Atlanta Hawks: Roster breakdown
Vivlamore reporting from Hawks practice. Here is the roster breakdown story for Tuesday’s print edition of the AJC.
Less than a week remains before NBA rosters must be trimmed to a maximum of 15 players by Monday. The Hawks brought 19 players into training camp and the roster now stands at one over the limit. It is possible the team will go into the regular season with fewer than the maximum, allowing management flexibility to make an early-season trade or signing.
Here is a look at how the roster is shaping up prior to the Nov. 2 regular-season opener.
Roster size
The Hawks will have at least 13 players on their roster. Only 13 will be active for games. They have guaranteed contracts with 11 veterans and first-round draft pick John Jenkins. Second-round pick Mike Scott has a partially guaranteed contract. His contract becomes fully guaranteed if he is still on the roster Jan. 10.
Of keeping all 13 guarantees on the roster head coach Larry Drew said, “That is pretty set.”
Drew said he and general manager Danny Ferry have yet to decide on how many players they will keep.
“For me, and I’ve done it both ways,” Drew said of staying at or below the maximum. “We’ve had 13 and we’ve kept two spots open. I’ve had 14 and we’ve kept one. Or we’ve kept 15 guys. It’s a matter of looking at what we feel is going to be the best for our club. We’ve got some guys in here who are fighting for a roster spot. Guys I really like. After this is all said and done we’ll sit down with management and make a decision.”
Three for one
If the Hawks keep 15 players that leaves Anthony Tolliver, Damion James and James Anderson competing for the two remaining spots. Tolliver (6-foot-8) and James (6-7) give the Hawks options at the forward position. Anderson (6-6) is a guard, a position the Hawks have depth. Defensive ability, and how quickly each learns schemes, may well decide who stays.
Stepping up
James has impressed with his play during exhibition games. He has appeared in five games, including two starts, and has averaged 7.4 points and 7.0 rebounds. He came off the bench in Saturday’s win over Dallas and had 10 points and seven rebounds in less than 17 minutes.
“I think I’ve been doing pretty good the whole preseason,” James said. “I’m going to continue to play the way I play. If you play the way you are supposed to play, good things will happen.”
In six exhibitions, Tolliver has averaged 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds. Anderson, in five games, has averaged 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds.
Going small
In the numerous offseason moves made by Ferry, the Hawks became a smaller team than in the recent past. It’s an issue, especially on the defensive end, that the team will have to overcome.
“We might just be a little undersized,” Josh Smith said. “We were undersized before but we are very undersized now. That shouldn’t be an issue. We have a lot of feisty and competitive people on this team who hate to lose. I think that will outweigh the so-called decreases that this team has.”
Guards
The Hawks consider their three speedy guards, all capable of playing the point, an asset. Jeff Teague returns with Devin Harris and Lou Williams added to the mix. Harris and Williams, and perhaps eventually Teague, can also play shooting guard. Each are an option to replace Joe Johnson.
The Hawks added a number of long-range shooters at the position in Kyle Korver, DeShawn Stevenson, Anthony Morrow and Jenkins.
Forwards
Smith will return as the power forward. Ivan Johnson and Scott will be backups. Johnson can play center if pressed into action. Korver and Stevenson may see time at small forward.
“That gives us some flexibility from the standpoint that if we need to adapt and make some minor adjustments with our lineup we have the ability to do that,” Drew said.
Centers
A healthy Al Horford will start at center. He will be backed up by Zaza Pachulia and Johan Petro. There will be times when Drew wants a bigger lineup that Pachulia will play center, Horford power forward and Smith small forward.
Bench
The starting lineup is to be determined at shooting guard and small forward. It appears that Harris and Stevenson will initially fill those positions based on exhibition games. However, Drew stresses no decisions have been made and the lineup likely will change based on matchups.
The coach said he will sit down with each player this week to discuss his role. He wants to avoid any confusion.
“So everybody will be clear,” Drew said. “So there won’t be any guess work about ‘What am I supposed to do? What do you want me to do?’ We’ll eliminate that.”
- Chris Vivlamore
LATEST NEWS
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* Many options at small forward
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* Hawks overcome slow start to beat Hornets
* Preseason more about evaluation
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310 comments Add your comment
doc
October 23rd, 2012
9:38 am
doc – we must talk sometime:
I got stories !
