Lamar Odom signs with the Lakers:
Obviously, this was good for the Hawks because the main competition for Odom's services was in Miami--fortunately the lure of "riding Kobe's coattails" and being an "apostle" in Los Angeles was stronger than the attraction of South Beach and Dwayne Wade and becoming part of what might be an epic sequel to a "memorable" first round playoff series last year.
Too bad.
Hakim Warrick signs with the Bucks:
It's the size of the contract, the 1 year-3 million dollar type, that interests the HHB because such a small deal for a player of Warrick's productivity and youth should positively influence the price range of the Hawks' alleged target, Joe Smith. If the Hawks didn't want to pay Smith the same deal as some of the other players in his price range, then surely a much younger, more productive player getting such a small deal should help the Hawks position.
Warrick signed with Milwaukee despite reportedly being chased by the Cavaliers, who may now turn their attention to the services of former Celtic Leon Powe. Powe has the highest PER of any unrestricted free agent remaining unsigned on the list.
Drew Gooden signs with Dallas
This hurt for a couple of reasons. One is that is was a very affordable deal (1 year 4.5 million plus incentives) for a player that is still young, very productive, and fills the largest Hawks need (rebounding) and the Birds weren't involved (But CLE, SAS, and CHA were). Two is that it's the kind of signing that teams that are serious about going further in the playoffs seem to make (see McDyess/Ratliff to the Spurs, Marion/Gooden to the Mavs, etc.).
While the Hawks are still sitting on their bag of magic MLE beans, the Cavs are racing to sign the last remaining talent on the market that could aid their championship. That the Bobcats were in pursuit of Gooden and not the Hawks tells you what Sekou Smith validated earlier---the Hawks aren't interested in even spending three million dollars on another role player, much less would it would have taken to get Drew Gooden.
As it stands, there are few unrestricted free agents of a productive nature left to sign, fewer still that could help in the frontcourt. Your move, Atlanta.
Time to update the Big Free Agent Board--please remember to follow the color coded maps and signs to recognize the teams that these fine gentlemen have selected. Here is the updated list of free agents for 2009 with their corresponding PER (Hawks players in bold; Attempted to highlight in the team's colors that the free agents choose--and please secure all loose items before reading.)
| David Lee (RFA) | 19.07 |
| Nate Robinson (RFA) | 18.95 |
| Paul Millsap (RFA) | 18.77 |
| Andre Miller | 18.71 |
| Charlie Villanueva | 18.64 |
| Chris Anderson | 18.16 |
| Ramon Sessions (RFA) | 17.65 |
| Marcin Gortat (RFA) Leon Powe Ben Gordon | 17.20 17.20 17.02 |
| Jason Kidd | 16.95 |
| Hakim Warrick | 16.91 |
| Antonio McDyess | 16.63 |
| Lamar Odom | 16.60 |
| Brandon Bass | 16.49 |
| Mike Bibby | 16.38 |
| Drew Gooden | 16.34 |
| Marvin Williams (RFA) | 16.04 |
| Shawn Marion | 16.02 |
| Allen Iverson | 15.89 |
| Ron Artest | 15.64 |
| Trevor Ariza | 15.51 |
| Grant Hill | 15.26 |
| Rasheed Wallace | 14.91 |
| Hedo Turkoglu | 14.82 |
| Von Wafer | 14.79 |
| RFM | 14.79 |
| Anderson Varejao | 14.62 |
| Rasho Nesterovic | 14.15 |
| Zaza Pachulia | 14.14 |
| Joe Smith | 13.85 |
| Raymond Felton (RFA) | 13.80 |
| Shelden Williams | 13.78 |
| Chris Wilcox | 13.37 |
| Jarrett Jack (RFA) Matt Barnes Ben Wallace | 13.10 12.60 12.18 |
| Wally Szczerbiak | 12.18 |
| Anthony Parker | 12.16 |
| Solomon Jones | 12.08 |
| Robert Swift | 11.50 |
| Theo Ratliff | 11.22 |
| Glen Davis (RFA) | 10.77 |
| Raef Lafrentz | 10.40 |
| Channing Frye | 10.09 |
| Mario West (RFA) | 10.00 |
Posts
4 comments:
I've gone back and forth on whether I want Gooden here so many times. On one hand he fills a need for us, and 4.5 million is a bargain. On the other he's a total goofball which is why he's not getting a long term contract. Then back to the other hand, it's a one year contract so he's going to be on his best behavior. But he's also the guy that grew a goatee on the back of his neck, so is he smart enough to focus for long enough to stay on his best behavior for long?
So the conclusion I've come to is that it would have been interesting to get him but it's probably lowered our collective blood pressure now that we haven't.
As for Warrick. I can't get too mad at the Hawks for not signing him since he wants playing time to prove that he deserves a lucrative long team deal. This is not really the right fit for him as it's doubtful he would have played more than 20 minutes a game here. He's not signing with the bucks because they gave him a great offer. He's signing because he hopes to sign a great offer next year.
I won't be doing backflips or anything, but I'll be happy if we get Joe Smith. It's easy to ask for a better player now, but once the season starts anyone would take anyone would take Joe Smith over Solo.
TF,
Bret at Hoopinion did a good job of assauging the importance of this fourth big man in this rotation, but it's still a wasted opportunity to not get the more productive, younger players available on the market like Gooden or Powe.
Still, I agree with you in that I will be happy if they can get Smith--so that we don't depend on either Morris or Hunter in the way that we had to with Solo last year.
I feel as though more veteran leadership is a big issue with this team. A team can really only stand one, maybe two knucklehead distractions, and we've got our quota with Josh.
You have to hope that a real strong personality can get in his face and be taken seriously, because you can bet Josh is not listening to Al or Zaza. The Hawks really don't need more reinforcement of the crazy.
As Jack said, "Sell crazy somewhere else, we're all stocked up here." Et tu, Drew.
rbubp,
It will eventually have to be Al or Zaza then, because nobody else has the personality to do it.
I can't remember a time when Joe Smith even seemed like that guy, and really, you can't claim the guy is a championship seasoned vet, either--he's just slightly productive and older.
Post a Comment