We're a year out, but here is the 2009 FA pool

[td00]

Do you see any of these guys coming to Atlanta next summer and consider being a Hawk despite what happens with Smoove?

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9608

[raleigh]

Well, unless they renounce both Childress and Marvin, the Hawks aren't going to have major cap space.

Best case scenario - sign a PG at or near the full MLE.

[HMFFL]

I posted a link under the "Hawks Salaries Information" thread and it covers the next two free agency's. I also think it's a better layout of the free agents.

[evildallas]

No one. We aren't a buyer. My big questions are does Marvin get locked up and do they even try to resign Bibby. My answers are hopefully and hopefully not, respectively. I just have my doubts about how much Bibby will have in the tank. If he isn't signed then they will have the needs of PG and a big (again).

[Rod700]

^^Even if we pay Marv a bit more, I'm thinking we will be paying Bibby much less if we re-sign him, and Zaza's contract is coming off the books. Although you guys are probably talking about big name guys, and the guys below are role players, they are some potentially cheap additions to the team that could give us depth at big man:

Brian Skinner ( I think we could steal him away. How many shot blockers do the Clippers need?)
Jeff Foster
Nestrovic
David Lee (Not really the defensive center we need, but a good player we could target as a contingency plan)
Leon Powe (same deal as David Lee)
Jason Maxiell (same deal)
Johan Petro
Andonal Foyle
Channing Frye (doubtful we get him)

All and all, not that impressive of a free agency class.

On a side note, if Bibby walks due to asking for too much or taking less money to play with a title contender, available guards to possibly play the point are:
Eddie House
Raymond Felton
Damon Jones
Eric Snow
Anthony Carter
Andre Miller
Luther Head (more of a combo guard)
Jarrett Jack
Jason Hart
Ramon Sessions
Tyrone Lue (again?)
Nate Robinson
Bobby Jackson
Brevin Knight
Ronnie Price

Looking at what's "available" and then narrowing that down to who we could actually lure away from their teams, we might be better off to re-sign Bibby to a moderate contract. If we did lose Bibby though, Law's development this year would determine if we go looking for a starting point or a back up. If we look for a starter, I don't see a lot of top tier guys that can hit the three, which means we would need a SF who can do that. Better keep practicing Marv.

[D21]

Well, unless they renounce both Childress and Marvin, the Hawks aren't going to have major cap space.
Best case scenario - sign a PG at or near the full MLE.

...I just have my doubts about how much Bibby will have in the tank. If he isn't signed then they will have the needs of PG and a big (again).

We don't need to renounce to Marvin to get cap room, but we'd need to renounce to all the other players (Zaza, Bibby, Childress).
And I just hope that we don't have to sign a PG with next year MLE.
Why ? Because it would mean that we let Bibby walk for nothing, because with Marvin cap hold, we won't have enough room to sig for more than the amount of the MLE (while renouncing to it).

I would prefer trade him in February and try to get a PG with a "MLE" contract, then use our MLE in July to get a C.

If we release $15M, I hope it's not for only sign a guy at 5 or 6M$.

The only scenario were I see Bibby walking away in July is if we can re-sign Marvin before (or be sure to do it in early July), to decrease his value against the cap (he will get less than his cap hold), to create cap room and go for a big F.A., but i would also mean renouncing to Zaza, Childress rights (there's still a possibility he could be back and added to the team), MLE, LLE...

IMO, Bibby walking for nothing is the best scenario for not improving the team.

[Rod700]

^^^I'd like to know how much cap space we will have next near when Bibby and Zaza retire. I was reading your post on the salaries sticky and tried to research the cap holds myself, but I don't quite fully grasp them yet (like Chill's 10.9 mil) cap hold. I understand that Chill's salary counts towards the cap until we renounce our rights to him, but I don't understand the amount. Would you mind explaining further here or on the salary thread?

[D21]

This amount depends on the previous salary.
For players coming from a fourth year on rookie scale contract, if the previous salary is lower than the MLE, the cap hold is 300% of the salary, and if it's higher than the MLE, the cap hold is 250% (not exceeding the max salary the player can get in re-signing).

Childress 2007/08 salary was 3,631,451. Being lower than the MLE, you have to count 300%, so 10,894,353.
With the same rule, Marvin cap hold for next summer (until he is re-signed) will be 250% of 5,636,142 (5,636,142 being higher than the 5.585M of the MLE), so almost 14.1M (we don't know the max for next year, but it should be higher than 14.1M).
Basically, the cap hold is higher than the real salary to avoid teams signing too easily other Free Agent first, then re-signing their own F.A.

Hope it helps

EDIT: I made an update on the "Hawks Salaries Information" thread, with estimated salaries for 2008/09 to see what is possible to do. Again, the numbers are estimated.
Once we will know the exact, I will update again and put cap hold for next summer.

[Rod700]

Great explanation! Thanks D21, I appreciate the work you put into that and the opportunity to learn from it.

[D21]

You're welcome, Rod.