Pretty Quiet In Atlanta As Draft Approaches

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Micah Hart Hawks Basket Blog

Pretty Quiet In Atlanta As Draft Approaches

Posted by: Micah Hart on June 23, 2008 at 3:56PM EST

It's been pretty silent around these parts the last few weeks, with the only real news being the hiring of GM Rick Sund and subsequent re-signing of head coach Mike Woodson.

With the NBA Draft taking place this Thursday, I find myself in the heretofore unknown position of not having any real work to do for it. That is because (in case you just decided to start paying attention to the Hawks and didn't know this) we don't have any selections in 2008. The first-rounder went to Phoenix to complete the 2005 trade for Joe Johnson, and the second rounder is now with Sacramento as part of the price for Mike Bibby.

Who knows? We may end up with business on Thursday, as I'm sure Rick Sund will be exploring all his options like any good GM would do, but as of now it's all quiet on the home front.

There is some news to report today, and to be honest, I have no idea if it's good or bad. David Andersen, the former Hawks 2nd-round draft pick, and a guy who was rumored to be in the team's plans for 2008-09, has apparently decided to take advantage of the Euro's superiority to the dollar by signing a three-year contract to play for FC Barcelona in the Spanish League.

I won't speak for our basketball ops people, but this was certainly a surprise to me. However, no matter how solid Andersen's rep is in Europe, I still have no idea how well his game would have translated to the NBA. It became pretty clear over the last couple years that it was going to take a sizeable deal to get him to come overseas, so it's entirely possible this turn of events has saved the club several million for a guy who may not have been that good. Or maybe he is awesome and we'll never find out, who knows?

In other news, when new management arrives it usually means a shake-up of basketball staff, and that continued today for the Hawks as Harold Ellis left to join the Pistons organization as an assistant coach on Michael Curry's new staff. He is the second coach to take flight in the past week, as David Fizdale joined the Heat early last week as well. I am sad to see them go, but the gigs were a step up for both of them so I can't blame them for taking off.

As I said, I don't expect much movement around these parts this week, but should anything arise you'll be the first to know about it.