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July 2007
Does the game even exist anymore?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After two solid weeks of CNN-esque sports coverage the question hit me late Sunday night: does the game even exist anymore?
It’s a rhetorical question, of course. But with the steroid/performance enhancement era in full swing in basically every pro sports endeavor, what do we have left? No one escapes suspicion these days, whether there is any legitimate reason to suspect them or not. And if guys aren’t being accused of “cheating” the game they are being accused of doing something even more heinous (Tim Donaghy, Adam Jones and Mike Vick to name the three most prominent names).
That’s why I’m fighting the power today with an overdose of pure basketball. I promised to give you Part II of my summer league Wrap (it) Up. That’s the last time we all talked strictly basketball and were able to enjoy our the frivolous nature of these things that we take way too seriously sometimes.
I’m here to do my part today in refocusing your attention on basketball. I don’t care that we’ve already pounded these topics into dust. So get your hammers out again so we can pound them some more:
Part I (an epic even longer than I intended) finished with Josh Smith, so I won’t belabor that issue much longer. But I will update you all on a few details that have trickled out since then. A grim picture was painted about the prospects of Smith and the Hawks agreeing on a contract extension before the Halloween deadline (and I still don’t believe a deal will be struck by then), but the Hawks did make a solid offer ($9 million a year over five years) and they did have the entire ownership group in agreement on extending such an offer to Smith (who is a franchise cornerstone regardless of all the opinions about him to the contrary). It doesn’t sound to me like the two sides are terribly far apart on the number (I’d guess roughly $10-15 million over the life of the deal), but that’s just me guessing. What I can tell is that both sides appear willing to play this season out and see where they stand next summer - when Smith will be a restricted free agent and the Hawks will have the right to match any offer he receives from another team. I don’t think it’ll be nearly the soap opera some people have forecasted it to be, but I do think it will be a situation that needs to be monitored closely.
Another topic of interest leftover from the June draft is who or what put the kibosh on that rumored (and that’s all it was) deal that had the Hawks acquiring Amare Stoudemire in a three-team deal with Phoenix and Minnesota. My digging has yet to produce anything other than flat denials from every corner about the seriousness of the Suns’ to even deal their first team All-NBA center. I thought it was crazy at the time and I still think anybody willing to part with that type of talent for anything other than say a Dwight Howard (the only other young big man, to me, in Stoudemire’s category) is lunacy. But for the record (and for the last time), Stoudemire was not coming to Atlanta (no matter how sweet it sounded in theory and no matter how much the Hawks or their fans wanted it to happen).
Speaking of value, one of my many conversations in Salt Lake City centered on the value of another Stoudamire … Salim. The third-year shooting guard would appear to be the odd man out in a backcourt playing rotation that now includes a rookie guard (Acie Law IV) that can swing between both the point guard and shooting guard positions. But I was told that to assume anything regarding Stoudamire would be a mistake. In a league where shooters have always been valued above and beyond any other specialist, Stoudamire’s the Hawks’ deadliest pound-for-pound (or should I say minute-for-minute?) threat. Figuring out how to use him falls on the coaching staff. They’ll have some tough decisions to make about how to utilize this guy. But there’s no doubt the Hawks need another outside shooter to help take some of the scoring pressure off Joe Johnson. Stoudamire and Hawks coach Mike Woodson have to find some common ground in their relationship (which was considerably better after the February trade deadline compared to what it was before that time). I dig Salim’s free spirit and his attitude toward the game, dude is a perfectionist and strives for such when he’s on that floor. I admit he’s one of my favorite cats, quirks and all, on this team the past two years. I sat out the deadline with him in February and witnessed his anguish. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, if he was going to be traded or not. But he vowed that day, when it finally hit him that he wasn’t going to be traded, that he was going to play his guts out no matter what happened. And if you go back and study the remainder of his season that’s exactly what he did.
