Woj - Horford Decision Expected Saturday Evening (ATL upping offer)

[hpantazo]

Millsap is basically on an expiring deal.

Now this is making sense.

Hawks will trade Millsap to a team desperate enough to give up a ton for a one year rental. They'll sign Horford for five years, reluctantly, and roll into next year with Horford and Dwight as their frontcourt.

Maybe they'll have Brandon Knight, TJ Warren and a couple firsts to go with it.

I suspect this is all just posturing from the Hawks so it looks like they tried. Don't understand why Phoenix would want to trade for Milsap given that he's 30, they suck, and the two lottery picks they drafted both play power forward.

That , and Milsap can, and very likely would, walk out of Phoenix at the end of this coming season.

[Celtic_Pride777]

If Horford would make a decision he can put an end to this. I sense posturing.

Of course. He's trying to use this as leverage with Atlanta.

https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/749306742132076544

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojVerticalNBA  31m31 minutes ago
Vertical Sources: Hawks still shopping Paul Millsap now, working contingencies should Horford want to stay. Sides still apart on contract.

Which kinda sucks, because it makes me question just how willing he is to go the BOS 

[saltlover]

Is anyone surprised that Blake Griffin was part of the Clips group meeting with Durant?  I thought he would be the one to go? Can they keep Jordan, Griffin & CP3 and still fit Durant?

I read that they would have to trade Reddick first in order to sign Durant.

If they trade everyone but their big 3, they'll have $68.5 million in salaries and cap holds due to having to fewer than 12 players on the roster.  Durant's max is $26.4 million.  Unless I'm mistaken (and I might be thanks to newborn sleep deprivation), that's $94.9 million, and thus over the projected cap.  So either they trade Griffin (which I'm guessing they're not because he was at the presentation), or KD takes less than the max.  Or the cap comes in higher and they enough room.

[TA9]

I love reading the Wiz fans thoughts on their chances compared to ours
Here are two examples:

Please I want this so bad. Mainly because Boston fans are insufferable and I want to see salt.

Well he pared it down to Wizards and Celtics... looking at the Celtics roster I don't get the big lovefest going on over it. They have good depth and youth, but Horford is 30 and seems a great fit next to Gortat and teamed with the Beal-Wall backcourt seems ideal as far as a ready made win now situation. Add in Morris and Porter, and the upside of Oubre, possibly Satoransky. Brooks has been a well regarded player friendly and successful head coach, upgraded from Wittman.

Generally, everyone thinks that Gortat will make the difference in Horford's decision as the latter wants to play PF instead of C

Both the wizard quotes are right.  Reality check/

The Wizards team has bigger names in their squad in Wall and Beal, but no way that they play better than us collectively. We won 4-0 against them last season

[PhoSita]

Millsap is basically on an expiring deal.

Now this is making sense.

Hawks will trade Millsap to a team desperate enough to give up a ton for a one year rental. They'll sign Horford for five years, reluctantly, and roll into next year with Horford and Dwight as their frontcourt.

Maybe they'll have Brandon Knight, TJ Warren and a couple firsts to go with it.

I suspect this is all just posturing from the Hawks so it looks like they tried. Don't understand why Phoenix would want to trade for Milsap given that he's 30, they suck, and the two lottery picks they drafted both play power forward.

That , and Milsap can, and very likely would, walk out of Phoenix at the end of this coming season.

Because the Suns are desperate. Their owner cannot stand to be out of the playoff picture this long.

[Rondo9]

Millsap is basically on an expiring deal.

Now this is making sense.

Hawks will trade Millsap to a team desperate enough to give up a ton for a one year rental. They'll sign Horford for five years, reluctantly, and roll into next year with Horford and Dwight as their frontcourt.

Maybe they'll have Brandon Knight, TJ Warren and a couple firsts to go with it.

I suspect this is all just posturing from the Hawks so it looks like they tried. Don't understand why Phoenix would want to trade for Milsap given that he's 30, they suck, and the two lottery picks they drafted both play power forward.

That , and Milsap can, and very likely would, walk out of Phoenix at the end of this coming season.

Because the Suns are desperate. Their owner cannot stand to be out of the playoff picture this long.

Then they shouldn't have drafted projects.

[oldtype]

Millsap is basically on an expiring deal.

Now this is making sense.

Hawks will trade Millsap to a team desperate enough to give up a ton for a one year rental. They'll sign Horford for five years, reluctantly, and roll into next year with Horford and Dwight as their frontcourt.

Maybe they'll have Brandon Knight, TJ Warren and a couple firsts to go with it.

I suspect this is all just posturing from the Hawks so it looks like they tried. Don't understand why Phoenix would want to trade for Milsap given that he's 30, they suck, and the two lottery picks they drafted both play power forward.

That , and Milsap can, and very likely would, walk out of Phoenix at the end of this coming season.

