There goes another: Miller signs with Houston over Hawks
Veteran center Brad Miller is taking his game to Houston, not Atlanta.
The Hawks continue to either: 1) Twiddle their thumbs, or 2) clutch their wallets, when it comes to signing another center. Either way, another big man just fell off the board.
Brad Miller, believed to be the more desirable choice for the Hawks’ offense over Shaquille O’ Neal by some in the organization, has agreed to a three-year contract worth nearly $15 million with the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN.com. The deal probably was out of the Hawks’ price range.
The 34-year-old Miller, who was a two-time All-Star for Sacramento when Rockets coach Rick Adelman was there, drew the interest of several teams, including the Hawks, Boston, Cleveland and Miami. The 7-footer averaged nine points and five rebounds in 24 minutes last season in Chicago.
Where does this leave the Hawks? Possibly nowhere.
They have made no movement on O’Neal. A potential trade that would have dealt Marvin Williams to Cleveland for salary relief appears dead, if it was ever even alive. And it doesn’t appear Hawks’ ownership is willing to spend the money on anybody else to improve the front line, which means they’ll again have an out-of-position Al Horford playing center.
For the record: Yes, I’m aware Horford made the All-Star team last year. But even he has said on several occasions he feels more comfortable at power forward. The Hawks don’t necessarily need to sign a starting center. They merely need somebody who can play significant minutes off the bench, take up space and be a presence. Either O’Neal or Miller would fit the bill.
If the Hawks stand pat, are you comfortable with things as is? I’m not.
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
♦
Earlier posts
♦ Listen up, Ole Miss: I’ve got Colonel Reb’s replacement
♦ Braves and Gonzalez have the look of winners
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
192 comments Add your comment
SteveW
July 17th, 2010
10:10 pm
Hawkstruefan – Boston signed Jermaine O’Neil – Rondo and Baby are a year older – Kevin G is a year further away from his knee injury, so he’ll be a little better – they didn’t care much about the regular season, look at how they went into shutdown mode on “D” in the playoffs. You have to rank them ahead of us, regardless of the regular season right now. Miami you are right about – but you have got to at least respect them.
SteveW
July 17th, 2010
10:12 pm
Boozer, Brewer, Korver with the Bulls – Rose another year older – 41-41 last year – have to figure their a 50 win team now.
Bucks – Corey Magette – Bogut – need I say more? and they were a 46 win team last year – rookie PG figures to be better – they look like a 50+ win team. I think we are currently a 46-36 team
Real Talk
July 17th, 2010
10:16 pm
@ Rufus
The other teams do what it takes to keep the fans happy and the other teams that you mention are serious about winning and have at least made it to the Finals before.
Luke Cage
July 17th, 2010
10:24 pm
Lets stay on our 8-10yr plan to get to Eastern Conference Finals, then another 2 after that to the Finals
vuduchld
July 17th, 2010
10:44 pm
The Hawks have become a waste of time and completely irrelevent. I don;t know why people are talking about this sorry team…lol
ryan
July 17th, 2010
10:52 pm
I would not say there are loosers 3 years in the playoffs they have some nice peaces with JT0 and Al Horford its not the players it management this ASG group are cheap we are just a couple of players away Jordan Crawford looks like a steal.
Rufus1
July 17th, 2010
11:03 pm
Real talk
The Bulls have been bad for 10years and they also refuse to pay lux tax.
Dallas is losing 20mil a years and still no title.
Orlando only made it to the finals because KG got hurt.
Boston are contenders because Mchale gave them KG.
Lakers got the gift from Memphis or no title for them.
I wish denver would trade Melo for Marvin, Bibby and 3 late, late, late, late 1st round picks, so we could look like great organization.
If Boston doesn’t rec that crazy trade, we serious contenders in the East.
