Report: Marvin to stay a Hawk, and that’s more good news
Marvin Williams will remain a Hawk, according to a report by Marc Spears on Yahoo! Sports. Hawks general manager Rick Sund would not confirm a deal had been reached Wednesday night, but the sides seem very close to a signed contract.
(Indeed, that’s the word Williams used in a text message to AJC colleague Sekou Smith on Wednesday — “close.” And Williams told Sekou via text he’s hopeful something works out.)
The proposed contract, Spears reported, is for “about $40 million over five seasons,” although that $40 million is believed to include incentives. As a restricted free agent, Williams could have accepted the Hawks’ qualifying offer of $7.5 million and become an unrestricted free agent in July 2010. A long-term agreement would mean the Hawks have locked up a 23-year-old who averaged 13.9 points last season and is still regarded as a developing talent — and have done for essentially the qualifying offer times five.
If Williams does stay, the Hawks will have retained three of their four key free agents — Mike Bibby and Zaza Pachulia have re-signed, and Flip Murray now seems surplus to requirements — and added guard Jamal Crawford in the same offseason. And that would make this just about the greatest summer in Hawks history.
Assuming Williams re-signs, the Hawks would enter the 2009-2010 season having kept seven of their top eight players from a team that won 47 games and finished fourth in the NBA East. At a time when the three teams that finished above the Hawks — Cleveland, Boston and Orlando — have made major offseason acquisitions, Sund had to hold his core together if the Hawks were to stand any chance of moving upward. And it appears he has.
The belief here was that the Hawks would consider this summer a success if they re-upped two of the four free agents and a windfall if they could keep three. They’re close to doing that now, and this city is that much closer to having a NBA team that we can view as a team capable of reaching the Eastern Conference finals, something the Hawks have never done.
The work doesn’t end here. Joe Johnson will become an unrestricted free agent and Al Horford a restricted free agent next summer. But Sund, who was hired 13 months ago, is within one signature of having not just passed a difficult test but aced it. And when last could we say that about any Hawks GM? Like, ever?
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156 comments Add your comment
barney strickland
July 30th, 2009
12:12 am
Hey, I thought we made the east conference finals in the 80’s against Boston……….. Marvin sucks and ain’t worth that kind of money.Easy. Bring back Kevin Willis & Antoine Carr. Both those guys only retired a couple of years back and still could play better than Randolph Morris? Kevin Willis was darn good. Anyone remember how much heart Grant Long use to play with… I wish Marvin showed the same kind of energy…..!!
A Thinking Fan
July 30th, 2009
12:17 am
Good for MW!
BarkingBulldawg
July 30th, 2009
12:34 am
Mark, please tell me when Joe Smith became a “jump shooter”.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that no one at the AJC outside of Sekou has a CLUE about NBA basketball.
niremetal
July 30th, 2009
12:51 am
BarkingBulldawg,
Your question runs on the assumption that Bradley watched NBA basketball at some this year besides during the Cavs-Hawks series. It’s an easy mistake to mistake…
Mitun
July 30th, 2009
12:52 am
Joe Smith does not count as a big man, imo. I believe we should get Siler or get someone thru a trade.
nes
July 30th, 2009
12:57 am
Just b/c MW went no.2 over paul and utah pg doesn’t mean he’s not a quality player. He has upside and 15-20 points, good defense, solid rebounding, and so on is good production. Plus Smith can’t play sm forward defensively and guard athletic 3’s on the perimeter like MW. Power forward is Smoove’s best slot. Obviously we’d like a do over for CP, but losing Marvin would be compounding the problem.
The Hawks will have improved if MW, JS, and AH don’t miss double digit games again. Crawford can play the 2 and rest JJ so he’ll be fresher. Plus 3/5 of our starters were playing hurt in the playoffs which prevented a win or two vs. CLE. We have a young nucleus whereas the 3 teams above us are getting old.
larry B
July 30th, 2009
1:01 am
Great to have him back…we need him and he’s still young and improving
Korndawg
July 30th, 2009
1:33 am
Nice solid moves Sund. 2010 will be our year. We will surpass Orlando- Vince Carter vs. Hedo, Lee, Alston…bad move Orlando. They will trade Gorat by mid season (Rockets) Sorry but you guys peaked out in the finals…nice run though. Cavs- How well will Lebron do when he has to drive around Shaq’s big ass to score everytime Orlando figured out how to beat them. and giving a ton of money to side show Varajo was a mistake as well. Boston-They will be tough…for this year only and then it’s nite-nite.
