2006 Good Call Offseason

Once again, let's start with the actual transactions done by Billy Knight and determine whether to keep those transactions:

July 12 - Hawks sign free agent PG Speedy Claxton - This signing was an absolute disaster and completely unnecessary with the guard depth on this team. Moving on...

August 22 - Hawks acquire 2007 first round draft pick from Indiana for Al Harrington and John Edwards - Technically John Edwards is no longer on the team, but I don't think he was a vital cog to this trade since he was waived by the Pacers in the preseason. With Josh Smith getting better and the drafting of Millsap and Powe, flipping Harrington for what will end up as the 11th pick is a great deal for the Good Call Hawks.

August 30 - Hawks sign free agent C Lorenzen Wright - I'm definitely not a fan of this signing, but there is a small problem with the center position for the Good Call Hawks since Przybilla is also a free agent. In the 2006 offseason, he signed a 5 year $32 million contract, which I have no intention of matching due to his injuries problems.

So, I need another center. Ideally, I'd like to upgrade from Zaza, but there aren't many decent centers that end up as free agents. There are some decents options in the restricted free agent market with Yao Ming and Nene, but Yao wasn't leaving Houston and Nene was overpaid for all his injuries. Nazr Mohammed also signed a 5 year deal for $31 million, which I am not eager to match. Finally, we have Chris Wilcox at 3 years and $19.5 million. While less years and some decent production, I'm reluctant to lock up that money when I have Monta, Josh, and Iggy all coming up for extensions in 2008. However, the remaining options are the proverbial pu-pu platter: Lorenzen Wright - 2 year $6 million, Jarron Collins - 3 year $7 million, or Francisco elson - 2 year $6 million. So I think we go a little undersized and pick up Chris Wilcox.

This gives the team 11 players for $37,881,839, which is about $15 million under the salary cap. So let's see if there are any players to fill out the roster that are free agents. First, we'll pick up JJ Barea for some guard depth since he was an undrafted free agent. Then we'll beat Golden State to the punch for Matt Barnes for some additional wing depth. This gives us 14 players for$39,730,097, which is over $13 million from the salary cap. Here is the final depth chart:

PG: Chris Paul, Chris Duhon, JJ Barea

SG: Joe Johnson, Monta ellis

SF: Andre Iguodala, Matt Barnes, Trevor Ariza

PF: Josh Smith, Paul Millsap, Leon Powe

C: Chris Wilcox, Zaza Pachulia, Chuck Hayes