Atlanta Hawks: Catching up
I’m back in the saddle after a two-week hiatus from the beat. Yes, it was only two weeks away from work. The frantic emails, messages and comments from my blog people made it seem like I abandoned my child for two months. But I will take it as a good sign that some of you suffered separation anxiety without the blog. I can tell you I had no problem coping.
Anyway, I predicted not much interesting would happen while I was gone and it looks like I was pretty much on point. That doesn’t mean nothing happened, though, so let me give a rundown in no particular order. . .
What happened: The Hawks re-signed free agent center Jason Collins to a one-year contract.
What it means: Atlanta thinks Collins will be more effective in 2010-11 because he will be in better shape. Word is he’s already lost a significant amount of weight. Also, ASG’s Michael Gearon Jr. is on record as saying (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) he didn’t think Collins was properly utilized by Woody. So maybe L.D. gets Collins gets more minutes.
What happened: The Hawks signed free agent forward Josh Powell to a one-year contract.
What it means: The Hawks essentially swapped Joe Smith for a player who is about the same height, 15 pounds heavier (at least before recently cutting off his braids), and eight years younger.
It’s hard to make a straight comparison since the Powell has logged just 3,293 career minutes compared to 26,953 for Smith. But they played equal minutes last season, when Powell continued to be a much worse offensive player than Smith even considering Smith’s decline. Really, from a statistical standpoint, I can’t see anything that Powell does appreciably better than Smith and a few other things he does worse.
He’s heavier, though, so I guess that’s something.
What happened: Signing Powell and Collins pushed Atlanta’s team salary (the figure used to determine if it must pay the luxury tax) to roughly $67.6 million for 12 players.
What it means: The Hawks must add one player to get to the league minimum of 13. They have about $2.7 million to spend until they exceed the tax threshold. To add a player or players and avoid the tax, they can use all of the bi-annual exception of $2.08 million, part of the mid-level exception of $5.765 million or one or more minimum-salary exceptions.
What happened: Shaq remained unsigned as the market for his services continued to dry up.
What it means: If Shaq really wants to play for a contender, then he’s likely going to have to play for the minimum or not much more and also accept a bench role. If he will do both, the Hawks remain interested.
What happened: Mo Evans had arthroscopic surgery to repair knee cartilage damage.
What it means: The Hawks say the surgery, performed last week, was minor and Mo will be ready to go for training camp.
What happened: L.D. added Kenny Gattison to his staff.
What it means: After hiring Lester Conner as his lead assistant, L.D. got another coach who earned a hard-nosed reputation as a player. I have to think that means defense, rebounding and overall toughness will be a focus for the Hawks.
L.D. said shooting coach Mark Price won’t be retained.
What happened: ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that Jamal Crawford asked the Hawks for a contract extension.
What it means: I’ve heard Jamal would like an extension but not sure how much he’s really pushed the issue since he knows Al would be next up for a deal. It’s not hard to see where Jamal is coming from: He likes playing for the Hawks, he had a strong season and like all players he’d like to get a new deal under the current CBA.
But I can’t see where it would benefit the Hawks to give J.C. a new deal before they see how this season plays out. If things don’t go as they hope, then Crawford becomes either a nice trade piece at the deadline or his $10.1 million salary comes off the books after the season. Either option would give the Hawks some flexibility to regroup.
What happened: Smoove got married.
What it means: Don’t ask me. I’m single.
What happened: Blog commenter Truth-Serum once again became a punk when left unsupervised, sullying my blog people with his childish antics.
What it means: In addition to confirming that dude has too much free time and some serious issues, he’s had his multiple IPs banned for the umpteenth time. He’s always found a way around that and in the past he’s been allowed to return because his manic phases are usually followed by periods of lucidity laced with mere annoyance rather than outright jerkiness.
But now his ban is permanent. Each time he comes back he will be booted as quickly as possible regardless of the content of his messages (which won’t be hard to identify since 99 percent of his posts are on one topic). I don’t like to do this because I’m a marketplace of ideas proponent, but Truth-Serum has lost his privileges for being the only commenter who can’t act right.
Thanks to my blog people who emailed the AJC folks to let them know he got out of control while I was away.
MC
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238 comments Add your comment
Mr. Phil
August 2nd, 2010
4:32 pm
@MC
“LD is supposed to be having a clinic for his assistants soon to teach them the finer points of his offense.’
I am looking forward to that article.
I would also be interested in how/who/when this offense was developed.
Is it something LD just dreamed up one day? Has he gotten input from anybody else on the potential effectiveness of this offense? Is this going to be some kind of fad thing that is not really effective for the first team to try it but turns out to be pure genius 15 to 20 years later (see west coast offense in the NFL) ?
