- Coaching - Mike Woodson is gone... and I'm a fan of that move... he couldn't co-exist with Josh Smith (who is apparently a franchise cornerstone), couldn't make in-game adjustments, and noted national acclaim for having guys quit on him in the playoffs.... The reported candidates? Avery Johnson, Dwayne Casey, Tyrone Corbin, and Dan Majerle... let me preface with this... I have no idea if this is the whole list, a partial list, or even correct at all... but I do know Avery Johnson interviewed yesterday and is the obvious "headliner" candidate... I liked the majority of Avery's work in Dallas, and felt like he got a bit of an overblown bad wrap for the 1st round loss to Golden State... he'd be a new voice that wouldn't take crap from Smith, et al... Casey is a hot name being that he has a relationship with Rick Sund and previous HC experience (where he was universally liked in Minnesota)... I won't pretend to know anything about his style.... same with Corbin and Majerle, both are "hot" assistant candidates with Corbin being a former Hawks player... Don't really have an opinion either way.... In a vacuum, I'd prefer Avery or even current NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy... but in basketball more than, say, football.. it's hard to tell what you're getting in a head coach because you can't champion a "new system" or "switching to the 3-4 defense".... Interested to see what happens obviously
- Joe Johnson - We all know Joe is an unrestricted FA... there are a few levels here... Rick Sund has said publicly this week that they WILL try to re-sign him... dispelling any rumors that he's absolutely gone due to lack of interest... the Hawks (can) offer the most money, and provide one of the better "winning" situations that he could go to.... at the same time, I don't feel like he is worth a 6-year max deal... and I feel like that would be the only bargaining chip the Hawks have to work with... Sign and trade options? It really depends on the situation... most of the teams with cap room don't have any coveted assets to garner in a sign-and-trade, so it would almost have to be an under-the-radar team or a team that is so far under the cap that the Hawks could acquire a mid-to-high 1st rounder for him... I honestly have no idea... but if I had to put a % on it, I'd say he's less than 50% to come back considering his track record of following shots and dollar signs...
- Josh Childress - Yes, the Hawks still own his rights... in a perfect world, I'd love to bring him back... but that assumes 2 things... 1) He wants to come to Atlanta (unlikely), and 2) Rick Sund, who didn't draft Childress, will have to change the organization's tune from 2 summers ago... I think he'll stay in Europe, or he'll sign a lucrative deal with a team that the Hawks will choose to not match...
- Lebron, Wade, Bosh? - No, no, and 99% no... Here's something you need to know about the Lebron situation (not just as a Hawks fan)... this guy can go to literally any team he wants... and he's probably the first guy in league history that can.... hear me out... Because Cleveland would likely be forced to a situation where a sign-and-trade is their best option... Lebron can go to ANY team, because if he decides "I'm going to Denver", then Denver (because it's Lebron) will go through any means they possibly can to put together a sign and trade package for him.... same with Sacramento, Utah, Atlanta... anyone... he's that coveted... that being said, the only method of acquisition for an elite guy like this for Atlanta is the player simply deciding they can't be talked out of coming to Atlanta... that's very unlikely... so move on... we can't sign them because Joe leaves... we don't have the cap room... go to nbafaq.com if that doesn't make sense
- 1st round pick - Atlanta picks at 24... just as last year's 19th pick isn't a slam dunk... 24 is a position where you can get a solid rotation player but very rarely an impact guy... For a smattering of names that I've seen around that area... how bout guys like Damion James, Quincy Pondexter, Larry Sanders, Salomon Alabi, Avery Bradley, Terrico White, Devin Ebanks...? Sound good? Eh...
What I'm saying overall is... there are alot of directions this can go in.... gun to my head? I think Joe walks away, we sign a middling free-agent with the 5-6 million in cap room, Josh Childress goes elsewhere for no compensation, and we come back with a rotation of Horford/Zaza/Josh/Marvin/Jamal/Teague/Bibby/1st rounder X/Middling FA X.... that's a 40 win team...
Obviously, I'll be right here for the duration breaking down the moves... the Hawks are a passion of mine, and I hope Rick Sund can steer this in the right direction... Letting Woody go was a nice first step...
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