Insider request- Blueprint Hawks

[Popeye]

HaWKS- blueprint

[gutz]

Link doesn't work!

[ncthompson11]

didnt work for me either

[Rick]

Here you go....

Atlanta has already surpassed its 26-win total of last season. But despite the Hawks' marked improvement, they remain far out of the playoffs and are still several development cycles away from joining the league's contenders.

The franchise faces several major issues this summer, the most crucial being resolution of its ownership situation.

A disagreement over the Joe Johnson trade blew up an already precarious relationship between Steve Belkin and a contingency of the club's other owners -- Belkin opposed the deal while the majority of the group was in favor. After being forced out of the ownership group, Belkin fought his ouster in court and the case is once again pending.

DECISION-MAKERS OWNER: MICHAEL GEARON, JR.

FACT SHEET

Bought Hawks for $208 million in 2004

Current franchise value: $275 million

Owner's net worth: N/A

Seasons: 3

Playoffs: 0

Division titles: 0

East titles: 0

NBA titles: 0

GM SCORECARD

BILLY KNIGHT

Executive Vice President & General Manager

Seasons: 4

Playoffs: 0

Division Titles: 0

Conference Titles: 0

NBA Titles: 0

BEST MOVE: Signing Zaza Pachulia

Prying the big man loose from Milwaukee for just $16 million over four years was a major coup, especially given the Hawks' dearth of big bodies and what other teams have paid for centers in recent years.

The man from both Georgias makes half as much as guys like Chris Kaman and Samuel Dalembert, but he's outplayed them this year and he's still improving.

WORST MOVE: Drafting Marvin Williams ahead of Chris Paul

Here's the flip side of the "best player available" strategy in the draft -- when you take the guy you think is best, and it turns out he's not even close.

Meanwhile, Paul would have filled a glaring need at the point and energized the Hawks' moribund fast-break -- right now their power forward is the only guy who can push it up-court.

Knight gets bonus points for drafting a player named Williams ahead of the eventual Rookie of the Year again in 2006.

HAWKS TEAM ROSTER

Esteban Batista

Pos: FC | Age: 23

Free Agent

Josh Childress

Pos: GF | Age: 23

Left: 1 yr., $3.63M

Speedy Claxton

Pos: PG | Age: 28

Left: 3 yrs., $17.27M

Royal Ivey

Pos: PG | Age: 25

Free Agent

Anthony Johnson

Pos: PG | Age: 32

Left: 1 yr., $2.86M

Joe Johnson

Pos: G | Age: 25

Left: 3 yrs., $42.69M

Solomon Jones

Pos: FC | Age: 22

Left: 2 yrs., $1.52M

Tyronn Lue

Pos: PG | Age: 29

Left: 1 yr., $3.50M

Slava Medvedenko

Pos: FC | Age: 28

Free Agent

Zaza Pachulia

Pos: FC | Age: 23

Left: 2 yrs., $8M

Josh Smith

Pos: GF | Age: 21

Left: 1 yr., $2.24M

Salim Stoudamire

Pos: G | Age: 24

Left: 1 yr., 783K

Marvin Williams

Pos: GF | Age: 20

Left: 2 yrs., $10.1M

Shelden Williams

Pos: F | Age: 23

Left: 3 yrs., $10.87M

Lorenzen Wright

Pos: C | Age: 31

Left: 1 yr., $3.25M

TEAM STATUS REPORT

HAWKS CAP/TAX SITUATION

Free agents (3): Esteban Batista ®, Royal Ivey ®, Slava Medvedenko

Players Under Contract (12): Josh Childress, Speedy Claxton, Anthony Johnson, Joe Johnson, Solomon Jones, Tyronn Lue, Zaza Pachulia, Josh Smith, Salim Stoudamire, Marvin Williams, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright

Total for players under contract: $48.431,834

First-round picks: Own to Phoenix (protected 1-3 for '07; no protection '0, Owns Indiana (protected 1-10 for '07; 1-8 for '08; 1-5 for '09; no protection for '10)

Team options: None

Player options: None

Limited salary protection: None

Estimated NBA salary cap: $55 million

Maximum cap room for Atlanta Hawks: $6,568,166

Estimated luxury tax threshold:

$67 million (Hawks not expected to reach threshold)

The Hawks have shown glimpses this season, but they are once again headed to the lottery. This is in part due to youth, part by design and part because of organizational uncertainty.