PS. Billy Knight offered Al Horford for Gasol, but West said no…He took Kwame and M. Gasol instead.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
One bad ending doesn't change wonder of Hudson's comeback | Jeff Schultz
July 17th, 2010
11:05 pm
[...] ♦ There goes another: Miller signs with Houston over Hawks [...]
FILA
July 17th, 2010
11:13 pm
Sometimes I wish Arthur Blank would buy the Hawks already. There’s a man who cares about winning as well as the fans.
Tired of this
July 17th, 2010
11:14 pm
I’m sick on mediocre. Al Horford is a tremendous player. Get a darn center in here so Al can go back to his natural position. This organization doesn’t want to be excellent. It’s just a bunch of kiss cams and $20 beers. Where’s a title? You’ve been here in the Atlanta since 1966.
Hawkstruefan
July 17th, 2010
11:22 pm
Well said Rufus1
Real Talk
July 17th, 2010
11:59 pm
@ Rufus
Thanks for the insight you just explained all ther reasons why ASG sucked at least those teams drafted smart, traded smart, and did whatever it took to make themselves contender
What you failed to realize is those teams everyone of them you just named with the exception of Memphis has been somewhere the Atlanta Hawks franchise has NEVER EVER EVER been before and that is the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, and NBA Finals. Those teams have some history already so don’t even compare the Hawks Franchise to those teams until they reach that level.
and by the way Guess Who drafted Pau Gasol with the 3rd pick and traded him to Memphis for Shareef Abdur-Rahim your Atlanta Hawks another dumb move but ASG wasn’t running the show then.
YellowFellow
July 18th, 2010
12:09 am
who cares what those bunnies in the nba are doing…..I am ready for some college football
Whoppere Dawg
July 18th, 2010
12:24 am
Shocking, the Hawks don’t get their man. I am stunned.
LETS GO ATL
July 18th, 2010
12:49 am
Brad Miller is a Bum anyways, sign Shaq and we will all be happy and stop dissing the ownership if it was ur money youd be tight too….. and too be honest with you J.C. i think you have no idea what the hell your talking about, really so trading marvin for Shaq is a good idea???? lmao u dumb
Real Talk
July 18th, 2010
1:10 am
Well said Tired of This
HAWKSFANMAKESOMENOISE
July 18th, 2010
1:11 am
I give up. These owners are clueless as a typical blond and don’t give a flying crap about fans or making it to the finals. I don’t know why they think they will get somewhere with the same group of guys and on mediocrity. I understand their wanting Joe Johnson back. But if Joe Johnson really wanted a ring as he claimed he did, then he would have taken a pay cut to get some better guys on the team. He is all in it for the money and nothing else. We are definitely back at square one. If the Hawks make the playoffs, they’ll likely be the sixth seed or seventh seed. Nobody will ever take the Atlanta Hawks serious, if their owners don’t take this serious.
ReddJonn68
July 18th, 2010
1:13 am
why are you guys even writing about the hawks this is worse than the cavs.
HAWKSFANMAKESOMENOISE
July 18th, 2010
1:17 am
We need to keep Big Al,Jordan Crawford, Jamal Crawford, Bibby, JSmoove,Jeff Teague, and Johnson. Everybody else can go!
doc
July 18th, 2010
1:27 am
hawks true fan, if you arent moving ahead, you are falling behind. last year was perfect with no injuries and a lot of teams falling down early. i think the knicks are better, along with the heat, bucks and bulls. the cavs have fallen back though the nets and pacers shouldnt be worse and the magic and celts the same. many in the west are certainly no worse, if not better. i think if we dont do something else, that we end up somewhere between 43 and 46 wins at best, especially since we are learning a new offense that will take some time and probably cause a few losses. you have no idea how that will affect things.
