ESPN Insider on the Hawks

[Scott]

Burning down the Hawks

By Chad Ford

NBA Insider

Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, January 13

Updated: January 13

9:53 AM ET

Wasn't it just a year ago that Hawks president Stan Kasten called the play of his lowly Hawks "unacceptable" and vowed to fix the team?

Wasn't it a year ago that then-Hawks GM Pete Babcock admitted his offseason moves were "wrong across the board?"

And one year ago didn't Kasten and Babcock begin exploring how to blow the team apart after it was apparent that the group they had put together just couldn't get along?

The Hawks had and have a talented team on paper. But on the court, the pieces have never fit.

"When you are assembling a puzzle and two pieces don't fit, because either they are bad guys, or they don't buy into what you are doing, or they don't work hard, then it's easier to identify," Babcock said Jan. 11, 2003. "In our situation, each individual player -- they're good guys. They're working hard. They're doing the extra things. They take the program seriously. But when you put the pieces together, it's like they don't have faith in each other. They don't quite believe in each other yet.

"That's the job of this staff, to get them believe. If they can't, then you've got to reassemble the puzzle. You've got to change the pieces to get that mix that believes in one other, because this is a team sport."

A year later, Jan. 12, 2004, it's like Groundhog Day. The 10-28 Hawks are awful. The seats are empty. Players slouch on the bench. The gloom is palpable. Tempers are short. Coach Terry Stotts paces the sidelines like a sweaty, caged tiger. Jason Terry wants a one-way ticket out. Theo Ratliff has been caught screaming at the coach. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Which makes you wonder, what the [censored] is going on in Atlanta?

"Nothing," a Hawks source told Insider. "The team is a train wreck. Guys aren't playing hard. They're giving up. Terry [stotts] is doing everything he can to motivate them, but the guys act offended when he asks them to play hard. No one trusts each other. Everyone is on their own page. I can't imagine there's a team that's more screwed up. But there are no signs that changes are coming. Just talk, threats really. We're worn down. I know Terry [stotts] is under fire, but it's not really his fault. These same players have killed other coaches, and they'll kill the next guy too, if something else doesn't change."

Corporate red tape

Harsh words for harsh times. If the Hawks were a normal team, fans would be picketing the owner right now and demanding the GM be fired. But the Hawks aren't a normal team. They are mired in the corporate molasses of Time Warner. A sale has been pending for what seems like the last decade. The potential ownership groups seems to change weekly.

The official sale to a conglomerate known as Atlanta Spirit LLC took place Sept. 12, but that group still hasn't gotten official approval from NBA owners. That could happen later this month, then again, with the way things are going in Atlanta, my Jan. 13 column in 2005 may begin with the same refrain: The Hawks stink. Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?

Even when the sale does become final, who has faith in an ownership group that's not that much smaller than the Board of Directors for Time Warner? Atlanta Spirit is one-third owned by Boston businessman Steve Belkin; one-third owned by Washington businessmen Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman; and one-third owned by five local men (Michael Gearon Jr., Rutherford Seydel, Michael Gearon Sr., Bud Seretean and Beau Turner -- Ted's youngest son).

New owners, new team?

How does that committee of nine get anything done? Officially, Belkin will have two votes and Gearon Jr., Seydel, Levenson and Peskowitz one apiece on ownership decisions. Great, we've reduced the number to five.

Five heads to hopefully dismantle what has become the biggest train wreck in the NBA. The Clippers and Warriors have been bad for longer, but at least you can argue that they've made moves trying to get back on track. The Hawks keep swirling down the drain.

No one knows exactly what will happen when David Stern hands the keys to Belkin & Co. Will they bring in their own GM? Their own coach? Will they be inclined to burn the team to the ground, like Kiki Vandeweghe did in Denver? Or will they be blinded by the talent on paper and try a quicker fix to get this team playing mediocre basketball faster, like Isiah Thomas did in New York?

GMs around the league are waiting on the answers with bated breath. Why? Because the Hawks do have talented individuals with decent contracts whom other teams crave. If the Hawks decide to detonate, there will be a long line waiting to pick up the pieces.