” The Stormy Petrels “
it would be a pleasure my friend.
played baseball at ou as the fiscal cutbacks came between my freshman year and senior year.
bet you know this guy they recruited my senior year to take over the baseball program, joe willingham. one of the best. if i hadnt felt so strong about my career path he was going to push me in the direction of the mets, whom he scouted for. nothing but respect for the guy.
Marcus
October 23rd, 2012
10:41 am
ESPN.com is hailing the Heat for doing what Billy Knight tried to do …. albeit much more successful, esp. given they have the best player on the planet.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/15523/it-all-starts-with-lebron-james
2 FOR JOHN DREW
October 23rd, 2012
11:37 am
entertaining blog ….. Enjoy your break C-VIV
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
11:46 am
The following list contains the 1 or 2 players that will most likely get cut, Petro, Anderson, Korver, Morrow, Tolliver, James, and Stevenson. It’s a certainty that Josh, Al, Teague, Zaza, Ivan, Williams, Harris, Scott and Jenkins won’t get cut. With the slim pickings at SF, we can expect James to make the roster. Tolliver brings the versitility and shooting LDrew likes.
Stevenson will hopefully bring the DEF that’s needed, but if James doesn’t start, it’s an indication of Drews preference for OFF over DEF and rebounding. Both Morrow and Korver provide excellent long range shooting, although Morrow provides more overall ability. It’s really hard to say what we can get from Petro, but it’s safe to say he’ll give us more overall than we got from Dampier or Collins if given consistent mins based on his youth, superior athleticism and stamina alone.
However, on the list of potential players to be cut, he’ll probably be the easiest player to replace from the players that will be available after final team cuts are made. Unlike past decisions regarding draft picks under Woodson, Drew, and former GM RSund, Ferry has mandated that this yrs draftees will make the roster and be developed.
Even though he’s more experienced, Tolliver hasn’t shown anything during preseason that shows he offers an advantage in shooting, rebounding, DEF, or versatility over rookie Scott. While Tolliver has likely reached his ceiling as a player, Scott has definite room for improvement. With the DEF ability James has shown, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Anderson and/or Stevenson cut.
However, if contracts are included as a deciding factor, like it was with Petro, things could change regarding Stevenson. In the end, it could all be easily resolved by maintaining a 15 man roster and cutting JAnderson, who’s been the least productive and least impressive player in camp so far.
O'Brien
October 23rd, 2012
11:48 am
When Jenkins was drafted, somebody made the comment that he has a specific skill. He is a shooter. The same can be said for Damion James and his specific skill. He is a rebounder. In college, he averaged 9.3 rebounds per game in 29.3 mpg…playing the 3 spot. We have seen it translate in the preseason, with his rebounding average.
I dont mind him not starting day 1, game 1, as long as he gets his minutes. Childress did not start when he was here, but he got minutes, and outplayed Marvin at times. As a result, Woody would have Childress in at the end of games, not Marvin. Now if James comes off the bench and plays well once the season starts, he should be rewarded.
One concern with James, and maybe AJ mentioned it before. He has a history of getting injured, so maybe LD feels better bringing him along slowly off the bench.
PD
October 23rd, 2012
11:52 am
They should have kept Keith Benson. They need size, plus his offensive game is way better than Petro. Unfortunately, Petro is guaranteed and locked in on this team. Drew needs to incorporate the bigs more.
MsDee
October 23rd, 2012
12:02 pm
CV,
I know that practice should be taking place sometime now or later today. Here is a repost from early in this blog:
CV,
If you get the opportunity again to talk with Drew, could u ask him about his feelings on Damion James? If he won’t say much, just inform him on how much us Hawks fans would just LOVE to see him on the team. He is such a hustler and tough rebounder that it would just be hard to not see him on this team, game after game. Let him know that both James and Ivan are fans favorites here and let him know to not disappoint us..thx in advance, Chris!!
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
12:08 pm
I don’t think BKnight got a fair shake. He definitely didn’t have the full support of Management, and his HC obviously did a 180 on him as far as what he said he wanted to get hired and what he did after getting hired. Woodson’s greatest accomplishment was to convince management that his approach we the best approach, which got BK ousted.
