Hollinger's early season surprises: 9. Spencer Hawes

I saw his numbers a week or two ago and thought "my god we blew it again." Tyrus over Aldridge, and now Joakim over Hawes.

I must admit I was as dubious of Hawes' ability as anyone, and quite pleased with our selection of Noah. But that's why I'm not paid to scout NBA prospects. I was under the impression that Paxson's salary covered that sort of thing...

11 months ago BigBenign 37 comments 0 recs |

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oops he's # 10

Asked what kind of player he expects to be in the next five years, he said: "Not a star, but like, a superstar. Something around, like, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, something like that."

by BigBenign on Nov 20, 2008 1:24 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Paxson only scouts the Final Four

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 1:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oh and just for fun:

Hinrich for Spencer Hawes and Kenny Thomas works in the trade machine. Just sayin.

by BigBenign on Nov 20, 2008 1:35 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

If Hawes is playing so good

I don’t see the Kings making this trade. But even if Kings GM agree to trade Hawes, the Bulls would had to offer a little bit more… Maybe Noah, maybe TT, I don’t know… :S

http://comunidadebulleana.blogspot.com/ - Comunidade Bulleana (O blog dos Bulls em Portugal)

by bull83 on Nov 20, 2008 2:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Hawes and Rose would be an exciting "core" to have right now.

Paxson finally went “project” when he shouldn’t have (Thomas over Roy, not Aldridge) and went back to “ready-made” when he should have (in hindsight) taken a project.

Viva la nuance! Reading comprehension rules!!!

by tyger1147 on Nov 20, 2008 1:46 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

We needed a big

in 2006, so I don’t consider us to have “missed” on Roy. However if we take EITHER Aldridge OR Hawes, we’re in much better shape right now. How many times can a GM fail to fill the same positional need?

by BigBenign on Nov 20, 2008 1:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

hawes should have been the pick

i never got the love for noah. i started warming up to him during the season last year but we still need a big guy. and noah’s just not been impressive.

by Jaina on Nov 20, 2008 2:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

But would we have Rose right now if he made the right pick?

Don’t think so.

by J Theory on Nov 20, 2008 2:54 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

who cares?

I hate this argument. I don’t think passing on Hawes is some big mistake, but I won’t say all mistakes to this point absolve Paxson because it allowed him to luck into the #1 pick.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 3:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I do

because I’m becoming a Huge Rose fan and I’m going to enjoy watching his career.

by J Theory on Nov 20, 2008 3:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

me too

but Paxson still has made huge errors, whether they had an ultimately happy ending or not.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 3:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

and

even if we had Hawes we would all still be on here crying for a Superstar. And now we have one. It was luck but hey I’ll take it. John Paxson doesn’t look like he’s going to last. Doesn’t he look 20 years older than when he first started the job?

by J Theory on Nov 20, 2008 5:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure Noah over Hawes is one of these though !

Hawes has been putting OK numbers on a very bad team, without its starting center for the first few games. Now Miller is back, and Hawes numbers have already dropped a bit.

The Game chose him !

by Diabolo on Nov 21, 2008 1:05 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent points;

I was pro-Noah at the time, but I’ve also seen Hawes a few times, and it’s not like he’s a world beater. I could still see Noah as a double double guy given time.

The poster formerly known as Freethefro.

by MPG on Nov 21, 2008 8:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Season 1

Noah outperformed Hawes. 10 games into season 2 Hawes is playing well. That doesn’t mean Pax has made a bad pick. Let everything settle down a bit.

by CJ Bulls on Nov 21, 2008 7:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The unexpected outcome

of his errors doesn’t justify them. He/We got very lucky. Great. Moving forward, I want a GM who makes less errors. A GM who’s savvy enough to surround Rose with the right talent.

The poster formerly known as Freethefro.

by MPG on Nov 21, 2008 8:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed on this point

and also below. i haven’t been impressed with noah this season and i wanted hawes to be the pick only because of the state of our frontcourt. he seemed like a better fit at the time and now also. but not to say noah can’t bounce back as the season progresses.

by Jaina on Nov 20, 2008 3:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

They missed on Roy...

