Roster starting to taking shape

[lunarblues]

it looks like we really were waiting for the joshes to be signed before we made any moves.

what i'm really seeing now though is a shift from young players to veterans. i still wouldn't rule out us getting a big man.

the roster is starting to take shape now.

PG- Bibby/Law/Claxton
SG-Johnson/Murray/Gardener
SF-Williams/Evans/Hunter
PF-Smith/Jones
C - Horford/Pachulia/Morris

West and Richardson are still restricted free agents and can still make the team for the fifteenth spot.

also don't rule out gardener and hunter getting cut before training camp ends.

[stayinschool33]

I would say that Gardner,West, and Richardson are fighting for the last spot. I still think a cheap big comes in as well. So two questions are left, who do you want the most out of the above 3? And who out there will be the last big? Here is the rest of the big men left, you choose:
Fransisco Elson
Juwan Howard
Robert Horry
Jamal Magloire
Dikembe Mutumbo
Theo Ratliff
Michael Doleac
David Harrison
Othella Harrington
Scot Pollard
DJ Mbenga
Alonzo Mourning
Jake Voskuhl
Sean Marks
We have to take into account their desire to play here, and willingness to play for less than 3 million. So pick from these fine specimens.

[lunarblues]

elson i think is with the bucks so he's out.

howard, horry, mutombo,mourning, are ratliff will only play for championship contenders so they are out

magloire and pollard are shells of their former selves so you wouldn't want them.

after that you have doleac (not physical), harrison (morris), harrington (liability), voskuhl (not physical), and marks (not physical)

we might just be stuck with the guys we have. at least we'll have the extra space on hand in case we need to make a midseason signing.

[stayinschool33]

Dude i am not asking for another Horford, we have a million or two to spend!!!
Just need a veteran or promising player, and another morris type or veteran would be fien with me. Harrison or Mbenga would be my first choice, if we cannot get one of the five "ring searchers" you grouped together.

[raleigh]

Voskuhl is my choice because he seems willing to play limited minutes and has good character without the suckiness associated with Lorenzen Wright.

[Theology]

Mbenga! I can hear Ryan Cameron announcing his name already LOL not to mention he's a decent defender

[D21]

It seems like we can forget about Ratliff, not sure but almost (maybe ATL is one of the other teams with an offer):

...With second-year big man Jason Smith likely out for the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, an unsubstantiated report surfaced that the Sixers had reached out to former Sixers center/forward Theo Ratliff with an offer to play for the veterans' minimum. A source familiar with that situation said Ratliff had offers from other teams for more money, but that he was very interested in the Sixers... Link

[Rod700]

howard, horry, mutombo,mourning, are ratliff will only play for championship contenders so they are out

I wouldn't be so sure of that unless you've heard each of them express that. Granted it's likely that most players in the twighlight of their career will be looking for a ring, but consider this.

Mutombo is a huge humanitarian, on realgm boards, it's believed that he was going to retire, but his family talked him into coming back although he wouldn't play for the league minimum. Realgm chatter also suggests Houston will be making a significant contribution to Mutombo's foundation to get him to come back. Houston seems to be the town he will end up in, not because he is hungry for a ring, but because he is a fundraising man at this point in his career and he happens to like the City of Houston. For a man like Mutombo, basketball is secondary to his true life's work. If he hasn't finalized the deal with Houston, and they haven't made the donation yet, it's not unthinkable that we couldn't snag him. I find people that snicker at Mutombo as an inviable player to be a bit ignorant. Granted he only plays 15 minutes a game and not every game of the season, the minutes he does play are very productive in the way of rebounds and blocked shots. Even if we only play him when other team's larger centers get out of control. That is a VERY VERY important void he is filling on the team. He's the perfect one year fix, and considering the lack of options for a long term solution, why not?

Concerning Mourning, he already has a ring, so his motivation for seeking out another team is a mystery. Does he want another ring? Does he want to play in a certain geographical area? Does he want somewhere like Atlanta where he could get some playing time and have one last taste of a little of the lime light?

Although he's a great clutch shooter, I don't think Horry is the guy we need, not sure about what Howard, but Theo is likely out of reach.

[Rod700]

West and Richardson are still restricted free agents and can still make the team for the fifteenth spot.

also don't rule out gardener and hunter getting cut before training camp ends.

I've been holding out hope that this is true. I think we really found diamonds in the rough with West and Richardson and I hope we dont' p*ss that away. They compliment each other perfectly. If an offenive player goes down or you need a shooter, there's Richardson. If you need defense or someone to ignite the hustle in your team, there's West. They are the perfect to guys to finish off a roster with.

[D21]

I don't know how much Murray will heat, we had 3M left on the MLE, and minimum contracts.
But if there was a chance to get Mourning, then go for it if he can play (don't know any update on his injury).

