Atlanta Hawk's future rating

[HawkItus]

16. Atlanta Hawks | Future Power Rating: 491

PLAYERS MANAGEMENT MONEY MARKET DRAFT

252 (7th) 89 (17th) 63 (27th) 47 (18th) 40 (21st)

We really like Atlanta's roster … we're just not sure where the Hawks go from here. With Josh Smith and Al Horford both likely to make the East's All-Star team, the Hawks' frontcourt is set for the next decade. Throw in a few other solid younger players (Marvin Williams, Jeff Teague) and still-productive older ones such as Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford, and the Hawks have a solid base from which to contend in the East.

The question is how they get any better or how they fend off the rot and avoid becoming worse. Johnson's six-year, $123 million deal was an egregious overreach by a franchise that doesn't have the financial wherewithal to easily absorb a dead-weight contract, and once Horford's extension kicks in a year from now, the Hawks will be walking the luxury-tax tightrope for the foreseeable future.

Ownership's shallow pockets are one issue, especially with the team losing money at the gate, but it's made worse because the team will have to replace some veteran players. And while the city of Atlanta has always lured NBA players, the Hawks jersey has much less pull. We left Atlanta in the middle of the pack among markets, making its lack of future cap flexibility a greater concern.

(Previous rank: 19)

[T21]

Thanks for sharing this one...

First... ESPN has always been very negative towards Hawks... However, this assessment is pretty decent, although still negative in terms of our ranking...

There's one thing that personally bothers me the most... It's the fact that we are financially limited, and unless we can somehow come up with a trade that gets us over the hump, we can only hope that this current roster has got what it takes to grow further and realize our goals.

Naturally, the above-mentioned trade would have to include one of our "True core" pieces - JJ, Al, Smoove. That's very sensitive...

[TheTruth]

Yes, the financial limitations of this ownership are probably the biggest hindrance to us ever becoming something more than a not-good-enough playoff team. Moreso than our flawed roster, lack of talent, lack of a top notch coach, and lack of a current superstar.

This team is ok, but I too don't get the feeling that we will ever do anything. Our core, which has had a lot of money pumped into it, along with a lot of energy to keep together, isn't good enough, our PG and C spots are either terrible or out of position, and our bench sans Crawford is average at best. And with ownership unwilling to pay luxury tax, combined with underperforming players with dead weight contracts, things don't look so rosy in the short term.

[macdaddy]

One question I keep thinking of is would you trade Joe Johnson if you could. For instance, would you trade Joe/Marv to Dallas for Butler/Terry and maybe a pick or something. We downgrade a lot at SG but it would save a ton of money to pursue perhaps someone this offseason when Butler and Crawford are up. I don't know. I think Joe may come back pretty strong toward the end of the year.

[ATLSmith]

This reads... "Future unknown."

[sasuke]

One question I keep thinking of is would you trade Joe Johnson if you could. For instance, would you trade Joe/Marv to Dallas for Butler/Terry and maybe a pick or something. We downgrade a lot at SG but it would save a ton of money to pursue perhaps someone this offseason when Butler and Crawford are up. I don't know. I think Joe may come back pretty strong toward the end of the year.

If we won't make any move to get better & just run away from the tax......HELL YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Horford & Smith still young enough to retool around them.