I have watched this team grow for six years. We only need to fine tune our machine and we will have a kick ass group of team players. I hope that Steve Smith has added a little of his polished game to JSmooth maybe that is what it will take for his light to turn on…and when it finally does go on watch out… QUADRAPULE/DOUBLE Yes that’s what I said
chris o bomb
July 30th, 2009
1:59 am
with the veteran bibby, all around crawford, THE STEAL OF THE DRAFT teague, i hope we can utilize our skills on offense and even push further on a fast pace ball team too! go hawks and d. wilkins for life!
Ron Roberts
July 30th, 2009
2:33 am
Anybody who thinks re-signing what we already had WEREN’T positive moves is out of their mind. Marvin’s steadily improved each season, and his not being able to play in round 2 when it mattered cost us dearly. At full strength, we had the talent to take the Cavs to a Game 6, and with that level of talent, we add Jamal Crawford.
The Cavs picking up Shaq is a gamble; O’Neal COULD be what he was last season, but more likely he COULD be the banged up also-ran he was a few seasons before last year.
The Magic have NOT improved; if anything, they’ve given us a shot to win the division and snag the 3 seed. The Heat have been waiting on this offseason’s big tease – Lamar Odom, and as long as they don’t get him, we’re still up on them, too.
What the Hawks have, though, that nobody else in the East does is a TALENTED AND YOUNG CORE – and now we’ve locked ‘em up for a few more years. They’ll continue to improve, whether we keep Joe Johnson or not. Josh Smith was pretty darn good, and should be SPECIAL next year and beyond; Al Horford’s game is at an elite level, and Joe Johnson has been the engine that runs us. Now, he’s not going to be depended upon so much to be the team’s catalyst, and I think that’s a positive step.
The future is VERY bright in Atlanta.
Tbones
July 30th, 2009
3:32 am
Let me address Orlando first, for the people who can’t see they got considerably better. First, Alston was a stop-gap for Nelson because he was injured. Alston was not going to accept coming off the bench for less minutes behind Nelson. Alston had to go, and Nelson is a better PG anyway. Second, they didn’t just add Vince Carter, but Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes,and Ryan Anderson. There additions made them so versatile and better. They have bulk and power with Howard, Gortat, and Bass. They have a closer in Vince Carter, good defenders and shooters in Barnes and Pietris, and long guys who can shoot in Lewis and Anderson. These guys are loaded, and will be a mathup nightmare for a lot of teams, and can pretty much play any style with their team. To addrees the Marvin Williams signing, I don’t like it. I never understood why they drafted Williams, when at best he would be about equal to the guy they had at the time which was Al Harrington. Williams is still not better than Harrington. I thought they should have package Williams and try to get Chris Kaman from the Clippers. As for the Hawks, it seems like they are trying to stay competitve, but that’s it. All they did was upgradde from Flip Murray to Jamal Crawford. Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston who were better than ATL already got better with their additions, Washington gets Arenas and Haywood back from injuries so they will be a playoff team now, Toronto added Hedo and Jarrret Jack so they will be better, as well. We will make the playoffs, but we do not have a team for a championship and reluctant to make the necessary BIG moves to do so.
tbhawksfan
July 30th, 2009
4:00 am
For the moment, all Sund has done is to bring in Crawford in a very nice trade for us. He’s done 0 to upgrade our two biggest problems; C and PG. Bringing back the same is status quo. Do some of you guys think we would lose Bibby, Zaza and MW without replaceing them?
To have a team quite close to contending and not be willing to spend an extra million or two is flawed strategy.
One more quality BIG puts us in contention.