Who should go? According to the Hawks source, who asked not to be identified, Terry and Ratliff are the biggest problems. Shareef Abdur-Rahim should go, as well, if the Hawks aren't able to parlay Terry and Ratliff into an all-star leader. In other words, Abdur-Rahim is a good enough player, but he's not a guy you build around. He's Scottie Pippen looking for someone else to lead.

In the process, the Hawks want to unload one other big contract (read: Alan Henderson) to get far enough under the cap to make some noise this summer. If they find a way to get Terry, Ratliff, Abdur-Rahim and Henderson off the books while taking back minimal salary in return, they can reduce a projected 2004-05 payroll of $52 million to $12 million.

The blueprint

How does it happen? The options aren't that pretty. The Hawks aren't going to get equal value in return. At this point, you'd have to live with the fact that the team will get lots of cap room and a few prospects to work with. As always, Insider has some ideas.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Power Forward

Atlanta Hawks

Profile

2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

38 19.4 9.4 2.5 .493 .856

Moving Rahim: This is the easy part. Abdur-Rahim is just 27 years old and is putting up solid numbers (19.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) once again. The knock on him is simple. Since his rookie season, when he averaged 18.3 ppg, Rahim hasn't done much to improve. Scouts see a talented kid who lacks the killer instinct to lead on the court or develop his game off the court. With the right coach and the right motivation, maybe he changes. But even if he doesn't, he'd be an awesome second or third wheel on a good team. His contract is easy enough to digest, at $13.5 million this year and $14.6 million next year.

The key for Atlanta is to get major cap relief and top prospects (like the Suns did with Marbury) in return. How does that happen? The Sonics have always been the best fit for Abdur-Rahim. They almost traded for him two years ago, before backing out at the last second. The team is rolling but needs a post presence who can score in the paint. Brent Barry, Jerome James and Vladimir Radmanovic for Abdur-Rahim gives the Hawks roughly $7 million in cap relief next year, and a top, low-priced young prospect in Radmanovic.

The Jazz have enough cap room to make a trade for Abdur-Rahim, but would an offer of a couple of high first-round draft picks and Greg Osterag's expiring contract be enough to get the Hawks to make a deal? The Warriors could offer the expiring contracts of Adonal Foyle and Avery Johnson, along with a top player like Jason Richardson or Troy Murphy, but since when have the Warriors been willing to spend more money?

Whatever the Hawks do, they shouldn't move Rahim until they have deals in place for Ratliff and Terry. They'll become even more unruly if Rahim goes and the team takes yet another step back. Trading Rahim is the last move, not the first one.

Theo Ratliff

Forward-Center

Atlanta Hawks

Profile

2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

38 7.6 6.6 0.8 .451 .619

Moving Ratliff: Plenty of teams are also interested in Ratliff. He's one of the top shot blockers in the league and a legit center in the Eastern Conference. Ratliff is on the books for $10.1 million this year and $10.9 million in 2004-05. Who's interested? There's talk the Blazers want Ratliff and would be willing to swap Rasheed Wallace for him if the Hawks also included Terry. Terry is a base-year player, which makes that trade more difficult, but it is doable with the right add-ons. It might be simpler for Portland to offer a combo of Wesley Person's expiring contract, Jeff McInnis and a prospect like Travis Outlaw straight up for Ratliff.

The Grizzlies have interest in Ratliff, but they're running out of ammo to get him. A combo of Stromile Swift, Jake Tsakalidis and Shane Battier might be enough, but is the injury-prone Ratliff really worth that price? I don't think so, and neither does Jerry West. The Bucks could offer Toni Kukoc's expiring contract and a prospect like Marcus Haislip. The Celtics could send the expiring contracts of Chris Mills and Chris Mihm to the Hawks, but surely Atlanta would demand a first-round pick or two to make it happen.

Jason Terry

Point Guard

Atlanta Hawks

Profile

2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

37 15.7 3.9 4.9 .429 .822

Moving Terry: Again, the interest is there, but Terry's base-year compensation status makes him tough to trade. So does the fact that he can veto any trade until this summer, because the Hawks matched his offer sheet. At this point, you'd think Terry would be happy to go anywhere else. If the Hawks want to trade him, they're going to have to package him with Ratliff or Abdur-Rahim to make the deal big enough to absorb the base-year problems. That's going to be very difficult.