MaxxHawk
July 18th, 2010
1:54 am
No Jeff, I will be livid. I agree with you 100%. If we sign Kwame Brown and say that’s our Center, I’m not watching the Hawks this year. There’s no way we’re going anywhere unless we get a big to match up with other bigs. Shaq is the only one who makes sense to me. I’d even take DJ Mbenga
MaxxHawk
July 18th, 2010
2:01 am
Trading Marvin for Shaq is a GREAT idea. Marvin is Terrible, absolute bust. The guy is an optical illusion. He has a nice looking jumpshot that doesn’t go in. He never steps up, ever. He has 0 Basketball IQ, and can’t create his own shot. He just runs at the basket and falls down and hopes for a whistle. He looks like a good athlete, but has no hops or explosiveness. He has been handed the starting job for too long, Mo Evans outplays him constantly. Get rid of Marvin, he’s a bum, Shaq fills a tremendous need for size in the middle, not to mention what kind of work Al would do at his natural position. If we don’t get Shaq, we will get dominated by Orlando and teams with bonafide 7fters again, and we won’t not make it to the 2nd round this time with other teams like Milwaukee and Miami getting much stronger. All we did this offseason was grossly overpay an above-average scorer, who plays below-average Defense and is not a leader at all. Sign Shaq and there is hope, don’t sign him and we are doomed
theight
July 18th, 2010
3:10 am
I really wasn’t sold on Miller anyway. you think shaq has slowed alot, Brad Miller has really lost it. he really wasn’t all that good to me anyway, there just hasn’t been many legit centers in the league over the past decade. I would love to have shaq more than any other center. He would bring some attention to the hawks and he could always come off of the bench. I think shaq would do good here with the hawks because we really don’t that dominant go to guy on the team. Shaq could really open things up for Joe and with Jamal and Teagues passing, he would really help those two guys. He would also help Josh out a lot more defensively.
Sports in Brief: Brad Miller joins Rockets – Philadelphia Inquirer | Newsroom News
July 18th, 2010
3:34 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
DeepDiver
July 18th, 2010
5:13 am
Al is a restricted free agent next year, so the Hawks have the rights to match any offer he gets. He is not going anywhere.
The Shaq-for-Marvin trade is short-sighted. After this free agent season it appears Marvin’s contract is actually a bargain given his production level. If Sund is so desperate to offload his contract he needs to be held to the fire since he resigned him just last year, and he better get a SF back to fill that void.
The Bibby contract is the albatross.
vava74
July 18th, 2010
5:32 am
Rufus1
July 17th, 2010
7:50 pm
And all subsequent posts: Right on!
The only which puzzles me is why do you waste your time on this jack ass’ blog.
This guy and Bradley are strictly writen garbage producers.
Hop into the hawks nest where you will find a lot of nonsense from the bloggers as well but in general the athnosphere is much more sanitised.
We need you to provide some reason to an overly sensitive blogging group.
People see scrubs being signed right and left and go nuts as if we are talking about carmelo signing for the veterans minimum!!!
spank
July 18th, 2010
6:36 am
IM GOING TO SAY IT LIKE THIS PEOPLE THE “HAWKS” DON’T WANT TO WIN…………..THIS TEAM WILL NEVER SEE A CHAMPIONSHIP. WADE, BOSH, LBJ WILL BEAT OUR A$$’$ TO ONE . GO MIAMI!
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
July 18th, 2010
9:18 am
I don’t think we know how good any of our players are- I think Woodson was that bad of a coach. That said, ASG talks big, but they knew the available centers out there, and there isn’t much. Shaq wasn’t the answer in Cleveland, with LeBron- how the heck would he be the answer here?
Teague’s showing in the Summer League will tell far more about the upcoming season than any trade the Hawks make.
SellTheHawksAlready
July 18th, 2010
9:48 am
Go away ASG!!!
Paddy
July 18th, 2010
10:00 am
No Jeff, I was disappointed long before this non-move. I look at it this way. The Hawks are a solid 4th place team with or without JJ and his GNP type of contract. Fans don’t much care for him, so no extra ticket sales as a result of this monster contract. Really no good PR in the off season, so no extra ticket sales there either. ASG has no money and it seems every move they make is made because of tight purse strings. A rookie coach with a new offense that no NBA team has tried. And this with the same cast of players that refused to believe “ball movement” was a basketball fundemental.