Marvin and the Landlord were mistake, but the Landlord was definitely BKs mistake while Marvin was on Woodson. It was Woodson who spoke out about not seeing either CP3 or DWil as NBA caliber talent. He even stated reason for doubting them as their size and/or stature, with him saying CP3 was too small and short, and DWill too hefty and slow.
Neither player was a very good outside shooter coming out of college, but they have since corrected that problem. I honestly believe their outside shoot ability was the real reason Woodson didn’t want either player running his team, and those size, weight excuses were just smokescreens. If BK had been allowed to fire Woodson, or been coersed into catering to Woodsons desire not to draft CP3 or DWill, we’d be seeing the Miami model doing its thing in the ATL.
Marvin, Horford, Josh, JJ and CP3, WOW! All 4 of these players would have thrived playing with CP3, especially Marvin. JJ would have played the way he did when he played next to Nash, and Josh would have kept his butt a lot closer to the lane and launched far fewer long range jumpers.
Back to reality, I’m through dreaming.
darrell starks
October 23rd, 2012
12:18 pm
Thanks Big Brother Ray, you are totally right about Mehmet Okur, if Danny Ferry is really serious about this season he would sign him ASAP.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
October 23rd, 2012
12:20 pm
Hawks are on the verge of having a special season with the right pieces on this team.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Buddy Grizzard
October 23rd, 2012
12:30 pm
Ken, why would we have Marvin if we had drafted CP3? Some other sucker would have taken him. And as others have noted, if we drafted Paul or Williams, we would not have been bad enough to take Horford with the 3rd pick. You don’t think the “Basketball Expert” who no longer has a job in the NBA didn’t get a fair shake? Just when you think you’ve heard it all…
Astro Joe
October 23rd, 2012
12:31 pm
OB, I think Damion James has played around 25% of the NBA games he was eligible to play in (the equivalent of playing around 21 of 82 games in a season). That doesn’t mean that he will ALWAYS stay injury-prone.. but it does mean that he needs to prove that he can be productive and healthy at the same time (because as of yet, he has NOT proven that at all).
Buddy Grizzard
October 23rd, 2012
12:31 pm
blah double negative you get the idea.
darrell starks
October 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
2012 HAWKS
STARTERS TEAGUE, LOU, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA
BENCH DEVIN, MORROW, KORVER, IVAN, OKUR
RESERVE JENKINS, ?, ?
THIS HAWKS TEAM WOULD BE A SOLID GOOD TEAM.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
October 23rd, 2012
12:42 pm
I wonder if the Celtics will switch to a hybrid or totally position less system if Miami is successful with this revolutionary system?
Heck how bout the Hawks? This sounds fascinating…
Slimjr
October 23rd, 2012
12:49 pm
I believe the term [pride goes before a fall] was Billy Knight..
Allegedly, he was so sure of himself drafting [Shell Head] instead of manning the phones to work on deals, on draft night he was out walking the dogs…Huh?.
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
12:52 pm
BUDDY GRIZZARD-Thanks for catching that gross error and bringing it to my attention. I should have put Childress’ name in his spot.
BIG RAY/DARRELL STARKS-I tried to see what Okur has left in the tank, and I don’t think he’s on anyones roster. He last played in New Jersey last yr and his stats were 17gms played, 14 started, 26.7MPG
i_am_soulstar
October 23rd, 2012
12:54 pm
Kind of surprised that Terrence Williams got cut from the Pistons. His numbers were up last year for the Kings. Not surprised by CDR though.
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
12:56 pm
37.4FG%, 31.93p%, .600FT%, 4.8RPG, and 7.6PPG. I doubt if Ferry has any interest in him whatsoever at this point since he had a chance to take him over Petro in the JJ trade and chose Petro.
i_am_soulstar
October 23rd, 2012
1:05 pm
Then again, the Pistons have a glut of small forwards.
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
1:05 pm
The fact that it’s been mentioned recently that we might not carry 15 players might indicate Ferry really is looking to add to the roster. It might be that he’s looking for a specific player or players to be released before acting. Not making a roster cut leading up to the cut deadline might indicate he wants to hold onto his assets until the last min for trade purposes.
