What if Pau Gasol went to Atlanta?

[Richesly]

As reported, Atlanta offered Gasol more money than what Chicago offered him, however he still chose to go to Chicago instead of returning to the city that drafted him.

Gasol would be starting center, moving Al Horford(6'10) to the 4, and Millsap(6'8) to the 3. Now that Millsap can shoot 3s, he can play the SF position much more effectively.

Let's say Gasol had joined the Hawks.

Would they be better than they are now, or worse?

[T_L_P]

Going that big would never work in the modern game, especially since those guys aren't elite defensive players.

The Spurs barely got away with running that in the grind-it-out era...and they had two all-time great defenders (the lineup was Duncan-Robinson-Prelude).

One of those players would be coming off the bench.

[Richesly]

Going that big would never work in the modern game, especially since those guys aren't elite defensive players.

The Spurs barely got away with running that in the grind-it-out era...and they had two all-time great defenders (the lineup was Duncan-Robinson-Prelude).

One of those players would be coming off the bench.

I don't see how that is going big, really.

I mean Al Horford just isn't a center. Granted, he is the reason why our system works because since he plays the center position he is probably the most mobile center in the league, which makes our transition game better.

And people think Millsap is fat for some reason I don't know of. I remember during the ASG someone was like "Let Westbrook dunk, fatty" - referring to Millsap not letting Westbrook get a clean dunk, and contested it.

DeMarre Carroll can be our first guy off the bench. Millsap is actually a very good defender, hes held Carmelo to under 20 points both times we played the Knicks. Millsap is able to guard 3s effectively, and Horford can guard 4s better than 5s.

The only time we have Horford at 4 is when we go big which is Antic at the 5 and Horford at the 4, but Antic is only 6'11(tallest on the team).

I love Antic, but I'd prefer Gasol in every way possible.

[Richesly]

Bump

[hawkfan]

I think the Hawks would have 5 less losses.

[beastee]

They would be better. Horford at the 4 is where he should be. Not sold on Milsap at the 3, I think he would have some issues against some of the faster SFs in the league, and he plays best 10-15 feet in, not on the perimeter.

But he chose a team that before the season clearly was the better team on paper, and could very well be come playoff time.