Cedric`
July 18th, 2010
10:28 am
Enter your comments here
GT
July 18th, 2010
10:32 am
Go back and read the criticism for the Hawks the last few years and the reality of the comments as the season is played. This was one of the worst teams anywhere in professional sports just three or four years ago. Every moves was chastised by this modern loud and usually clueless press we have here in Atlanta. These guys gets the names right but that is just about it when it comes to what went wrong and seldom do they predict things will go right. It is playing the odds ,for people who have no clue to predict bad, hell you have one champion and everyone else in the eyes of these jerks are losers. I remember the AJC had a editor that would insist on radio and in print the Braves were losers because they had not won but one world series. The Braves or still around in 1st place the writer has disappeared.
Cedric
July 18th, 2010
10:37 am
I remember going to the games about five years ago. We won 13 games, that was painful to sit thru and watch. I have been a fan of the Hawks a long time and they have made some bad decisions over the years. However, signing JJ to a max deal was not all bad. I don’t want to go backwards when you have a 53 win team. If they did not spend the money on Joe we could not have spent it on anybody else. They did what they could and Joe took advantage.
There is no need in signing Shaq or any other old center to some large contract. MW was the worst offensive minded coach I have ever seen and I believe that the offense will flourish if LD installs a motion offense. We are not that far away. I do agree that we need to sign a center though and that will be the critical piece that we are missing and need.
However, I as a long time fan will not support a team that wants to go backwards in hopes of going forward. You do not go backwards to go forward. You make what you have better and hopefully the Hawks will continue with that train of thought.
Sports in Brief: Brad Miller joins Rockets – Philadelphia Inquirer | pattiswagons.com
July 18th, 2010
10:44 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
TheAntiMe
July 18th, 2010
10:46 am
The ASG blows.
tyger
July 18th, 2010
11:20 am
ASG saving money for the strip clubs…
If they pay luxury tax how are they going to entertain themselves? Let’s be real, Magic City, Cheetah, Platinum are way more fun than a Hawks game, so why would we keep dumping money into this venture, when the real fun happens after the game anyway?
Look its nice to say you’re an owner and get VIP treatment, but dude, please… enough is enough, you guys are cutting into the lap dances. What do you want? Joe Johnson and Shaq!!! Is Joe going to buy me a lap dance? Is Shaq going to pick up the tab? Hell No!
$20 parking, $20 at the door, that’s $40 bucks before I even buy a beer. You guys just be happy to have JJ, Smoove and Horford and the two Crawfords. I gotta go…Diamondique is calling…
atlbaseball11
July 18th, 2010
11:31 am
this move shows me that the hawks are content with just making it to the 2nd round. They have the same exact team as last year and this team cant match up with dwight howard or lebron so this team is going NOWHERE. this is just enough for me to not even watch them this upcoming year
bulldogmaniac
July 18th, 2010
11:37 am
my 2 cents:
I think it is still a little early to give up on Marvin.
Lets see him play under our new coach! He may suprise.
And for all of the haters….I’m glad that they spent the money to keep JJ. What would our record have been without him? Think about it. He won ALOT of games for us. Just because he doesnt always hit the game winning buzzer shot and sometimes comes up short (as all stars do) doesnt mean that he isnt a tremendous talent who won alot of games for the hawks.
ASG-@ss Sucking Goofs
July 18th, 2010
12:13 pm
” Diamondique “-LOL. By the way ASG sucks, but the whole league knows that.
welikebaseball2
July 18th, 2010
12:24 pm
For all you folks talking about, “stay the course,” “it takes time,”…I can tell you haven’t been Hawks fans for long. If you’ll recall, some years ago (Billy Knight era), we were told “just be patient, there’s a method to the madness.” Now it seems we’re only a piece or two away from being legit title contenders. Please note, our current roster makes us a legit playoff team…nothing more. I can see it now, you guys will say, “Well, we’ve got a new coach installing a new system. Give it some time.” How much longer? Another few years, huh?