Wait a minute … you hear that? Sounds like crickets. Or the Hawks’ activity (or lack thereof) on the free agent market this summer. I didn’t expect the Hawks to be terribly active on the free agent scene this summer. But I haven’t been able to find any potential free agent the Hawks have courted this summer. I had a feeling after watching the summer league games that the 14 players the Hawks have under contract would be the 14 they’d go to work with at training camp. It’s not rare for a team to be quiet in the offseason, particularly when they feel they’re at a point with their core players that allows them to concentrate solely on the growth and development of those guys. And every update I’ve received indicates that guys like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress and the like are working like crazy in anticipation of this season being the one that finally puts the Hawks back on the proverbial map. But crickets?
Finally, and there will be more on this in a story I’m working on for later this week, what do the Hawks do with all these point guards? I know it sounds like a ridiculous question for a team that’s spent the better part of the past three seasons trying to find an answer to that question (I’d make my obligatory Luke Ridnour comment here but I’ve moved on, ha). We had a poll here on ajc.com a couple weeks back asking what the Hawks should do. And the voting was overwhelmingly in favor of starting rookie Acie Law (a noble suggestion for sure, but reasonable … I don’t know about that just yet).
The fact is the Hawks have some serious cash invested in Speedy Claxton ($6 mil-plus), Tyronn Lue ($3.5) and Anthony Johnson ($2.6). If any moves are made by the Hawks in training camp (and that’s a very good possibility), I expect it to be one of these guys being moved to make room for the rookie, who projects as the full service point guard that the Hawks have not had. I asked one of my dinner companions in Salt Lake City what they would do with all those guys and he made quick work of it. “For that team, with the young guys they’ve got piled up on the wings, they need to find out first if Speedy is healthy and if he can play the way he did before last season,” he said. “If he’s ready to run and ready to run that team, then he’s your guy with Acie backing him up and [Lue or Johnson] as the third guy. You’ve got to have a security blanket with an injury-prone veteran and a rookie. The bottom line is this, if Speedy’s not ready for the starting job, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to move him and go with those other guys. But they’ve got to get that spot cleaned up if they have a chance to fight for a playoff spot.”
Figuring out who to move and for what is why Billy Knight and his front office crew make the big bucks we don’t. They’ll have to decide which guy fits best from a chemistry standpoint and likely from a financial standpoint. The money spent on Claxton (who has three years left on his deal) makes it tough to think about trading him. That said, I don’t think there is a sacred cow among the veterans. Special attention needs to be paid to these guys come training camp.
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Stern has some explaining to do
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do you spin this one Mr. Commissioner?
I can’t wait to hear David Stern explain away Tim Donaghy’s gambling and ties to the mob that the NBA supposedly knew nothing about. I can’t wait to hear him tell us how this one rogue official has not compromised the league’s integrity - believe that if you want but this is incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.
The Commish is supposed to speak soon, possibly later today. And you can bet I’ll be glued to the coverage to hear dude’s explanation - Stern loves to hype up the fact that NBA officials are scrutinized more than any other group of officials on the planet, but that claim is looking like nonsense right about now.
Don’t think I’m forgetting the real culprit here. Is Donaghy a slug for even being mentioned in this mess? Absolutely. He is without doubt qualified to join the lowest of the low for what he’s allegedly done. And keep in mind that we still don’t know the extent of his involvement other than to know that he’s being charged with some of the most egregious crimes against basketball since short shorts were the norm.
But the public and legal scorn he’ll feel over the next however many months and years will surely be sufficient punishment for a man that needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Stern, however, has some serious explaining to do. He’s spent the better part of the time since the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills crusading to reform the (hip hop) culture of the league and all the while one of the league’s officials has been operating in a world far more sinister.
Having sat through and lived through the brawl that night and the subsequent fallout, not a day has gone by that I didn’t rail against the league’s stance to clean up its tarnished image. I said it that night and I’ll go to my dirt nap saying the same thing, had the officials that night done their jobs (and Tim Donaghy was one of the senior members of the crew that night at the Palace) the brawl would have never taken place.
