Evaluate the offseason

[Lascar78]

How do you evaluate BK's job this offseason?

Quick Recap

What we had:

-Al as an unrestricted free agent

-a lot of cap space

-a #5 pick

-a #33 pick

What we needed (IMO):

-a starting PG

-a starting C

-interior D

What we got:

-Shelden Williams

-Speedy Claxton

-Lorenzen Wright

-Solomon Jones

Personally I think he did ok. He definitely could have screwed up big time this summer and did not. He also could have made drastic moves to improve us, and did not.

-I would have drafted Foye, but I understand the Shelden pick: you adress a need directly and like your odds of getting a PG better than getting a big in free agency.

-I hated the Solomon Jones pick, I thought we should get one of the available PGs. In retrospect I don't mind it since we got Speedy.

-I love the Speedy signing, I think his impact will be much greater than his actual talent level. He was exactly what we needed. There are concerns with durability and shooting, but he is ready to penetrate, play D, and run the break. Exactly the kind of PG we needed. Speedy/Lue is more than adequate at the point.

-The Lo signing is ok. Nothing special, but at least we improved from getting scrubs to be our backups to having NBA backups be our backups.

Overall: I feel that we adressed 2 out of 3 needs. Zaza may develop into a starting center, and if not it will be a very hard gap to fill, but oh well. I feel like we finally have a cohesive team with NBA talent at every position, including backups. We also have much more of a veteran presence which is great. This team should be a lot of fun to watch. Probably no playoffs yet, and our future will really depend on our young guys, as expected. I'd give BK a B on this offseason, and a B overall on his job since he took over. That makes him much much better than Babcock, but still not one of the top GMs in the league.

How about you?

[exodus]

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Zaza may develop into a starting center, and if not it will be a very hard gap to fill, but oh well.

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That is a big oh well considering the Hawks will never have more chances to land a starting center than they have had this year so far.

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and our future will really depend on our young guys, as expected.

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If the young guys pan out the way we hope they still won't be title contenders with the current roster.

I voted C. The only reason I didn't give BK a lower grade is because of the ownership situation.

[Seano]

I agree with the 'B'. Nothing spectacular, nothing earth-shattering, but he did make an effort to address our biggest needs. So I give him credit for that.

I'd have given him a higher grade had we been able to get a better deal for Harrington, but again- not knowing how much of that responsibility lies at the feet of the Atlanta Spirit, I really can't hold that against Knight.

[TexasPete]

Reach for an unathletic stiff at #5, add a career backup and injury prone player to be your starting PG, re-sign an aging stiff to man the middle with his best years well in the past...and give away Harrington for a lotto protected pick. BK couldn't even get an unprotected pick. Yeah, great offseason for a team that has won 39 games in two years.

[Spiral]

I voted C+

I think the moves will help. It honestly looked like we were going to be off on a fast and furious pace because we first contacted Sam I am, then Speedy... BUT THEN... the court ruling. I really think that screwed everything up.

I am with you. Foye would've been my pick at #5. I was really hoping we would somehow get Rondo who coincidentally has a very similar skillset to Speedy. I understand the Shelden pick, I just thought we had greater needs elsewhere. Then in the 2nd round, we picked a player who has almost te exact same skillset as Shelden. I would've loved the Soloman pick if we took Foye first, but not with us taking Shelden.

I think Speedy will improve the team. I do think we overpaid for him. I don't see why BK (reportedly) didn't like Earl Watson's salary last year, but signed Speedy to the contract he got.

Lo Wright. I hope he proves me wrong, but I think this is a yawner. We could've signed about a half dozen other players just as cheap that will provide about what he will.

I think we took it in the shorts in the Al deal because BK's hands were tied in not being able to take back any players.

[BornandDieHawks]

We have to see how Sheldon plays first. He would be judged in a little harsher because he was picked at the #5 because he could provide immediate help to the interior. We needed a starting C, but there were none out there available who would have been a real factor.

[Sage11]

Now that the Harrington saga is over, I would have to give our efforts a b-. like you said nothing earthshaking happened. We added a few "wait and see" players in terms of performance but in my opinion we improved the team. I think we could have done better but that all behind us now. My biggest concern is still interior defense, Zaza and the Landlord will really have to step up to help shut down the middle. Marvin will need to exert himself this year and not take the passive submissive role.

[Lascar78]

Wow. I don't think I've ever seen a poll this spread out. Looks like this place doesn't know what to think.