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:33 pm
Sign Damien Wilkins and Earl Watson and move on. If we want to go BIG, play Teague/JJ/Smith/Horford/Zaza. No need to waste $ on Shaquille OLDneal. Horford and Zaza actually played well together last year, but old stubborn butt still would’nt play em together that much.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:37 pm
Or we could even go Marvin/Horford/Zaza at times. Or Smith/Horford/Collins? Or Smith/Powell/Horford? Got a few options that we would’nt have under Woody’s nonflexibile behind.
Freshfromatl
August 2nd, 2010
4:39 pm
Terrell,
I agree with your comment. Good post.
MsDee
August 2nd, 2010
4:40 pm
Oh is Damian Wilkins still on the market? We could use his hustle. He could be our ‘Mario West’, just with Offense to go with his defense!
Reginald
August 2nd, 2010
4:41 pm
MC
Any chance the Hawks make a trade at some point before the season or possibly early on into the season? Marvin Williams’ name has been mentioned in these trade talks
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:44 pm
Cant believe we dont think we need another sf. Mo is a 2 guard, not a sf. Damien Wilikins fits the bill. Cant believe Dominique hasnt put a word in for him. Talk about a “heat check”.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:50 pm
MsDee, he worked out for Cleveland, but they just signed Joey Graham.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:52 pm
Reginald, I cant see them moving Marvin, and leaving us with Mo Evans at sf. Yikes! Unless they plan on moving JJ to sf, I cant asee it happening.
KevinM
August 2nd, 2010
4:55 pm
Ken Strickland-alias Rick Sund
Hasn’t anyone figured that out yet? All about employee #2 and the core.
Enough said there………
MC-welcome back, someone needed to admin this blog…..lots of crazies out there….and then they lock up the only blog left while you are gone……
I gotta agree MC-little happened while you were gone, and few were surprised.
Same core, one new bench player, and we are going to squeeze in a 13th player on the roster…why waste $$ on slots 14 and 15?
This team is the best team you can buy under the salary cap. Problem is, only the Hawks are playing by these rules for those who have championship hopes.
As long as Shaq isn’t signed, there’s always that limited window!
What’s funny, is that I just saw Mark Price this am at a ChikFilA and was going to ask him if how things were going under LD? Good thing I didn’t huh?
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:57 pm
How bout a lineup of Jamal/Jo Craw/JJ/Josh/Al to finish a game? Dont know about the defense, but what an offensive nightmare for the opposing team.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
4:58 pm
Mark Price out. Tyronne Hill should be next. How you gonna teach post moves, when you never had em?
Prison Mike
August 2nd, 2010
4:59 pm
It’s funny that the truth serum blip is the most interesting part of this piece, no offense of course just slow as molasses unless you aren’t a cheat fan.
ILL-Logical
August 2nd, 2010
5:01 pm
All is right with the world again-MC has returned. And he brought news.
Question: After a full season on the beat under your belt, what is your assessment of the Hawks ability to compete successfully in the new star focused environment of the NBA? Can they be very successful and rise in the ranks or will it all be about the Lakers vs the Heat?
O'Brien
August 2nd, 2010
5:04 pm
terrell,
I also dont think Mo is a good backup SF. But I think the Hawks will give JJ minutes at backup SF, so they can have him and Jamal on the court at the same time.
Prison Mike
August 2nd, 2010
5:05 pm
Was going to suggest jamal crawford for joel pryzbilla because both have expirings but they just signed wes matthews to a huge deal, damn shame that would be a good deal for both teams. Come to think of it their depth chart is 1. Oden 2. Camby 3. Pryzbilla and joel is coming off a major injury, hmmmmmm.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:08 pm
@MsDee: “Out of all the players, I’m really only concern with what is Marvin doing in the summer? Is he one of the guys you were trying to run down?”
yes. last time i saw him, i think it was during the summer camp before Vegas, he was pretty vague when i asked him specifics on what he was working on (and really most guys are vague when i ask that kind of stuff). Marvin is supposed to be at some event this weekend so hopefully i can make another run at him.
The Real JC
August 2nd, 2010
5:19 pm
@terrell – couldn’t agree more. Nothing like shedding the image of Woody 2 than getting rid of his cohorts.
Kenny Gattison and Lester Connor will have much more of an effect on this team than Jason Collins and Josh Powell.
The Real JC
August 2nd, 2010
5:26 pm
@KevinM – I ran into Price at the airport last year. Not much of a talker. Maybe that’s why he didn’t work out as a coach?
Najeh Davenpoop
August 2nd, 2010
5:30 pm
Not a big fan of letting Mark Price go. Can’t see how having a guy with his accomplishments and credibility on the bench for a team that has a couple of players who desperately need to improve their shooting is a good thing.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
5:31 pm
MC, JC2 better get more than Mario’s minutes.
