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AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta

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AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#1 » by HMFFL » Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:26 pm

Chris Paul, the one who got away in the 2005 NBA draft, looked past them and set his sights on Los Angeles.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard listed Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Dallas as his preferred destinations for a trade.

“I'm surprised with Dwight, because isn't he from this area?” asked Reggie Miller, the former Indiana Pacers star who's now an TNT analyst.

It was the unkindest cut of them all: Atlanta's home-grown superstar, the pride of Southwestern Atlanta Christian Academy, demanded a trade from Orlando but not to Atlanta.

It would seem the city has a lot to offer NBA players and, in fact, many active and retired players live in the Atlanta metro area. A league whose players are wealthy and roughly 80 percent black can find their niche here.

A recent New York Times highlighted the city's growing entertainment industry and the migration of affluent blacks from the North. The article's headline declared: “Stars Flock to Atlanta, Reshaping a Center of Black Culture.”

So during a time when NBA superstars increasingly try to leverage their way to the city of their choice, why aren't they among those flocking here? Read More: http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks ... 62996.html
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#2 » by ATL Boy » Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:21 pm

I still think the main reason for this is the ownership, no player is going to want to come to a team with trashy owners; but the Dwight Howard thing was kind of heartbreaking.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#3 » by evildallas » Sun Dec 18, 2011 6:56 pm

The ownership group dug a big hole with their public split and then put in a basement this year. What I refer to is the sale of the team that then got called off. That's not something to inspire players who likely see bad ownership as shakier than ever. Then you have the low-balled coach in the last year of his deal. Again not something to inspire free agent players. Finally you have a GM with a negotiating style that has rubbed plenty of people the wrong way (Josh Smith, Josh Childress, and Jamal Crawford). That gets around.

Before asking how this can be fixed, let's realize that this wasn't the best off-season to attract free agents. Few stars and some high prices. Also the team was only working with minimum salaries and I don't think they did that bad in T-Mac and VladRad.

Now, how can this be fixed? Replace all three above (owners, GM, and Coach) would be one way. Failing that, if Josh Smith, Al Horford, or Jeff Teague had a true breakout season into stardom it would help draw another star because then Atlanta might look truly like a contender. Coach still has to be solved. If the team manages a deeper post-season run then Drew likely keeps the job and hopefully the playoff success will overcome the lack of name recognition. If not, maybe the team should break with its recent history and hire a respected known coach. Too bad Rick Adelman didn't take a year off. He would have been perfect. GM can be overcome because I think it is the least of the problems. Of course given the cap situation we'll only tell if things improve by listening to trade chatter because signing free agents probably won't happen for the next half decade.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#4 » by MaceCase » Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:24 pm

Seriously, Gearon can go **** himself. I don't want to hear we have a top ten or five payroll when we have the lowest paid coach in the league and a GM that was greatly surpassed by all of his successors at his previous jobs. They pay for certain talent but then won't invest in the proper resources to maximize said talent be it through depth or coaching. People and players notice this and view it as a half-assed way to run a franchise. Like giving the outside of a house a fresh coat of paint while leaving the inside to decay and rot.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#5 » by basic21 » Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:03 am

Hawks need to stop being so pathetic and make the god dang offer already!

Horford for Dwight.

Orlando will have to say 'yes', because at the end of the day, Horford is the best player the Magic will get for Dwight, and will be the fast road to rebuilding a contender.....

Dwight/Smith = Drumond/Horford
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#6 » by Years80HAWKS » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:33 pm

Supposedly we already made that offer. The Magic were offered whoever two players of our roster for Dwight. That could mean JJ and Horford, or JSmoove and Horford. No answer.
Howard does not want to play here. I hope we will not trade for him when he is 34 and wants to get closer to home.

Speaking from abroad (so forgive me if this sounds too unreal), I believe black rich people do not care if there are more blacks around or not. May be they would even prefer being in a more white environment. Other things should atract them here, or may be there is nothing we can do to atract star players, providen we did that with JJ already and we have, theoretically, two more in our roster.

LD is a really low profile player that cannot be in charge of an NBA team. Look at the Suns, for example. They chose Gentry, a low profile coach that has turned out to be a coach respected by his players. It does not seem like LD is respected by the players here.

Anyway, if the money commited to Marvin could be used in part in Dalembert as a defensive stopper, playing Smith, JJ, McGrady, Stackhouse and Radmanovic at the three (hey, we could even have signed another 3 with the money we would be saving with Marvin), we would be a much stronger team. May be difficult to watch, with ugly playing at times, but nobody could score easily on us. Dalembert, Horford, Smith, Collins and Zaza is a great line of tough, intimidating players to overcome.
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NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#7 » by Ruhiel » Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:20 pm

By Michael Cunningham
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks ... 62996.html
More:
http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2011/12/19/a ... ent-228355

You can get a star (via draft or trade) but when you start being a mediocre treadmill playoff team (Dominique)... It comes down to winning in the playoffs.

They say anything can happen in playoffs.. I bet attendance raises in the playoffs. At least I know several stars were in attendance in the playoffs.

You can come out to see CHI but the home stars ie Jerome Bettis aren't going to show up and see their home team get beat. Its embarassing its emasculating.

Celebs are probably Casual bandwagon fans. Ther'll come and root abd celebrate for the winning home team if you win and make it a cause for celebration.

The one celeb's face that sticks to me was Jerome Bettis, he looked like he was unsure, anxious when the camera was in his face. At LA the celebs are happy bandwagoners because they think the Lakers are going to win.

No one wants to root for mediocrity.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#8 » by Ruhiel » Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:05 pm

Oops I did not see this thread.

Horford for Dwight? According to win shares Horford for Dwight is a net loss of only 4 games iirc. But seeing as how Dwight is a defensive anchor and offensive generator the Magic's on court product would actually be screwed.

But still not bad enough to get Drummond. My guess is they would be smaller and more uptempo and win off of 3s and veteran savvy.

Oh and then there's the fact Turkoglu would need to be attached. They'd probably get Marvin along with Horford for Turkoglu + Dwight.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#9 » by Skar » Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:15 am

I'm not giving these **** any more money, I'm not even going to watch the season.
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Re: AJC: NBA's superstars bypass Atlanta 

Post#10 » by Hawkamanic81 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:04 pm

Supposedly we already made that offer. The Magic were offered whoever two players of our roster for Dwight. That could mean JJ and Horford, or JSmoove and Horford. No answer.
Howard does not want to play here. I hope we will not trade for him when he is 34 and wants to get closer to home."

It will be just like Tmac this year.

When Dwight is past his prime he will grace the ATL with his presence. When no other team wants him anymore... The same way no other team wants Tmac anymore.

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