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Zaza is playing like he wants to get paid

only 7 games into the season, i totally want to do what ever it takes and pay what ever it needs to get paid (which will probably be 6M range) to keep Zaza

Zaza has been great, no flops, and just playing good basketball, especially last night against the Celtics.

I don't think we could pay him 6 mil if we are planning on keeping Marvin, Bibby, and Flip.

^ yeah, Bibby is going to have to take a big pay cut..... but everybody expected that in the first place.

the Hawks need to let him go just like Childress. We would be better off without him. A center who can't shoot or play D doesn't have a place here.

Good grief. Why don't we WAIT until we have someone better?

Solomon Jones played 5-10 minutes too long and Morris played exactly 4 minutes too long. There were times - especially late in the 3rd and early in the 4th - that we could have used a healthy Zaza.

I'm sorry, but when you say "let him go"/"we'd be better off without him" you're saying any old guy is better than Zaza. Randolph Morris is any old guy.

right- he is the best backup big available to them at this point. Even if you think he sucks he is still the best backup big on the roster. 2 seasons ago he was an OK starter and a very solid guy off the bench. Last season he was worthless even off the bench. This season he is useful again to this point. My big worry with the Hawks this season is what happened if any starter other than Marvin went out but they have played well with Smith out. I do think ideally they would be better off with a shotblocking/defense/rebounding backup center but its not clear that the hawks have one of those available.

parson wrote:Good grief. Why don't we WAIT until we have someone better?

Solomon Jones played 5-10 minutes too long and Morris played exactly 4 minutes too long. There were times - especially late in the 3rd and early in the 4th - that we could have used a healthy Zaza.

I'm sorry, but when you say "let him go"/"we'd be better off without him" you're saying any old guy is better than Zaza. Randolph Morris is any old guy.

There are plenty of guys out there who can play D better than Zaza (actually almost everyone) just like there were plenty of guys who could fill Childress' role better than Childress. Zaza can't play D and he can't shoot either.

What if we had resigned Childress until we could "find someone better"?

I'd do whatever within $5 million that it takes. Beyond that, he's free to find a better market for his skillz.

~lw3

I'm okay with 4.5 mil for Zaza... + an extra 1.5 mil if he decks KG.

Zaza has been nice so far, but it's only seven games into the season. If he can continue to provide toughness I wouldn't mind resigning him, but only at the right price.

I agree with Tontoz in that this is similar to the Chill situation, even if Zaza is productive there will likely be someone out there who is an upgrade as well as a better fit than Zaza this summer.

No way in hell I'd pay $6m for Zaza. We gotta pay for our starters.

Zaza also isn't going to demand that much on the open market... well, maybe he will but that would be quite a suprise for a center who is averaging 6 and 6 with 0 blocks on 42% shooting. Don't get me wrong, he'd done stuff while he's on the court and he has a knack for getting to the line and getting under guys' skin. Unlike Chil, I feel that it is reasonable to resign him because he does help out in a lot of games and its hard to find a good backup C, but I wouldn't pay him much more (couple hundred K maybe) that he's getting now. I'd like to be able to put him next to a good defender/defensive rebounder. Maybe Solo turns into that but as happy as I am with his progress, I'm not ready to crown him just yet.

Whatever it takes? For Zaza? LOL.

I'd give him what he gets now, maybe 0.5M more, but not sure. His 4M are what he deserves IMO.

we're going to have to pay for zaza this year, this isn't like childress because there are always backup swingmen to get (mo and flip were availible in august) backup bigmen come around maybe every 2 seasons. (what backup big got signed last offseason?)

6 million sounds like a good number for zaza. he's been working on 4 mil a season for 4 years. it's about time he got a raise.

Zaza will probably be the best free agent center this summer, so that will up the market bidding.

one thing is for sure, we can't screw up again like last season, we can't sit on our ass and let some other team take him away. show him that he's wanted as a hawk.

lunarblues wrote:one thing is for sure, we can't screw up again like last season, we can't sit on our ass and let some other team take him away.

I hope that is exactly what we do. A center who shoots 45% and can't play D isn't worth keeping around. Bringing him back should be a last resort if they are unable to find anyone else.

I wouldn't mind with we traded him + Law for either a good C or PG. I'm not even sure if Zaza is average. He got a bit better this season, but hey, to be honest, the best thing he's done in a Hawks uniforn was to go at it with Garnett last season.

^^^ Unortunately Law holds no value whatsoever anymore. Hopefully that will change.

tontoz wrote:

lunarblues wrote:one thing is for sure, we can't screw up again like last season, we can't sit on our ass and let some other team take him away.

I hope that is exactly what we do. A center who shoots 45% and can't play D isn't worth keeping around. Bringing him back should be a last resort if they are unable to find anyone else.

My god man your making it like the guy is the worst player in the league. I'm not saying we should pay him as much as the orginal poster is saying, but he is seriously not as bad as you make him out to be. If you want us to replace him what somebody else could you at least name some other bigs who might be available.