My former coverage partner in Indianapolis (Mark Montieth) and I discussed it the very next morning over breakfast at the Troy Marriott - I’ll never forget that extended weekend. It was the longest 72 hours of my life. Neither of us could figure out why none of the officials saw fit to send Ron Artest or Ben Wallace to their respective locker rooms after the initial contact that instigated the brawl. Had that simple action taken place, the rest would not have.
In the days after the brawl, when the question of what type of discipline was in store for the game officials that seemed to have botched things that night, the league’s only focus was on the players and their misconduct (which they have paid for dearly).
The NBA’s refusal to hold their officials accountable publicly has always bothered me, and I’m sure many other people who are fans of the league or are involved with it in one way or another.
Anyone who’s been around here for an extended period of time knows how rough I’ve been on the league’s game officials, rightly or wrongly in some instances. But my venom, usually aimed at the bottom third of the league’s flimsy officiating ranks, isn’t potent enough to accommodate charges such as the ones that Donaghy and the league is facing now.
The credibility hit here is one that won’t be recovered from anytime soon. And quite frankly, it should not be. The same reforms that Stern has championed in the player ranks since the brawl (and we’re talking everything from the player code of conduct, the fan code of conduct, the dress code and the rule allowing officials to dish out technical fouls if they even think players or coaches are thinking of disrespecting them) need to be cultivated in some form for the officials.
They need to have their ranks fleeced and flushed out for the bad element that surely exists. From all I’ve read over the weekend, Donaghy didn’t get involved in his mess in the last year. He’s been officiating NBA games for 13 years and from all accounts, has been involved in gambling just as long. Everything he’s done with stripes on over the past 13 years needs to be scrutinized. Because we can never be sure about the integrity of his actions now that we’ve learned about the activities he’s been involved in with organized crime.
This is also why I want to know what Stern knew about Donaghy’s actions and if the league knowingly allowed him to continue officiating games this past season while the FBI investigation was ongoing - and if that’s the case, which no one has confirmed, the league has some serious explaining to do for the teams, coaches and players affected by Donaghy’s foolishness. If they didn’t know anything about Donaghy’s actions, I expect heads to roll anyway.
The worst part is this scandal has forced me to shove back Part II of my summer league wrap up, which will be here in two days. But as much as I’d love to talk about just basketball right now, it would be irresponsible for us to sit around and ignore this mess even if we are still waiting on the details and an explanation from the most powerful commissioner in all of sports.
Wrap it up (Part I)!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SALT LAKE CITY - Spending time at an NBA summer league is about so much more than just watching games. It’s also a time to get a feel for the personalities of the players, to visit with executives, coaches and other team personnel and to dig into the details of things that normally wouldn’t even be a topic of conversation in most instances.
In short, if you want answers to questions that have perplexed you for a while, summer league is the right time to try and find relief for your curiosity. Monday night was my last night here (I’m currently in the SLC airport trying to finagle my way back east without upsetting any of the TSA folks who could ship my bags the opposite direction if Blog-Z decides to make an appearance during the return portion of this trip ), so I had to stay up late yapping with people from around the league to get some my questions answered.
And like always, I was reminded that just because you watch someone and think you know their game or have formed your opinion of them as a player, it doesn’t always mesh with what others think. Guys we rough up here for one thing or another, are seen in a totally different light from afar and by people who are scouting them (few people on the planet know talent like advance scouts and those pro personnel guys whose focus is evaluating current pros - as opposed to the guys who scout colleges or international talent).
Since we’re into sharing around here, I wanted to pass along a few interesting tidbits picked up during my short stint here in Big Love country (and I’m warning you it’s long, but worth your time):
Acie Law IV shined in Monday night’s game and has only reinforced what most NBA types thought of him heading into the draft - dude’s a gamer and the kind of young PG the hawks have needed for years. Not only is he going to give them quality minutes at the point, but he can play off the ball with Joe Johnson late in games and be a huge threat. It changes the way teams defend the hawks late in games with both he and JJ on the floor together. And it will come in ways that don’t exist with the Hawks’ other point guards because Speedy (inconsistent shot), T Lue (size), Anthony Johnson (wheels) and Salim (size and handle) all have weaknesses that can be attacked that Law doesn’t - Law’s obviously lacking the NBA experience of these other guys but in the eyes of the folks I talked to not much else. Law is going to put extreme pressure on the veteran incumbents to play at a high level from the start of risk losing ground (and perhaps a starting job or spot in the rotation) to the rookie.
