UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long. We now have our answer to the question originally posed above. The Hawks have turned to ... Paul Millsap, who has been a pretty fair power forward for the Utah Jazz.. (And also to DeMarre Carroll, Millsap's once and future teammate.) But I'm not sure that changes much. Millsap is a good player but not a great one.

The Atlanta Hawks always conceded – privately, not publicly – that landing Dwight Howard would be difficult. (For the record, they believed he’d stay with the Lakers.) But they had to try. It would have made no sense to be $30 million under the salary cap and let the NBA’s most talented center enter the showroom without kicking his figurative tires.

But now the Dwightmobile is headed toward Houston and the Hawks are facing a cold reality, at least as regards the summer of 2013. Most of the other big-name free agents are gone: Chris Paul back to the Clippers, Al Jefferson to Charlotte, Andre Iguodala to Golden State. Put bluntly, there was nobody still on the board -- and this included Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll -- who will make the Hawks anything close to a championship contender.

The only real way for the Hawks to recoup much from this summer is by working a sign-and-trade with Houston for Josh Smith. The Rockets now have no need for center Omer Asik, and it has been speculated that point guard Jeremy Lin might be moved, too. But acquiring those two plus Millsap and Carroll wouldn’t transform the Hawks in any significant way, and taking on their contracts – both Rockets are scheduled to make $8.3 million each of the next two seasons – would compromise the Hawks’ chances in next summer’s bazaar.

To his credit, general manager Danny Ferry never characterized this summer as make-or-break. Had the Hawks gotten lucky and hooked Howard, they’d have taken a step up in class. (Although some will suggest the Rockets are the team that got unlucky.) Now the local franchise will have to try to find their superstar elsewhere, and the confounded thing about superstars is that they’re hard to find.

Thursday's print column via myajc.com: Would a Smith sign-and-trade jump-start the Hawks?

Tuesday's print column via myajc.com: Key question - should the Hawks pursue Dwight Howard?