Now some of you want to compare us to Orlando & other squads as far as our lack of spending & say we’re being smart like them. Seriously? Actually those squads, when they felt they were only 1 or 2 pieces away, did more than resign one of their own to a backbreaking max contract. Since you guys want to throw in the Magic, let’s do it. Okay, they felt they were one piece away last offseason & sign Vince Carter to a big contract. You can argue whether or not it made a difference. Now you’ll argue, “Well they haven’t made a big splash this offseason.” Well, I’d say between a team that made the finals & a team that got embarrassed in the 2nd round, the latter would be in need of a big splash more than the first.
Please, please, please don’t get it twisted. ASG is not being “careful/wise” in their spending. After re-signing Joe to save face, they’re simply being cheap. Please don’t confuse plotted, strategic spending with simply being cheap.
ryan
July 18th, 2010
12:29 pm
I wish the Hawks would after Ramon Sessions he is decent player.
welikebaseball2
July 18th, 2010
12:33 pm
@ Chris Murphy: I hear you about Shaq. But with the way Howard punked us last season, how in world can anyone say Shaq would be useless to us? You saying he wouldn’t make us at least a little tougher inside? You saying we have guys on our current roster more capable, or even as capable for that matter, at keeping Howard from under the basket? I’ll wait for that answer! I’m not saying we’d have to start him (though I wouldn’t oppose), but how could it hurt to have a legit, experienced center on the roster? I just think that for a team thrown around like rag dolls 2nd round last postseason, we’re being a little critical of guys that would do more help than harm.
Go Lakers
July 18th, 2010
2:22 pm
The ASG are clueless! And all of you “true Hawks Fans’ are clueless too if you think this team will win anything!!! First you start with Larry Drew!!!! IF you had 123 million to spend, why not offer it to someone who is worth it!!!!!!! Joe Johnson!?!?!?!? PLEASE! He turns up his nose at you and you still support this guy!?!?!? Well you “true Hawks fans” sit back and watch how real organizations do it next year because you will be not be in the mix!
grandmasterflash
July 18th, 2010
2:22 pm
Here’s the deal, the Celtics got older and slower, the Majic did not get any better and have an overpaid team, the Bulls still have the same PG who choked in the biggest game of his career, the Heat still have to figure out how to play together, the Hawks are making the correct decisions staying pat for the moment.
The Hawks will sign Shaq to a two year deal for around 12/13 mil. This is their plan; trade Mo Evans (2.8 mil expiring contract) and a 2nd round pick for Shaq. Everybody gets something: the Cavs get a contributing veteran and a pick instead of nothing. The Hawks get a big Man and his Name (season tickets, jerseys, national media, etc) plus a couple mil to fill the bench.
Now, the Hawks have the rest of the summer to experiment with J Smoove refining his game (drbbling, shooting – Mark Price, lose weight, low post development with Nique). Give the starting center role to Shaq, move Al to PF. J Smoove to SF with the combo of JJ for scoring and Marvin for defense and lenght as back up; JJ, JC, and JC2 at the 2, and Teague/Bibby at the PG. Like it or not, the resigning of JJ was necessary get over it. Next, Bibby is in the twilight of his career, but is still a solid back up PG and his contract will become tradable after next season. Marvin is more suitable as a back up SF for the Hawks off the bench. Moreover, he has to sh-t or get off the pot this season. If the J Smoove experiment does work, again you have JJ and Marvin. It is not necessary for ShaQ to play over 20 -25 minutes per game. The playoffs is Shaq’s need not the reqular season. Next, the Hawks have a Trade Exception, 3 mil, and # 1 pick if the needs require; they have flexibility. The will not resign Collins, Joe Smith, RandMo, or Mario, it’s time to move go. Siler will be signed to understudy with ShaQ. The last two roster spots will go to the players who can develop and contribute. With this roster, they are as strong as any of the other teams in the Eastern conference!
