Zaza's Future?

[Harry10]

after this season, is Zaza going to get resigned? i would love to retain him, Zaza is a good above average player when he isn't flopping, and trying to draw fouls, and just playing straight up basketball..... but i have a feeling that somebody might offer Zaza +6M.

if Zaza does end up leaving due to price, then would it make sence to trade Zaza and Speedy for Eddy Curry (whose value is going down because of D'Antoni's system)?

or let Bibby, Marvin, and Zaza walk and make an 18M offer to Andrew Bynum?

i would still rather keep Zaza, i'm just not sure if the Hawks can pay him 6M.

[JoshB914]

If Zaza accepts his role as a backup and provides the toughness and swagger he did against the C's then I'm all for retaining him. But only at the right price.

[parson]

Zaza's like every other gifted player in the NBA (don't freak out - being 6'11" and 280 is a gift): he needs to add to his offensive game and work harder on defense. If he does, he could work himself into a starter somewhere, even with us.

As an athlete, he's between Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer.

[chrbal]

after this season, is Zaza going to get resigned? i would love to retain him, Zaza is a good above average player when he isn't flopping, and trying to draw fouls, and just playing straight up basketball..... but i have a feeling that somebody might offer Zaza +6M.

if Zaza does end up leaving due to price, then would it make sence to trade Zaza and Speedy for Eddy Curry (whose value is going down because of D'Antoni's system)?

or let Bibby, Marvin, and Zaza walk and make an 18M offer to Andrew Bynum?

i would still rather keep Zaza, i'm just not sure if the Hawks can pay him 6M.

Zaza shows some passion then he should get paid $6 million.

Bynum would be nice, but I wouldn't pay him that much.

NEVER trade for Curry. I've read a lot of posts about how its the system hes in and such. Curry could play for the Spurs and I don't think he would get much better.

YOU'RE 6'11" and 285 lbs. HOW IN the HELL do you only average 5.4 rebounds and 7/10 blk per game for your career?

Not to mention the whole weight issue. You wouldn't be a little bit worried that you might be getting the new McFatty of the NBA to compete with past winners like Oliver Miller and such.

[Harry10]

^ i was a Curry fan coming out of high school, but that has kind of faded, but still he is an unstoppable force on offense when he only gets single coverage.

Curry won't do well in any team, but of all the teams, you would think that the Hawks would be on the top of the list because theoretically Horford would be a perfect teammate for Curry.

i am interested in seeing Curry and Horford together, but Curry's contract does concern me because it is 2M too much.

[chrbal]

Yeah, but I guess with their 2010 plan...it could actually make sense. I thought Oliver Miller...Eddy Curry had a longer contract then he does.

Over them Speedy Claxton and Zaza Pachulia for Eddy Curry. NO draft picks either way. Knicks fans would be falling over themselves to get this deal done. With Zaza an expiring in 2009 and Speedy in 2010. Curry on the Hawks could make some sense for the reasons you listed. Plus the new open roster spot could give the Hawks an oppurtunity to sign a "Bargain bin" Center (Michael Doleac, Scot Pollard, or Jake Voshkul) to add needed depth and experience.

[parson]

Great idea. We don't have enough turmoil on our team; let's add Curry!! He can also supply laziness, surliness, selfishness and foolishness; all while providing NOTHING to our team defense (or team pride).

W-A-S-T-E. The child doesn't want to work for a living; he only wants a paycheck for being big and tall. That's a reason BK gave up on signing him, even though we desperately needed a big man then.

[parson]

Zaza with 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting and 4 for 4 on FT's ... with 9 rebounds ... all in only 28 minutes. Not bad.

Still weak on the defensive rebounds, however, with only 3. Needs to work harder on the defensive side. That's where his future bread will be buttered.

[Harry10]

^ that is not really the point, i am a Zaza fan, and the real issue is, are the Hawks willing to give Zaza, Dan Gadzuric type of money?

[killbuckner]

who would give Zaza that kind of money!? What the hell are you taking about!? I'll be shocked if he gets more than a 3 year contract worth 10 million dollars. Did you miss the part where last season Zaza probably wasn't even worth an expiring contract? That he wasn't even a quality backup?

[JoshB914]

Zaza started off 1-5 last night and finished the game strong. I really hope he keeps this up into the regular season.

