How do you feel about Billy Knight and the ASG now?

[lunarblues]

the only position we needed to look at in FA was point guard (i think that horford is going to be our center of the future) now that we have bibby we don't need to look at free agency. now BK needs to work on the bench the starting 5 is set for the next 3 years but we are going to either find a gem in the NBDL or parlay childress into a bench. right now we seem to have a good team. but the bench could be better.

PG- Bibby/Law/Stoudmire
SG-Johnson/West/
SF- Williams/Childress
PF- Smith/Jones
C - Horford/Pachulia

IR-Claxton

you have to think we are only going to use 8 players for the rest of the season.

[HoopsGuru25]

Wow...none of our players on the bench can hit a wide open spot up 3 on a consistent basis besides Salim. If Salim can't get any tick on this particular roster...then I'm afraid he will be playing in Europe with Trajon Langdon next year. This is a great opportunity for him to establish himself as a good shooter off the bench.

[Lue_4_MVP]

lol we gave up Diaw and two first round picks for Joe Johnson. If the Hawks didn't get the 3rd pick last year then the trade would have been a complete disaster. I also think Phoenix trading the rights to Rondo has made people forget that he was picked with one of our picks and likely would have been the pick if we stayed at that slot because Josh Smith lobbied for BK to draft him. I think the point LL is making is that we could have just signed Joe Johnson outright thus keeping our draft picks. The trade only looks good in hindsight because the Hawks are in the playoff race(when the pick was slotted at 4 last year),Phoenix overpaid Diaw(who looked like a good pickup his 1st year)and that they traded Rondo.

Don't forget the fact that Joe was a UFA and Phoenix was already well over the cap with Marion Amare Nash on big contracts with a cheap owner.

But enough negativity. WE GOT RID OF SHELLHEAD BUSTLORD!!!!!
I don't expect Bibby to be a savior, but looking at the crap we dumped on Sac in exchange, I'm psyched. The only better trades we could've done were Kidd and Jarrett Jack, and Kidd wouldn't have wanted to come here and I don't expect Portland to trade Jack.

This trade moves BK from a F+ to a C- in my book.

[HMFFL]

-= original quote snipped =-



Another? What was the first good trade he pulled off? Please don't mention the Joe Johnson trade because we got absolutely fleeced in that one.

As for this trade - TREMENDOUS job by Knight. I hate him, but he really pulled off a great one this time.

My only fear is that this trade and our inevitable allow Knight/Woodson to keep their jobs after the season.

The first good trade was dumping all the bloated veteran contracts we had. Just so happened it worked out that we drafted Josh Smith. On the hand, I believe Jameer Nelson was going to be the second option.

Acquiring Indy's first round pick last year was a outstanding trade that exceed my expectations. I didn't think it would turn out being the 11th overall and Acie looks to be our future 1.

Moving the second rounder for Anthony Johnson has worked out. Anthony played solid for us, was a veteran voice, and now he's part of the pieces that's acquired Atlanta Mike Bibby. Fans put too much stock into second round picks. I know us fans want a fresh face, but it's just a second round pick for crying out loud, and majority of the time it's not like they play out.

Now, I didn't even think about some of the trades I just brought up during my previous message. I was thinking about the Indy trade and now the addition of Mike Bibby.

Once again it's hard for you like others to give Billy Knight any credit. If you think Billy's going to get fired your setting yourself up for a heart breaker. The pressure is on the shoulders of Coach Woodson and has been since the start of the season.

[LL Cool Scott]

[quote="_BBIB_"][/quote]

No, my friend - we gave up Boris Diaw and 2 1st round draft picks for Joe when we could have simply signed him outright. So basically we gave up Boris and 2 1st rounders for no reason at all. It was ridiculous. Good try though!

[LL Cool Scott]

[quote="_BBIB_"][/quote]

The second most promising young roster in the entire NBA? Really? What's our record again? I actually consider it a compliment to be called a tool bag by you. It's kind of like when a (Please Use More Appropriate Word) makes fun of your shoes.

[LL Cool Scott]

HMFFL - Here's my opinion on the Knightmare:

He did a tremendous job dismantling the Babcock disaster. I give him a lot of credit for that. At the time, I thought he was going to be a fantastic GM. Then he passed on Luol Deng and I got worried. Then he got bent over by Colangelo in the Joe Johnson deal, and I became panicky. Then he passed on Chris Paul and I lost all hope. Then he announced a week before the draft that he was going to pick Shelden, and I wished a plague upon his family. He's had good moves though, like you mentioned - the Indy trade was a great trade and the AJ trade was at least mediocre. Al Horford has been great and this Bibby trade was fantastic. I give him much credit for this.

However, I don't think I'll ever forgive him for his drafting mistakes. Any GM with 4 consecutive top 5 draft picks should be able to put together a championship contender. And because of his draft mistakes, this team is much less talented than it should be. Instead of a championship ceiling, we have a 2nd round of the playoffs ceiling in a weak conference. Inexcusable.

[HMFFL]

Then he passed on Luol Deng and I got worried.

And would you want Deng right now? Seems like he's becoming injury prone. I brought up trading for him a couple weeks ago and Hawk fans didn't seem to like the idea. It's being old news that we passed on Deng! I personally wanted us to select someone else at the time but it was too risky.

Then he got bent over by Colangelo in the Joe Johnson deal, and I became panicky.