…because, so far, he’s the best player in that draft class and he was available when the Bulls drafted and he was taken in the same vicinity as Thomas and their other pick was a tall SG so they must have wanted one anyway.

At the top of the draft, you ALWAYS take on talent, not on need. Most of the time, teams at the top are bad so they need talent everywhere. Having a “good enough” PG had the Bulls considering Beasley over Rose, and that would have just been horrible.

Viva la nuance! Reading comprehension rules!!!

by tyger1147 on Nov 20, 2008 3:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Ask the Hawks about taking talent over need

when they passed on Paul in favor of Marvin Williams.

by CJ Bulls on Nov 21, 2008 7:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

that was just a misjudgement of talent

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 21, 2008 8:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I really pushed taking Hawes over Noah, but my dislike for

for Noah was a bit irrational at the time. I thought Hawes, Thomas, and Deng fit together really well in a way that Noah doesn’t. I’m not going to get worked up about unless Noah doesn’t get his act back together. He had a very solid rookie year, it’s just hard to mesh his offensive game with 4 other players at the NBA level, which was something I was worried about. But, I’m not going to get worked up about missing out on Spencer Hawes.

by Scotter on Nov 20, 2008 2:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Noah had a very solid rookie season. He’s a bit of a waste if he can’t figure out he needs to be in shape to start the season, but I’m not worried about him at least being what he was last year.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 2:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Aldridge is meh

He should be better than he is and especially on a night like last night. He should have killed us yet he was 4-13 from the field.

In a trust with Vinny Del Negro.

by NBA Observer on Nov 20, 2008 2:25 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

That draft I was hoping for Brandon Roy...

since I always believe in taking the best player available and figuring guard gluts out later. Although a guard glut of Roy, Gordon and Hinrich seems pretty reasonable compared to what we have now.

by smash! on Nov 21, 2008 4:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I didn't like Hawes

He looks like he’s in much better shape this year, which was the biggest problem I had with him coming out of college.

Anyway, I do agree that the Kings probably wouldn’t trade him, but he and Jason Thompson look like two quality big guys who basically play the same position. As we (should) well know, developing two young bigs at the same time is damn hard. So maybe they’d consider trading one of them even though under normal circumstances they wouldn’t.

I’d expect the price would be pretty steep however.

De gustibus non est disputandum

by Sports2 on Nov 20, 2008 2:43 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Isn't Thompson a power forward?

His game seems more like a power forward than a center, but he played center in college for the standard reason that he was the tallest guy on the team.

I vary too much with our own bigs. How does Gooden grab 17 boards one night and 5 the next night? These spreads makes me manic.

In a trust with Vinny Del Negro.

by NBA Observer on Nov 20, 2008 2:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Cuz he's not good?

Viva la nuance! Reading comprehension rules!!!

by tyger1147 on Nov 20, 2008 3:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

eye on the prize

hope Hawes continues to do well, so the Bulls can get Brad Miller.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 3:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

yus.

When I watch NBA games I often call the fouls before the referees do. Sometimes it’s a gift. Most of the time it's troublesome. - NBA Observer

by Illini15 on Nov 20, 2008 3:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I feel robbed

Rose should’ve been on that list.

by J Theory on Nov 20, 2008 2:55 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i think

the number 1# overall pick being awesome isn’t the world’s most surprising thing

by CJOliveira on Nov 21, 2008 11:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

anyone

see that video about his political views? I would’t want him

by JSlakov on Nov 20, 2008 3:04 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

you wanted Michael Beasley

his political views were: ‘Fritos’

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 20, 2008 3:05 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

by illwill on Nov 20, 2008 8:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I wish I agreed with you but I can't feel so positive about Noah's potential...

to get in shape, add muscle, learn how to play D, learn how to JUMP, and learn the offense when he’s 23 year’s old and the fundamentals of his jump shot are still so damn grade school.

But then again, I wanted the Bulls to draft Al Thornton…

by smash! on Nov 21, 2008 4:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs