> Jeremy Richardson played well in two 10-day stints with the Hawks last season and appeared to have carved a niche on a roster of developing talents.

It never happened. After playing five games with the Hawks, he ended the season in the basketball hinterlands.

Now, he's back and sticking with the Hawks for the remainder of this season after completing the second of two 10-day contracts Saturday. He'd like to be with the Hawks through the summer, into next season and beyond.

"That's what I'm hoping for," the second-year swingman said before the Hawks played the Orlando Magic on Monday night at Amway Arena. "It's good to know that you'll have the security for the rest of this season, and this is definitely something good to have on my resume. I can focus now on doing whatever I can, in however many minutes I see, to help this team get to the playoffs."

After the Hawks' 4-for-1 trade for Mike Bibby on Feb. 16, they needed bodies to fill out the roster. Richardson was coming off an MVP performance at the NBDL All-Star Game.

"We liked him last year," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Now, we have to develop him through the summer, and since we don't have any draft picks this summer, we can use him like an 11th or 12th man, because he has some skills to work with. He just hasn't had the reps needed yet to be totally confident in what he can do out there. But that will come."

Richardson averaged 6.6 minutes in nine games for the Hawks this season before Monday night.

> STOUDAMIRE LIMPS OFF: Hawks reserve Salim Stoudamire scored eight points in seven minutes before limping to the locker room 7:22 before halftime with what appeared to be a sprained ankle. He trotted back onto the floor with 4:48 to play in the half and finished the game with 16 points in 17 minutes.