Hoops
August 2nd, 2010
5:32 pm
The Hawks have had recent discussions with the Cavs and the Pistons. I would like to see the following moves if the Hawks are serious about improving:
Cavs & Hawks trade-Cavs get Marvin & Bibby. Hawks get Shaq (S&T), Sessions, and Moon. The contracts work.
Pistons & Hawks trade-Pistons get Josh Smith. Hawks get T. Prince (expiring contract) and Jonas Jerebko.
I don’t like giving up Josh Smith, but this makes the Hawks a much better team IMHO and they have expiring contracts to re-sign Horford and possibly Crawford the next season.
PG-Sessions/Teague
SG-JJ/Crawford/Crawford2
SF-Prince/Moon/Evans
PF-Horford/Powell/Jerebko
C-Shaq/Zaza/Collins
We can have this line up and stay under the luxury tax level easy.
I Heart Atlanta
August 2nd, 2010
5:32 pm
MC!!!!!!!!
What number is Powell going to wear?????
Thanks in ADVANCE
PUBLIX
August 2nd, 2010
5:33 pm
I don’t understand why the Hawks have not signed a C yet. We have Bibby under contract and should definitely get rid of him for something. I would keep Marvin for right now just because he is still young and we have a new coach. Bibby has had his great time and is just collecting money at this point.
I would not mind seeing a McGee in Atlanta, maybe a 3 team trade like Bibby and first round draft pick to Bobcats (need a PG), Stephen Jackson to Washingtong (need a SF) and McGee plus second round draft pick to Hawks. Everyone gets better! We finally get an unproven C who has a ton of potential.
MC what do you think?
PUBLIX
August 2nd, 2010
5:36 pm
I would love McGee more then any C at this point. He is very unselfish, athletic as hell and very very young. I give him 2 years before he is an All Star.
Wabe
August 2nd, 2010
5:36 pm
“What happened: Blog commenter Truth-Serum once again became a punk when left unsupervised, sullying my blog people with his childish antics.
What it means: In addition to confirming that dude has too much free time and some serious issues, he’s had his multiple IPs banned for the umpteenth time. He’s always found a way around that and in the past he’s been allowed to return because his manic phases are usually followed by periods of lucidity laced with mere annoyance rather than outright jerkiness.
But now his ban is permanent. Each time he comes back he will be booted as quickly as possible regardless of the content of his messages (which won’t be hard to identify since 99 percent of his posts are on one topic). I don’t like to do this because I’m a marketplace of ideas proponent, but Truth-Serum has lost his privileges for being the only commenter who can’t act right.”
Hilarious. Good stuff MC.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:38 pm
@ Rev: wow, that’s pretty intense, haha. i already got an email from niremetal asking me to help clear things up.
as for Horford’s quote, he didn’t come close to saying he would leave if the Hawks don’t bring in a center. he did hint that he’d like to see which direction the team goes, but he also said he didn’t even know what the Hawks are thinking. i think the gist of it was that it was too early to say what would happen with his contract. Al is s another guy i want to run down to see what he’s thinking, but he’s in the DR right now.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:40 pm
@niremetal: “Welcome back, MC. I think that Powell is one of those guys for whom stats are bound to be misleading considering that he was backing up Gasol and Odom and, when he made it to the floor, was asked to do pretty much nothing except play on-ball post D and rebound.”
that could be. it’s hard to say since he will be in a different team context now. the Hawks say he has a nice shot.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 2nd, 2010
5:41 pm
I meant to say can’t see how having a guy like him is a bad thing.
Count me in as one of the people who would like to know what Marvin is doing this offseason to improve. Hopefully he’s working on outside shooting and defense.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:42 pm
@ Mr. Phil: “I would also be interested in how/who/when this offense was developed. Is it something LD just dreamed up one day? Has he gotten input from anybody else on the potential effectiveness of this offense? Is this going to be some kind of fad thing that is not really effective for the first team to try it but turns out to be pure genius 15 to 20 years later (see west coast offense in the NFL) ?”
it’s definitely got some Princeton principles to it. L.D. and Teague said the Nets ran some aspects of it during the Kidd days. my guess is that it’s a mish-mash of several different philosophies. i hope i can get into that clinic.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:44 pm
@ I Heart Atlanta: “M.C. SOOOO GLAD UR BACK!!!!!! Do You think Shaq would actually go overseas? I couldn’t see it happening”
thanks . . . i can’t see it happening, either. if playing backup minutes for the vet minimum hurts his ego, i’ve got to think Europe, even for more cash, would hurt more.
