If we acquired Andris Biedrins.......

[HMFFL]

Take this entire situation with a grain of salt.

Would you feel better about Josh Smith playing at the 3?

Andris Biedrins
Al Horford
Josh Smith
Joe Johnson
Mike Bibby

Marvin Williams comes off the bench or gets moved. Depending on Marvin, Josh Childress comes back, a SNT happens or Josh walks. Dream world means Josh Childress comes back and we wait to move Marvin Williams at a later time!

[HoopsGuru25]

I'd probably still start Smith at the 4 and try to replace Marvin with someone who had 3 point range. I really don't put much stock into who starts(if there is enough minutes for both) so it wouldn't matter if Horford or Biedrins had to come off the bench because both could still play close to 30 minutes a game.

[evildallas]

Suspending disbelief on how we acquire Biedrins . . .

What salary are you thinking for Josh Smith the SF? If he's on a max or near max contract then I don't feel good about him playing the 3. I think Josh Smith could one day develop into a SF, but I believe that day to be years away from now. Until then playing him at the 3 in that lineup strikes me as a recipe for mediocrity (not disaster, just mediocrity). There is a lineup that I would be more okay with playing Josh Smith at the 3, it just doesn't involve Biedrins. The lineup would be one with a C like Brad Miller or Mehmet Okur. They can D up underneath against an opposing big, but on offense they have range on their jumpers (especially Okur who shots 39% for 3 pt land).

Mike Bibby
Joe Johnson
Josh Smith
Al Horford
Brad Miller

Miller can step out taking the opposing big away from the basket. I would guess that Josh Smith can take any 3 in the league down low and post up. If they switch then a big would have to guard Josh in space as he could step out to 15 feet and attempt to take him off the dribble. Additionally Miller would take any small guy who attempted to check him outside down low for a post up opportunity.

Biedrins would help defensively (although he doesn't seem to be a great shot blocker) and on the boards, but if offensively quite limited. A would venture a lot more limited than is expected for someone of his new salary range (when he signs).

Of course all this is predicated on Woodson changing his offensive schemes so that he doesn't have Josh Smith spotting up for jumpers on the outside half the game.

[JoshB914]

Unfortunately, if we have Andris it will be probably be in exchange for Smith. I am all for that lineup though even if Josh has to go to the 3.

[freshie2]

Andris Biedrins
Al Horford
Josh Smith
Joe Johnson
Mike Bibby

This lineup is better than you had last year even if you put Williams, Childress, or any other swing man @ the 3 in place of Smith. I can see the 'star' potential in Smith, and would be happy if the Sixers stole him, but from a team perspective the lineup you have above is much better than having Smith play a big next to an undersized C in Horford. Even if you 'trade' Smith at the 4 for a legit center, your off season was a success. Bibby, JJ, Williams/Childress are nice skill players, and a lineup where Horford is the PF and there is a legit center next to him is much more competitive than trying to make Horford an NBA center next to an undersized PF.

It is tough to have a franchise that struggles for so long, so I feel the pain of the Hawks fan...it's been decades since the Sixers have been where they should be as well. The ownership is a mess, but your current roster is in the best situation it's been in for years. Good luck next week as the FA signings begin...if they somehow can get Biedrens and keep Smith in the lineup you have above, the arena better be sold out every night b/c that team will be very good.

[evildallas]

Actually, I disagree with the lineup including Biedrins instead of Smith (with Marvin at SF in both cases) is better. It would be more traditional, but I don't think better. Maybe I have trouble evaluating Biedrins because he was in such an unconventional lineup that played little defense. Josh Smith was the anchor to our D and the reason people would fear driving the lane. I'm just not sure that the Biedrins brings that kind of fear to the middle. Offensively, Biedrins isn't a low post scorer that commands a double team and for that matter neither is Al yet. Maybe another 3 years down the road that develops from Biedrins, but that's a lot of compensation between now and then.

I like Biedrins and with the right coaching think he can be a top 5 center, but I haven't seen it from him yet on either end of the floor. Again maybe this is a side effect of the GSW system and in a different system maybe he shows he's ready. That's a maybe. I know what Josh brings on both ends and I don't see Biedrins replacing it even if it allows Al to play PF.

[dgibsonfan]

funny you mentioned the hawks line-up with biedrins. i was playing nba 2k8 and started a season with the hawks. i traded for mike miller and biedrins and kept smith so i wouldve had to have biedrins or horford come off the bench so i traded bidrins again

[conleyorbust]

Biedrins would be like a bigger version of Chil on offense. Our offense with Andris on the floor would be like our offense with Chil on the floor. Its not terrible but it isn't really optimal.

As far as Biedrins INSTEAD of Smith. I think thats been talked about to death and basically agreed upon that Biedrins doesn't really fit in our offense since he scores about half of his points in transition and 95% of the non-transition points are assisted, which wouldn't really happen in our offense (Smith is our second guy in the half court) so our offense would probably be worse and since Smith is a better defender than Biedrins, our defense would be worse. Biedrins is a better rebounder, especially offensively but he would push Chil away from the basket so that increase in total offensive rebounds probably wouldn't be as high as expected, he is also a better defensive rebounder but consider that the second most prolific rebounder on GS is Al Harrington who is pretty garbage so he's getting more opportunities to board with less competition.

[td00]

I don't believe that Beidrins is much of a defensive player. Plus, he isn't going to be cheap coming here. If you are moving SMoove or Chills to another team, are you really gaining anything we don't have right now?
Can anyone state here that Marvin and Smoove are a good forward combination? Would it not be better to get Horford a twin tower to help us inside?
Right now, we have Horford/Smoove/Marvin...........

Who could we get to improve on this line? To me, we look better with ??/Horford/Smoove. I think we get a better rebounding team immediately with a bigger player than Smoove. I know people don't like Noah, but man, that type of combo is very good on the frontline.
Bottom line is that I think we need to get Horford help more than trying to fit Smoove and Marvin together in this lineup. I don't have the solution, but there are players that would complement Horford and either Smoove or Marvin need to be moved here.