Can Al Horford play center? I asked as many people as I could find. One guy that knows his stuff made a good point to me in response to my question. “He won’t have any more trouble guarding the same guys Zaza has trouble with will he?” one guy said to me. “The difference is he’s a much more rugged and tougher player than Zaza.” Horford is also going to bang in ways Zaza hasn’t (consistently), clean glass (on both ends of the floor and not just offensively) in ways Zaza hasn’t and pass in ways that Zaza simply cannot. He’s from the same decorated high school class as Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Dwight Howard. So Horford’s not coming into the league as a 19 year old guy. He’s 21 and much more physically mature than Smith or Williams were during their rookie seasons. His sprained ankle left many people here upset that they didn’t get to see him bang heads with the bigs from Dallas Monday. But if he returns for this afternoon’s game against Chicago (not likely) or either of the Hawks’ final two games here, more of what he offers will be on full display.
Speaking of my favorite Georgian import (and latest whipping boy, according to some people who felt I was a bit harsh on ZP in my postseason grades for the Hawks), NBA folks love Zaza’s game and price tag ($4 mil per). They’re just not enamored with him as a starting center on a team that’s still in the process of defining itself. “If he wants to be a bruiser fine,” one of my guys told me. “He’s certainly got the body for it. And I’ve seen him do in the past, when he was in Milwaukee he was the brute they brought off the bench to bang guys around. But if he’s going to be a 6-11, 270-pound finesse player, he can’t do anything but come off the bench for me.” That’s exactly where he was for the Hawks for quite a bit of this past season. That said, he’s still one of the better (and young) offensive centers in the league. Zaza is just not a rebound hound the way he could be and the way the Hawks really need him to be.
Nobody splits the room the way Shelden Williams does. Some guys think he’s exactly what he should be and others can’t get over the Hawks drafting him as high as they did. But one old scout who starred as a big man during playing days brought up some really interesting observations about Shelden’s game that I never paid close attention to. “He needs to learn how to play and use his size and brawn to his advantage,” one of my guys told me. “He steps away from contact when he receives the ball in the post as opposed to initiating it first, which is exactly what he’s not supposed to do. But I love this guy. He’s got those long arms and those broad shoulders, and he’s thick in the chest. He’s got everything you need. He just really doesn’t know how to play yet. He needs someone to teach him how to use what he’s got to be the most effective. But he plays hard all the time. I love his heart. He never backs down and he’s not going to give you anything less than his best. Guys just need to know what to do sometimes. They need to be taught how to use what they’ve got. He came into the league and people assumed he was a finished product. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard and people make those kind of ridiculous comments about these players all the time. You can always learn and be molded into a better player.”
NBA types settle the Marvin Williams debate for me every time I bring his name up. “If they’re crazy enough to trade him after two years they won’t have to worry about there being teams interested,” another member of my roundtable said. “That’s just crazy talk. The kid is what, 20 or barely 21? He’s still a pup.” We revisited the 2005 draft and went through (yes again) the fact that the Hawks needed to take one of the point guards (there were three votes for Chris Paul and two for Deron Williams at the table), since they didn’t have two or three years to wait on a player to develop. But as the Hawks are prone to do, they ignored the consensus and went for Marvin. So now that they’ve got him, the idea that they would even entertain moving him so early in his career (and this is just a hypothetical theory, I’ve never had anyone in the Hawks organization come close to even suggesting that they were interested in trading Marvin) strikes outsiders as completely preposterous. “The worst thing you can do is develop talent for someone else,” one of my guys said. “The good teams, the teams that are consistently good, usually brew their own. You always have to add veteran pieces here and there. But the foundation is normally built by grooming your own.”
