Hawks being too passive in free agent market
Listen up: Rick Sund wants you to know he thinks the Hawks are going to be just fine.
When the Miami Heat went shopping in this NBA offseason, they chose to bypass the markdowns at the strip malls, the polo shirts from Old Navy that morph into dust rags after two washings and the lime green shorts with a broken zipper from the $1 table at the neighborhood yard sale . They cruised Rodeo Drive. Why? Because they could. Maybe they also have some strange desire to win.
The Hawks are still in the midst of their shopping this offseason. It has been quiet, even as they roam the aisles of Value City. There’s still a chance they will come home with something other than used Play-Doh and a bag of defective socks. But don’t count on it. They have made it clear that their heads are bumping up against the ceiling of their budget. They won’t add a player if it means having to pay a luxury tax. They won’t add a player if it means trading a perceived player of significance. It doesn’t matter if the new player can actually make them better, or if he would ignite a fan base that’s just looking for a reason to walk through a turnstile.
Loading ...Maybe this passive approach works. There was that whole tortoise-and-the-hare thing. Maybe drafting Jordan Crawford, giving more playing time to Jeff Teague and getting Joe Johnson to share the ball will make a difference. But after going 0-8 in the second in the last two years, is this the mindset an NBA franchise should have?
General manager Rick Sund said what he often says: “I like our team.”
He is hesitant to trade a perceived core player, disrupt chemistry or blow the budget. Let’s put aside for a moment that the organization recently overpaid to keep Johnson, who has fizzled in the postseason and doesn’t quite unite the fan base. Sund still sees the Hawks are trending upward.
He states his case: “Our goal is to continue to put an elite caliber ballclub on the floor and stay within the model [owner] Bill Davidson had when the Pistons were winning championships and what San Antonio did with their spending and the way they stayed under the luxury tax.”
Not every team can sign Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Most can’t even sign one. But sorry. The idea should be to aim higher. Bringing back Jason Collins, just because he lost weight in Europe and comes cheap, doesn’t cut it.
Replacing Solomon Jones and Randolph Morris with Solomon Jones and Randolph Morris clones is not what aggressive teams do. It’s like painting over a water stain on the ceiling without fixing the leak.
Strange. Sund’s analysis of the roster actually jibes with everybody else’s.
“We need two bigs – a center and a power forward,” he said.
But after some negotiations, the Hawks bailed on signing free agent center Brad Miller because he got too expensive. (Miller ultimately signed with Houston.) They’ve played footsy with Shaquille O’Neal, but they believe the would-be Big Peach’s asking price is too high (for now) and he seems unwilling to take a bench role (for now).
The problem: Shaq is the best player left in the depleted free agent market. It’s not even close.
Here’s the question Sund and ownership should be asking themselves: Who makes us better? They’ve convinced themselves that a center-by-committee (Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, Collins and maybe you if can get a resume in) will be enough to challenge Orlando, Boston and Miami in the Eastern Conference.
Maybe Sund really believes this. Maybe his hands are tied. Maybe he just likes playing it safe, and if it doesn’t work out, well, he’s near retirement anyway. But can you feel comfortable with the status quo?
Sund again: “I think we’re pointed in the right direction. I’m hopeful we’ll improve with some changes to our offense and our young players getting older, and we can stay among the top four teams in the Eastern Conference.”
It doesn’t make much of a rallying cry.
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369 comments Add your comment
Pipedream
July 27th, 2010
4:02 am
Whoops wrong link.
Here’s the right one: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=28oxh5q
Diehard Hawks fan
July 27th, 2010
10:30 am
I think Rick Sund needs to be fire along with the ASG.
I wish i was a billionaire I would buy the team and I would make Dominique the GM
I would trade Johnson/Bibby and 2 future 1st round pick for Chris Paul
I would have hire Avery Johnson to be the coach now.
I would have sign Shaq to be Center.
I would have gotten rid of Marvin Williams and gave the max to Jamal Crawford and resign josh smith.
Playing Miami is not going to be a walk in the park anymore. Now we have 3 guys that are threats on the floor. J-smoov can not defend all 3.
We need a Big man to TKO Superman on the floor. Shaq got beef with D-Howard
but seriously the Hawks may not make it to the playoff this year because of a weak donkey’s behind line up.
