Newest Hawk Walker will make pitch to Dampier

By CURTIS BUNN
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Published on: 08/10/04

First order of business for the Hawks' new team-leader, Antoine Walker? Recruiting free-agent center Erick Dampier.

An eight-year veteran and three-time All-Star, Walker said he plans to find Dampier's number and start making a sales pitch.

"If that's what it takes [to get Dampier to sign with Atlanta]," Walker said Tuesday after he and reliable guard Tony Delk were introduced.

Delk and Walker were acquired in a trade that sent Jason Terry, Alan Henderson and a conditional No. 1 draft pick to the Dallas Mavericks.

"I'm going to lobby for him to come here and help us," Walker said. "I'm going to let him know that what we're doing here, he can make better. With me, him and Al Harrington, we can be one of the strongest frontlines in the league."

Walker just might have a better shot at luring Dampier, who is mulling a $55-million offer from the Hawks and a $60-million sign-and-trade deal with the New York Knicks.

General manager Billy Knight and staff pursued the former Golden State big man, but Walker was not on the team then.

Walker said he'd also throw out the idea of making the postseason.

"You've got to always set the goal of making the playoffs," Walker said. "I don't want to promise anything. We're going to use this year to surprise people. We want to be competitive every night, with the playoffs as the goal. And once you make the playoffs, anything can happen."

While the team still needs a center and a point guard, Knight's dismantling of the roster inherited from former general manager Pete Babcock -- did not make Walker and Delk wary of coming to Atlanta.

"We look forward to pushing the team in a new direction," Delk said.

Added Walker: "I haven't been this excited in a long time. It reminds me of when I first came into the league. I'm still in my prime and it's exciting to be a part of rebuilding a team. Hopefully it will be my team. I've learned a lot and experienced a lot. But I know I can't do it by myself."

Forward Chris Crawford is the lone holdover from the Babcock era.

That's where veterans like Harrington and Delk come in.

"You have to have someone to take the pressure off of you," Hawks vice president and future Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins said. "[Walker] has a lot of opportunities around him to offset his offense. That's very important."

To get where they are "Billy has replaced 11 of 12 players," owner Michael Gearon said.

"He did that because it was a roster that was not competitive and was not fun to watch. . . . And we're not yet finished. We like the direction we are going. It's an exciting time."

Walker, who is in the last year of his contract, made it clear he wants a contract extension. Knight made it clear no extensions are given until earned on the court.

That did not set well with Walker, but it did not break his spirit. "Well, I don't want to spend my career floating around the league," he said. "When you do that, you get a label on yourself that teams can't win with you and you become very expendable. I'd love the opportunity to be in one place for a long time. . . . But I'll let my agent and Billy handle that. . . . I'll focus on playing good basketball."



http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/0804/11hawks.html

If they were to resign Walker getting Dampier (and a good coach) could really make the Hawks a solid squad.

Dampier
Walker
Harrington
Diaw (solid defender)
Delk

Usually teams with guys that know they arent resigning dont do well however.

still better than anything they had at the beginning of the offseason.

and a lot of playing time for the rookies.

if we had a sign and trade for 60mm the deal would be done already. im highly skeptical of any sign and trade with no expiring contracts i dont think they players we would send to GS warrant expanding payroll

what a selfish player Walker is...he actually wants to win...ridiculous!

what pull does Walker with an expiring contract have for Dampier.

1- the hawks might trade Walker come the deadline

or

2- Walker leaves at the end of the year to sign elsewhere

And making the playoffs?

When was the last time the Hawks made the post season?

It might have been 99 when the knicks ran through them like nothing...

Its not like Damp is rich that he could take the MLE because he wants to win, so I can't fault him for taking the Hawks money.

But playing for a loosing team, year after year, has to take some kind of psychic toll...

Posted by BRIGGS:

imperative for the knicks to sign dampier

Imperative for the Knicks to get a big man in the next 24 months with their 76 mil in expiring contracts. If it's this summer with Dampier, great; if it's a little longer, fine. Rebuilding takes YEARS.

Rebuilding is about adding talented young players, which Isiah has added plenty of. If you can't see that, you're just being a blind critic. Having good veteran role models like Penny does not prevent rebuilding

in 2 yrs penny won't be worth anything.

ship him when his contract expires and turn the page.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Rebuilding is about adding talented young players, which Isiah has added plenty of. If you can't see that, you're just being a blind critic. Having good veteran role models like Penny does not prevent rebuilding

When did Penny become a good role model? When his star power dropped and he was forced to eat some crow and not act like a NBA bitch Diva?

Or when his game went out with his knee's?

I hope Azira and Shandon's play make Penny useless!

ANd I hope Shandon's taking 1000 jumpshots a day to earn that freaking salary and contribute enough to get his azz traded!

Freak Penny, there ain't enough Kool-aid for me to have to all of a sudden be a penny fan. He is an unfortunate price we had to pay for Marbs, and I can tolerate that, but not more.

you'll tolerate that a lot more when his expiring contract will bring us a talented player from a team in disarray.

penny was at least a nice surprise for us, as he was said to be an absolute dead weight. He proved us deadweight he was not (yet), so at least, this is a gain.