[parson]

who would give Zaza that kind of money!? What the hell are you taking about!? I'll be shocked if he gets more than a 3 year contract worth 10 million dollars. Did you miss the part where last season Zaza probably wasn't even worth an expiring contract? That he wasn't even a quality backup?

Zaza's making $4 million this season and YOU think he's going to be lucky to get a $3.3 million/year contract? This is a joke, right?

If Zaza played on the Celtics, you'd be here telling us he would be a fair trade for Al Horford (who, by the way, you'd inform us we're seriously overrating).

[JoshB914]

^^^ Do you really see Zaza making as high as MLE next season?

[killbuckner]

parson- he made 4 million last year and didn't come CLOSE to earning that. If he would have hit FA this past offseason of course he would have taken a paycut. Seriously- WTF are you even talking about right now? You think Zaza earned a raise!?

[parson]

Killjoy, you get so passionate when you're downgrading our Hawks....

The question is not what he's earned, (nobody earns million-dollar contracts, not even Kevin Garnett); the question is what he's worth to NBA franchises. 6'11" and 280 centers who can play a little are worth millions because there are so few of them.

And if Zaza weren't a Hawk, you'd agree.

[killbuckner]

I would think that even though Zaza is a hawk that you would have been able to tell that he was awful last season. But no- your homerism knows no bounds and you still think he is going to get a raise. Unreal.

And for the record- I have been one of Zaza's biggest supporters on this board. But that doesn't change the fact that he was absolutely awful last season. And when he hits FA as a poor defender and a poor defensive rebounder then I don't think there is going to be any sort of bidding war over him.

[JoshB914]

Parson if anyone on this team was half as good as you think we'd have won 50 games the past two seasons. Do you actually believe Zaza is worth those kind of $$$? Or are you just busting KB's chops?

[parson]

I would think that even though Zaza is a hawk that you would have been able to tell that he was awful last season.

The question was what he could sign for -- as in what he's worth. You always choose the worst view of the Hawks. We're talking about Zaza's FUTURE, as in, what might he sign for?

IBut no- your homerism knows no bounds and you still think he is going to get a raise. Unreal.

And that's a major reason why I'm here talking about the Hawks. Funny, though. It really seems as if you're the opposite of me, at least here. YOUR anti-homerism knows no bounds. Why, again, do you cause yourself so much pain by trolling here? Wouldn't you be much (much, much) happier posting on a board where you LIKED the team?

Look at Zaza's #s - career and last season - against:
Nazr Mohammed -- $6,049,400
Anderson Varejao -- $5,784,480
DeSagana Diop -- $5,585,000
Nene Hilario -- $9,680,000
Antonio McDyess -- $6,813,050
Jeff Foster -- $5,500,000
Rasho Nesterovic -- $8,400,000
Tim Thomas -- $6,049,400
Darko Milicic -- $7,020,000
Udonis Haslem -- $6,575,000
Jason Collins -- $6,200,000
Stromile Swift -- $6,200,000
Eddy Curry -- $9,723,983
Jerome James -- $6,200,000
Malik Rose -- $7,647,500
Joel Przybilla -- $6,310,150
Brendan Haywood -- $5,500,000
Etan Thomas -- $6,864,200

AND the player the original post referred to: Dan Gadzuric, at $6,250,195

Then tell me Zaza's agent can't make an argument that he's in the ballpark of each of them.

[parson]

Parson if anyone on this team was half as good as you think we'd have won 50 games the past two seasons.

"anyone"??? Just one guy? Would we have won 100 games (each of the past 2 seasons) if they were as good as I thought?

Do you actually believe Zaza is worth those kind of $$$? Or are you just busting KB's chops?

You might remember that I said NOBODY earns that kind of money. The question of Zaza's worth is what an NBA team might sign him for. I'm saying a lot of teams will pay a lot of money for a 6'11" 280 center, if he can play a little, because there aren't a lot of that kind of player walking around.

[JoshB914]

Parson I enjoy your posts and you know your stuff so I hope you know I'm just discussing here from one fan to another. But what you're saying here doesn't make sense to me. When I talk about Zaza's worth I'm talking about his worth to NBA GM's. Zaza is a large man, but he won't get paid unless he shows he can play this year(or Isiah Thomas scores another GM job and pulls a Jerome James). After last season, there is definetely a valid argument that he is not worth $4M.

But as I said earlier, if Zaza continues to perform well as a backup C for us as he has in preseason I'd be all for keeping him. He was bad last year but he has shown the ability to do that.