Last and certainly not least is Josh Smith, whose name will continue to be bandied about until the Halloween deadline for he and the Hawks to agree on a contract extension (and from what I’m hearing, the two sides aren’t as far apart on numbers as you might think but neither side appears to be willing to budge either). My guys warn that the Hawks should be careful, particularly at such a crucial time for the franchise, that they don’t alienate one of the greatest assets. And remember that Josh can play out his options with the Hawks for the next two seasons and become an unrestricted free agent and bolt without the Hawks receiving any compensation for him - a scenario that is far off right now, with so much time to negotiate ahead. One of my guys did offer up the flip side. “Why even make an offer?” he said. “He’ll be a restricted free agent at the of the season [if they don’t agree to an extension]. Let him play it out and make sure this guy is who you want as one of your pillars. But there’s no need to rush into anything. There won’t even be a ton of teams with cap space next summer anyway.” My take is that it’s extremely dangerous to play with this kind of fire when you’re trying to establish your foundation. There’s going to be a market for a guy that can do the things that Josh Smith does, always has and always will be. It’s similar to the situation that Joe Johnson went through in Phoenix, when I think the Suns understood what they had in JJ but perhaps underestimated his value around the league. All it takes is one team to fall in love (just look at Orlando’s vault opening for Rashard Lewis if you need proof) with a guy.
So much else was discussed, but I don’t want to get anyone fired for spending the entire day reading ajc.com on their work computer (and I’ve got to check in now and see if I can wiggle my way into a free upgrade to first class). I’ll be back later this week with some more tidbits and a few other observations.
Third time’s the charm!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SALT LAKE CITY - For the first time in three trips here for summer league with the Hawks, there is a positive consensus from outsiders about the Hawks’ draft picks.
Everyone I’ve talked to here the past 48 hours believes the Hawks did the right thing on draft night. Not one person has knocked the Hawks for taking Al Horford or Acie Law, which is a major departure from the past two trips here when both Marvin Williams and Shelden Williams were panned by many.
It might not seem like a big deal elsewhere. But it’s a stunning development, to not hear negativity about the Hawks’ draft while I’m here with so many different people (scouts, coaches, executives, etc.) from around the NBA.
That doesn’t mean the Hawks are free and clear from scorn, though, because as you might imagine, the decision to deny their assistant coaches out of the final year of their contracts is one of the hot button issues being debated by NBA types here.
But I’m a bit tired of the drama (seems like we all have to endure something like this every single summer), so I’m moving on from that stuff and going to talk just about what I’ve seen from the players that will be on the Hawks’ roster come training camp:
Shelden Williams struggled during his first outing but played like a man among boys Saturday night. I don’t know that anyone should expect those types of numbers from him this season. But I think he’s certainly capable of posting close to a double double, even in 18-24 minutes per night. If he just cleans up the junk around the basket while he’s in the game that should be a realistic goal for him. Anyone expecting anything more (and that includes Shelden playing extensive minutes at center this season) is wishing for something that’s going to be extremely difficult for this guy to accomplish.
Solomon Jones was fouling machine in the first two games and really seemed to struggle with the burly jokers that populate many of these summer league teams. He seems like he’s still trying to catch up with the speed of the games here and in turn hasn’t had as many opportunities to block shots (his NBA calling card now and in the future) the way I’m sure he would have liked to in the first two games. As long as he keeps working hard to get stronger, he’ll be fine.
Al Horford’s been everything he was advertised to be. His attitude is fantastic. The guy doesn’t seem to be fazed at all by his surroundings, which is a task for most rookies when they get their first test of NBA competition. The most impressive thing I’ve noticed about him so far is what a great passer he could be. You can run offense through him because he knows how to work the angles in traffic. He’s going to present the Hawks with some interesting options in terms of playing combinations because of that passing ability.
Acie Law’s shot hasn’t been falling, but he’s certainly the floor leader he was advertised to be. He communicates well and isn’t afraid to bark at his teammates, which is a trait the Hawks have long needed in from a floor leader. I can see him providing quality minutes at point guard and he’s big enough to swing over and play some minutes at shooting guard when need be. Like Horford, he’s going to provide the Hawks some interesting options in the backcourt because of his versatility.