Niremental
July 30th, 2009
6:54 am
Is is possible for NIREMENTAL to get off Bradleys jock
truth-serum
July 30th, 2009
6:57 am
The belief here was that the Hawks would consider this summer a success if they re-upped two of the four free agents and a windfall if they could keep three. They’re close to doing that now, and this city is that much closer to having a NBA team that we can view as a team capable of reaching the Eastern Conference finals, something the Hawks have never done.
I dont know why they let you guys out of a cage! You cant win with out a center. Your brainless strategy is why the Hawks have never nor will never get to the final. Before the Shaq and Olajuwan era, 22 out of 23 MVPs were centers. You cant win with out one. The Hawks will make the playoffs then watch the serious contenders(they have a center) compete for the finals.
Mo dumb Bradley, I cant change your or your redneck bubba crew stupidity.
hard to figure out
July 30th, 2009
8:22 am
How is Sund doing such a terrific job?? Besieds Crawford, he is basically resigning players Billy Knight signed or traded for. But everyone in the city called Knight an idiot. What gives?? Sund must be an idiot also, if he is resigning all of Billy’s players. We are still a 4-6 seed in the east, with no inside muscle, but I do like Marvin. If Woodson doesn’t learn to put Josh Smith in his place, we will never be any better.
All World
July 30th, 2009
8:39 am
I’d rather have Joe Smith and Flip, rather than Joe and two big men that are nothing but BIG. when Hawks needed Flip to come through last year, he did. Flip may be best defensive guard Hawks have compared to Bibby, Teague and Crawford.
Bleu_Bayou42
July 30th, 2009
8:41 am
Don’t give up on Flip. We need to get him signed too. He is excellent change of pace guy and scored a boat load points off the bench. He was a much larger part of the Hawks success last year than most people realize.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
8:42 am
hard to figure out: You nailed, brother. All of sudden, everybody loves Rick for keeping players Billy Knight drafted — but Billy, oh man, he needed to go and he gets no credit only blame for taking Marvin and not Chris Paul or Deron Williams. My belief is that Billy was lousy at public relations and terrible at explaining himself to the press. Rick is the master of the chit chat whether its sports radio or the AJ/C guys.
Speaking of AJ/C guys, why is Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports breaking this story and not Sekou Smith or Mark Bradley or Jeff Schultz? I mean we are talking about the ATLANTA Hawks. Isn’t Yahoo based in California? Bradley, you have only been in this town 25 years. Are your contacts that weak? Sekou can at least say he’s only been the beat reporter for the Hawks the past, what, five or so years? I mean, do you guys ever ask yourself why the AJ/C is so irrelevant for most Atlantans because its things like this that make it clear.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
8:50 am
Show me the big man out there who would instantly upgrade the Hawks and is available and then — but only then — will I fault this team for not acquiring one.
Oh, and I guess I messed up: Joe Smith is a back-to-the-basket player on the order of Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain. (Come on, guys. He’s a power forward. He’s 6-10, 225. He’s the same thing you rip Al Horford for being. Only Horford is stronger and younger.)
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
8:50 am
If Rick signs Siler for his bulk, Joe Smith for his experience and game, and figures out a way to keep Flip, then I’ll be impressed. Doing all three will enable us to compete for an Eastern Conference Finals birth.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
8:55 am
Bradley: I have hree big men for you:
1) Tyson Chandler was, apparently, available and was what we needed at Center.
2) Theo Ratcliff [sp] was, apparently, available and was what we needed at Center.
3) Even signing Nestorvic [sp] with Indiana would be an upgrade.
Rick Sund could have done a deal for either of the above but he didn’t so he get’s no credit from me. What he is left with due to not making a move is signing Siler and Joe Smith.
Think about it.....
July 30th, 2009
9:20 am
I like Marvin, but not the best move for the Hawks. We need a POWER guy like Bozier that would instantly upgrade the Hawks.
Harry Mitchell
July 30th, 2009
9:24 am
Please let joe johnson go.
I MUS WRITE
July 30th, 2009
9:34 am
Dan… Dont forget orlando picked up Brandon Bass,Ryan Anderson(good young shooter)Resigned Gortat,and picked up Matt Barnes to go along with VC….So yeah they will be better IMO.
