A Dream Change

The Atlanta Hawks have improved from their previous season yet again but for some reason it just seems like the Hawks never get the respect they deserve. After finishing the season over .500 with 47 wins, the Hawks still seemed to be looked upon as a lottery team. Is it because maybe this was the franchise's first season with a record over .500 wins in a decade? Is it because our coach is probably hated by more than half of the fan base? (It's a love hate relationship for me) Or maybe is it because we haven't had a stand out superstar since Dominique? In a world where sports fans make no sense in half the criticisms they make, whether it has to do with insulting the coaching staff or hating on a player because of how they look, the answer to this question might be more controversial than it seems. But let's not get too technical.

Sure we have a leader in Joe Johnson, a veteran with experience in Mike Bibby, and a freak athlete in Josh Smith but are those the keys to a successful team? You can think again. Let's look back at the last three NBA champions.

2007-08 Boston Celtics. This team was just full of talent starting off with the former league MVP Kevin Garnett. You can't get more consistent than this guy. Paul Pierce is another star who can bring in 30 points on any given night. On top of that, add in one of the league's greatest shooters of all time Ray Allen and you've got a big three. Hmm. Included in this arsenal is a draft pick that played above expectations. Rajon Rondo out of Kentucky. An often verlooked young stud at the point who can do it all... Except shoot. (Better than Josh Smith though... A lot better) Then you add in role players, young and old, at almost every position. Eddie House, Sam Cassell, James Posey, Leon Powe, PJ Brown, and Kendrick Perkins.

2006-07 San Antonio Spurs. Who else can I begin with other than Tim Duncan. The fundamental king who quietly brings in 20+ points and 10+ rebounds has been the anchor for the Spurs for the last decade since being drafted out of Wake Forest. Surround this future hall of famer big man with scorers, defenders, hustlers, and complimentary rebounders, and you've got your self a contender for consecutive seasons. Wait a minute... 02-03? 04-05? 06-07? The international stars shined as two often underrated players in Tony Parker and Manuel Ginobili assisted Tim Duncan by leading the guard play. You have the veteran leadership in Robert Horry who has won more NBA Titles than John Stockt..... Michael Jordan along with Michael Finley and Brent Barry who have their fair share of playoff experience. Lastly, you have hard nose defender Bruce Bowen and role rebounder Francisco Elson, and you've got a deep roster of nine players that can perform every night. The only thing that this team didn't have was a young recently drafted stud. The future is cold in San Antonio...

Seeing somewhat of a pattern? Coincidence? Ummm... moving on...

2005-06 Miami Heat. Before giving the Marquette star all the credit, I'm going to have to start out with who I think was the most important member of this championship team. One of the most dominant centers to ever play the game, Shaquille O'neal was the main ingredient. He attracted double teams, he grabbed 10+ boards a game, he absolutely caused havoc in the paint. Maybe not as much as he used to but with 330 pounds down low, and a beast that can still somewhat jump enough to block your mess to the other side of the gym, we've got issues. Dwyane Wade was Diesel's partner in crime as he basically scored left and right, averaging almost 40 points a night in the four Miami victories. The role players in this one? They had it all with veterans Derek Anderson, Gary Payton, James Posey, Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker, and Jason Williams. Wow... You couldn't have asked for a better group of veterans. Add in underrated Udonis Haslem and you've got yourself the 2006 NBA champions. The young stud in this one was basically Dwyane Wade who was in his fourth year, but with the way he was playing, you would have thought he was a 9th year veteran in his prime.

So where am I going with all this? Let's go back to the Hawks blue prints.
Joe Johnson; Sorry but you just arent a star player in my standards. Don't get me wrong. This guy can pour in the points and lead a team to a victory with clutch performances on a few nights. Other nights, Joe decides to leave his game at home and just wants to do a little bit. That's not what Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, and Shaq/Dwyane Wade did.

Mike Bibby; A solid veteran that can turn it up from 3 but has he really done much else? This is something that can be done by a role player off of the bench. Eddie House/James Posey, Brent Barry, Jason Kapono, and the list goes on.

Josh Smith; The man can dunk but that's all I'll credit him for. Rebounding? Sure he can do it, but does he push himself to bring in the boards? Not really... Has anyone else noticed his heavy feet? And who else can't breathe when he pulls up from mid range or beyond the arc? If you've answer yes to two or more of these, we're all on the same page. The Celtics, Spurs, and Heat had players that could tear down the rim, but when it came down to it, it really didn't matter and dunking wasn't the key to victory.

Has anyone noticed that the leaders on every championship team were big men? We can go back even more. 2004-05 Tim Duncan, 2003-04 Rasheed Wallace (Chauncey Billups might have been the MVP but without Rasheed, the team wouldn't have even made it to the Eastern Conference Finals), 2002-03 Tim Duncan, 2001-02 Shaq, Shaq, Shaq. Of course, every big man can't do it without a guard to compliment him (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Manu, Tony Parker, Dwyane Wade, Chauncey Billups, Kobe Bryant) but the core of a championship team begins in the big man. This year's finals? Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. I'm just saying.

Al Horford is good but he is still young and he is not ready to take in a role of being the star big man. In 3 years? Hopefully he will have a consisten mid range and a better ball handling skill to go with his post moves by then but we aren't psychic and can't tell you how that will turn out.

So what do the Hawks do?

Let's begin with the Hawks upcoming free agents.

Hawks 2009 Restricted Free Agents
Thomas Gardner: Release
Othello Hunter: Release
Mario West: Resign for a limited amount. Why not?
Josh Childress: Resign if he returns from Greece but for a reasonable amount. He'll probably stay in Greece. Sign and trade?
Solomon Jones: Release
Marvin Williams: Release. Had high hopes for the young 4 year out of UNC, but the clock is ticking and Marvin ain't producing.

Hawks 2009 Unrestricted Free Agents
Zaza Pachulia: Release. A crowd favorite but what can he do other than pick fights with NBA stars?
Mike Bibby: Release. Thanks for the two years Mike.
Ronald Flip Murray: Resign but he may ask for too much.

Here are some free agents that could help us.

2009 Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards
Jason Kidd: Aging quickly but a veteran leader is always needed. Maybe sign for one or two years but no more. Contract would have to be light too. Chances unlikely.
Travis Diener: Not too much praise for this guy but heck, he could be another Luke Ridnour. Pick him up!
Luther Head: Head will be entering his fourth season in the NBA and a new team could help him possibly have a breakout season. A possible steal at very low price. Do I sound like a "Lowe's" commercial?
Andre Miller: A little pricy and age is kicking in but if we can manage to keep his salary at 7 figures, we might be able to discuss something.
Ronnie Price: Another young cat that's about to enter his fourth season but doesn't have the Luther Head or Travis Diener type of potential. He could still be a great contribution at his affordable price as a back up.

Shooting Guards
Gerald Green: I'm just in love with picking up a three year play. Once again, Green is soon to enter his fourth season and he has yet to find a home. This freak athlete is just waiting to find his place to put all the pieces together. Probably the end of his rookie contract but no more than 2 million max wouldn't hurt.
Dahntay Jones: An excellent role player that can easily contribute off the bench yet start. He showed it in this year's playoffs for the Nuggets. Proabably won't be asking for too much either.
Jamal Crawford: Kind of a risk at his price, but he is either in his prime or going to enter it in the next 2 seasons so he would be a great pick up for the starting 1 or 2 position.
Kobe Bryant: Use it all! Spend all our money on him! Do it now! With about 6 more years under his belt, we are bound to make at least 2 nba championship appearances with the Black Mamba. I don't care what it takes, trade and sign/sign and trade, whatever!
Damien Wilkins: He is of the same blood line as Dominique. A bright future is the only possible outcome if he comes here right?
Kareem Rush: Hasn't really done much in the NBA as of yet, but give him the right tools the work with and we might see some fire.
Morris Almond: The Georgia native is only in his second year and has abilities that the NBA hasn't really noticed yet. Take him for cheap before he blows up for some other team.

Small Forwards
Devean George: Once was a solid contributor of the early 2000's Lakers but has been quiet since. A new start for the 31 year old in Atlanta?
Ron Artest: Very expensive and has no Finals experience but he sure has what it takes to help a team get there. He got the Rockets out of the first round.
Lamar Odom: Bringing Odom in would be like getting a small forward, point guard, and a power forward. The 6'10" multitalented athlete can bring in a lot for a team. Money well spent.
Rodney Carney: No one knows much about this young man but he can play basketball. Well that's a given. Let's get him!
Hedo Turkoglu: Who knows what he may do after the 2009 Finals. If he departs, a few years in Atlanta won't hurt.
Shawn Marion: He probably won't be able to live up to his nickname in a couple years when the age starts kicking in but he can still do damage and rack up the stats. He isn't worth too much but would be a great pick up at a fair price. Fair price guys... Seriously, the last thing I want to see is our team spend our entire salary on a player in his 30's that's not named Kobe

Power Forwards
Mikki Moore: At 33, his time looks to be running out but he can probably play for 10 more years if he really wanted to. If we can bring him in for about 4 mil, he would be a great back up at the big.
Joe Smith: This man has been everywhere. He always brings hard work and can do some minor damage. Would be a great back up and mentor to Al Horford.
Brandon Bass: Lacks height but makes up for it with strength and athleticism. Still young and has time to improve. Again, doesn't cost too much.
Shelden Williams: NOT!
Stromile Swift: Doesn't really have that much upside but he is a lot cheaper than he's worth. Take a chance? More likely will hurt than help. Who knows?
Drew Gooden: Besides his nasty sense of fashion, he is actually a solid big man. He played for Kansas as well. Just saying.
Carlos Boozer: Loyalty is questionable but you can't go wrong with this stud. Don't want to see the Hawks overpay this guy though.

