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.