Two years ago, he signed for $5,262,500/2yrs with second year unguaranteed.
Maybe a 2M contract can work, but would mean that Murray did not take more than 1.085M.

EDIT: Mourning is hoping to be able to come back in December.

[JoshB914]

I don't know why we are assuming Gardner will make the team. I see it as J-Rich, Rio, Hunter, and Rio battling for the last two spots. You'd think Hunter would make it since he's a big man. I'd also suspect J-Rich will be here after his SL performance.

Also, we are assuming that Speedy is going to make it through camp with a roster spot, if he is injured indefinetely I would hope he realizes that his knee just won't let him play anymore.

We'll sign more guys, we came into camp with like 20 guys last year.

[evildallas]

Another big to consider . . . Dwayne Jones 6'11 played last year in Cleveland, good per minute rebounding numbers during his limited court time. Might be too raw, but still feel we need another big not named Lo Wright to add to the roster.

[tbhawksfan]

it looks like we really were waiting for the joshes to be signed before we made any moves.

what i'm really seeing now though is a shift from young players to veterans. i still wouldn't rule out us getting a big man.

the roster is starting to take shape now.

PG- Bibby/Law/Claxton
SG-Johnson/Murray/Gardener
SF-Williams/Evans/Hunter
PF-Smith/Jones
C - Horford/Pachulia/Morris

I'm not happy with the front-court situation.

You give Horford and Smoove about 33 minutes each, that leaves 30 minutes to be played at PF/C. Do we want a combo of Zaza/Jones/Morris playing that many minutes? Not if we seriously want to make a run at the play-offs.

[HoopsGuru25]

it looks like we really were waiting for the joshes to be signed before we made any moves.

what i'm really seeing now though is a shift from young players to veterans. i still wouldn't rule out us getting a big man.

the roster is starting to take shape now.

PG- Bibby/Law/Claxton
SG-Johnson/Murray/Gardener
SF-Williams/Evans/Hunter
PF-Smith/Jones
C - Horford/Pachulia/Morris

I'm not happy with the front-court situation.

You give Horford and Smoove about 33 minutes each, that leaves 30 minutes to be played at PF/C. Do we want a combo of Zaza/Jones/Morris playing that many minutes? Not if we seriously want to make a run at the play-offs.

He's just listing the players on the team. It's almost impossible for the Hawks backup big men(pre and post Bibby trade)to do a worse job than they did last year and they still won 37 games. Anything Zaza(or Morris)gives us this year would be a bonus. The Hawks are going to go into the season with an 8 or 9 man rotation....I guarantee that only 1 backup big(which will likely be Zaza)will be apart of that. Horford and Smith will both play well over 30 minutes a night and Marvin will also log time at the 4 in a small lineup with Evans at the 3.

[killbuckner]

yeah- I have to think that the Hawks are going to give Marvin some time at the 4- the numbers don't work out even with an eventual lo wright signing. Interestingly enough 82 games has marvin at PF for 20% of his minutes.

I really want to see Marvin play some more with the second unit just to see if they can get him to try and take over a little more offensively since the second unit is pretty brutal on that side of the court. Joe is going to play a ton of minutes this year.

[conleyorbust]

yeah- I have to think that the Hawks are going to give Marvin some time at the 4- the numbers don't work out even with an eventual lo wright signing. Interestingly enough 82 games has marvin at PF for 20% of his minutes.

I really want to see Marvin play some more with the second unit just to see if they can get him to try and take over a little more offensively since the second unit is pretty brutal on that side of the court. Joe is going to play a ton of minutes this year.

Oh, I definitely believe that, especially after the Bibby trade. We had two backups essentially - Chil and Zaza and Horford, the starting center, only played 32 a game. Childress filled in at a lot of spots but he would often come in for Josh which pushed Marv to PF. Marv was essentially the backup PF for this team.

Joe won't be playing any more minutes than last year and hopefully having Flip and Evans on the roster will reduce his responsibilities in terms of shot creation and defense. I'd expect more plays to be run through Bibby than last season too, which should reduce some of the wear on Joe.

[evildallas]

With the signing of extra guards, I would expect more of Joe's minutes to come at SF. Again I'm not saying more minutes, but when Marvin or Josh come out and Maurice Evans comes in I see him at the 2 and Joe at the 3 (definitely on the defensive end).

[conleyorbust]

With the signing of extra guards, I would expect more of Joe's minutes to come at SF. Again I'm not saying more minutes, but when Marvin or Josh come out and Maurice Evans comes in I see him at the 2 and Joe at the 3 (definitely on the defensive end).

I'd imagine that unless the SF is really big, Mo will take the tougher cover. Not necessarilly better than Joe on D, but good enough that he can be a "stopper" of sorts.

[BMF Jet Jaguar]

DJ!!!!1