We do have definite duplication at SG/SF and PF, namely Korver/Morrow, and Scott/Tolliver. Petro and Stevenson could also be considerations as well. Some of you might say what about PG with Teague, Harris and Williams, or why not add Jenkins to the SG mix. Well, the 3 PGs aren’t going anywhere before this summer and neither is Jenkins.
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
1:12 pm
I-AM-SOULSTAR-Even if we trade for or sign one of these players, it will be a while before they can contribute. It won’t be easy for all of the new players who’ve already gone through an entire training camp and exhibition season to blend in their talents and start the season having chemistry. We can’t expect a player signed after the fact to have it any easier with him being so far behind everyone else.
That doesn’t mean I’m against us acquiring one of those players. We just have to be careful with thinking one of these players will become an instant starter for us. No matter how talented he might be, how much potential he might have, or how well he played for his previous team, he’ll still have to learn the systems, players, and earn his mins.
i_am_soulstar
October 23rd, 2012
1:39 pm
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
1:12 pm
I-AM-SOULSTAR-Even if we trade for or sign one of these players, it will be a while before they can contribute. It won’t be easy for all of the new players who’ve already gone through an entire training camp and exhibition season to blend in their talents and start the season having chemistry. We can’t expect a player signed after the fact to have it any easier with him being so far behind everyone else.
That doesn’t mean I’m against us acquiring one of those players. We just have to be careful with thinking one of these players will become an instant starter for us. No matter how talented he might be, how much potential he might have, or how well he played for his previous team, he’ll still have to learn the systems, players, and earn his mins.
**************************************************************************************
Ken,
I don’t think we should acquire either of them, I just think that Terrence Williams is a half decent small forward, but i wouldn’t go after him over Damion James or Anthony Tolliver.
Buddy Grizzard
October 23rd, 2012
1:45 pm
One of Sund’s boys headed to Toronto:
Adrian Wojnarowski: Toronto has hired Atlanta Hawks assistant GM David Pendergraft in its pro personnel department, league sources tell Y! Sports. Twitter @WojYahooNBA
O'Brien
October 23rd, 2012
2:09 pm
Ken S,
Marvin and the Landlord were mistake, but the Landlord was definitely BKs mistake while Marvin was on Woodson..
BK is on record as saying he laughs when people say we need a PG. Therefore, I think he shares the blame with Woody for drafting Marvin instead of CP3 or D-Will. Plus it was BK who envisioned having 5 interchangeable guys (6′8″ and up) …so PG was not on his list of priority in that draft.
And I wonder whose idea it was to sign Speedy Claxton? Dude was CP3’s backup and injury prone, but yet we offered him a big (relatively speaking) FA contract. That just made a bad situation worse.
Allofus
October 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
Hawks should go for Greg Somogyi from Lakers
O'Brien
October 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
Buddy,
Our team would have been
PG: – CP3 or D-Will
SG – JJ
SF – Childress
PF – Josh
C – Zaza
I would have liked to see what that team could do, because that backcourt would have been unstoppable, plus to have CP3 throwing lobs to Josh and Childress…
DW
October 23rd, 2012
2:15 pm
What a mess!!!
Grandad
October 23rd, 2012
2:17 pm
Buddy G;
beat me to the punch.
So I counter;
dark day in Toronto !
Skies bright over Atlanta.
Grandad
October 23rd, 2012
2:23 pm
It would be encouraging news if DF were to steal CAldrich
away from OKC !
Grandad
October 23rd, 2012
2:26 pm
I thought I should qualify:
* no rumor * … -only wishful thinking- :::::
‘` It would be encouraging news if DF were to steal CAldrich
away from OKC `’
doc
October 23rd, 2012
2:30 pm
o’b roy or gay might have been available the next year, no? hard to say going forward if that line up could have turned it around that quickly for sure.
Astro Joe
October 23rd, 2012
2:58 pm
And if my aunt had (blank), she’d be my uncle.
Love all of this draft remorse discussion. It would truly be amazing if someone actually brought up an angle that hasn’t been mentioned in the past, what, 84 months?
terrell
October 23rd, 2012
3:16 pm
Eddy Curry was released by the Spurs. Would much rather have him han Petro if at all possible.
doc
October 23rd, 2012
3:23 pm
terrell, why. both are going to end up in the spectator seats and curry has had his chances. one of the bigger busts ever.
