Official 2007 NBA Draft Thread

[maes]

Horford isn't another Forward like Marvin, the guy easily has the size & athleticism to play center, he's at least as big as Stoudemire.

[hammertime23]

Yes but Sheldon Williams is a 4 who can also play center like Amare. The Hawks should have picked a pure center or a pure PG instead they went out and got hybrids at both positions.

[Sauru]

who do you take at 3 for a pure center? draft hawes at 3? conley was the only other option at 3 for them to take but when you know there is going to be a point for you at 11 why take him and get stuck with the unknown at 11?

[hammertime23]

Well they should have picked Hawes or Conley at 3 because Law and Horford aren't franchise players, they will be role players at best in that organization. If they would have picked Hawes they would have a center for the next 10 years at least, instead they got Horford who may not even start. Law will probably be a starter, but will never develop into and an all star calibur player. they should have took Hawes at 3. It would have made that organization more stable, instead of them just being right where they were last season with a team of 10 forwards.

[-Young Buck-]

Hawes at 3? Hawe Hawe Hawe

[Sauru]

you would honestly take hawes over horford? since when is hawes a franchise player? the guy is a bust waiting to happen. i will concede that conley can turn into a franchise player however i wont pass judgement on the draft til time passes. personally i think they did the right thing with this draft. well, actually i dont. i think they did the second best thing with this draft. they should have taken amare for the 3rd and 11th but thats hawks ownership for you

[hammertime23]

If I was the Hawks I would have picked Horford then shopped him around for a trade with another team and picked up a center and maybe fill some other voids without losing much. Overall the Hawks draft day was pretty much what was expected. They picked 2 good players which won't reach their full potential by being on a shitty team.

[Sauru]

thats the thing, everyone in the league wants horford. they can probably get a center or point plus another pick for him.

[Ty-Land]

Hawes at 3? Hawe Hawe Hawe

Funny shit.

Made me laugh out loud, good thing I was home alone.

[Indy]

hammertime, I never thought someone could be so incorrect with an opinion but my goodness...

Al Horford is the most talented scoring big man in this draft, something the Hawks desperately needed. You suggest that they take the soft passing big man in Spencer Hawes instead? They already have the better version of Spencer Hawes in Zaza, who isn't nearly as bad defensively as Hawes.

The Hawks took great strides foward in this draft. You act like they are in need of a franchise player, not only did they take the player most likely to become a franchise player in Horford, but they already have their franchise player in Joe Johnson.

[hammertime23]

God fucking dammit I'll take this owning and stop talking after this. I just thought the Hawks could have got something that they needed more in the draft whether it was trading for a center, picking Hawes or Conley at 3, or trading down to get Hawes and Law.

The Hawks already have 2 potential scoring big men in Marvin Williams and Shelden Williams. So not trading out of that third spot and picking up something they already have seems pointless to me.

And on the topic of Hawes, he is much better then Zaza defensively. Plus he has a mid range jumpshot and he is very young.

The Hawks had good draft picks, but they weren't picks they needed. I know Acie Law and Al Horford are amazing players, but the Hawks already have 15 6'9 forwards like Horford, and they have Joe Johnson as the primary scorer and Acie Law didn't do much distributing at A&M.

I don't think the Hawks will do any better next year then they did this past year....
I guess this is the end of the road for this shitty argument sorry I'm a n00b in the nba talk section

[Indy]

First of all, stop being so negative towards yourself. You'll never get anywhere in debates if you start out by saying "I'll take this owning and stop talking after this." It is only an internet forum where we are discussing basketball, remember that.

I think you may have a valid point about the Hawks trading the 3rd pick, because the talent between 3-11 was very similar. However, you think far too little about Al Horford, and far too much about Hawes.

Marvin Williams is a good scorer, but he is much more of a slasher and a hybrid 4 then he is a low post scorer. Horford may be 6'9" but he has a very long wingspan and plays very big. He is an enourmous upgrade over Shelden Williams. Shelden was a mistake last year, but you can't blame them for admitting a mistake and making an upgrade, just because they already have a similar player. Al Horford's game is a lot like Carlos Boozer's. If he ever gets the basketball IQ that Boozer has developed in the last 2 years, he will put up identical numbers. Shelden Williams has nowhere near the array of post moves to become a player of that caliber.

As for Spencer, I'm wondering if you watched him play much at Washington. He is seriously porous on defense. He was probably the worst defensive big man in the country last year. He is weak, slow and will get in to foul trouble a ton in the NBA. He is a guy that would be a nice player to have next to somebody like Elton Brand or Tim Duncan. As long as Hawes doesn't have to guard the other team's best post player, and isn't expected to be the best post scorer on his team, he'll be fine. He's a good complimentary big man, nothing more.

[Dro]

The reason Al Horford is redundant is because of poor picks in prior years by the Hawks. Shelden Williams is going to be a defensive specialist at best. Marvin Williams has a LOOONG way to go before he becomes relevant. Horford was the best pick to make at 3 simply because they need interior scoring.

But, I agree with you to an extent. I don't think Acie Law is the correct pick for them. They need a distributor, not another shooter. Law is more like a Cassell or a Bibby, maybe a Billups at best. However, PG is a hole they needed to fill and they really had no other option at 11.

[hammertime23]

I watched Spencer play quite a lot on tv and he was very impressive to me. He was no monster player in the post, but he showed flashes of potential. Every now and then he'd come up with a few blocks in one possession. I think that he has a ton of upside to become bigger and more aggressive, and I think the NBA will only instill some aggression into him making more of a force. Of course he will never be a Shaq or Zo but he will have a positive impact on his team, and I think if the Hawks had a big man like that to develop he would be a lot better then if he just rotted on the bench in Sacramento behind Brad Miller and Reef.

[Dro]

The reason Al Horford is redundant is because of poor picks in prior years by the Hawks. Shelden Williams is going to be a defensive specialist at best. Marvin Williams has a LOOONG way to go before he becomes relevant. Horford was the best pick to make at 3 simply because they need interior scoring.

But, I agree with you to an extent. I don't think Acie Law is the correct pick for them. They need a distributor, not another shooter. Law is more like a Cassell or a Bibby, maybe a Billups at best. However, PG is a hole they needed to fill and they really had no other option at 11.

[Sauru]

cool, a double post with a post in the middle

[hammertime23]

I didn't even notice that, that's pretty weird.

[maes]

I'm a bit confused, you want to trade for a potential star player in Atlanta, understandable, but therefore wanted Hawes? Hawes is a roleplayer top to bottom. He's deferred on every level i'm aware of, in High School to Martell Webster, in college to Brockman...he's never been the most aggressive or leader of his team on any level...and you want him to lead an NBA team?

IMO Atlanta doesn't have a scoring big. Marvin is a SF. Shelden isn't a scorer. If you could compress those two into 1 player maybe you'd have something but you can't play both at PF at the same time.

The only possibly knock against Horford i can see is that he plays more like a C than an NBA PF (who are expected to shoot long range and handle the ball nowadays), but most teams are searching for a true post scoring big these and trying to get rid of "soft" PFs.

Even if Atlanta has no need of Horford he's certainly got the most trade value of anyone not named Oden or Durant.