RealGM

The Hawks are at a critical juncture during which we have the opportunity to trim the fat from our roster and build around our core of JJ, Smoove, and Horford. In my mind, any other players are expendable if they can be traded to fill out our bench and balance our team.

Step 1: Re-sign Smoove and Chill (which will likely take us very near the luxury tax limit)

Step 2: Re-sign West by offering him the minimum salary. If we are over the cap, rules still allow for minimum salary players to be signed. If it takes a little more to sign him, we may be able to use a small portion of the mid-level exception, which can be split between players, if we can still sign Diop.

Step 3: Sign Diop using the mid-level exception. Time and time again during the regular season last year, our interior defense broke down and teams scored absolutely at will by driving, and sometimes strolling casually into the lane. Smoove and Horford are great, but Smoove needs someone else watching his back, and it would be advantageous to have a 7 footer who isn’t Zaza or Lo Wright.

Edit: I'm told we would have to sign Diop before the Joshes due to the luxary tax.

Step 4: Initiate the following Trade:

Atlanta Salary Ratio Traded Out: 42.8
Atlanta Salary Ratio Brought In: 36.2

Phoenix Salary Ratio Traded Out: 21.6
Phoenix Salary Ratio Brought In: 24.6

Memphis Salary Ratio Traded Out: 14.6
Memphis Salary Ratio Brought In: 18.2


Atlanta Trades: Marv, Zaza, Law, Solo, 09 Second Rounder
Atlanta Gets: Barbosa, Lowry

Phoenix Trades: Barbosa after his BYC year is completed on July 7th
Phoenix Gets: Marv, Law

Memphis Trades: Lowry, Jacobson (resigned to a salary ratio equivalent of 5.2), and Brown (resigned to a salary ratio equivalent of 5.2). Please note that although Brown and Jacobson are resigned with more than a 20% raise to their original salary, they are not BYC players due to their team being under the cap. Please see Larry Coon’s FAQ #73 under GM Resources.


What Phoenix Gains: They fulfill their desire to get younger. They get a number 11 pick (that hasn’t been given playing time in Atl) to back up Nash. Marv’s arrival allows the Suns to trade Diaw. The roster is full and balanced, and the Diaw trade can be focused on getting the best player available rather than fulfilling a need at a certain position.

What Memphis Gains: They’ve done a good job of getting a young star in O.J. Mayo and keeping the team salary down, but now it’s time to put a full roster together that can actually take the floor. Right now, the only decent big men they have are Darko and Warrick. They would be crazy to exercise the team option on Walker, or resign Kwame. That only leaves Brown as the only other big man. Zaza gives them a solid presence inside and Solo gives them a back-up with some potential to be a shot-blocker. They also get a pick to fill out their roster for next year or to use in a trade to improve their position in the 09 draft. The only significant piece they give up is Lowry, and Memphis already has too many capable young point guards with Conley and Critteon also on the roster.

What Atlanta Gets: An extremely flexible, explosive line-up. The roster is well balanced and each position is filled. We could move JJ to the 3 spot because he is strong enough to play there and I actually believe he is at his best when he is attacking the basket. This allows us to obtain Barbosa, and Lowry, two very talented high energy players that fit well with our young, athletic core and who are currently very obtainable. *We can allow Bibby to start for at least a year (if we choose to for that long) until Lowry learns the system. Bibby is also a contingency plan if Barbosa cannot develop his play making skills and needs to spend most of his time at the 2 guard spot. If Barbosa has trouble guarding a larger shooting guard, we can bring in West, who hustles, or Chill, who plays much more solid defense against shooting guards as opposed to small forwards. Here is the roster and some possible lineups:

Full Roster:

1st String 2nd 3rd Cheerleaders

Horford Diop
Smoove Brown
JJ Chill West
Barbosa Jacobson
Lowry* Bibby

The speed, energy, and hustle of our roster are unparalleled, and Diop solidifies the interior defense. Diop works a 3 man rotation with the other big men, and Chill works a similar rotation with JJ and Barbosa. Lowry and Bibby battle for playing time. If we choose not to resign Bibby at the end of the year or are unable to, Barbosa can rotate into the point guard position the following year.