Johan Petro
October 23rd, 2012
3:24 pm
It’s a riot that I have made millions of dollars for being one of the worst ever at the game.
Big Ump
October 23rd, 2012
3:50 pm
Big Ray, Ken Strickland, Doc, Grandad and Sautee, Rod from College Park, and Astro Joe How everything going with you these days? I don’t get a chance to read the blogs much these days but when I do I always enjoy reading you all post
Sautee
October 23rd, 2012
3:57 pm
Big Ump,
Glad to see you back. Did you ever get a copy of that book “Sweet Soul Music” I mentioned to you?
If not, try and find it. The author is Peter Garalnick. It’s exactly up your alley. He also wrote a wonderful book about Sam Cooke, called “Dream Boogie”, that’s worthwhile.
Glad to see you are still around.
i_am_soulstar
October 23rd, 2012
4:00 pm
If I’m Danny and LD, I’m trading Petro for a second round draft pick to some desperate team with few bigs, keeping Damion James and Anthony Tolliver on non-guaranteed contracts, releasing James Anderson, and keeping my eye on the waiver wire.
Buddy Grizzard
October 23rd, 2012
4:06 pm
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/50554/on-display-in-preseason-new-skills
Not on display in this article: Al Horford.
Astro Joe
October 23rd, 2012
4:07 pm
Big Ump, we’re still debating the 2005, 2006 drafts and rather the Hawks should have benched JR Ryder in game #27 of that awful season. Other than that, it’s a whole new game.
Rod from College Park
October 23rd, 2012
4:18 pm
“It’s not nonsense but it disproportionately favors inefficient volume shooters and players who put up stats on bad teams.”
Thus it’s nonsense. It’s a fantasy stat. Used for people who play fantasy basketball to determine what a player would do if………… Notice the word FANTASY, which means not real.
Slimjr
October 23rd, 2012
4:19 pm
LoL @ Buddy G! You could not resist? Heh heh heh
Rod from College Park
October 23rd, 2012
4:19 pm
Preciate it Big Ump. Glad to see you back.
Slimjr
October 23rd, 2012
4:23 pm
Ken,
James is going to stick.
Once he fixes that stand still spot up mid-range jumper, he’ll become a starter or at least be there to close out games..He’s hungry…
doc
October 23rd, 2012
4:36 pm
big ump pleasure to have your soul around here. season getting ready to start so your timing to check in is good.
O'Brien
October 23rd, 2012
4:45 pm
Doc,
Don’t sleep on Eddy Curry. He won a championship ring last season
AJ,
Don’t forget, we are also debating if Bibby being old and slow is the reason why Josh doesn’t give it up on the break, and whether or not we should have kept Jamal
Ken Strickland
October 23rd, 2012
5:05 pm
OBRIEN-That entire disfunctional organization was responsible for what happened during that particular draft and beyond. BKs ego, Woodson’s stubborness and one dimensional approach, and the ASGs constant interference and internal struggles, all got in the way of doing things the right way. Who knows, everything might have changed for the better if the ASG had let BK fire Woodson when he 1st wanted to do so.
I’ll take BKs aggressiveness and attitude over the passive old school approach of RSund anyday. BK would have resigned Childress and wouldn’t have waited to resign Josh. BK wanted the same versatile uptempo fastbreaking type of team with interchangeable parts that Ferry has put together so far.
Woodson actually installed and implimented a system that was the complete opposite of what BK envisioned. And he did it regardless of whether it suited the majority of the players he had. His philosophy was that it was up to each player to adjust to the way he wanted them to play, rather then him adjusting to the way they played best.
BIG UMP-What’s up big man? I certainly hope your reasons for not being able to join us regularly has nothing to do with anything serious or negative. It would be nice to have a trio of BIG RAY, BIG LOU, and BIG UMP on the blogs regularly.While you’re here, tell us what you think about the team and what you think its capabilities are?
doc
October 23rd, 2012
5:14 pm
o’b obviously he is a winner then, eh? maybe he can add to the culture then.
Astro Joe
October 23rd, 2012
5:27 pm
OB, don’t forget the whole “Lenny doesn’t like superstars” conspiracy associated with Nique’s trade.
Fire Bob Weiss!