The Blazers could get it done. The Jazz could too, except the Hawks aren't allowed to trade Terry to Utah for one year, because the offer sheet they matched was from the Jazz. The Pacers have had plenty of interest in Terry in the past, but they don't have the expiring salaries to get it done.

[Boondocks]

For the insider

[TheDude]

good post. nice article for a change by ford...

He really throws out the situation there and gives some options. I'm against trading Reef because good pf's are not a dimeadozen.

I'd be willing to package Ratliff and Terry together OR even more lucrative to me is the Ratliff straight up for person's contract, mcinnis, and outlaw.

I think McInnis could be our starting pg because he was definitely starter material on the Clippers. Outlaw could be a project and with Persons and Brandon's contract, we could pull in maybe another star player here.

And that's not even counting what we could get for Terry. If we could pull a really high draft pick or a nice taller sg or sf, I'd be happy. Anybody have any ideas on who we could get for Terry? If not, with McInnis being 6-4 at least we could try Terry at sg.

Man, I like that Ratliff trade to Portland.(i like the Ratliff to Grizz also but don't think West would do it either)

[Vol4ever]

The problem in trading Hawk player's for expiring contracts are this;

Let's say the Hawks moved Ratliff and Terry for veteran expring contracts and draft picks, everyone would be happy right? No, not I because if you have all of the money in the world to spend on free agents who in their right mind would come to Atlanta? [censored] worst franchise in the league. Good players that become free agents want to play on a winning team and a good organization of which we have neither no matter who becomes the coach. We would only be in the hunt for players who only care for themselves and they put us in the same situation that exists now.

Well, if what I say is true, what do we do?

What are your suggestions??????

[TheDude]

well, expiring contracts are only a piece of what we get in return...we'd get a project in outlaw and a nice point guard also... i'm a fan of mcinnis's game from when he played for the clippers..

but seriously, players will come here IF our new owners come in and show they are ready to make changes..and i think they will..

money talks.

[Packfill]

I could be wrong but I remember reading that the Clips were happy to see Mcinnis go because he has a bad attitude - supposedly a me first/stat guy. Doesn't sound like the type of guy you want at the point. Outlaw is like Darius Miles lite - great athlete, no skills.

I actually like the sound of the Boston trade. Mihm has some talent - I know he is considered somewhat soft - but if we are trading the whole team anyway then a young center with good size, offensive ability, rebounding and shotblocking capaility is not a bad starting point. He could be resigned on the cheap. If we keep Reef on the other hand, this may not work. Definitly would need at least a first round pick though, which I would use on a point guard ala jammer nelson.

[Playmaker0017]

EDS,

The problem is that the draft has a plethora of talent at the center spot.

A 7'5", 330 pound russian at 18 years old and showing signs of further growth is quite a hard thing to pass up.

Play.

[Packfill]

I know Pozkiline (sp?) has potentially but he is years away from contributing - if at all. I saw Mihm play for Cleveland earlier in the year and liked what I saw. Probably was an aberation but his stats, based on minutes played, actually look decent.

[Playmaker0017]

EDS,

I thought Mihm was going to be decent out of college. Of course, I thought the same thing about Collier (of course, I didn't think he had the speed).

Basically, this draft holds only a project-C (in Pozkiline) or a project-SF/PF (in Howard). Other than that, there seems to be a severe talent drop off. Of course, you will have your occational guy that drops to 12 that turns into an all-star and everyone wears 20/20 goggles.... but there really isn't a SURE THING in this draft.

The only guy I am really stoked about is Livingston, but he is a HS senior at PG... that is a *BIG* project that would require the best of coaches and patience. Something this organization can't afford.

I like trying to work things out with Memphis. I think we could do that deal if we worked hard at it.

Play.

[Packfill]

I'd take that Memphis deal in a heartbeat. At this point, I would even consider throwing in the philly first rounder to get the deal done.

[Playmaker0017]

EDS,

I would, except that Battier is a FA after the year and I believe (don't quote me) that Swift is as well.

I wouldn't want to lose Battier in the offseason. But, I am not sure we could resign him.