2010-2011 Roster
PG – Teague/Bibby
SG – JJ/JC/JC2
SF – J Smoove/Marvin
PF – Al/ZaZa
C – ShaQ/Siler
Back up PG and Big -pick a couple
Go Hawks
N.D.T.K.A.
July 18th, 2010
2:27 pm
Moving ahead for the Hawks was getting rid of Woodson.
Tweaking may be better instead of wholesale moves to get other people’s garbage (re: no defense Mo Williams, and old man Shaq), for assets like Marvin Williams – (not worth his contract – for as many stumble and fumbles as mentioned on this blog – I have seen glimpses of talent through hustle, defense, quickness, and athleticism throughout last season), and Josh Smith (same for all of the temper tantrums and lackdaisacal jogging up the court – this season I saw beautiful passes, defensive brilliance, unreal athleticism, even some self-control in not taking long range jumpers).
Bring in guys to fit L. Drew’s system and give that a try instead of playing fantasy basketball with crazy trades.
Kwame Brown is athletic guy like HawksFan said bring him in plug him into L. Drew’s system.
Hawks have not fallen behind that much, but they must improve.
Boston is clearly not better than the Hawks and if they had met in the playoffs Boston would have been in trouble. NBA is a match up league and Hawks are clearly a bad match up for Boston.
Real Talk
July 18th, 2010
3:15 pm
I would have more respect for Shaq is he retires than play for ASG version of the Atlanta Hawks on the Cheap.
Steve
July 18th, 2010
4:14 pm
1) Miller is not that big of an upgrade over Zaza. In fact, if you look at numbers per 36 minutes Zaza is actually better. Give him a little credit. Miller has also never been one to do the dirty work, while Zaza isn’t afraid to hammer someone on defense.
2) I hope the Hawks trade Marvin for his sake. He is stuck on a team where he cannot fully reach his potential because we run everything thru one person. If we trade MArvin and he gets a chance to become the #1 or #2 option on a team, Hawks fans will wnd up whining about ‘how could we trade that guy .. look at him tear up the league now’. The best thing for the Hawks, and for Marvin, was not to sign Joe.
3) I am no longer a Hawks fan. Quite frankly, the signing of Joe Johnson to a max contract shows me they have no concept of how to run and build an organization. They failed. Now we are saddled with an aging third tier star that is not a team leader, and we will be saddled with him for over half a decade. Good luck to Hakws fans watching this guy chew up minutes that should be given to younger talent that we might actually be able to develop into a team to be reckoned with.
Looks like I am down to one basketball team. I sure hope Mark Fox turns out to be the real deal.
dashizz357
July 18th, 2010
4:42 pm
Woody is gone! Knight is gone! So what’s the problem now……………………Hawks don’t want to win, swept by Orlando again this year! Get Shaq so he can show the world & DH who the real Superman is! So what we resigned JJ, we were suppose to & you gave him way to much money, oh well………………get ready for the boo’s…….ASG is a joke!
James
July 18th, 2010
5:08 pm
Al Horford should demand to be traded if the hawks don’t want to help him out so he can play at the position he feels more comfortable in which is Center.
casual observer
July 18th, 2010
5:29 pm
What a blog!
Bunch of uneducated buffoons calling the owners cheap, or stupid, or spending team money at strip clubs or other assorted nonsense.
OK, we understand you sometimes buy a ticket or watch on TV so that makes you smart enough to counsel managment, demand trades, evaluate talent and make the monetary decisions required to build a team and make money. Having accomplished all of the forementioned you are able to sit around all day and criticize a group of successful businessmen.
Since you have the means why not pool your money, buy the Hawks and show us just hwo smart you really are? Or would you rather just write all of this junk and look like idiots?