What’s the big idea? Shaq as a Hawk wouldn’t work
It’s believed the Hawks have interest in signing Shaquille O’Neal, and it’s believed he’s interested in playing here. This is, from the Hawks’ side, a terrible idea. The reasons why:
1. Shaq has almost nothing left. He’s 38. He weighs 750 pounds, give or take. Two seasons ago his team — the Phoenix Suns — didn’t make the playoffs. Last season he joined Cleveland, which promptly got worse: It declined from 66-16 in 2008-2009 to 61-21 in 2009-2010 and lost in Round 2 of the playoffs after reaching the Eastern Conference finals the year before. He averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds last season — approximately half his career averages.
2. At this stage of his career, Shaq isn’t as good a center as Al Horford. Yes, Shaq is bigger than Horfy. Shaq, as noted, is bigger than Stone Mountain. But bigger isn’t necessarily better. Horford averaged 14.2 points and 9.9 rebounds and made the All-Star team. Shaq has seen his last All-Star roster.
3. If they add Shaq, the Hawks would weaken themselves at THREE positions. I know a slew of folks insist Horford’s “true” position is power forward, but those folks are, and have always been, flat-out wrong. As gifted as Horford is, he would not be an All-Star at power forward. And if Horford moves to power forward, Josh Smith must play on the perimeter. And nobody in his right mind wants that. A small forward has to shoot (and make) jump shots. Do you really want to grant Smith that license? Thought not.
4. Even if he says he’s willing to take a lesser role, he’s still Shaquille O’Neal. Meaning: He’s an outsize presence with outsize cachet. A NBA man swears the Cavs underperformed because Shaq drove a wedge between coach Mike Brown and LeBron James. Let the record reflect that Brown had led the Cavs to the 2007 NBA finals and was the league’s coach of the year in 2008-2009. Let the record also reflect that Brown is out of work. Now imagine what Shaq might do to a rookie head coach, meaning Larry Drew.
5. This has Moses Malone written all over it. For late tuners-in: The Hawks won 50 games in 1987-88 and nearly upset the Boston Celtics in Round 2 of the playoffs. Desperate to go further, they traded for Reggie Theus and signed Moses Malone. They wound up winning only two more regular-season games and being eliminated by the undermanned Milwaukee Bucks in Round 1 in 1988-89, essentially ending the Hawks’ dreams of contention. And Moses, we should note, was 33 when he arrived here and much closer to his Hall of Fame prime than Shaq is today.
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310 comments Add your comment
Fonz
July 6th, 2010
4:21 pm
Amen, Dr. Phil. CP3 is a pipe-dream at best
Mr. Phil
July 6th, 2010
4:24 pm
Wait. I am understanding this correctly. There are people here who think Shaq can guard Dwight Howard?
SWAT Native
July 6th, 2010
4:30 pm
Keep in mind that the Bucks came very close to knocking the Hawks out of the playoffs using Kurt Thomas as their center. Do you think that Shaq can bring more to the table at this point than Kurt?
DawginLex
July 6th, 2010
5:12 pm
If they want an enforcer, sign Rasheed Wallace. Shaq won’t come off the bench, Rasheed will. Honestly, they would be better off without either.
Fonz
July 6th, 2010
5:13 pm
‘Sheed is retiring
EnOn
July 6th, 2010
5:50 pm
Mark, I’d like to just point out an ignored fact: these Hawks are nowhere near contention as it is. The reason Shaq was a risk for the Cavs last year is because they were honest-to-God competing for a title. What are we risking? Coming in 4th in the East and losing in the second round again, if we’re lucky? I say if a 4 time champ wants to come show our big men how to play like big men (without flopping everywhere, ZaZa), let’s not just turn him away haphazardly. Plus, would the butts-in-the-seats alone not be worth the experiment?
We Need Tree
July 6th, 2010
6:17 pm
Does anyone know what Drew’s scheme/strategy is? Is there any indication the Hawks will play harder for Drew?
gene
July 6th, 2010
6:28 pm
Shaq could be a good thing. He would need to come off the bench to spell Horford. He can still rebound, and eat up space. He would also free up the perimeter for our shooters, because he can still demand a double team. If used properly, he could be the missing piece of the puzzle. As far as past debacles go, it wasn’t the player as much as the way they were used. Shaq can’t be the go to guy, but he can play a significant role for the Hawks.