Thus, losing the first would mean we have more money if both guys walk during FA but it woul also mean we wouldn't be able to draft anyone.

So, we are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.

I would be willing to throw in a couple second rounders though.

Play.

[TheDude]

i hadn't heard anything about mcinnis like that but i don't doubt you... i just like the stats he put up for the clippers...they were better with him at point than andre miller..

i would hope he would be a bit more mature than he was a few years ago..but who knows...

i don't think west would do that unless he sees that he's going to absolutely have to do something about his center situation and gets desperate...

honestly i have a bad feeling that if this ownership doesn't go thru soon, we're going to be stuck doing a bad trade cuz we didn't get in the mix early enough...that means losing reef and just getting some mid1st picks..

i would only draft that 12foot russian guy if it was out of the top 4 picks. i worry about foot issues with him and most importantly if he has had surgery to rid him of that george mureshan(sp?) disease..

BUT if we could do a trade where we would somehow end up with two top 5 picks, i'd do that trade and go for the russian guy.

[Gray Mule]

Don't know how the N.B.A. works on contracts.

In other sports, a player being traded can be given a new

contract at the time of the trade. The trade can even

be made with the agreement that the traded player

agrees to sign the new contract.

I want Battier, as everyone knows. I don't want to get

him and then loose him at the end of the season. Surely

there is a way around this delimma.

The sale. The sale. The sale ------------

It just goes on and on with no end in sight. Yes, they

set a time, then it is moved. They have moved up the

"Expected" time of finally closing at least a half dozen

times. How long is the N.B.A. going to hold the Atlanta

Hawks captive?

[Vol4ever]

McInnis and Outlaw are players we shuld not have an interest in. Rasheed Wallace is another no-brainer we don't want. Randolf is the only player that I would have an interest in and they are not fgoing to move him. Mihn can't play period, he is soft, Theo is way ahead of him in terms of defense.

I would like the Hawks to have a shot at these players:

Gerald Wallace, SAC

Kareem Rush, LAL

Shane Battier, Mem

Antoine Jamison, Mavs

Brendon Haywood, Wash

Hughes, Wash

Jamal Tinsley, Ind

Quinten Richardson, LAC

Mo Peterson, Toronto

Heck we could have had Tinsley and Tashon Prince (Detroit) who are decent young players

[Playmaker0017]

Outside of Jamison, I would love any of those players.

Play.

[chillzatl]

Good job to all you hawksquawkers out there for suggesting practically everything he suggested, months ago! Being an insider is no replacement for knowledgable, passionate fans. Everyone take a minute to pat yourself on the back and, for a change, feel good about being fans of this lowly team. It sounds like Chad Ford read a few weeks worth of the Homecourt forum and decided to write an article.

Ok, enough of that. I personally have to take credit for the hawks insider pointing out that the team has given up and it's not all the coaches fault.

It's nice to get an insiders opinion take on some of the players. It's no secret to anyone here that Shareef isn't a leader and now it's clear that the guy doesn't care about expanding his game. But the insider harkens to another Squawk regular by suggesting that Reef might just need a coach who can really motivate him(play).

Just about all of those trades have been suggested here, in one form or another. Ratliff for battier and filler, Ratliff and JT for wallace. Diesel, you should file suite against this guy for robbing some of your trade ideas! It is pleasing to see that some of our players have some real value and if dealt carefully, could put us on the right track. Or at least a track that doesn't lead off a cliff!

[Playmaker0017]

Chillz,

The real question is .... will anything happen.

Play.

[chillzatl]

I think that alone will make a difference. It hard to build anything the foundation isn't stable. But as far as player movement, man I dunno. I hope so. IMO, Reef and Diaw are the only ones worth keeping. Building around those two gives us a chance to be a playoff contender in 2 years. Granted that's in the east but hey, i'll take it.

[DirtyBirdNetic]

Man we just need to clean house like the insider column implied. dump off our salary mistakes (alan henderson--D'OH!) and start from scratch with a couple (Reef, Jackson?).

[Plainview1981]

Was there actually a respectable crowd there last night? I watched the 4th period and it look like there was more

fans there than I remember seeing there.