Good to have Marvn back in the fold….Who else do we have to man the SF position-absolutely nobody so this was important for our team-MO EVANS is not a SF…….
Bring in Ryan Hollins- and lets go to work
BRAD
July 30th, 2009
10:16 am
Chandler has had injury issues. Hornets tried to trade him to Thunder, but he didnt pass the physical.
» Rewrite-Reprint (7/30)
July 30th, 2009
10:18 am
[...] Kenny Britt isn’t a holdout … Ravens sign Michael Oher … Hawks, Marvin Williams close to 5-year, $40m deal … Matt Garza admits he plunked Mark Teixeira … Surprise, surprise: USC football [...]
STRETCH
July 30th, 2009
10:20 am
Anybody know if they even concidered Carlos Boozer?
STRETCH
July 30th, 2009
10:26 am
Uh, that should have been CONSIDERED Carlos Boozer!
HGN
July 30th, 2009
10:28 am
Joe Smith is a power forward, at best. More like a small forward. But not the Big Man the Hawks are looking for. If the Hawks keep Siler , just for the size, and he can get some experince over the season, that will help us in the playoffs. Keeping Za Za was huge.
Keeping Marvin will be good, though he needs to improve defensively. And I liked what Flip Murray added, but he will not get any PT with Jamal Crawford, JJ, and Bibby on the roster, and will be too expensive to keep otherwise. But if we can find a way to do it, GREAT.
Shawks
July 30th, 2009
10:56 am
Chandler is owed $12M this year. We could not have had him on the team without getting rid of some of our key players in the trade. Boozer also has about $12M coming to him and would have to be traded for. Both are injury prone and have played an average of about 60 games per year. We would have been ripping the GM next year at this time for those crippling would be trades.
Also, I do think it is a success to keep our core intact. If we had not signed Bibby, Zaza and Williams, what other players were out there for us to replace them at a relatively similar price? And we would have destroyed the chemistry of the team. I agree that we need another big man, but baby steps. 3 years ago we would have died to be talking about a team that could potentially win 50 games.
Turd Ferguson
July 30th, 2009
11:17 am
Hawks are yet another toilet-crap team like the Braves, Falcons and that STUPID WNBA loser team.
cdog
July 30th, 2009
11:26 am
mark, jermaine o’neal and joe smith will upgrade the hawks. although o’neal has had injury problems in the past, being with this cast will motivate him to play. what do you think?
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
11:38 am
BRAD: Wake up and smell the coffee because the Bobcats (coached by Larry Brown who knows a thing or two about players) just traded Emeka for Tyson. Guess their doctor’s were satisfied with Chandler’s health and I guess their salary cap-ologists are smarter than the Hawks. So I disagree: The Hawks could have obtained Tyson if they wanted to and had the pieces — starting with Marvin — to make it work.
It’s called knowing what your team needs and going out and getting it. Apparently, Sund et. al. have drunk the ‘Al Horford is a Center’ kool-aid despite the rest of the bigs among the eight teams making the semis in the East and West (Dwight Howard, Ilgauskas now Shaq, Powe/Big Baby in East and Nene, Bynum, Yao Ming, and Erick Dampier ) all being bigger and stronger than Al.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
11:43 am
And Theo Ratcliff [sp] was an UFA and just the defensive specialist we needed. I wonder if we even talked to him or his representatives.
And here’s a Top 5 list the Hawks did not want to make. Note that even this guy faults us for the logic of playing Al at Center.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/07/29/072909schumann.fiveteams/index.html
Don’t get me wrong: I love Al Horford — as a PF not C.
earldaddy
July 30th, 2009
11:49 am
Face it. Flip terrorized other teams’ guards off the bench. And he plays decent defense. He NEEDS to be resigned to back up Bibby. Crawford backs up Joe, although he has the handle to play some point. Teague plays the Acie Law role (maybe better, maybe not). We really need Flip back.
