Joe Soriano
O.J. Lewis5/15 NBA News: Hawks' Future
May 15th 2011 11:48
The Atlanta Hawks were finally able to beat the Orlando Magic, and they also have their future at point guard figured out with the emergence of Jeff Teague in the playoffs. Larry Drew did a poor job of coaching during the regular season, but he actually made some good decisions in the playoffs. They were never going to beat the Bulls but taking the best team in the NBA to six games is certainly something to be proud of. The future looks bright in Atlanta, and this team could challenge for the Conference Title with another big man.
Jamal Crawford was huge for them in the playoffs, and he's a very important piece for the Hawks. They might lose him because they didn't give him an extension last year. He is set to become a free agent, and it doesn't seem as if he wants to re-sign with the Hawks. That would be a huge loss for them because Crawford is their second best scorer and second best shooter. That's because there's this guy named Joe Johnson on the Hawks.
Al Horford is the Hawks' only proven big man, and they don't really have a pure center who is capable of starting every game in a season. Jason Collins and Zaza Pachuila are backups. The Hawks may not even be able to sign that kind of a player because they don't really have much money right now.
So let's pretend that Crawford was not re-signed, and the Hawks were able to keep everyone else. Let's also say that they didn't get a good rookie- they traded their first rounder for Kirk Hinrich- and they didn't sign a free agent or make a trade. I think they would still be able to make the playoffs with his hypothetical roster. They would be a one-and-done team, so this highlights the importance of Crawford. The Hawks really need to sign Crawford and/or a solid true center. Below are my rankings of the players on the Hawks.
1. SG Joe Johnson
2. C Al Horford
3. SF Josh Smith
4. SG Jamal Crawford
5. PG Kirk Hinrich
6. SF Marvin Williams
7. PG Jeff Teague (He needs some more seasoning, but he'll develop enough to get into the top five on the team)
8. C Zaza Pachuila
9. C Jason Collins
10. SG/SF Damien Wilkins
Jamal Crawford was huge for them in the playoffs, and he's a very important piece for the Hawks. They might lose him because they didn't give him an extension last year. He is set to become a free agent, and it doesn't seem as if he wants to re-sign with the Hawks. That would be a huge loss for them because Crawford is their second best scorer and second best shooter. That's because there's this guy named Joe Johnson on the Hawks.
Al Horford is the Hawks' only proven big man, and they don't really have a pure center who is capable of starting every game in a season. Jason Collins and Zaza Pachuila are backups. The Hawks may not even be able to sign that kind of a player because they don't really have much money right now.
So let's pretend that Crawford was not re-signed, and the Hawks were able to keep everyone else. Let's also say that they didn't get a good rookie- they traded their first rounder for Kirk Hinrich- and they didn't sign a free agent or make a trade. I think they would still be able to make the playoffs with his hypothetical roster. They would be a one-and-done team, so this highlights the importance of Crawford. The Hawks really need to sign Crawford and/or a solid true center. Below are my rankings of the players on the Hawks.
1. SG Joe Johnson
2. C Al Horford
3. SF Josh Smith
4. SG Jamal Crawford
5. PG Kirk Hinrich
6. SF Marvin Williams
7. PG Jeff Teague (He needs some more seasoning, but he'll develop enough to get into the top five on the team)
8. C Zaza Pachuila
9. C Jason Collins
10. SG/SF Damien Wilkins
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