ATLien

http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/spo...29woodson.html

"Hang in there with us. Please."

That was the request from Hawks coach Mike Woodson to fans gathered at Philips Arena to watch the team's pick of Duke forward Shelden Williams Wednesday night. Many of those in attendance loudly booed the decision.

<!--endtext--><!--endclickprintinclude--><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="175"></table><!--startclickprintinclude--><!--begintext--> Woodson said the team would address what is seen as the team's most glaring need — a quality point guard — via trade or free agency.

"There's no question we need a point guard," said Woodson, who then named four veteran free agents Atlanta would target: Sam Cassell (Clippers); Mike James (Raptors); Speedy Claxton (Hornets); and Bobby Jackson (Grizzlies).

"Those are the guys who can help put our ballclub over the top."

As for the selection of Williams, Woodson said the Hawks first needed to address their interior defense.

KB21

I'd prefer Sam Cassell off that list. Mike James is a shot stealer. He can defend, but he will steal shots from Joe, Josh, and Marvin. Speedy Claxton is a good little point guard that doesn't shoot the ball well. Bobby Jackson is a combo guard better suited to coming off the bench.

Ideally, the Hawks will be able to work out a trade for Maurice Williams or Chris Duhon.

Diable

I would pray that you could do better than Bobby Jackson...But Jackson is going to benefit from the lack of available PG's

I would think that Sam Cassell would rather play somewhere he has a better chance to contend.Claxton is a good PG,but for my taste he looks for his own shot too much and doesn't take the best care of the ball.I wouldn't want James if he was going to play the way he did last season,but he is capable of playing better team ball if he decided to.You really question how motivated he will be after he gets this last big contract that he's been talking about for a couple years now.On top of that Toronto will probably be looking to work out a sign and trade.

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o.iatlhawksfan

I don't know about any of those guards, they're all pretty lod and had some had their best seasons in their contract year.Out if them I would like Speedy though I watch him alot here in New Orleans and he would be good here, he's more athletic that he looks and he's very quick, could also pass very well.

Damian Necronamous

I'd love to hear Cassell's reaction when Atlanta contacts him...it'll go something like this...



Out of those guys, James and Claxton would be the best fit, and I'd say they have a pretty good chance at both of them.

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Chick Hearn: This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are gettin' cool, the butter's gettin' hard, and the jellooooooo's jigglin'!

Current 2008-2009 LA Lakers Roster
PG: Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG: Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, Sun Yue
SF: Vladimir Radmanovic, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell
C: Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, D.J. Mbenga

ATLien

I think the chance of a Maurice Williams being shopped just went down, with the Ford/Villanueva swap.

9diamonds

ya could get one from the magic,they have way too many

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2007 ORLANDO MAGIC

different_13

Who? Jameer Nelson's going nowhere, Diener's hardly played, McNamara is a summer league invitee, Carlos Arroyo fits well, and Dooling's more a two than a 1 (though he should be available).

I say go for Marcus Banks - not necesarily a great distributor, but with the offence running through JJ he doesn't need to be. What he CAN do though, is defend, run like hell, and slash. If he can work on his drive and dish game, he could fit well.

(another guy you should target is Nazr Mohammed, have Marvin back up the 4/3, Childress the 3/2, Stoudamire the 2/1)

Don't think you'd get James, he'd rather go to Houston or a contender I think.

Coatesvillain

Get Speedy Claxton. I think he'd work well next to JJ, and on top of that he did a really good job for the Hornets last year. He averaged 12 and 5 playing next to Chris Paul. So he's shown he can play in a system where he splits ball handling duties.

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Phinally!

ohiostfbfan

atlanta should have gotten foye at 5 or traded down to like 15-20 and get a decent big man in return, get a pg in the draft and go for nazr or pryzbilla in FA

KB21

I just completely disagree with this line of thinking. Neither Nazr Mohammed nor Joel Przybilla will produce enough to warrant the contracts both of them will receive this offseason. Both will likely get somewhere between $7 million and $8 million as a starting salary, and neither will produce the numbers that Shelden Williams will likely produce as a rookie.

ohiostfbfan

foye and jj would be a feared backcourt for years to come. its not like sheldon was he missing piece on a playoff team. the hawks could have traded one of there 3 young forwards for a forward or even sheldon

KB21

Was Randy Foye the missing piece on a playoff team? Had the Hawks drafted Randy Foye, they would still be one of the worst interior defensive teams and worst rebounding teams in the NBA. Giving Joel Przybilla or Nazr Mohammed $8 million a year isn't going to improve a teams interior defense enough to warrant that money.

Joe and Randy may have been a feared back court, but no team would fear driving into the lane against the Hawks had they continued as is or added one of the two mentioned free agents to the mix.

ohiostfbfan

as i said the hawks could have gotten sheldon via trade

different_13