First…sorry to learn of your departure from the land of single bliss. As for the marriage, at least you’ll probably be happier :). That’s the way it works I think…

Thanks for the BLOG. You know I think I might be amongst the majority here for the first time that I have ever thought so, but I think the Hawks could be close to a championship caliber team. The thing is they’ve got to have an unbelievable off-season. Here’s my version of the Hawks offseason checklist of needs and then of possible solutions:

Needs:
1. Resign Mike Bibby. There are no viable alternatives on the free agent market and Bibby is good enough. If the Hawks are unable to resign Bibby, they’ll have to go overseas for guards like Carlos Arroyo or Juan Carlos Navarro and then work out rights deals here in the states. Actually I think it would take both to replace Bibby.
2. Add a great player: It might be possible to win a championship(s) without great players, but, if so, I don’t recall a single time a team has won without two great players. Joe Johnson qualifies here in my mind, but Smith, Bibby, and Horford come up short.
3. Add another bench player: The free agent market is loaded with AWESOME bench and role players this year. The Hawks need another one to go with Reggie Evans and Flip Murray, see next need.
4. Resign Flip Murray and Zaza Pachulia. Murray is indispensable and due a big raise, The Hawks should pay him $4.0 M a year for three and then give him the option for a fourth. I think he’d like the deal, and the Hawks would get some much needed bench synergy for the short term. Pachulia is also indispensable. No way can we replace Zaza along the front line. I’d like to see the Hawks go for broke and try to sign him to say a 5 year deal at maybe $5.0 M a year. Zaza’s a smart player and a good ball handler, and he might like a long term deal, even if he’s getting paid to come off the bench.
5. Turn up the heat on Marvin Williams. The Hawks should make Marvin a good offer before he becomes a free agent next year. It would make the job of resigning him much easier next year, I think.

Solution:
For all this I have one solution. Trade Al Horford, Acie Law, and the Hawks’ 2009 first round draft pick to Golden State for Stephen Jackson and PG C. J. Watson. No way will the Hawks find a solution that anywhere comes close to matching this scenario on the free agent market this year. Next year is the year of the free agent with Bosh, Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Tracy McGrady all free agents. This year we have Allen Iverson ($$$$$), Jermaine O’Neal ($$$$$), Jason Kidd ($$$$$), Shawn Marion ($$$$$), and Rasheed Wallace, Ron Artest, and Mehmet Okur. The Hawks can’t wait until next year, and there are no front line bargains on the free agent market this year, other than perhaps Wallace or Okur. Artest is too testy for us here in Atlanta, so he might as well not even be on the list. Jackson will make $7.9 M next year, about the same as Horford and Law put together, a real bargain. His contract is an excellent contract, also, Watson has no contract for next year, but he’s an exciting player who would more than easily fill the void of Law, who must be moved IMO. He’s just not on our timetable, although I think a patient team will get a great point quard someday in Law. Jackson is over 20 points a game, and I believe would be a monster on this Hawks team (Of course Jackson has played in Atlanta, also). And, if the Hawks are smart, they can initiate talks with Mehmet Okur to see if they can convince him to not resign with Utah while he’s got the early termination option and will be a free agent again next year. If they could, I’d love to see the Hawks sign Okur this year, but if he does not sign a contract this off season, he will be a free agent again next year, so maybe the Hawks could make an arrangement with him. Okur is an awesome rebounder and a money player in all facets. I see him as our kind of player. So here’s the final tally.

Hawks get:
Stephen Jackson
C. J. Watson
Mehmet Okur
Mike Bibby (resign)
Flip Murray (resign)
Zaza Pachulia (resign)

Hawks lose:
Acie Law
Al Horford
2009 first round draft pick

This is what I believe it will take for the Hawks to get to the top. It’s just that hard, and it just takes that many top/great players. Believe it or not, the Hawks could do ALL of this for around a meager $10-15 M increase over last year’s payroll. Now that’s the stuff of championships!

Well that’s it, except…I hope she’s a Hawks fan…oh well lol

You lost me when you said trade Al. He’s the Hawks’s best draft pick to go from the draft to on court production since Kevin Willis.
There are 5 other players I would go after ahead of Okur
Don’t want Stephen Jackson- he can score 40 one night and the 12 the next takes wild shots and still makes bad plays
It will be hard to resign Flip- a lot of teams saw what he did this yr and they could use that talent. You add him to a team like Dallas or even Portland and watch out. I would imagine he will get some strong offers
Draft picks and Horford are too valuable to give up without getting a proven star.