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As the season approaches Hawk fans are closely watching the contract negotiations of important members of the organization. It is a foregone conclusion that Jamal Crawford will not receive a long term extension. Extending JC is not in the long term interest of the club and rightfully so. The Hawks are not competing for a title this year and it makes no sense to commit millions to a player that will probably get you no further than the second round of the playoffs. What puzzles me is the false optimism that Hawk fans have going into this season. This particular group has maxed out on its potential and is no more that a 3/4 seed this year. And the next move is to resign Al Horford to a long term extension. Al Horford is a fine role player and would make a great addition to an already championship caliber team, but he lacks the repertoire of hook/bank shots, fadeaways, and up-and-under moves that franchise big men must have in order to win 7 game series on the road against championship caliber teams. There are talks of "Maxing Out" Horford at 5yr/82mil but I just can't imagine the Hawks paying this type of money for a role player ( C Noah just signed for 5yr/60mil). Horford continues to insist that his true position is power forward but what is he really saying? Offensively the 4/5 are interchangeable, so what he really means is "I don't want to guard NBA centers". I just couldn't imagine Alonzo Mourning saying that he would prefer to play the 4. Mourning was an undersized center who relished the challenge of playing against bigger players (Ewing, Shaq, Robinson etc). Mourning and Horford are comparable in size therefore, rather than complaining about playing center perhaps Horford should focus on getting stronger and be more willing to do what it takes to help the team win. This current Hawks team is not a contender, so hopefully there are plans to move players with the goal of taking a step back this year to become a better team in subsequent years. There is not one player on this team that is "untouchable" and hopefully the Hawks brass are willing to make short term sacrifices in order to compete in the long term.

Should have blown it up before Johnson's contract.

If you resign Horford for 5 years, 65 mil (seems reasonable, just above Noah's since Al is better), you're looking at 54 mil committed each year to Joe, Marvin, Al and Josh through 2013 (and Joe, 21, 23, and 24 mil through 2016).

You'll win 40-50 games each year, so no lottery picks. Welcome to mediocrity.

But that's the front office's call. Make the team competitive and increase profits now, or blow it up to try and win a championship?

Were not winning a championship but were not going to the lottery perennially anymore. Tough situation for the front office.

I think this Joe signing won't be regretted until Year 4 or 5.

There will be a whole new CBA package that doesn't allow players to reach that salary level again.

I am sure the ASG in looking at the whole situation, they didn't want to concede and call this summer a time to restart. They are convinced this roster is enough to draw fans in and give a false impression that this team is here to contend for the title.

The problem I see out of the gate is this team has to overachieve and Orlando and Miami have to underachieve severely for any hope of a 3 seed in the playoffs. The ASG would rather not risk a new chemistry of incoming players, instead standing pat and 'hoping' the fan base will keep paying some ridiculous prices to see a team that isn't a serious contender for anything other than providing opposition for the teams that fans really go to Philips to see.
You will see more cheering for the Lakers and Heat and possibly the Celtics than you will for the Hawks...and it is understandable.

Blowing up this team is the last thing we should do.

We've been down that road - and recently, at that. It took 6 years of misery to get the talent we now have, which some of y'all are crying about. Another 6 years of disaster would destroy the fanbase here.

In a few years, it may make sense to start over, but for now, what is more likely:
trashing the team and drafting a Durant
or
Smoove and Horford becoming stars?

I think it's obvious that both players are special. Neither player has peaked and each has the talent to be a major star. For that matter, so do Marvelous and Teague.

A better approach would be to keep changing coaches - if we have to - in order to find that magic combination.

A better approach would be to have not re-sign Joe and trade him for some younger prospects and picks - I'd feel better gambling on draft picks than gambling on Josh and Al becoming superstars or Marvin gaining confidence over the summer and turning into the Bigger T-Mac he was supposed to be.

I can't believe what i am reading here? Do you wanna blow up your team, why??

Let's face it, only one team out of 30 wins it all in a given year. Blowing your roster and starting again doesn't guarantee a win at all.

Right now, you have a roster to win around 50 wins for the next 3 years or so; enjoy the ride! Lots of teams would like to be where you stand now. You may even get the missing piece through trade, or maybe even good drafting. It is true that if you don't delve into luxury tax, a title is gonna be very difficult; but a trip to the finals isn't out of the question either.

JJ's contract was bad, because it is too long, and you lost the flexibility to make other moves; but right now, you aren't in a bad position; i don't understand why you are so pessimistic. It's true that there's a lot of hype around other east conference teams, and the Hawks might look a bit lost among so much movement, but i still see you on the top.

