So if you were the Hawks Owner/GM/Coach, what would you do?

[mattlanta]

If you were given that opportunity to mold or alternate the team in any shape or form you'd like it to, what would you do? Would you bring in a different head coach? Make a trade? If you were the coach, what kind of minutes would you be giving these guys and what lineups would you be using?

I'm asking because I know a lot of people would like to give the team a 'new look' and are getting wary of the current one. Would you give Teague more minutes? How about Jordan Crawford? Etc.

[Harry10]

is their anyway to go back in time and not offer Joe a max contract? or go back two summers and not resign Bibby and make an offer to Jarrett Jack?

if it was last summer, their could have been alot of stuff the GM could have done, but as of right now and Joe's contract, it makes it very hard to do anything except for some minor trade for bench players.

i'm 50/50 on a Teague for Jason Thompson trade because of how Collison/Horford/Josh looked and the Hawks could draft Nolan Smith, Josh Selby, Kemba Walker, etc, but i just love Teague's monster defense.

[ATL DirtyBird]

Assuming you cant go back and your stuck with the current roster, I would make the following moves/changes:
Horford more involved in offense
Josh down in post
Less isolation for Joe and Jamal
More minutes for Teague to find out what we have
Trade Mo
Find a better back up 3

This current team wont do any playoff damage so I would prefer to blow it up, but thats not an option.

[ACE_reppin_ATL]

With what we have NOW....

1. "Promote" Marvin to the bench permanently - I say promote because it's a better fit for him on this team and it would really strengthen our team all around...Gives us a solid scoring combo off bench with Crawford+Marvin along with the interior of Zaza+Powell...That's also opens up Horford's game to score more in the starting unit with Collins not being a offensive threat...It also makes more room for Teague to get consistent backup PG minutes...

This Gives us an even better, more explosive 2004 "Pistons-like" starting lineup with a way better bench...

C - Collins (DEF center) / Zaza
PF - Horford (Versatile OFF/DEF PF) / Powell
SF - J-Smoove (DEF SF who also scores) / Marvin
SG - Joe (Lead scorer) / Jamal
PG - Bibby (Sure-hands, big shot maker) / Teague

If we are going to make a move for a solid starting center...

My suggestion would be to either trade Marvin or Jamal...Whichever one that is not traded would be the 6th man for us...Let's say we are able to move:

[To LAC] Jamal ($10MIL expiring) + E. Thomas (play him or trade him!)
-for-
[To ATL] Kaman (Blake is now the man inside and they need bench scoring badly)

Kaman is 7' tall (big body) on both ends, only 28 years old, very good in the post and a decent shot blocker AND he only has one more year on his current deal (if he doesn't work out)...

[mr_grabb]

You know what? That trade would not be too bad talent-wise, and it works in the trade checker. However, we should not forget that our priority, at this point, is to re-sign Al next summer. This is exactly why Drew has refused to discuss an extension with Crawford in the first place. That means that it would be against the team's strategy to lose the upcoming financial flexibility provided by the expiration of JC's contract by trading it for Kaman, who has a year left to his mammoth deal.

Unfortunately, trade-wise nothing big will happen in Hawks land this season. I expect the team to re-sign Al next summer, let Crawford walk (or re-sign him for cheap if he's willing to), and then look at options in the post. I think we all agree that Al would be best playing all his minutes at the 4, making us in need of a reliable 5. Sorry Collins, you're not that guy.

The sad thing is that Josh is also best suited playing the 4. Because Al is more of a classic 4, I expect the front office to eventually part ways with Josh. It pains me to think about it, but I think it's inevitable. Perhaps not this year or next year, but eventually...

In the mean time, I really like the idea of playing Marvin off the bench. He could be extremely valuable there and could boost his trade value there. Sure, it would be nice to get a decent center for him, but right now it's impossible.

As for Teague, he will get more burn soon. That's for sure. Bibby can't keep up the pace over 80 games, and at one point Coach will want to rest his legs for the playoffs a little bit. I like Teague, I just no longer think he can be a long-term solution for us. However, I think he can be really great off the bench for like 25 minutes. He could turn into a Lou Williams type of player.

[killbuckner]

However, we should not forget that our priority, at this point, is to re-sign Al next summer.

uhhh... Al has already resigned.

[azuresou1]

Here's my moves, assuming no one bites on Joe Johnson.

1) Trade Jamal Crawford and Etan Thomas for a rebounding defensive C. Doesn't have to be an offensive scorer, and likely Jamal won't yield one anyways. Guys like this will probably have long term contracts on struggling teams, but not necessarily. Players that meet this criteria would be guys like Biedrins, Varejao, Camby, or Nene. Depending on the player/team, we may need to include a protected pick or sub in Zaza for Thomas or other such fillers.

2) Give Teague lots of burn. Time to find out what we have for better or for worse. If that costs us 5 games, so be it.

3) Run the offense through Al. Tell Josh that he is allowed to take jumpshots but as soon as he misses two in a row, he's not allowed to take anymore for the rest of the half. Start a dunk pool where players get $25 or so for each dunk they make, funded by a $25 penalty for every And-1 given up.

We'll say that we trade Crawford, Zaza, Etan Thomas, and a 2011 1st for Biedrins, Charlie Bell, Jeremy Lin, and a 2012 GSW 1st.

PG: Bibby(24)/Teague (24)
SG: Johnson (32)/Crawford (12)/Evans (4)
SF: Marvin (24)/Smoove (20)/Wilkins (4)
PF: Smoove (18)/Horford (22)/Powell (8)
C: Horford (16)/Biedrins (30)/Collins (2)

Inactive: Charlie Bell, Jeremy Lin (D-League), Pape Sy (D-League)

[killbuckner]

I'm assuming that the Hawks won't pay the luxury tax this season and they can't move Joe Johnson.

I'd trade Crawford and a protected first rounder for Billups. I think that most of Billups issues this season are due to his wrist injury and I think he would be exactly what this team needs. He gives the Hawks a great PG, another shooter, and a great help defender. He can play off the ball and he can space the court well. Bibby isn't adequate as a starter but he would be a good backup PG. I think that Denver wants to turn the team over to Lawson once Carmelo is dealt so I think they may do the trade- though it probably makes more sense as a 3 way deal where Crawford is flipped to a different playoff team (Indiana looks right at first glance)

[evildallas]

I'll wait until I'm back in Atlanta to formulate a master plan, but I really like Marvin off the bench and starting Josh at the 3, Al at the 4 and Jason Collins at the 5. Marvin actually shows some offensive aggression as the 7th man. We could have a good rotation based on that lineup if we work on it. Strange to hear me say it but I'm kind of wanting to see how far this lineup can make it without major shakeups.

As for the untradeable contract of Joe Johnson, the possible out might be the Houston Rockets. They have the expiring contract of Yao that allows them to take big money back. Any combination on that deal doesn't make the Hawks stronger but it does allow for a do over on the big contract. If you want a do over you have to act this year because in the future Joe will only be able to fetch similar bad contracts in return (like Arenas did with Lewis). I've not made up my mind on whether it is best to ride out the Joe deal or dump him for cap room.

[azuresou1]

I can't see Morey taking on Joe's horrid contract.

[Ruhiel]

Thabeet, hopefully being around a playoff team in a new city, he'll have to focuson basketball more and Horf will rub off on him

[parson]

However, we should not forget that our priority, at this point, is to re-sign Al next summer.

uhhh... Al has already resigned.

Well, he was close. If he'd said our priority is to be able to afford having re-signed Al next summer by staying under the Luxury Tax limit, he'd have been dead on.