2005 Offseason

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Once again, if you don't know why I'm going through the moves made by the Hawks in 2005, please refer to this article.

So now that we've gone through the draft, it's now time to try and fill out our depth chart. Now that we've gone through two drafts making the best picks, it's probably best of check out the depth chart to make sure the moves made the rest of the year make sense with the roster.

PG - Chris Paul, Chris Duhon

SG - Tony Delk, Monta ellis
SF - Boris Diaw, Andre Iguodala, Trevor Ariza, Damien Wilkins
PF - Al Harrington, Josh Smith
C - Joel Przybilla, Chuck Hayes

With that information, the next question is whether the remaining moves during the Hawks offseason make any sense.

August 11 - Hawks Sign Free Agent C Zaza Pachulia. As you might guess, there aren't many quality big men that are available through free agency. The only other decent option is Chris Anderson, but he was suspended from basketball from 2006 to 2008. Plus I think everyone in Atlanta loves Zaza, so I'm keeping him.

August 19 - Hawks Trade Boris Diaw And Two First Round Picks To Phoenix For Joe Johnson. While this trade was criticized because Phoenix did not seem to have any intent of matching the offer made by the Hawks, I can't change the deal per the rules of this exercise. Thus, we are only analyzing the deal as it was made. Diaw has had some decent years, but has also shown up out of shape over and over again. The 2006 first round pick was the Lakers pick, so you could bet that it wasn't going to be in the lottery. Plus, with the ability to draft with hindsight, the other pick hopefully won't be in the lottery either. Finally, looking at the roster above, Joe would fill the SG position nicely, and open up Iggy at SF. Therefore, I'm deciding to do the Joe Johnson deal again.

August 30 - Hawks Re-Sign Tyronn Lue. This would be a pure depth signing since we now have Paul and Duhon. With Woody as the coach, I would not even give him the option of not playing Paul, so I'm going to pass on resigning Lue.

Next post we got to find out how this most recent round of decision making turns out.

2005 NBA Draft

Now we are to the moment that most Hawks fans shake their heads about. The Hawks, already with tons of wing depth and in desperate need for a point guard to take the place of Lue, stand ready to make the second pick.

In real time the potential of freshman sensation Marvin Williams was a real temptation. However, with hindsight, the real question is Chris Paul or the other Williams - Deron. There is a real temptation to consider Bynum as well considering the lack of quality big men on the Good Call Hawks (and in the league in general), but he had too many lost seasons to injury and is still trying to get out from the shadow of Kobe. So we are back to Paul or Williams. While some fans in Utah might have made the argument for D-Will in years past, those diehards are cursing his name for forcing his way out of Utah. Instead, the argument has pretty much sorted itself out through the years. There is still the chance that Paul's knee will simply give out soon, but his peak production and absolute control of his team leads the Good Call Hawks to take him with the 2nd pick.

There's not much of an argument for the 31st pick either. Lou Williams is a good bench scorer, and Gortat is putting up some good numbers since finally getting some playing time, but the choice here is Monta Ellis. You can't rely on him to be your main scorer, but I think he would be incredible in the 6th man role where, if he's on, he joins the crunch time team as another dangerous scorer. Plus, with Iggy on the wing as well, you can move Monta to the weaker wing scorer if need be.

Finally, the Hawks have the 59th pick in the draft. There's not much in the last two picks of the real 2005 NBA draft, so we'll move on to the undrafted players. The cream of this crop is Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes. While Azubuike is tempting with his three point range, I think the clear choice is Chuck Hayes. Not only is he still in the league, but he gives the Good Call Hawks a bench player who can play some mean 1-on-1 defense on a post scorer, freeing up either Smoove or Przybilla to roam the lane and block some shots.

So, in recap, we have Chris Paul, Monta Ellis, and Chuck Hayes taken by the Good Call Hawks. Next post takes a look at the 2005 offseason moves, including the infamous Joe Johnson trade.

2004-05 Good Call Hawks

Now that we've gone through all the roster transactions, let's take a look at the roster for the 04-05 Good Call Hawks and find out the results of the season. First the depth chart I will use for the season:

PG - Tyronn Lue, Chris Duhon
SG - Tony Delk, Andre Iguodala
SF - Boris Diaw, Trevor Ariza, Damien Wilkins
PF - Antoine Walker, Al Harrington, Josh Smith
C - Joel Przybilla, Pedrag Drobnjak

The first impression in seeing this roster is awe that the team won any games. The center position is rough, and so is the SG position. Since Jon Barry got traded for Lue pretty early in the season, I will just use him for the whole time. Since Walker was with the team about half the year, I used him for about half the games simulated. There was not too much of a dropoff since the PF minutes simply went to Harrington.

Despite the fact that the only changes were changing out some of the rookie picks, the simulation produced a slight increase in wins. In reality the Hawks record in the 04-05 season was 13-69. The Good Call Hawks went 17-65, which is still the worst record in the NBA. So there is an incremental change, but nothing severe.