There's been a handful of teams without a superstar that have EVER won it all in the NBA, and the most recent one (Pistons) did it by having ridiculous defense and a roster that had almost no gaps. This Atlanta roster does not have a superstar, and has wide, glaring flaws that weren't addressed this offseason.

Sorry, I'm not content with being a pretender. I want an actual shot at the ring. Joe Johnson's contract has effectively killed that chance, with the only possibility of winning being internal improvement across multiple positions, or Jordan Crawford being Michael Jordan reincarnate (dubious).

Why don't we wait until we see the new offense before giving up on the team? Smoove is a DPOTY candidate who is STILL improving - especially in assists and rebounds - and Horford is a warrior and loaded with star potential. Both players are just a better offensive scheme away from 20/10 each.

azuresou1 wrote:A better approach would be to have not re-sign Joe and trade him for some younger prospects and picks - I'd feel better gambling on draft picks than gambling on Josh and Al becoming superstars or Marvin gaining confidence over the summer and turning into the Bigger T-Mac he was supposed to be.

Agreed. The Hawks current set up appears to be miles away from being a contender and miles away from getting a good draft pick.

These owners doesn't have the resources to build a championship team. The Hawks don't lack talent, they lack money. Every team that's better than them are probably over the luxury tax.

Bottom line is that it's better to know that there're at most a handful of teams better than you in the conference rather than a bunch of them. And... the team is exciting to watch so I'm not in favor of sending away players for baggages. Of course, if Zaza is said player then it's fine with me.

I should point out to the OP that his Mourning comparison sucks.

Mourning was an inch taller and 20 pounds heavier than Horford, he wasn't exactly "undersized," against most of those guys, especially since he was considerably more physical than, say, David Robinson, as tall/taller than Olajuwon (and heavier) and everyone is undersized next to Shaq (even if they're taller), so it's kind of moot...

He's not wrong, though, I mean, Horford's major skill on O seems to be working in the PnR, which is typically the fare of a PF... a position for which he is ideally sized and that he played through college. Do you blame him, really? That's just common sense.

I should point out to the OP that his Mourning comparison sucks.

You are entitled to your own opinion but you are not entitled to your own facts. Mourning came into the league at 240 pounds. Look up any of his rookie cards and you can see the huge difference between the Rookie Mourning and the Veteran Mourning. The comparison sucks in your eyes because you completely missed the point. This is not about height and weight this is about desire, heart, toughness and balls. Some of us have relocated to Atlanta from winning cities. We would love to see a winning product in our own backyard but many of the fans here are so apathetic and have become accustomed to mediocrity. Josh Smith sells the seats in Atlanta, and he does so at a bargain rate and has never complained about being an undersized PF. If Horford wants to play the 4 perhaps he can play it in another loser city.

And when Dwight hit the league, he was about 240 pounds. So was Karl Malone.

What's your point? Mourning, like Malone and Dwight, killed himself in the weight room to bulk up and when he was 6'11, 265+ pounds, which he was for the majority of his career, "undersized" would be a horrifically inaccurate way to characterize him.

Meantime, even as a rookie at 6'11 and 240, the only guys he was legitimately undersized in comparison to were Shaq and David Robinson. There were some scattered guys like Ostertag or Mutombo or whomever who were taller, or heavier, or both, but Mourning had more range as a younger guy and more athleticism than all but the two guys I mentioned (among the guys who were bigger than he).

So again, terrible comparison.

More importantly, you're attacking a man's character for wanting to play his natural position, where all of his skills and instincts make much more sense. Not wanting to play out of position isn't an absence of heart or desire. Jordan and Kobe didn't/don't like playing the 3, either, but they did be-times because Phil told them to. Kobe has resisted playing the 3 at various times, prefering the 2. You wouldn't play Karl Malone at the 5, even though he was a power-post guy through and through, because it just wouldn't work.

Would it be cool if Horford Malone/Mourning'd out and added 25 pounds of raw muscle to make himself a nastier center? Sure it would. Does that make him a weak-minded player deserving of the sewage you're slinging at him?

Not at all.

EDIT: I should point out that Mourning played center at Georgetown and was coached to be a center. By John Thompson. Horford was a PF for Billy Donovan. It's not really the same situation, which is just another angle along which this looks like an awful comparison.

Plus, calling a dude who's 6'11 "undersized," even at 240 pounds, is foolish when you look at his wingspan and his height.

No-Shoes; Wingspan, Standing Reach

Horford: 6'8.75", 7'0.75", 8'11
Mourning: 6'9.5", 7'6.5"

Can you see what I'm getting at? Mourning was WAY longer than horford, and also 3/4s of an inch taller. You can't make the size comparison, because Mourning was bigger to begin with.