One of the best scenes I’ve witnessed out here so far was the four guys mentioned above piling into a minivan (driven by Hawks equipment man Zac Walsh) for a ride back to the team hotel after Saturday’s win over San Antonio. They were all laughing and relaxing like they’d been teammates forever. And it was totally natural. None of it was forced and they were doing all this without any of the coaches or management crew around, which lets you know that these guys are pretty comfortable in their own skin as well as around the guys that they’re going to have treat like family if they have any hopes of chasing that playoff berth.
It’s a good sign for a team that, if you remember, just two years ago struggled with chemistry issues between the youngsters and the veterans. That’s one issue I think the Hawks have moved on from in these last two drafts.
I’ll be curious to see how this entire bunch comes together during training camp (and you can bet that the 14 players currently under contract are the 14 that will be there on the first day of camp).
Owner’s manual
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I heard the words come out of Billy Knight’s mouth loud and clear this afternoon. I heard what he said. And in the twisted world that has become the land of the Hawks since the ownership fiasco began (doesn’t it seem like this is always at the root of some drama?), it almost made sense.
I said almost.
I’m paraphrasing here with this explanation but it went along the lines of, “we’re in this most crucial of years for not only this regime but for the franchise and since a commitment was made to this coaching staff the organization expects a similar commitment from the coaches.”
But I’m stuck with a nasty feeling in my gut about this whole mess regarding Larry Drew and David Fizdale not being allowed to pursue jobs elsewhere as they enter the final (“Lame Duck”) year of their respective contracts with the Hawks.
Why allow other teams to court them if you weren’t going to allow them to leave? Considering the Hawks’ record the past three years, the fact that other teams are raiding your coaching staff is (in addition to being startling) an indicator of what type of value those coaches have around the league. Perhaps this whole thing is a sign of how much the Hawks value these two assistant coaches, and I truly believe that could be the case. This just isn’t how most of us would show people that you respect them and value what they bring to the organization.
And to those of us on the outside looking in this just appears to be one more instance of the Hawks operating without all the pages of the owner’s manual in place.
All that said, let’s make sure and be clear about a few very important details here:
The Hawks could have fired the entire staff at the end of this past season, allowing the organization and the coaches a chance for fresh starts all the way around. They chose not to, forcing the coaches into the uneasy position of going into a season with absolutely no job security and the possibility of being fired (whenever the organization sees fit) if things don’t go as well as they all hope. On the flip side, if the Hawks do what Toronto did last year under Sam Mitchell, and win their way to a new contract, all of this will be forgotten (well, to an extent).
This idea that these guys would be leaving for lateral positions, as one email I received last night suggested, is not entirely true. Drew’s departure to Sacramento would have been for the same position. But it would have allowed him to move closer to his family, which in my eyes trumps any other factor involved, for the first time in nearly a decade as an assistant coach. And Fizdale’s potential opportunity in Cleveland would have put him on a staff that won the Eastern Conference title and played for the NBA title. So those are both more than justifiable reasons for wanting to move on.
Another very plausible theory is that the Hawks are ultra-sensitive to the negative PR that could come with two prominent assistants leaving like this (jumping ship just before an extremely critical year). But that’s what you get when you send coaches into the final year of a deal without any job security. It’s the reason lots of coaches are fired or resign when placed in this position. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons Boston didn’t allow Doc Rivers to head into the 2007-08 season with something like this hanging over his head. The same goes for Isiah Thomas in New York.
I totally understand the stance the organization is trying to take here. They made a four-year commitment to these coaches when they hired them and have stuck by that, even when the masses were screaming for change. So I can see where they expect the same type of loyalty from the people they have under contract. It’s a rather noble stance to take in theory.
But it’s just not practical. Not when you apply it to the specific situations of each guy on the staff (which remarkably has remained in tact from the day they started). And it is certainly another break from the rest of the league in terms of normal operating procedures. But we should all be getting used to that by now.