Defensive Line-up:

Diop
Smoove
West/Chill
JJ
Lowery

Fast Lineup:

Horford
Smoove
West/Chill
JJ
Lowery

3pt Lineup:

Horford (for rebounding)
Smoove
JJ
Barbosa
Bibby

Big Lineup (if Smoove is resting)
Diop
Horford
Chill
JJ
Barbosa

Notice how each of these line-ups look good under their respective category, yet many of them look so similar to one another? That means we have a roster full of speed, range, and defense. I realize this might put us over the luxury tax for a year (even with the trade reducing team salary), but that seems like a small price to pay to build around your core so efficiently, complimenting their talents and preserving team chemistry. Besides, after what the ownership has put the fans through the past few years, paying a few extra tax dollars for the fans won’t hurt.

I didn't read your whole post but the Hawks can't sign the Joshes and then use the full MLE for Diop because of the lux tax. Zaza for Lowry is also not good for Memphis although they do have too many guards. Critt is basically useless now that they have Mayo and if Sund had no interest in trading into the draft....I can imagine he wouldn't want to add someone ike Critt who we would have to develop.

Really? Not to doubt you, but could someone else verify that. I'm skimming Larry Coon's FAQ, but I don't have the time to look through it thoroughly. Could we sign Diop first, and then use Bird rights to re-sign Smoove and then Chill, taking us into the luxary tax?

Of course we could but that doesn't mean it's realistic. The ASG is NOT going into the luxury tax(even BK said this). The same thing can be said for just about every team in the league(even a team who could easily go into the tax like Chicago).

We can speculate all we want but Sund's 1st two decisions have been very consistent as to what he said when he took over(even though those decisions sucked imo). He is going to "stay with the plan". If he says his 8 man rotation is set for next year then I see no reason to believe otherwise.

Good point Hoops. I'm stating what we should do though, not what the ASG would allow us to do. They would be stupid not to delve into the luxary tax for this lineup . . . which means they wouldn't allow the trade because they are stupid.

Concerning Lowry in the previous statement: I would be willing to sweeten the deal by upgrading the 2nd round pick to a first if they gave us their 2nd in return.

Interesting plan. Which Brown are you referring to? I think you'll have to trim some corners to make it work.

Thanks Dallas. Good to see you on here. I've always considered you a great source of sensibility. I was refering to Andre Brown, the seldom used power forward.

Like HoopsGuru said, I'm not sure the Memphis piece really works (for them) given the other moves they've made. However, I am intrigued by the Barbosa for Marvin and Acie portion of the deal.

The free agency move on Diop, I like. Or as a fallback Kwame Brown.

If that was the only move we'd have:
Bibby/Barbosa
JJ/West
Childress/Richardson
Smith/Solomon
Horford/Diop/Zaza

At this point you would have a Childress S&T, Bibby's expiring deal, and Zaza's expiring deal to improve the roster. I think Barbosa can start as a combo PG or SG. JJ can start at SG or SF if needed. I'm not sure what they assets can net you, but as long the name Eddy Curry isn't involved I interested in seeing what you can come up with.

Well, I actually had about 10 trades put together, but about 8 of them involved Mike Miller, so I never got to post them. Concerning Memphis, I'd go so far as to give them Zaza, Solo, and the 09 1st Rounder to get Lowery. I'm pretty high up on him. That helps round out their roster and gives them a solid pick they will need for their rebuilding process. I'll work on some other trades, but unfortunately my wife now needs the computer to go over play lists for a wedding. Guess it will be at least tomorrow before I get back. Thanks for the input.

One other thing, if we couldn't get Diop, I would pursue Chris Anderson as a smaller, but possibly cheaper back up. Although he has few minutes, his numbers suggest he might still be capable of 3 blocks a game. If he could give us 2 and 7 rebounds, I'd take him over Zaza.

I wouldn't give up on Miller, yet. I really don't see how he helps Minnesota because they are a couple years away from even thinking about playoffs.

Not sold on Anderson, I see the logical fallback to Diop as Kwame Brown. If just focusing on shot blocking and rebounding I think he can be effective. Of course, if poorly motivated before I'm not sure if he'll play hard for half as much as he was previously making.

I'll get back to work on some trades. Doesn't Minnesota have to wait 2 months before they can trade Miller? Is that the rule? In those Miller trades though, I was really Cardinal and Collins as a means of getting Memphis to trade Lowry. I'm gonna have to start from scratch there.

Rod700 wrote:I'll get back to work on some trades. Doesn't Minnesota have to wait 2 months before they can trade Miller? Is that the rule? In those Miller trades though, I was really Cardinal and Collins as a means of getting Memphis to trade Lowry. I'm gonna have to start from scratch there.

My understanding is they can trade him earlier by himself. They have to wait to use him in combination with other players.