Off-Season Game Plan: Hawks
5/7/2006 2:36:19 PM
After passing on Chris Paul in the draft last year, the Hawks still need a point guard. In fact, so long as they don't add another swingman, the off-season will have to be considered a success.
The Hawks do face the possibility of losing second leading scorer Al Harrington to free agency, but Marvin Williams will get the chance to step into the regular lineup if the Hawks can't keep Harrington in the fold. Though Williams started slowly, he improved steadily throughout his rookie season, so he could fill the void, but the Hawks aren't in a position where they can just lose a guy who scores 18 points per game and not notice.
With Harrington hoping to command a contract in the neighbourhood of five years and $50-million, the Hawks will have to decide whether they can still sign him to that kind of deal and maintain the financial flexibility necessary to sign forwards Josh Smith and Marvin Williams to long-term extensions in the future.
Whether Harrington stays or not, the Hawks need at least one and maybe even two athletic big men to provide some help for Zaza Pachulia down low. On the free agent market, the Hawks might be interested in Mavericks center DJ Mbenga. Though Mbenga only played 5.5 minutes per game in 43 games this season, the 24 year-old from the Congo seems destined for a nice payday based on his shotblocking potential and a team like the Hawks could afford to take a chance on a developing young big man. It certainly worked last summer with the signing of Pachulia, so the addition of a big like Mbenga might be worthwhile.
If the Hawks look for a point guard on the free agent market, they could make a play for former Hawk Jason Terry, who is currently with the Dallas Mavericks. Given the choice of paying Harrington or Terry, the Hawks might be willing to take the chance that Terry could have a greater impact on the Hawks' fortunes.
In order to pry Terry out of Dallas, though, the Hawks will have to make a big money offer (probably in the neighbhourhood of the five-year, $50-million deal that Harrington is seeking). Speedy Claxton is another veteran point guard that might be worth a look for the Hawks.
Otherwise, dealing for an affordable veteran like Brevin Knight, perhaps in exchange for Josh Childress, would at least give the Hawks a reliable veteran at the point to help the offense run more efficiently.
In addition to trade and free agent attempts to bolster the roster, the Hawks have yet another high lottery pick to bring in more premier talent. If the Hawks are looking for a point guard this year, either Villanova's Randy Foye or Connecticut's Marcus Williams would be the best picks. Bigs like Andrea Bargnani or LaMarcus Aldridge, if he's still available, would surely help the frontcourt as well.
The good news out of all this is that the Hawks' addition of Joe Johnson does give them a building block and there is enough young talent in the fold that it's time for the Hawks to start thinking about making the next step towards being a competitive team for the first time in this millenium.
GM/COACH
Billy Knight/Mike Woodson
CENTERS
Returning: Zaza Pachulia, John Edwards, Esteban Batista
Free Agents: None
FORWARDS
Returning: Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Josh Childress
Free Agents: Al Harrington (UFA), Donta Smith (TO)
GUARDS
Returning: Tyronn Lue, Joe Johnson, Salim Stoudamire
Free Agents: Royal Ivey (UFA)
DRAFT
4th - LaMarcus Aldridge, Andrea Bargnani, Randy Foye, Marcus Williams
FREE AGENCY
Payroll: $30M
TRADE MARKET
Childress (1 year, $2.8M)
