in second round last year.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2010
10:52 am
Might Quinn — Yes. Michelle Damon was in SI in 2008.
Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/swimsuit/model/michelle_damon/index.htm
Walker, Texas Ranger
February 18th, 2010
10:52 am
Bill, what hands
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2010
10:56 am
I’m thinking if we took up contributions on this blog, the Braves’ offer for Johnny/Michelle Damon would surpass the Tigers’ offer.
Walker, Texas Ranger
February 18th, 2010
10:57 am
Schultz, thanks for the link, as Ashton Kutcher would say “You’re Awesome” After pose 3, I say we clear some salary space.
Halsey
February 18th, 2010
10:57 am
Only teams that would draw good Final ratings can pull off trades in which they get a star player for nothing. The NBA wants LeBron in the Finals, not the Hawks.
Truth-Serum
February 18th, 2010
11:00 am
Halsey I remember the day when Isiah Thomas upstaged Bird and Magic.
Johnny Damon
February 18th, 2010
11:00 am
Will all you deliverance watching inbreds quit staring at my wifes assets. Go get your own eye candy…suckers
Bill
February 18th, 2010
11:04 am
pictures #6 #7 #9 ……Wren must have a problem! Where’s the money?