UGA
August 2nd, 2010
5:44 pm
MC:
Will the Hawks sign a 14th guy for cheap? It would make since to get another PG or PF who can stretch the floor with his shooting. For example, Bobby Brown and Rob Kurz
UGA
August 2nd, 2010
5:46 pm
MC:
Don’t you think Josh Boone would be a good fit here for that 13th spot? I’m sure we could get him for the minimum.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:46 pm
@ Reginald: “Any chance the Hawks make a trade at some point before the season or possibly early on into the season? Marvin Williams’ name has been mentioned in these trade talks”
sure, they could make a trade. but i really haven’t sensed much enthusiasm for moving Marvin. i’ve read elsewhere that they are eager to send him away so maybe i’m off but everything i’ve been able to gather is they consider Marvin as part of the proverbial “core” and aren’t really looking to move him.
PUBLIX
August 2nd, 2010
5:48 pm
We need a C, one who can run not an old Shaq. Get McGee!
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:49 pm
@KevinM: “What’s funny, is that I just saw Mark Price this am at a ChikFilA and was going to ask him if how things were going under LD? Good thing I didn’t huh?”
haha, yeah, that could have been awkward. it sucks that the comments got out of hand when i was gone and the admins had to shut it down. monitoring the comments is part of my job but i guess there was no one to do it while i was gone. it’s no secret staffing is an issue for newspapers and it only gets worse in the lean summer days. but a brotha had to take some time off.
PUBLIX
August 2nd, 2010
5:49 pm
you get Shaq and you have yourself an Albert Haynesworth of ATL
PUBLIX
August 2nd, 2010
5:51 pm
“where shopping is a pleasure”
Rod from College Park
August 2nd, 2010
5:51 pm
@MsDee: “Out of all the players, I’m really only concern with what is Marvin doing in the summer? Is he one of the guys you were trying to run down?”
yes. last time i saw him, i think it was during the summer camp before Vegas, he was pretty vague when i asked him specifics on what he was working on (and really most guys are vague when i ask that kind of stuff). Marvin is supposed to be at some event this weekend so hopefully i can make another run at him.
Vague pretty much describes his game. Hopefully he is taking ballet, which would help him with coordination, and maybe he has visited the wizard, and asked for some heart.
drmaryb (*_*)
August 2nd, 2010
5:52 pm
MC
Welcome Home! Thank You for all the tid-bits! Yeah Man … TS jacked my I’d along with
Grand-Dad & Sautee, totally un-provoked, me because I chose to ignore his ignorant ISH.
Crazy people don’t like being ignored! I definitely emailed a complaint and your staff listened.
Now, we have our blog back!
Hallelujah!
Lots of Love in the air with all the celebrity weddings this weekend:
Congratulations and best wishes to all the unions.
Wow! I’m just glad you’re back and we can get some inside tid-bits on the Hawks!
Shaq is in reality mode and hopefully returns to the NBA this year – If not here? Somewhere.
Shaq still has talent to help a team if he realizes his current status and roles.
I still hope we can land him here.
Best Wishes to the new HC and his staff! We have a lot of under-utilized talent on the roster and
I hope Jason gets a chance to play!
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:53 pm
@ILL-Logical: “After a full season on the beat under your belt, what is your assessment of the Hawks ability to compete successfully in the new star focused environment of the NBA? Can they be very successful and rise in the ranks or will it all be about the Lakers vs the Heat?”
the Hawks, as always, certainly have potential to be better. but here is the thing. the Hawks often bring up those Larry Brown Pistons as an example of a so-called star-less team that won a title. that’s true. but i don’t think it’s a very good analogy because a) those Pistons teams were tenacious on defense and tough-minded and i don’t think anyone would say the Hawks are either of those things right now and b) it only happened once. the Pistons are an outlier to the rule that you need superstars to win it all.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:55 pm
@terrell: “MC, JC2 better get more than Mario’s minutes.”
haha, i feel ya. i think he will.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
5:57 pm
@ I Heart Atlanta: “MC!!!!!!!! What number is Powell going to wear????? Thanks in ADVANCE”
trying to find out, will let you know.
I Heart Atlanta
August 2nd, 2010
5:59 pm
Appreciate it MC, i know he can’t wear 21 anymore
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
6:03 pm
@ I Heart Atlanta: Powell hasn’t decided on a number yet because, as you say, No. 21 is out.
Michael Cunningham
August 2nd, 2010
6:05 pm
@drmaryb: thanks . . . . my guess is Shaq will wait until closer to training camp to see how the contenders’ rosters look then.
terrell
August 2nd, 2010
6:07 pm
Why would the Wizards give up McGee? The nerve of some people.
I Heart Atlanta
August 2nd, 2010
6:09 pm
Appreciate it MC
Glad to have u back
Melvin
August 2nd, 2010
6:12 pm
MC,
I thought the Hawks had interest in Kwame Brown. Do you know if they are talking to him?
2 FOR JOHN DREW
August 2nd, 2010
6:20 pm
MC
I missed u man !!!!!!!
Any insight on why LD would let Price walk ?