Summer league blues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It only took two summer league games for the legions to jump off the bandwagons of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant and hop over to passing ships of Marco Belinelli and Yi Jianlian.
The two American teenagers haven’t blown the world away in Vegas with their early performances. The international stars have been as good or better than advertised, which makes it a lot easier to see why certain people were so high on these guys.
One or two lousy outings during summer league play is not always a good indicator of who can or not play - I watched Qyntel Woods dominate in Salt Lake City a few years ago, and I mean dominate like an All-star would, and it never translated beyond summer league. The extremists are ready to redo the draft based on two games, of course. And that’s where the Hawks come in this week.
They’re off to Salt Lake City later this week for the Rocky Mountain Revue. The last MVP of the Revue [Marvin Williams] wont’ be with them this time. But Shelden Williams and Solomon Jones will be there and so will rookies Al Horford and Acie Law, the two guys everybody is really waiting to see in game action.
Neither of those guys needs to set the world on fire to impress me. They need to handle their business. But winning MVP honors isn’t necessary for me to stay a believer in either of these guys. Granted, I said the same things about Shelden last summer and then he had a really up and down rookie season. This time is a bit different.
I’m looking for other things from Horford and Law. With Horford, I need to see how strong of a post presence he is against professional players. I need to see if what he showed us at Florida translates. For Law, I only need to see if he can be the facilitator the Hawks will need him to be (in whatever capacity) this season. I know he’s a deadeye shooter and as clutch a college player as there has been in these past few drafts. But can he run the show?
I think that’s what we all need to see (and a little bit more never hurts).
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.
Somebody has to go … right?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’re thinking it, too.
The numbers just don’t add up.
The Hawks have too many guys for too few spots, right?.
Maybe not.
I’m talking about all the forwards the Hawks have currently on the roster, as well as the fleet of point guards (though, contract situations will dictate the fates of at least a couple of those smaller guys).
Study the roster of most of the league’s best teams, nearly all of them in fact, and it’s obvious that you need at least five quality players at the forward spots. Not all of them will be Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett, obviously, but they’ll be guys that can play major minutes, if need be.
The Hawks have Josh Smith and Marvin Williams as starters and Shelden Williams, Al Horford and Solomon Jones as the reserves. But we can all agree that Josh and Marvin would probably fit best at the same spot (while each is fully capable of playing other positions).
If we break it down even further, there really needs to be a six-man rotation of big men that play the minutes. And if we go that route we’re including the centers and power forwards only - the small forwards are interchangeable on most teams with the shooting guards).
In that set-up the Hawks would have a six-man crew (with four guys playing major minutes and two guys as situational reserves) of Smith, Shelden Williams, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia as the main four guys and Lorenzen Wright and Jones as the situational guys. They’re not the biggest crew, but as a whole they’d be more than serviceable (wouldn’t we all take a shot-swatting 7-footer who rebounds like Rodman and throws bows and intimidates like Dikembe but this is the real world, not a video game). Are you willing to go to training camp with that crew?
The point guard situation is in need of a bit more tweaking. There’s no way a team carries four point guards (five if you count Salim Stoudamire among them). That’s just too many, particularly when two of them (Anthony Johnson and my man Tyronn Lue, are going into contract years). Speedy Claxton and Acie Law are going to be here, barring something unforeseen happening, so we know we’re talking about either Lue or AJ heading elsewhere via trade (perhaps for another gritty swingman or a defensive-minded small forward type that can be used a situational defender against certain teams to take that extra pressure off of Joe Johnson).
Law’s arrival means that one of those veterans becomes expendable - my guess is AJ is shopped while Lue remains, but nothing’s set in stone. What would you do?
These are the hard decisions the Hawks will have to make between now and the start of training camp. Decisions that MUST be done and done correctly if the Hawks want to go into this season poised to make the necessary steps needed to rise from the ashes of their current state of dysfunction and not just compete for a playoff spot, but also snatch one.
So I’ll ask you again, what would you do?
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