Should Teague be the new 6th man

[Harry10]

I actually want to see Joe traded and Jamal and Kirk start.

It might actually be more benificial for Teague to come off of the bench so that Joe's ball hogging, doesn't get in the way of Teague confidence and development, just like what happen with Marvin.

[parson]

If you can trade Joe, fine, but I don't like Jamal's defense enough to start him. I don't even like him playing 30 min/game. Until he learns defense, I think he's Kyle Korver. I think it's time to let Jamal go so we can search for another big man.

For one year, I think we start Hinrich with Joe. Then, when Teague comes in, we slide Hinrich over to SG. Joe can either slide to SF or sit. That gives Drew a big lineup, a small/fast lineup and a big lineup with 2 PGs. He can mix and match.

[Geaux_Hawks]

I think you got to start Teague at least half the season(AS break maybe). He may not be the floor general yet, but bringing him off the bench when he clearly has pulled his own weight against a very good Chicago D, only hurts his confidence.

When the Chicago series started and we knew Hinrich was out, Teague knew right then that it was his time to show up as a starter or live on the bench as a role player. Teague chose the perfect time to sell him self as an NBA starting PG. Drew has no other choice, but start him.

[NeZoRiL]

Start him next season, track his progress carefully, then make a clear assessment if he is indeed the future of the franchise. If he's still the old Jeff Teague with his flashes of brilliance at occasion, make him Kirk's sixth man.

[evildallas]

I admire you for thinking outside the box, but my answer is no. Even if Teague came off the bench he'd still be on the court with Joe a fair amount of time unless you plan on limiting Teague to 10 minutes a night which would be ludicrous. The best thing for Teague and for the Hawks is to start him and let them find balance on the court. Joe's money is guaranteed. At some point he'll realize his best chance to win is to embrace the young pg like Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett did in Boston. Furthermore, Hinrich's in his last year of his contract so long term it's best to get the lineup of the future the starting reps. He's watched for 2 years, that's enough. Also after playing 40 minutes a night in a playoff series starting against the MVP of the league and holding his own anything short of starting next season would seem unfair and no amount of "I believe in you" platitudes from the change are going to make that bs tolerable.

As for Kirk Hinrich, he's suited for the combo guard role. Sure he may have experiences advantages on Teague right now, but that never changes without Teague getting real playing time. If the 4th guard on the squad is more deserving of an apprentice role (like Pape Sy) or perhaps certain matchups (Damien Wilkins) then Hinrich will get enough court time to keep him positive like he did with Duhon and Gordon in Chicago. It will also give him plenty of court time to earn another contract. The odd man out is Jamal because in truth he's a one man wolf pack anyway. He was a great compliment to iso-Joe because he is iso-Jamal. Our main offense needs to be more than dueling isos if we're ever going any further. Teague is the key to that and Hinrich can keep it going when Teague's off the floor.

Finally trading Joe. The problem with trading Joe is that given his salary you actually would have to tie other assets to him for another team to take him (gutting the team) or accept worse back. I'll give some examples. I used to think you could possibly swing Joe to Cleveland with Marvin for the contracts of Baron Davis and Antwan Jamison and a pick, but that was before Marvin slid even further into obscurity. It would take giving up Al Horford or Josh Smith along with Joe to get that kind of savings, which kind of defeats the point. The other type of trade would be Joe for Arenas and a pick. The team gets out of about 50M in long term salary but fall of the map in the meantime. Those aren't good options, so for now assume Joe is in place.

Start him from day 1 next season and don't over think the situation. If Larry Drew doesn't do that, then fire him because with the contract situations the way they are the best hope the franchise has for success before the GMs contract is up is for Teague to continue how he played against Chicago and the rest of the roster fixes their individual issues as well.

BTW, if I was GM I'd tell Marvin Williams in the season exit interview that if he doesn't work on improving his game in the off-season that he's on the fast track to being out of the league when his contract is up. No more coddling him. He's paid 8M a year and I think almost any D league small forward could outplay him right now.