Centers
Steven Hunter: You can't be picky with the center position when it comes to free agency. Don't want out starting center to be Steven Hunter, but as of right now we don't have a true center and Steven Hunter has somewhat abilities.
Rasho Nesterovic: Another decent big man that teams seem to pay a lot for some reason. Pick him up for no more than 3 million max. That still seems like a lot but the man is a veteran.
Chris Mihm: Mihm seems to have a bitter NBA career as he has been overshadowed by other big men and was never given much of a chance. He has size and can do the basic things. Come to Atlanta pal. Don't come barging in the front office with a fat contract in your hands though.
Francisco Elson: You can place him in the same category as Steven Hunter and Nesterovic. I don't really know how I feel about these guys but I'm sure one of them could help.
Eddy Curry: Probably the best center out of the group. Can score and has a bulky body to take up space. The only problem is that he may be asking for a lot more money than he's worth.
Mehmet Okur: Did I say Eddy was the best? I take it back. He may cost a bit, but I say that a shot.

2009 Restricted Free Agents
Leon Powe: A young big man that only has a bright future. His injury shouldn't slow him down. I just don't see us fighting other teams off for him though.
Raymond Felton: A great point guard to orchestrate the offense. Doesn't stand out like fellow draftees Chris Paul or Deron Williams but he can do damage.
Jarrett Jack: An excellent back up point guard but once I again, I don't see us pushing away other teams for him.
Joel Anthony: Did you see what he did to us in the Miami series. Man has potential.
Ramon Sessions: According the fellow writer, my mentor John Myung Hawks Lee, this guy would be the perfect pick up for the Hawks. Not many know much about Sessions because he plays for the Bucks, but maybe if he comes over to the Hawks, people will start recognizing him.
Charlie Villanueva: He's like a lower class version of Carlos Boozer. But is he worth the effort?
David Lee: This undersized big man once recorded 20+ rebounds. That has to mean something. It can't be because he was playing for the Knicks. I don't think he's worth a starting position. 6th man?
Marcin Gortat: My favorite restricted free agent. Took him a while to get some playing time but he still has plenty of years left in him. I'd love to see him in a Hawks uni.
Louis Amundson: A hardnosed worker. Looks like a grease ball but he would be a great contributor to the squad.
Paul Millsap: Another one of those undersized big men. he can flat out play basketball though.)

If free agency were to happen as written above, the Hawks roster would look like this;
Speedy Claxton 5.7 Million
Maurice Evans 2.5 Million
Al Horford 4 Million
Joe Johnson 14.2 Million
Acie Law 2 Million
Randolph Morris .8 Million
Ronald Murray* 1.5 Million (Current contract)
Mario West .7 Million

With Bibby, J-Smoove, Marv, and Zaza out of the picture it gives us 30+ million to work with. Now that's a lot of money. With that, you could get a superstar and some but salary cap ain't that simple.

With Joe Johnson becoming a free agent in 2010, it wouldn't hurt to keep him for one more year but a new contract would not be in the picture. With the incoming 2010 free agency packed with stars that could quickly change your team, a fresh agreement with Joe Johnson would be suicide.

After the 2009 free agency is over with, our team could look somewhat like this... Somewhat realistically speaking...
Speedy Claxton 5.7 Million
Maurice Evans 2.5 Million
Al Horford 4 Million
Joe Johnson 14.2 Million
Acie Law 2 Million
Randolph Morris .8 Million
Ronald Murray* 1.5 Million (Current contract)
Mario West .7 Million
Ramon Sessions 2-4 Million
Jamal Crawford 8-10 Million
Rodney Carney 1-2 Million
Brandon Bass 1-2 Million
Marcin Gortat 2-3 Million
Mehmet Okur 8-10 Million
Chris Mihm 1-2 Million
NBA Draft Pick?

Don't resign Joe Johnson or Speedy and open up about 20+ Million for the 2010 free agency and find the last piece of the puzzle (preferrably a big man) to a championship team from there. Chris Bosh, Yao, Amare?

Of course, all this is very unlikely, coming from one source and I probably had a couple errors dealing with the salary cap rules (I know with the draft pick the roster is over the limit of 15) but hopefully you read the title of this one. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Hawks 2010-2011 NBA Champs

-Jason C