Hoopsworld.com article Hawks: Going With Youth

[wilkins21]

Hawks: Going With Youth

By Caren Sawyer

for HOOPSWORLD.com

Jul 3, 2007, 17:18

The Hawks did not lose much to free agency, but they may try to get something out of it. With no trades going down on draft day the Hawks front office are now “officially” stating Al Horford and Acie Law are not just the future but the present, meaning the Hawks still have some work to do.

The Hawks currently looks like:

PG: Law, Lue, Claxton, A. Johnson

SG: J. Johnson, Stoudamire

SF: Smith (who can also move to PF), Childress

PF: Horford (who should be able to play at C), M. Williams, Wright

C: Pachulia, S. Williams

For the Hawks free agency may be a way to add some veteran leadership to a very young team. With a payroll of around $50M the Hawks have some flexibility but, like many teams, will probably do most of their maneuvering through trades, although they could execute some sign and trade deals.

Where do the Hawks have needs?

If they could find a true point guard, even with Law, they would benefit by starting a veteran, healthy PG and letting Law learn. However this free agent class is quite shallow at the point. After signing Law the Hawks are not likely to fork out the cash for Chauncey Billups. But after Billups there aren’t any other point guards who are much of an improvement over Lue, Johnson or a healthy Claxton. The Hawks may start Claxton, if he can do it, and just see what happens.

The latest free agent is Steve Francis who can play the point but is more of an off-guard. There may be too much of a demand for Francis but he could fill two needs for the Hawks at PG and as a backup SG. Although a bit of a locker-room burden, which could be trouble for a young team, the Hawks may want to at least pursue him.

The Hawks are set at the starting spots for SG and SF with J. Johnson and Smith, and are ok off the bench at SF with Childress. For Stoudamire this will be his third year and time to grow up. The Hawks may try to fill the backup SG spot although both Childress and Smith can play guard. At the SG there may be even less options than the point, which may be how Jason Kapono got his deal in Toronto. The Hawks may just make due with the guards they have rather than dredge someone up in free agency.

At PF the Hawks have a choice of youngsters, will they start Marvin Williams or Al Horford. To start the season the job will be Williams to lose, however he will be on a short leash, especially if Horford can impress off the bench. However Horford is also capable of playing at center. For Horford the summer and pre-season will be about finding his place with Atlanta, PF or C. Again, at PF, the Hawks would make a move if they can find a veteran free agent who could be a mentor for the young Hawks, but finding one who is affordable and can add skill and knowledge to his teammates is not likely to happen. One popular free agent who can play PF, however is more comfortable at the three, would be Andres Nocioni. He would add another level on offense to the Hawks, however as a restricted free agent the Bulls will match any offer, although they could be inclined to do a sign and trade.

At Center the Hawks start Pachulia and bring an underperforming Sheldon Williams off the bench. Centers are rare finds and even less visible in free agency, if this is the best the Hawks can do look for Horford to have a chance to start here.

With the limited opportunities in free agency the Hawks current players may actually be a cut above the free agents. The Hawks may satisfy their needs in the trade market instead. This should be an interesting year for this team; with young trade bait they could bring in another Joe Johnson or comparable player.

This is the year for Hawks management to prove they can do it and start down a new path.

[Diesel]

Sure we could go for Francis, but why would we want to... He's been injured. He's also a lockerroom distraction. I would rather not.

My personal feeling is that if Claxton is healthy (100%), then Claxton and Law becomes our tag team at the point and I contemplate adding Salim to that mix if he has worked on his ball handling, if not, we might consider trading him in a package.

[leftwich]

I have trouble respecting the opinion of someone who lists Marvin at PF and Smith at SF...simply because he knows less about the Hawks than I do.

[Wurider05]

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I have trouble respecting the opinion of someone who lists Marvin at PF and Smith at SF...simply because he knows less about the Hawks than I do.

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You are absolutely right. [censored]!! Marvin is a SF and Josh is PF. Do they even look at the games or do they figure that no one gives a [censored] about the Hawks.

[atlien]

yeah, thats just wrong.

[Peoriabird]

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yeah, thats just wrong.

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How many point guard do we need on the team before analyst stop talking about needing another point guard? Don't we have about 6 on the team currently? Some how this team can never have enough point guards but always have too many forwards. That was apparent last year when Matt Feije & Slava got significant minutes in the rotation

[TheDude]

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I have trouble respecting the opinion of someone who lists Marvin at PF and Smith at SF...simply because he knows less about the Hawks than I do.

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that's what i was thinking....he actually came out with one option for us to choose during free agency, and that was to sign a SF/PF....good lord....marvin battling it out with horford at PF?....poor JSmith practicing all those post moves with Hakeem for nothing (unless he can post someone up at the 3 point line)...

this writer knows nothing about our team...