Maybe so. On the other hand the organization need a face for the franchise. Actually Atlanta desperately needed someone to stand up and say "I want to be a Hawk", Joe did that! I bet Joe's teammates are happy the trade happened, and what's it going to take for Hawk fans to change their stance? Seriously, Boris Diaw was a cancer on the team and we moved to future first round picks. I wish Donta Smith was included instead of Boris Diaw. Mainly because Boris did have some value and we could have moved him separately. By the looks of our starting lineup I would say we've done a good job of placing talent.

Then he passed on Chris Paul and I lost all hope.

I was actually mad we passed on Deron Williams. Still Billy's biggest mistake that he passed on a point guard, but you have to give the man credit for acquiring Mike Bibby, and we have our future point waiting behind him. Billy's biggest weakness is not selecting points over smaller bigs players. He passed on a couple points during the second round we could've used.

Then he announced a week before the draft that he was going to pick Shelden, and I wished a plague upon his family.

It was already leaked that Shelden was promised. IMO, Billy felt Houston or Seattle wanted Shelden and the trade fell through. Another mistake on Billy's part, but once again it was the center pieces that acquired us Mike Bibby. The past is the past, and Billy has been under the microscope since he took on the position.

Billy's also not the only one part of the Hawks organization that felt Shelden was the right move. I even heard Dominique Wilkins praising Shelden at the time and how he would fill a hole. It's the one pick Billy used to acquire a need and it was a failure.

He's had good moves though, like you mentioned - the Indy trade was a great trade and the AJ trade was at least mediocre. Al Horford has been great and this Bibby trade was fantastic. I give him much credit for this.

There are many positives and very few negatives here. I love our lineup, I just wish we have some size on the bench, and now we can focus on the smaller pieces now that we have our starters set.

However, I don't think I'll ever forgive him for his drafting mistakes. Any GM with 4 consecutive top 5 draft picks should be able to put together a championship contender. And because of his draft mistakes, this team is much less talented than it should be. Instead of a championship ceiling, we have a 2nd round of the playoffs ceiling in a weak conference. Inexcusable.

That's understandable. Many of us would have a completely different team if we had Billy's job. Billy has only hit one top 5 pick that I wanted and I still liked someone just as much. If we selected Chris Paul, Deng or Deron Williams this entire team would look different. It's hard to assume what the lineup would be, but I like how it looks now, and the direction this team is headed. Many like to mention how we would be on national tv if we had Chris Paul or Deron Williams. On the other hand we're headed there next season.

Many ignorant fans out there that don't give a GM enough time to put a winner on the court. The starters are now set, and yet out 5 is a rookie. We have all the tools to be the 8th seed or higher. It comes down to the players and Coach Woodson for the rest of the season.

[AU hawksfan]

While I have the same disagreements LL, the past is the past and I'm sick of bickering about something that's not going to change. I think this move has solidified BK as our GM for a little while. Even though he could have done better we have the pieces in place to easily make the playoffs in the east.

I agree with HMFFL, the pressure is now on Woody. BK has given him all the pieces he needs now to compete. ASG has shown they are willing to spend. Now it's time for him to show us how good of a coach he really is....which kind of makes me nervous.

On a side note, I'd really like to see us trade or pick up a good 3 point shooter to backup JJ. We need to fill up the roster with another player anyways.

[HoopsGuru25]

I didn't want Billy Knight fired until 2006. I was ok with the Marvin pick at the time(i liked Paul too)but I think it was obvious that Marvin wasn't ready based on what he did in the summerleague/preason and it was obvious BK made a mistake by not taking Paul early in their rookie years. BK had to recover with a strong 2006 off-season and bricked terribly. He passed on Roy/Foye and reached on Shelden when he said he always took the BPA the year before. It was then that I realized that BK had no clue of how to build a basketball team and I gave up all hope.

Many ignorant fans out there that don't give a GM enough time to put a winner on the court. The starters are now set, and yet out 5 is a rookie. We have all the tools to be the 8th seed or higher. It comes down to the players and Coach Woodson for the rest of the season.

I think many people here are mad over the fact that BK passed on consecutive ROY winners which is almost impossible for any one who watches basketball to do. This Hawks team is not built to win a title because we have no super-star which just about all title teams have. I think Paul is going to be a super-star and I think Roy is a very good young player that can potentially fetch an unhappy super-star(like Jefferson)in the rare case that they become available. The Hawks don't have many assets(like Portland does) for a team who has been in the lottery for so long.

[LL Cool Scott]

Basically, Billy did a FANTASTIC job dismantling the old team. He tore it apart and created the opportunity to build a championship contender. Then he blew that opportunity by passing on Deng, Paul, and Roy in consecutive drafts. He should have been fired years ago.

I know some of you will be shocked to hear this - but I LIKE this team. A lot. I'm just sad because of what this team could have been. With all those high first rounders, we should be a championship contender in the near future. And this core of players is certainly never going to contend for a championship. If all you're looking for is a playoff team that might make it out of the first round a few years, then great. I, however, want a championship. In a nutshell, that is why I want to take a steaming turd in Billy Knight's mailbox.

[evildallas]

We've done the move by move evaluation before. Knight's made some horrible draft day decisions. His 2006 off season was so bad enough that he should get black balled from holding a GM position in the NBA or any decent fantasy league. His last draft is looking pretty damn good and this trade is so one-sided that I am surprised Greg Popovich hasn't complained yet (actually we are beneath his notice, but I used him for effect).

Am I willing to forgive all the old stuff? No, but it is a what have you done lately for me world. BK's riding a personal win streak from recent events and I've got to give him some props for that.