Drew
July 6th, 2010
8:15 pm
Why not Shaq? He had less production last year because he had LESS minutes. You say he is 38 and this is a factor? He was in his mid-30’s just a few years ago when he won the championship (one of his 4) for the Miami Heat. Honestly why not take the chance… otherwise we will have another 2nd round mediocre team? If people are content with another 2nd round sweep for the 3rd year in a row and mediocrity like Johnson and Horford than keep the status quo train rollin….
atownhawk23
July 6th, 2010
8:22 pm
Two things that won’t work. Oh yeah Mike Woodson is gone already. OOH I know what will work bring back J-Chill. The thought of Bringing Shaq is making me cold. lol.
#GETONMYLEVEL
atownhawk23 aka I Love JJ
July 6th, 2010
8:24 pm
I almost forgot. Nooooooooo. He gonna try take JJ’s shine. Oh yeah, how can you forget about Joe and his juicy pay raise.
JD
July 6th, 2010
9:15 pm
Well. Who else are they going to get for a mid-level exception that would contribute?
If Shaq won’t work, who will?
ReddJonn68
July 6th, 2010
9:16 pm
You have the Haves & the Have Nots in the NBA right now, we fall under the Have Nots if we don’t address our glaring weaknesses that were pointed out so harshly by the Magic
Chris D'
July 6th, 2010
9:19 pm
We already got Dennis Scott calling the games along with Shaq lets get Penny Hardaway in here and see if the new Magic can beat the old Magic.
And who said a really big free agent would never think about signing in Atlanta. First Jason Collins then Shaq they just keep getting bigger.
killerj
July 6th, 2010
9:23 pm
You,ve gotta be kidding,what a presence inside,could be the difference to the finals,they can,t do it with what they have,big men draw double teams inside.They get Shaq, I attend my first game since Mike “Stinger” Glenn roamed the floors of the Omni!
Football Fan
July 6th, 2010
9:30 pm
Agreed. For the first time in history I agree with Mark Bradley.
G
July 6th, 2010
9:36 pm
Does your “NBA MAN” realize Shaq has also won a few titles, and made some coaches look pretty good?
James
July 6th, 2010
9:40 pm
It doesent matter to me that Shaq is not beter than Al Horford.What matters is if he can contribute more than Randoulph Morris.I’d have to say yes!
earldaddy
July 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
Mark, what free agent center would you want to see the Hawks acquire? Haywood? What about a viable trade. Who do you want them to look at? And why are they better than Shaq?
harry the hawk
July 6th, 2010
10:03 pm
Yshoo has already saddled the Hawks with the worst deal in NBA history for signing JJ for 6 at 119 mill…..are they trying to solidify first AND second place by signing Shaq?
Time to cut losses and get rid of Sund, as he clearly has no new ideas or solutions….
Timing is perfect–lots of top-notch GM’s sittin’ on the sidelines
DHunt
July 6th, 2010
10:04 pm
Didnt Cleveland bring Shaq in to play against Howard in the playoffs? They never saw Howard, and they got slap out coached by Doc Rivers which probably had a lot to do with the coach getting the axe. Maybe Clevelan lost more games this year because they were a little too much iso-LaBron and the supporting cast didn’t step up at all around him. Blaming the Cavs problems on Shaq at this point seems a rather frail argument.
For all Zaza’s hustle he is a liability on offense. I swear I got to the point where every time somebody passed him the ball I just chalked up another turnover on the scoresheet. Dude has hands of stone and the vertical leap of a platypus. Shaq will be an instant upgrade.
@Northcyde, Interesting lineup scenarios
Roland
July 6th, 2010
10:16 pm
YOU HAVE TO ADMIT WE WILL SELL MORE TICKETS. MARK BRADLEY HATE THE IDEA AS MUCH AS YOU WANT YOU KNOW YOU WILL NOT MISS ONE HAWKS GAME ALONG WITH A MILLION PEOPLE IN ATLANTA IF SHAQ COMES HERE. THIS IS WHAT THIS CITY NEEDS TO WAKE ITSELF UP!!!!!
Barton Bright
July 6th, 2010
10:33 pm
If dramatically over-paying Joe Johnson doesn’t prove that Hawks’ management is inept, signing Shaq would clinch it.
THE REAL DEAL
July 6th, 2010
10:48 pm
come on guys tradin josh can be one of the worse mistakes the hawks can ever make if anyone heeds to be traded its marvin or he can come off the bench behind j-chill if he decides to come back…the shaq to the hawks is an ok move only if he comes off the bench behind AL.. we need a dwight howard stopper plain and simple shaq or brandon haywood (before miami gets him)would be a great fit…HEY MARK HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ON JOSH CHILLDRES YET????