And we wiffed on a player like Brandon Bass. We need a strong guy like that off the bench to back up Smoove. Unfortunate.
earldaddy
July 30th, 2009
11:50 am
By the way. there ARE no big centers out there (available) who can play D and rebound. None.
slim
July 30th, 2009
11:50 am
as far as orlando goes, they still have a bum coach, he never makes good decisions under pressure, orlando would be good but great and that’s because of the coach, however it’s going to very interesting to see how vince plays with a big man. The Hawks in my opinion are better b/c you have the same core of guys growing together, it doesn’t get any better than that. They should be better b/c they’ve grown together for the last few yrs, and anyone dogging Marvin is super crazy, what are you watching black and white television. The guy clearly has skills and is getting better each year, he could easily be the second scoring option.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
12:02 pm
Shawks: Baby steps don’t get you to the NBA Finals or get you back there. Look at what other teams did: the GM in Orlando, Otis Smith, is bold and did not rest on his laurels or keeps his team intact despite many reasons to have done so including making it to the Finals. Cleveland’s Danny Ferry didn’t remain content with having the best regular season record and took a big chance with signing Shaq. L.A. despite winning it all took on the Artest risk and let Ariza walk. Boston said yes to Rasheed. Even Detroit made a splash in signing Villaneuva and Gordon.
And the Hawks? Our philosophy is that we would have defeated Cleveland if Joe, Marvin, and Al were healthy and all we needed was to keep our pieces and add a point guard in the draft to go with the veteran Crawford. Looks like we’re prepared to let Flip walk. That approach would be a good one if all the other teams in the East had kept their rosters the same but they didn’t—even lowly Charlotte made a move by unloading Emeka for Tyson so they could man-up in the Center position.
As I typed, Hawks could have pushed to sign Theo Ratliff or even Nestorvic to add a legit center to our roster and neither would have disrupted our ‘chemistry’ or budget. And we could have added Joe Smith too, I think.
As we stand, we have to add Joe Smith AND, in my opinion, keep Flip and play to our new found strength which would be at the guard positions to try and counter the strength down low that the other teams in the East now have with Shaq at Cleveland, Howard at Orlando, Powe/Big Baby/Sheed in Boston, and even Tyson with Charlotte.
earldaddy
July 30th, 2009
12:06 pm
To: All I’m saying is…
Horford will be ok if he continues to get stronger. Al has the game of a center with better ball handling. He needs to work on his post up moves, but he really is an undersized center, not a 4. You can’t go by height. Remember Wes Unseld? 6 foot 7 but freakishly strong. If Al can bulk up some, like say 20-25 pounds over the next year or so, he could be like a Ben Wallace with an offensive game. Maybe just as dominant defensively.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
12:08 pm
Theo Ratliff has nothing left. Tyson Chandler wouldn’t be an upgrade on Al Horford. And Nesterovic? Really?
And here’s the other part of Horford-as-PF nobody ever discusses: If he moves, where does Josh Smith play? Small forward? You want Josh farther from the basket, do you?
earldaddy
July 30th, 2009
12:08 pm
….and nobody is gonna match up with Shaq and Howard
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
12:14 pm
Theo Ratliff has nothing left. Apparently the Spurs think otherwise and since their G.M. and Coach have 4 rings, I will go with their opinion over yours, Bradley.
Tyson Chandler would not be an upgrade over Al? Larry Brown has an NCAA Championship and an NBA Championship (as well as getting three teams to the NBA Finals) so I will take his opinion over yours, Bradley.
And apparently Indiana is set to resign Nesterovic so apparently Larry Bird et. al. think he has some skills.
All of the above would enable Al to dominate the PF. Just because Josh on paper and in your brain would be a SF doesn’t mean he would play farther from the hoop. L.A. had Bynum, Gasol, and Odom on the floor often and that worked well for them and I didn’t see Odom taking jump shots.