GeneTenace
July 27th, 2010
10:54 am
I saw on a recent blog that the Hawks are contemplating trading Josh Smith for Tashan Prince. That would be a ridiculous grade because although Josh’s talents are still raw and need refining, Smith brings so much more to a game than Prince and I think that trade would be to Detroits advantage. Keep Josh Smith and allow him to continue to improve. Its true Smith should be a polished professional by now but some guys take 10 years to get it together. I still think that Smith will be a very good nba player. Smith wont be great and he wont be a hall-of-famer, but he will be more than adequate and overall he did a nice job for the Hawks last year. WHOMEVER IS ON THE TRADING BLOCK, THE HAWKS SHOULD KEEP THEIR CORE NUCLEUS OF SMITH, JOHNSON, CRAWFORD AND HORFORD. Everyone else is tradeable.
BoscoWilson
July 27th, 2010
11:18 am
Diehard Hawks Fan: I dont agree with your assisment of the hawks trades. First, Avery Johnson is a great regular season coach but he is HORRIBLE IN THE PLAYOFFS. Second of all to package johnson and bibby is foolish. Joe Johnson is a first ballot hall of famer. Bibby is a great player WHO IS A SCORING MACHINE WHEN HE IS HOT. Bibby can sit outside the 3-point line and make threes all day, similar to Ray Allen of Boston when Bibby is scorching hot. Why would you get rid of two of our best offensive players for a young punk like Paul who is trying to destroy the league with his LaBron Plan of Destruction. You see how mad it made Cavs owner Dan Gilbert in his rants and tirades to James in his farewell letter to James. LaBron James and Chris Paul are WRECKING BALLS FOR THE LEAGUE. What those two are doing is similar to a truck lowering a wrecking ball on a building and destroying the structure. Those two guys, I think, should be kicked out of the league along with Bosh and D-Wade. Those four are all selfish prima donas who think they will win at the expense of whomever gets in their way. To heck with them, there are other great nba players to root for, like Kobe Bryant, Carmello Anthony and other great players. Forget about plans of destruction because its a waste of time and the Miami Heat wont accomplish anything this season.
KingCobra
July 27th, 2010
1:40 pm
So far this summer, most fans believe there were three moves that the hawks should have made but failed to make because of a bad GM: 1) acquire Avery Johnson as head coach, 2) acquire an AGING Shaquille O’Neal who is literally now just a TUB OF LARD; or 3) attempt to acquire Chris Paul which makes no sense since the asking price will be too high. None of those three moves made any sense and I think the Hawks have done just fine with what they did. THE HAWKS BIGGEST PROBLEM IS MENTAL, WHICH WILL LEND ITSELF TO EXECUTION. Two years ago in the playoffs in ‘08, the Hawks surprised the league by taking the eventual champion Boston Celtics to 7 games in the opening round. No other team during that playoff run for the Celtics played them more competitively than the Hawks. The Hawks should be proud of that playoff series because they almost upset a better team because mentally the Hawks were sharp in the series. The Hawks should go back and watch the tapes of that series and play the rest of their games from now on just like that. If they do that, the Hawks will win 60 games this year and win the NBA title. The Hawks are fine.
tjhook
July 27th, 2010
3:06 pm
Jeff, since this Chris Paul demand has come up, I have concocted a deal that the Hawks should look to just in case things blow up . . . which I suspect will occur during the season as New Orleans begins to suffer. Chris Paul and James Posey to New Orleans for Jamal Crawford,Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby and a 2011 first-round pick.
The Hawks have decided by signing Joe Johnson to a max deal that their time is now and they should push for a championship and they need a guard like Paul that can help overwhelm the competition and give the Atlanta community an exciting product to rival Miami. Sund should prep that package now – Marvin may improve but seeing him as our main hope for improvement is just a poorly constructed plan.
ryan
July 27th, 2010
3:31 pm
Well if Billy Knight was not a dummy we could have just drafted him and we would not be in this mess he wanted to come to the Hawks be that 2nd pick but that damn Marvin Williams was way to high on everyone draft board.
LukeMerriman
July 27th, 2010
4:42 pm
Hinesight is always 20-20 and I know so many people are lamenting over the fact that we could have drafted either Chris Paul OR Daron Williams. Either of those guys could have been drafted by the Hawks if they didnt have a horses a$$ as a GM at the time (Billy Knight). Of course our current GM is not much better than Knight, although Sund was shrewd enough to get us Jamal Crawford (the assassin) who should be much better this coming season. Folks just forget about Daron Williams and Chris Paul because we cant go back in time and make those drafts right. We are stuck with Marvin Williams although Marvin still has an enormous upside potential, Marvin may eventually get promoted to usher if he continues his progression backwards.
D.W.
July 28th, 2010
4:17 pm
They need to trade Josh Smith but they’re to punkish to make a brash move like that!!!