Chuck Bagley
July 7th, 2010
12:13 am
It makes just as much sense as signing JJ to a MAX contract
Colorado bulldog
July 7th, 2010
12:50 am
This is not like Moses Malone. When Doc passed the ball into Moses it never came out. And then Nique and Willis and choke Theus did the same. We essentially a starting unit of Doc and 4 ball hogs.
If Hawks are thinking bringing him in as a starter, then no. But I say Shaq can come and be a force off the bench. I’d sign him in a NY minute. He would give you way more than Morris ever has in his best dreams. We suddenly would have a big body that other teams would have to respect. You don’t have to start him because he doesn’t have that much in his tank and would slow us down but man when he’s on the floor with Horford and Smith or JJ and Crawford – look out! Okay Cavs didn’t improve… so what. They didn’t win with him either. Hawks have nothing to lose because w/o him we are not going past 2nd round. With Shaq Daddy, we might not… but we could.
JK
July 7th, 2010
12:53 am
Shaq at $4 mil for one year as a 10-15 minute bench center. Golden. Otherwise, no point.
Josh
July 7th, 2010
1:04 am
good points mark bradley, but i would still take shaq. horford is clearly still the starter, but bring shaq in sparingly to punish smaller centers when needed.
ntrigue
July 7th, 2010
1:09 am
Mark do you think Luis Scola or Tyrus Thomas would be a good pickup for backup to Al?
StingerSplash
July 7th, 2010
1:14 am
Had the Hawks signed Moses and stopped right there, they might have been a force to be reckoned with.
But adding Theus gave the Hawks not one, not two but three shoot first and ask questions later players — Moses, Reggie and Nique. Doc Rivers, Bob Cousy and Tiny Archibald couldn’t have kept those three happy.
AG7
July 7th, 2010
1:58 am
northcyde just RAPED Mark Bradley
cdog
July 7th, 2010
2:47 am
mark, shaq now is better than za za pachalia, jason collins, joe smith and randolph morris or current center on the roster.a fool can see we need shaq on our team for next season
CO22
July 7th, 2010
3:14 am
Mark, you can’t be serious by mentioning that Dwight did not have a 30 point game. HE CONTROLLED AND OWNED THE PAINT. If for some reason we don’t sign Shaq Fu then who? I agree he is over the hill we NEED a big body to bang Dwight.
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JJ
July 7th, 2010
6:24 am
I won’t argue with you as to whether or not the Hawks should acquire Shaq, but I will argue with your assertion that Horford is better at center than he would be at power forward. That is a ludicrous thought, yet you seem to think it is a given. I guess every scout in the league is an idiot if we are to believe you, Mark.
Centers camp out in the paint and shoot baby hooks and dunk. See Howard, Dwight. Power forwards play in the paint but also extend their game to 12 feet. See Malone, Karl. One of Horford’s greatest assets is that 12 foot jumper. It improves every year. He needs to be able to keep that in his game. Putting him as a true center will pretty much take that away.
It isn’t about whether Shaq or any other center available is better than Horford. It is about whether Shaq or any other center is good enough to put Marvin on the bench (or force the Hawks to trade him) so that this starting lineup can look a little more like the rest of the NBA.
Not having a true center has held the Hawks back more than anything over the past 3 years in my opinion.
Nate ArchiBALL
July 7th, 2010
7:22 am
Thanks to ReddJonn68, JoD and Northcyde for stating the facts about the Moses Malone, Reggie Theus era. Fratello had become one of those NBA coaches who wanted to call every play rather than pick his spots for play calling. Very talented team with a very insecure coach. Fratello was OK sharing the spotlight with ‘Nique but sharing it with Moses, Reggie and Spud was a major issue. Fratello’s ego was the problem. It’s unfortunate that he turned into Hubie Brown, the coach he replaced. River’s also had problems with Reggie, who was actually ran the break better Doc.
coo coo bird fan
July 7th, 2010
8:14 am
As I agree that we don’t need Shaq, it has nothing to do w/ attitude or age. Quite simply its his style of play. It didnt mesh w/ the running Suns or Cavs, hello Atlanta we are also a running team. If you want to boost ticket sales and have 15 minutes of Shaq swim a game go for it. We need another deadly shooter from outside. JJ Redick is available.