Bradley, you show your lack of knowledge with every pitiful response to someone who challenges you.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
12:19 pm
earlydaddy: Al has to get stronger: quick, fast, and in a hurry because we have no choice thanks to Rick Sund (who Bradley appears to love). What you all appear to miss is we offered no defensive resistance to folks driving the lane in both the Miami and Cleveland series even when Al was healthy. What makes you all think things will be different in the playoffs next year? We don’t need someone to match up with Shaq and Howard as their teams obviously did not win it all. Heck, all we need at center is an Erick Dampier type or (as I mentioned) Theo Ratliff: either someone who can score a basket or two (like Damp) or with a defensive presence (Theo). And we didn’t need them to play major minutes especially if sign Siler giving us a rotation of Siler, ZaZa and, say, Ratliff.
Eric
July 30th, 2009
12:41 pm
I don’t understand why the Hawks don’t take that 2nd round pick they got from Houston and go get Marcus Camby??? Move Al and Josh to there natural positions 4 and 3. All this Joe Smith talk is killing me, he’s washed up!!!
Freshmaker
July 30th, 2009
12:54 pm
Dude you have no idea what you’re talking about. Theo Ratliff? Really? He’s slower than dirt now, and isn’t nearly the defensive presence he was 10 years ago. The “folks” you refer to were mostly LeBron and Wade. Those guys drive to the lane on any team. Even Howard couldn’t slow LeBron down in the finals. Dampier? Ugh. Get that @#$^ out of here. Bradley’s right and you’re an idiot.
Shawks
July 30th, 2009
1:09 pm
All I’m Saying: I understand that baby steps won’t get us to the Finals this year, but look at the common theme of the team that you have mentioned that got significantly better: they are all waaaaayyyyy over the luxury tax threshold. Sund probably did not have any ability to go over this as a directive from the ASG.
All of those teams are likely to implode in the next couple of years while we are better positioned for several years. I would like to see the Hawks in the Finals, but I don’t now if I am willing to mortgage the future entirely and then go through another putrid stretch of 10 years on non-playoff basketball.
Shawks
July 30th, 2009
1:18 pm
Eric: Camby is owed something like $10M and we would have to trade some players with roughly equal contract values to get him. Plus do you trade for someone and pay them $10M to play 10 – 12 minutes a night?
Eric
July 30th, 2009
1:27 pm
Shawks you don’t know what you’re talking about. Marcus Camby averaged 31 minutes per game in a starting role last year. He also added 11.1 rebounds per game and was tops in block shots as always with 2.1 per game. Might I also add that he was the DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR in 2007-2008. He would and should be the starting Center for these Atlanta Hawks.
All I'm Saying Is...
July 30th, 2009
1:48 pm
I agree with Eric. Camby would make a difference.
Freshmaker: I find it dull that you agree with Bradley. As I posted before, I give more credit to the decision making (meaning they put their money where their mouth was) of people with rings (Spurs GM and Coach who chose to sign Theo, Larry Brown who chose to trade for Tyson, etc.), than to people like you. And last time I checked, Mark Cuban (who chose to sign Dampier) and Erick Dampier have been to one more NBA Final than the Atlanta Hawks have.
And what do you mean even Howard could not slow LeBron down in the finals. Last time I checked Cleveland was lucky to win any of the games they did in the Eastern Conference Finals considering one win was due to an answered prayer from practically half court by LeBron (who did not and could not drive the lane).
Shawks: I appreciate your thoughtful reply. You may be right that the Atlanta Spirit limited what Sund could do due to the luxury tax impact. But that proves my point: if after making it to the top 8 level the Hawks want to make the next step to the elite level (top 4 teams in NBA), then bolder steps may be necessary. This season will tell us a great deal. Making the playoffs, securing a #4 seed, and winning a first round series is the minimum expected for 2009-2010. Getting beyond that is what I’m focused on in advocated a more powerful presence at the center position and pointing out steps and moves not made to make that leap.
Mike
July 30th, 2009
1:49 pm
Exactly guys…we do not need Theo…1999 yes but not 2009. And Lamar Odom does shoot 3’s. We do not want Josh anywhere near the 3 point line. I think him shooting only inside the paint could get us a few extra wins next year. This would give Marvin more space to hit open jumpers. Lets get a veteran PF like Joe Smith and our 10 man rotation is set.