CoryBoulder
July 28th, 2010
5:17 pm
I’m not an expert on nba basketball personell, but I think current GM Rick Sund should get fired. Why? Because he failed to sign two players who I felt would have given the Hawks considerably more fire power and helped assist their chances of making either the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. The Hawks should have signed Tracy McGrady because you dont know what he has left. T-Mac used to be the best player in the league AHEAD of Kobe and LaBron but since t-mac has been injured he has fallen near the bottom of the top 10 players in the league. The question is he might still be one of the top 5 players so you invite him in for a tryout to see what he has left. If he is still great his signing upgrades your team considerably. Plus to go along with T-Mac you should have gone out and signed Heidu Turkelu a proven commodity in the NBA. Heidu is a 5-tool player who is one of the best talents to ever come along in the association. Turk should have been signed to at worst a 10-day contract. Bringing in those two guys would have made the Hawks the odd-on favorites to WIN IT ALL. Without those two players the Hawks this upcoming season will be a 38-49 win team and thats about all we have to look forward to. Bringing in Shaq would have been a waste of time. Shaq is finished and waiting to sell his rap albums. The Hawks need a competent GM who can acquire great players either as soon as they hit the waiver wire or as soon as they become available.
ryan
July 28th, 2010
6:54 pm
The Hawks have been too quiet i see all these other teams make moves I have about had it if Rick Sund thinks he can win with this team as is he should be fired .
RalphPoindexter
July 29th, 2010
12:10 pm
Its sad what has happend to the Hawks this offseason. The moves were all there to make and Sund just felt as if the only way to improve the hawks were by adding the top marque name free agents. Those folks werent offered enough money so they couldnt play with the Hawks. Joe Johnson was offered so much money that he couldnt refuse although in reality he is probably worth only HALF of the contract but in his mind he is worth every penny he signed for. Its too bad because if we could have offered max contracts to Dirk Norwinski AND LaBron James and just imagine how good we could have been. Think if it, pretend for one minute that we signed Dirk AND LaBron during the offseason and those guys get to play with Al Horford, Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Now you have an all-star team capable of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. But instead you have the same group of underachievers who got blown out by over 100 points in a playoff series against the Orlando Magic (an NBA record). Thats what you have going into the 2010-11 season. Like I said yesterday I would not expect the Hawks to win more than 38-49 games this season. I dont expect the Hawks to crack winning over 50 games this year. The Hawks look to me like they are regressing declining and going backwards and I am expecting the hawks to go 38-44 this year, especially since Chicago, New York Knicks and Miami Heat have all improved dramatically. Unless the Hawks get one more really good player to be added to their current mix, I dont expect much of an improvement from the Hawks, although I am no expert by any means a basketball expert. If you could get Marvin (the invisible man) Williams to play up the level that he played in college and come into camp with a fresh attitude and imrpoved game, then the Hawks could possibly win 60 games with the current group that they have. But I’m not expecting any improved attitude from Williams. Im expecting the same guy who gives you nothing but expects everything in return, which to me makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
ryan
July 29th, 2010
2:39 pm
With free agency over i think the Hawks come out as biggest loosers with the Heat, Magic , i mean hell the Wizards look better than the Hawks I am not watching the NBA this fall screw the Hawks.
GonzoPalmeter
July 29th, 2010
4:25 pm
I agree with Cory Boulder: I felt the Hawks SHOULD have made only 3 moves to their roster this offseason: 1) Add Avery Johnson as head coach; 2) sign Heidu Turkelu and 3) sign Tracy McGrady. Making those three moves would have brought so much excitement to the Hawks because: a) T-Mac might still be a great player, if he is then its as good as signing LaBron or Kobe: b) Heidu Turkelu will get any team he is a member on to the finals. Check with the Orlando Magic, two years ago he was on their roster and two years ago the Magic made it to the finals. c) Avery Johnson is one of the brightest minds the NBA has ever had. Avery would know how to maximize our roster and Averys contributions from the head coaching vantage point alone would get us to a minimum of the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. Averys impact would cause these results. The Hawks decided instead to stand pat with their roster and let other teams get better (a passive approach).
Hoops
July 29th, 2010
8:55 pm
Hawks re-sign Collins. I guess that closes the door on Shaq.
ryan
July 29th, 2010
10:13 pm
Nothing but lip service from the Hawks there as transparent as the Obama administration is.
MustangSalley
July 30th, 2010
9:46 am
Since the Hawks have decided they wont make any moves in the offseason, and they are desparate to be a winner, go ahead and sign President Obama to a contract to play shooting guard part-time for the Hawks. Obama is a great basketball player and is good enough to play in the NBA. His presence on the team alone would get national attention and the Hawks would sell out every arena that they play at.
ryan
July 30th, 2010
2:24 pm
Shaq is Bean Town Bound !
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