However, with another offseason and a chance to change the Marvin Williams pick, there is hope on the horizon.

2004 Offseason and Trades

If you're confused as to why I'm discussing the moves made by the Hawks in 2004, please refer to this article.

Now that the draft is over, it's time to take a look at the roster and see what other moves were made in the offseason. First, let's take a look at the other transactions that were done in 2004.

July 15 Hawks acquire Al Harrington from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Stephen Jackson. This was a sign and trade transaction. Assuming that Stephen Jackson probably did not want to play for a rebuilding team, and assuming that no other star would want to sign with a rebuilding team, I'm simply going to approve this transaction. Harrington had some good moments with the team.

August 4 - Hawks acquire Antoine Walker and Tony Delk from Dallas in exchange for Jason Terry, Alan Henderson and a future first round pick. I am not a fan of either Delk or Walker. However, I think Terry was getting tired of Atlanta at this point. Plus Terry is a great 6th man, but he was never the go-to guy. On the Mavs team last year, he was the second best scorer, but not the second best player. Trading him for a first so you can take a gamble in the first round with a rebuilding team I think was ultimately the right decision, especially when you factor in the later trade with Antoine Walker, despite the fact he was a good guy.

December 23 - Hawks Acquire Tyronn Lue From Rockets In Exchange For Jon Barry. This trade gets a shrug of the shoulders from me. I'll ok it only because I hate Jon Barry as a commentator. Plus this team needs a PG of some caliber, and no, Boris Diaw does not count.

February 24 - Hawks Acquire Gary Payton, Tom Gugliotta, Michael Stewart and a Future First Round Pick From Boston In Exchange For Antoine Walker. The Hawks immediately bought out Payton so this was essentially Antoine Walker for a first round pick, to which I reply, "YES PLEASE!" I don't even care that this pick was not in the lottery. So, to be fair to Billy Knight, the Hawks received two first rounders for Jason Terry, which isn't a bad haul.

Finally, let's take a look at the free agent signings for the Hawks. Considering the full-on rebuilding mode the Hawks are in during the 2004 offseason, it is safe to say that the Hawks are not attracting any marquee free agents. However, there is one change I would make. Both Jason Collier and Joel Przybilla were free agents the summer of 2004, and were both on the Hawks roster the year before. Due to the tragic events surrounding Collier, I'm making the decision to resign Przybilla and not Collier.

Next post I'm looking at the new roster for the 2004-05 Atlanta Hawks and discussing the results of said roster.

2004 NBA Draft

As I stated in my last post, the beginning of this journey I am calling the Good Call Hawks is the 2004 NBA Draft. Let me remind you of what is going on with the Hawks. The Atlanta Spirit just announced the closing of the purchase of the Hawks on March 31st. The Hawks ended the season with a 28-54 record, good for 12th in the east, and was led by the trio of Jason Terry, Stephen Jackson, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim until Abdur-Rahim was traded to the Blazers for one day of Rasheed Wallace. Meanwhile the Pistons soundly beat the Lakers in the finals 4-1.

At the draft, the Hawks have a pleathora of picks that are intended to be used as the backbone of the rebuilding team. The Hawks have the 6th, 17th, 35th, 38th, and 43rd picks in the draft. While the smart thing to do would be to trade up for the 1st pick to snag Dwight Howard, that is not an option due to the rules of the game.

The 6th pick presents a tough choice, even with hindsight, but the choice to not take Childress is quite easy. Instead the choice is between Deng, Iguodala, and Al Jefferson. While I would normally lean toward the big man, I'm not a huge fan of Jefferson. He keeps ending up on poor teams, and I don't think it's a coincidence. That leaves Deng and Iguodala, who are actually quite similar. While Deng's offensive game is a little more polished, neither are able to carry the offense. Deng is a better shooter, but Iggy is a better defender so I am going to take Iggy with this pick.

The next pick is the 17th, which also presents a tough choice. The options are Josh Smith, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, or Jameer Nelson. I think Nelson is off the table pretty quick compared to the other players. Also, I think I would pass on Martin for the same reasons outlined with Jefferson. While he can pour in the points, it never seems to translate into wins. That leaves Smoove vs. Varejao. While Smoove tends to drive everyone crazy with his shot selection, I think he presents a much more versatile option than Varejao. Plus, I think a better team and more disciplined players surrounding Smoove will push him to be more disciplined himself.

The next three picks are a little easier because there is not much talent left. The only two players left that have had any success by any standard are Chris Duhon and Trevor Ariza, so they will be taken with the 35th and 38th picks respectively. For the 43rd pick, since there really is no other decent alternative, I'm going to take the undrafted Damien Wilkins. For a rebuilding team coming off a 28-54 year, I think getting a Wilkins back invovled with the club will at least put some fans in couple of seats.

So wrapping up, that's Iggy, Smoove, Duhon, Ariza and Wilkins.