DecaturHawk1987
July 7th, 2010
8:49 am
Great article….I mean….. blog northcyde! You really know your stuff. I agree that Bradley is more opiniated than factual, but hey….he does spark intense debate. There are only a few people who have gotten right it right throughout the debate… Forget signing players….can we get some REAL OWNERSHIP. I mean like One person who writes the check and having a sensible GM call the shots. Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, Pistons all are/were ran/run organizations. Can we see if John Schuerholz will have the same winning pedigree in basketball as baseball?? This is absolutely ridiculous! We have 8, broke, idiot owners that can’t seem to get out of their own way. BTW…..8 is an even number, so how does voting work within the front office…just end it at a 4-4 tie??? Is David McDavid still around!!!1 We’re ready to sell! Why can’t Atlanta seem to get it right????
Chris from the Rock
July 7th, 2010
9:03 am
Hawks should ink Michael Cage, but only if he agrees to sport the ‘do circa 1988. Opposing centers would slip and fall on the grease dripping on the floor from his gheri curls.
Eric B
July 7th, 2010
9:25 am
Sign him to the NBA minimum salary and let him back up Horford.
True Atlanta Fan
July 7th, 2010
10:58 am
We don’t need Shaq ruining our locker chemistry any more than it has been. We already have enough of Josh’s immaturity to deal with.
Big Rome
July 7th, 2010
11:25 am
Horford is not, let me repeat, not a center in the NBA. Al Horford played center for the Hawks simply because his team needed him to do so. Ever watch a Major League Baseball game when a team runs out of pitchers and a another position player assumes the role of the pitcher? Al has just been pitching until the Hawks get a center! Better yet, remember when Magic Johnson played all five positions against the Sixers? Magic Johnson played center, but was a point guard. Enough said!!!
tarheelsfan
July 7th, 2010
12:29 pm
I acutally think this would be a grat move for Atlanta. For one the Hawks need someone with size and secondly he would bring some leadership to the locker room and stir some things up. You probably wont look for him to get 20 and 10 but he is still in the top 5 at the center posistion.
Summer League
July 7th, 2010
12:36 pm
All this hypothesitization is cool and all but how about some real news. Who is on the Hawks summer league team. When/where can we watch them? ANYBODY?
bailey
July 7th, 2010
12:59 pm
u dont know anything about basket ball the hawk need him to take out Dwight howarad
bailey
July 7th, 2010
1:00 pm
i agree with tarheelsfan
atlgent
July 7th, 2010
2:57 pm
After eading the topic and the responses, I have become more and more confused by you gentlemen.
First and foremost, there is regular season play and postseason play. The brand of basketball for each is totally different! Postseaseason play relies on coaching skills and match-ups..i.e Boston Celtics 2010.
Shaq should not be brought in to boost regular season win totals. There is virtually little difference in winning 53 games and 62 games…DUH..you will likely get home advantage for first round with either total and you have to be able to win games on the road in the playoffs anyway, so really who cares after seeds 1-4 get together.
Shaq should only be brought in for matchup problems related to postseason play. BTW, postseason play is much slower than regular season play anyways! Imagine Shaq,Horford,and J.Smith roaming the paint together defensivelyduring playoffs time. Thats a paint nightmare for any team!!!By the way, I can not think of any team with the size to guard that combo on the offensive side either…
Futhermore, I am not opposed to Haywood coming in either. And to those that say we need a CENTER, I again ask, Who is this CENTER that we need and can get?
Also, I dont think any of you guys on here that continuously say ” We paid joe too much money” aand ” we are going over the luxury tax” are a part of ASG. Actually, you have paid nothing!!! Just enjoy a good product that they attempt to put on the floor for you and stop crying about how much players are paid, YOU AIN PAYING THEM OUTTA YOUR BUDGET!!! I don’t care if they go over the luxury tax, just play and win…GEEZ!!!
Mike
July 7th, 2010
3:30 pm
First Shaq was the Big Aristotle, then the Big Cactus & if he comes here, he’ll be the Big Peach!! LOL
Jfreak13713
July 7th, 2010
3:37 pm
Rumor has it that Josh Smith would be on trading block if Shaq is signed? I don’t have a problem with Shaq as long as a Smith trade would bring a Small Forward who can shoot the ball? Interesting idea?? We know the Hawks have reached the ceiling with this current team and even if they 45 games instead of 50 or lose in the first round instead of the second round does make much difference. I want to the the Hawks TRYING to improve even if they don’t actually improve.
Nickster79
July 7th, 2010
3:38 pm
Atlanta area Hawks fans (I am in Charleston), if you don’t want Shaq and we get him it is your fault. Shaq will equal sellouts and Phillips, which people didn’t show up for before. The bottom line is money, and Phillips will be full if Shaq is here.
Mark: I don’t like deal either, but is there a good trade somewhere to be made involving Josh Smith and/or Marvin Williams for a top flight small forward?