The Hawks have spent the past several years in rebuilding mode with the goal of accumulating elite young talent and cap room. In the summer of 2005, they made a bold move to break the cycle of deferring their success to the future by using multiple draft picks and much of their hard-earned cap room to trade for Joe Johnson, who has emerged as a star in the league.

The jury is still out on the deal as it involves a yet-to-be-conveyed draft pick, but Johnson at least provides the club with its lone go-to scorer and a marquee name to build around.

Atlanta has been fiscally responsible the past few years and is in good shape financially.

In February, Atlanta traded its 2007 second-round draft pick to Dallas for Anthony Johnson. An early second-round pick in this draft is a significant asset. This deal speaks clearly to Atlanta's intention of breaking the cycle of accumulating draft picks and cap space, and to stop looking toward the future for results.

Johnson's contract remains on the Hawks' cap next year, which means they are not positioned to pursue a major free agent this summer.

Still, the Hawks have the flexibility to pursue a midlevel-caliber player (possibly more, depending on their pick and the cap number) while retaining their young nucleus of Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Sheldon Williams.

THE FUTURE

While much has been made of the club's cap room this summer, the Hawks are not presently positioned to be major players.

MAJOR ISSUES FOR HAWKS

• Who's the boss? Ownership situation must be resolved

• Wait and see: Will Hawks have zero lottery picks? One? Two?

• Tale of the talent: Is the core good enough to win?

There are variables pertaining to their actual cap number which we will not know until this summer. In particular, these two: (1) Will they retain their draft pick and/or add Indiana's? and (2) What will the league's cap number be?

The collective bargaining agreement is unforgiving regarding clubs' ability to keep their core together indefinitely while preserving cap room. One of the means through which the pressure is applied is termed a player's "free-agent amount," which can differ greatly depending on where the player is in his career, how much he makes, etc.

While the Hawks appear to project to have approximately $20 million in cap space in 2008, a significant portion of that actually will be eaten up between now and then by their 2007 and/or 2008 draft pick(s) and the free agent amounts for Childress and Smith. They must choose between (a) taking a step back and once again making cap room their goal and (b) retaining their existing nucleus. The Anthony Johnson trade would seem to signal the latter is their chosen direction.

Atlanta is not bereft of talent but it is largely amassed at the wings, though rookie Shelden Williams has posted a solid 5 rpg in 18 mpg. Zaza Pachulia has provided a good bang for the buck in the middle, but if the Hawks are to balance their roster, they will have to find long-term answers at the 1 and the 5.

The Hawks may have two picks in June, or they may have none, depending on how the lottery plays out. This draft features several quality bigs and possibly some good point guards as well, and could figure significantly in Atlanta's future design.

With depth and flexibility (i.e. rookie-scale contracts) at the wings, the Hawks also figure to be a target in other teams' trade schemes. With such major issues in the offing, one would imagine their plate would be full, but all that will take a backseat to resolution of ownership.

[Popeye]

Thanks Rick

[frosgrim]

Good article on the state of the Hawks. We can be major players with the assets we have, it just depends on what we can take back for moving some of the guys we have. The Marvin Williams statement certainly is a shot at the guy, but as most said at the time of the draft, Williams was the best player in the draft. Next year we'll know if that was the case or not (I think you have to wait 3 years to determine the path of a players career, if not 5).

[bumpyphish1]

thanks....will read this later....gotta run for now....thanks for the post....