There was a time when the Hawks were all about the promise of youth.
Eventually, draft picks such as Josh Smith and Al Horford started to reach their potential, and the Hawks added more veterans. The Hawks won more games, began to pick later and later in the draft and management and coaches turned their focus away from acquiring prospects and developing them.
The Hawks still are winning, but now say they are ready to make room for youngsters again.
The Hawks don’t have a first-round pick in the draft Thursday, so it’s doubtful they will select a player to fill a major role next season. But the prospect they select with the No. 48 pick is expected to get a spot on the roster and a chance to at least be a minor contributor.
“What you have to weigh is, if we take a collegiate player and he is put in the same situation as Josh Powell or Etan Thomas, could they do as well or better?” Hawks assistant general manager Dave Pendergraft said.
The Hawks signed Powell and Thomas as free agents last summer. Powell, 28, was in and out of coach Larry Drew’s rotation, and Thomas, 32, appeared in 13 regular-season games and one postseason game.
The team’s finances and circumstances make it more likely that the last few roster spots will be filled by younger players in 2011-12.
The Hawks have only nine players under contract next season (seven guaranteed) and little flexibility under the current salary-cap rules. Also, three veteran rotation players have contracts that expire soon: Kirk Hinrich after 2010-11 and Smith and Zaza Pachulia after 2012-13.
Developing young players can provide the team cheaper options for its rotation in the future. The Hawks traded Jordan Crawford, their 2010 first-round pick, along with this year’s first-round pick, but they still have some options.
The most promising is point guard Jeff Teague, who was impressive while subbing for Kirk Hinrich against Chicago in the playoffs. He’s under contract next season, and the Hawks will have the chance to retain him for 2012-13 (assuming the new salary-cap rules don’t change his circumstance).
Another prospect is Pape Sy, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2010. The Hawks bought out Sy’s contract with his French club team and signed him to a guaranteed contract last season, with an option for 2011-12.
Sy, 23, played 23 games for Atlanta’s Development League affiliate last season. He played in three regular-season games and four postseason games for the Hawks, though none of the minutes were in meaningful situations.
The Hawks signed forward Magnum Rolle in April. Rolle, 25, has a non-guaranteed contact for next season and is scheduled to participate in the team’s minicamp later this month, along with Sy and the player selected in the draft Thursday.
The Hawks also own the rights to Sergiy Gladyr, their second-round pick in the 2009 draft. Gladyr has played the past two seasons in the top division of the Spanish league and this summer will compete for the Ukraine in the European Championships.
“If the NBA was a game of H-O-R-S-E you could bring him over now,” Pendergraft said. “But physically he needs to mature a little bit. ... He’s only 21, so will he ever be an NBA player? I’m not ready to put a percentage on it.”