[mrhonline]

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Wow. I don't think I've ever seen a poll this spread out. Looks like this place doesn't know what to think.

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As of right now, there are 11 people voting B- or better, and 11 voting C+ or worse.

We're the 2004 election.

[pimp]

I gave them a C

Mostly because of a bad draft

Picking Sheldon at #5 could end up costing Bk his Job.

[Packfill]

I gave a B-. Definitely filled some needs but it seems like the team could have done much more to improve both in the short term and the long term.

[Sothron]

C- from me.

Drafting Shellhead at #5 was a mistake. Unathletic player who was dominated in college by true big men. 6'8" PF with arm reach four inches shorter than Marvin Williams. Extremely limited offensive game at the pro level. A complete dud in the summer league. Was predicted to go from 11-16 in predraft mocks. Only the Hawks saw him as a #5.

Not trading Harrington at the deadline when he was warned about the possibilities of the summer blowing up in our faces.

Only getting a lottery protected first for Harrington. We could at least have gotten a center project out of it.

The ownership situation. It dwarves everything else. No matter what spin they try to put on it, the AS is not going to spend beyond the league salary minimum on the Hawks until Belkin is dealt with. Or even worse for Hawks fans, Belkin wins and keeps control of the team. Welcome to Donald Sterling 2.0 in that case.

[Lascar78]

I don't see how you could possibly say Shelden's unathletic. He's not explosive vertically, but he's a hell of an athlete. Who in that rookie class is stronger? He's also very quick. I have concerns with his height, but his athleticism is basically the reason we drafted him.

[sturt]

Forgive me for repeating myself, but my "C" would have jumped to a "C+" just for BK dispensing with the "we can't take any bad contracts" talk and coming clean -- either he misjudged/mistimed the market or his hands have been tied by the ownership(s).

He would have gotten a "B" just for acquiring some experienced talent in exchange for Al.

He would have gotten an "A" if he had accomplished the above, and found a way to turn his #5 pick into Shelden PLUS another draft pick by trading down... I'm sure he would argue that that was explored big-time, but that he just wasn't able to swing it with confidence that he wouldn't get burned... but it doesn't matter... that's what it would have taken to get an "A."

An A+ was possible, too... do all of the above, then to have found a way to move up in front of NJ to draft a certain PG from UConn who BK later admitted he'd sought.

[exodus]

I wonder who gave him an F.

[Sothron]

Every report from the SL listed Shellhead as the slowest player on the court so where do you see quickness at? The only combine number he put up that was good was the bench press.

[AHF]

I gave him a C.

I think he got the minimum for Al that anyone would have expected.

I think he bumbled the draft not by necessarily taking Shelden but by telegraphing both his first and second round picks and not making someone pay a little extra to get their guy like Chicago did with Aldridge/Thomas or with the Foye/Roy trade. With more creativity, I think BK could have selected the same players and added one or more valuable assets with that kind of wheeling and dealing.

I think Speedy was an excellent free agent signing and that Lo was fine. I also have resigned myself to the fact that ownership does not want to add to the payroll right now despite their protests to the contrary so I include that in my assessment of the Al trade since it would have opened up a lot more options for us if BK was even able to take back an expiring contract or contracts.

The court ruling really messed us up and the Al signing was ugly from a PR standpoint so that is a negative as far as PR implications. Marvin's standout MVP performance in the summer league and Speedy's signing are the highlight PR moments for the summer along with the feel-good story of seeing JJ play very well for Team USA.

At the end of the day, I think the Hawks got some useful pieces that are going to help the teams for years down the road and provide an immediate boost to the team and did so without taking on any bad contracts or giving up any future assets so our position going forward still maintains a great deal of flexibility. I love the structuring of the Speedy deal for future cap purposes.

Overall I gave it a C. Passing but I am not particulalry excited about the performance.

[exodus]

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Every report from the SL listed Shellhead as the slowest player on the court so where do you see quickness at? The only combine number he put up that was good was the bench press.

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Shelden timed faster than Childress in the lane agility test, although admittedly that isn't saying much. He timed almost as fast as Smith.

[Lascar78]

exactly. I understand that he has a short reach and doesn't jump that high, but other than that he is athletic as HELL. Every pre-draft workout, the opponents would comme out saying they had no idea just how strong and quick shelden was.

[exodus]

I watched Shelden more than I watched any other college player this past season.I was trying to sell Shelden as a good pick back in January. I think he is going to do better in the pros than people think.

I just think he was a reach at 5.