Because the Suns are desperate. Their owner cannot stand to be out of the playoff picture this long.

I suppose we can't discount utter stupidity, although their draft choices seem to indicate a change in direction.

This has been horribly managed by Atlanta as well though. They made a mistake not just locking him down for five years and doubling down by signing Howard and paying Baze first just because they didn't want to look weak. Wouldn't be surprised if Horford is tired of being jerked around and just chooses to go elsewhere even if try trade Milsap and they just end up completey screwed.

[saltlover]

If Horford would make a decision he can put an end to this. I sense posturing.

Of course. He's trying to use this as leverage with Atlanta.

https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/749306742132076544

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojVerticalNBA  31m31 minutes ago
Vertical Sources: Hawks still shopping Paul Millsap now, working contingencies should Horford want to stay. Sides still apart on contract.

Which kinda sucks, because it makes me question just how willing he is to go the BOS 

Don't question it.  He's been in Atlanta for nine years.  He's always felt comfortable there, and inertia is always difficult to overcome.  If he signs with Boston, he'll be very committed to the team and city.  It's who he is.

[SparzWizard]

I love reading the Wiz fans thoughts on their chances compared to ours
Here are two examples:

Please I want this so bad. Mainly because Boston fans are insufferable and I want to see salt.

Well he pared it down to Wizards and Celtics... looking at the Celtics roster I don't get the big lovefest going on over it. They have good depth and youth, but Horford is 30 and seems a great fit next to Gortat and teamed with the Beal-Wall backcourt seems ideal as far as a ready made win now situation. Add in Morris and Porter, and the upside of Oubre, possibly Satoransky. Brooks has been a well regarded player friendly and successful head coach, upgraded from Wittman.

Generally, everyone thinks that Gortat will make the difference in Horford's decision as the latter wants to play PF instead of C

Both the wizard quotes are right.  Reality check/

The Wizards team has bigger names in their squad in Wall and Beal, but no way that they play better than us collectively. We won 4-0 against them last season

The Wizards? They suck without Paul Pierce. They should be thankful our legend who went to their team, but they disgraced him with that second-round exit against Atlanta two years ago. They deserve to miss the playoffs the following year.

[dannyboy35]

The Hawks preferring Horford to Milsap makes no sense to me.

[oldtype]

The Hawks preferring Horford to Milsap makes no sense to me.

Might just be personal. Horford has been with the organization his entire career.

I don't think hey really do prefer him though.

[hpantazo]

The Hawks preferring Horford to Milsap makes no sense to me.

The Hawks preferring Dwight Howard over either of them makes even less sense to me. If they really want to keep Horford, why sign a guy who doesnt fit well next to him in Dwight, and who is a lesser player overall than the one you already have in Milsap, and then decide to move Milsap in a hurry to keep Horford? Something doesnt sound right here.

[Dino Pitino]

If it's a choice between Horford and Millsap, give me Millsap. Depending on the price, of course. Since it's truly a rental, no Brooklyn 1sts, no Smart, no Brown.

[Kuberski33]

Any updates for a weary traveler? I'm about to Columbus, Ohio with three hours to go. I don't want to miss anything. However, I'm almost out of data on my phone, and I'm way too much of a cheap arse to pay $20 for 500 MB...

Us or DC.

Yesterday it was us or Atlanta, then us or OKC.  Notice that we're always in the top 2.

Always a bridesmaid and never a bride....

No. It's a Win-Win for us whatever he does. If he chooses Wizards, he's not serious about championships and thus we don't want him. If it was OKC, then that's a different storty. ATL too, but supposedly he 's not thrilled with D12 signing.

I really think we as fans overrate the value of winning titles.  With pro athletes it's money #1 and #2 and then if that's equal it comes down to lifestyle and stuff like that. Stability of the organization matters because things can change quickly in pro sports.  But winning titles is way overrated.  Evan Turner wasn't pursuing a title, he was looking to get paid.

Well the money between BOS and WAS is irrelevant in this case, but top players have taken cuts to play for a ring before. 10 years in the NBA as a top player, you've made enough money for a lot of players. The lure of thedollar is not as large when you're extremely rich. Finally, what does ET have to do with it? He's a rotation player who never made big NBA money. No one's chasing ET thinking he's a critical cog for a championship run.

At 30 in this environment, this is your biggest contract opportunity.   You also don't know what a guy's financial situation is.  Sure some guys have taken less to pursue a ring but usually not when they're in line for one of the richest contracts in NBA history.  I just mentioned Turner as an example.  Pick another free agent who's agreed to a deal so far. I just think that generally speaking,  titles matter to fans a lot more than they do to the players.

[saltlover]

The Hawks preferring Horford to Milsap makes no sense to me.

Might just be personal. Horford has been with the organization his entire career.

I don't think hey really do prefer him though.

Would you rather Horford for four or five years, or Milsap at one year?