AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 05
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Darko time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As much as I was against Detroit drafting Darko Milicic at No. 2 in the 2003 draft, I have to admit to being an unabashed advocate for the big fella now. If the Hawks want to shore up a major position of need, why not chase Darko and see if they can pull it off?
He’s an unrestricted free agent now and a player that will be hard to come by because of the Hawks’ limited cap space (after years of people complaining about the Hawks having too much now they wish they had a little more) and residency in the same (Southeast) division as the Magic.
That said, The Hawks have plenty of the tools needed to try and make this happen (veterans with expiring contracts, young talent, etc.). But it’ll be a tough sell with most teams reluctant to deal in the same division, so as not to assist a direct competitor. But the Hawks have nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain in the 7-foot, 275-pound Milicic, who despite whatever limitations remain in his game is a an absolute physical specimen.
Listen, I know the stigma this guy has carried the past few years is hard to look past. But it wasn’t his fault that some of these so-called experts you all love to hype up around here had him rated as the No. 1 player in his draft class (and if you do the research, you’ll see where folks suggested that the Cavs should bypass LeBron for Darko, seriously someone wrote that). And don’t think I’ve forgotten about all the players (Anthony, Bosh, Wade, Kaman, Hinrich, Collison, West, Diaw, Barbosa, Howard and others) that were taken after Milicic (8 points and 5 rebounds in roughly 24 minutes per game last season) that have turned out to be much more productive thus far in their NBA careers.
The fact is, size is always at a premium in the NBA. Everybody needs quality big men. Hawks fans know this better than anyone. So why not dangle a package of say Josh Childress, Anthony Johnson and Lorenzen Wright for Darko - and if you were really slick you could try and get Keith Bogans, that gritty 2-guard type the Hawks could use, thrown in as well, in a sign-and-trade deal that gives you two more solid and experienced pros on a Hawks roster always in need of that kind of help? I don’t like the idea of giving up Childress (the other guys have expiring contracts and are vets, so they know the predicament they are in) anymore than some of you, but I understand you have to give up a valued player in order to get someone of value in return.
A good friend who covers the league in another city even floated the idea of sending Zaza Pachulia back to the Magic in a package for Darko, but I honestly think Zaza is more valuable than Darko for the purposes of this upcoming season. And I don’t think parting with a young big for a young big is what the Hawks should be doing at this stage of the game.
The only problem with all this yapping is the Hawks haven’t shown any reported interest in Darko and there has been no reported interest in the Hawks from Darko’s camp. But things can change quickly in the wild and crazy world of NBA free agency. A week ago no one knew that Rashard Lewis would be joining the Magic and opening up the possibility for others (like the Hawks) to get in on the hunt for Darko.
One last thing, the Hawks’ summer league roster is soon to hit the web. Most of the usual suspects are on there (Horford, Law IV and second year guys Shelden Williams and Solomon Jones). Knowing how well versed you all are with digging up information on your own, I won’t bother with thumbnail bios on the rest of the summer leaguers. But I will pass long their names for you to chew on over lunch (some you’ll recognize and others you won’t, but keep in mind that only some of these cats will be heading to Salt Lake City next week for game action): Todd Abernathy, James Beasley, Craig Bradshaw, Earl Calloway, Antawn Dobie, Edwin Draughan, Teddy Gipson, Devin Green, Jarrius Jackson, Robby Lawrence, Brent Petway, Derek Raivio, Brion Rush, Ronell Taylor, Terrance Thomas, Mario West and Dashaun Wood.
