You thinking Horford?
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I kinda do this basically every time a 'fan favorite' leaves one of the local teams. Drafting Josh was basically the beginning of this previous era of the Hawks. Jay Bilas trashed him on national TV, but while Josh was a frustrating player to root for over the past nine years, he was a big part of the group that helped this team out of the gutter during that decade-long playoff drought. I thought he was a lock to become an All Star someday, yet his own bad habits, combined with some enabling coaches and short-sighted GMs, has me feeling like his Hawks career was both good and a lot of unfulfilled potential. Sort of like that team itself: they were one move away but wouldn’t do it, for whatever reason.
Everybody in here knows I have always been one of his harshest critics through the years, but this isn’t like when Joe left. If Josh makes a clean break with no bitter comments directed towards the fans and organization who gave him every opportunity to be whatever he wanted to be (some of which he took for granted), he deserves applause when he comes back to Phillips next season. Not an “I MISS YOU!” but more like “Thank you and wish you the best.” Obviously I don’t believe he’s worth that kind of money he got from Detroit -- but even without that, I would have loved to see it work out with 'hometown guys' but the time was right for a split once Dwight had no interest in coming here. It was best for both sides to move on.
I don't see the for for Det, but I wish him well.
I'm not sold on the Millsap pick-up. If he's part of a potential front court rotation, then I guess that makes more sense. I would have preferred Hickson or going after a legit center. Millsap, makes an already small frontcourt..smaller.
Yea, me to I guess. Milsap is A good player! But he's not a 3, so of the plan as many want is for him to be the backup, why do you do that on a rebuilding team. If the plan is to keep Al at the 5 and make the 4-8 playoff holes, why wouldn't they have kept Smith? Just saying the signs point to high character guys to bring young talent in around. And while Al is a high character guy in my opinion, he also has enough value and talent to keep the Hawks at the bottom of the lottery instead of the top.
Just my opinion..... But like I said before. People forget that SA did tank to get Duncan. They also forget they brought in Vet high character guys the summer before they did it. Hmmmmm.
If we go after Pec as many of us want, that will only serve to increase my opinion on the matter.
You don't keep Josh because, according to Detroit, Josh cost $14M per year for the next four years (into his age 30 season and his game is based on athleticism). Plus, as Vivlamore alluded to, the culture change. Millsap OTOH 'only' cost $9.5M and his deal can be moved at any point. There is no downside to this Millsap contract, if we make the playoffs, good, that means he will likely have played well and will increase his value in a potential trade. If we don't make the playoffs, oh well play the lotto odds. Either way, you're not stuck with a horrific contract and are stacking assets to trade for a superstar the next time one becomes available. Wolves will likely match any offer for Pek, they have reached the "playoffs or else" stage with that group.
Dwight's comments after making his decision make me wonder if he and Josh had any intention of playing on the same team, and if they basically setup a lot of these Hawks fans to look like fools. Dwight basically said the Rockets never brought it up. Josh didn't try to force a deal to Houston, nor did he wait, he just took the most money from a bad team (which is usually a bad sign in any sport, see: Al Jefferson, etc). Dwight took the meeting with Ferry and Bud, but there was never any real interest before then, nothing positive about it afterwards, and Josh only made casual comments about them playing together during the previous years. We never saw or heard about any flat out recruiting from either. Everybody was looking out for themselves, while Hawks fans wanted us to bet everything on it. Welp, kinda went the way I figured it would with those two.
Lol, the sentence was...
...and after the season ended, the Hawk made no effort to resign Josh. Then Josh signed for $14M per year with Detroit ($56M divided by 4 years = $14M). Ferry barely mentioned him this offseason. There is nothing to take out of context. "All signs point to tanking" after they paid one the top FAs nearly $10M per year who happens to play Josh's position, and re-signed Kyle at $6M per? It looks to me like Ferry realized he wasn't worth the kind of money he was seeking and slammed that door shut, while maintaining flexibility.Quote:
If the plan is to keep Al at the 5 and make the 4-8 playoff holes, why wouldn't they have kept Smith?
I think the final sign of what we will do is if we re-sign Teague or not. Teague/Horford/Millsap with role players like Korver are good enough to get into the playoffs. If they just go ahead and start the rookie and with the weak SG/SF group we have, we could struggle to score points, which could be a silent way of tanking.
Heat, Pacers, Bulls, Nets, and Knicks are clearly better as of right now. 5 playoff spots. Pistons, Cavs, Wizards, Bucks and Celtics are at the same level if all are healthy as the Hawks. Those 5 teams, adding us for 6 are fighting for the last 3 playoff spots, and the others, going in the lottery.
Bobcats, Raptors, Magic, and Sixers are at the bottom of the East. We could very well not make the playoffs without Teague, but would have to give up Horford or Millsap sometime during the season if they intend to reach the bottom of the East.
If they hadn't signed two productive players (Paul and Kyle) to favorable deals, I'd predict an immediate tank job. I think we're more likely to see Ferry trying to remain in the playoff hunt while staying active in trade rumors for superstars from now on in case one becomes available, offering everyone on the roster. Based on the deals for Calderon and Jack, my guess is Ferry's range for JT is $6-8M/year. Any teams tops that offer, he'll S&T and find some other vet PG.Quote:
Originally Posted by *Silver&Black*