| The Fan's Perspective Authored by Patrick J. Austin - June 8, 2005 - 1:19 pm
In my previous article, I mapped out a blueprint for a possible Hawks offseason. Now, I’d like to give the die-hard fans a chance to voice their opinion on what the team should do this summer.
I posted a thread requesting any and all to send in their Hawks ’05 offseason blueprints. I would then select the top three and publish them for everyone to take a look at.
To my pleasant surprise, the response was huge. I received over seventy-five e-mails, so choosing the top three was certainly an arduous task.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to send in a plan. I enjoy reading the opinions of fellow Hawks fans. So, here they are; the top three Hawks offseason blueprints from you, the fans:
Plan #1 is from KB20
PRE-DRAFT DEAL #1:
Hawks Get:
Jamaal Magloire
Melvin Ely
#5 pick
Bobcats Get:
Tony Delk
#4 Pick
Hornets Get:
Peja Drobnjak
Al Harrington
#2 Pick
Why For Atlanta: This is a great deal for them. They get a top 10 center and the #5 pick which could be used to draft a pretty good point guard. Trading the 2nd pick is worth it.
Why For Charlotte: They get a solid veteran point guard that can mentor the one they draft. They also move up one spot in the draft.
Why For New Orleans: They get rid of Magloire who doesn't want to be there and they get back a great deal. They get the #2 pick, which they can use to draft Marvin Williams. Al Harrington has one year on his contract. He could start at small forward for that year. By then, Marvin should be ready to start. Drobjnak is solid backup center.
PRE-DRAFT DEAL #2:
Hawks Get:
#19 Pick
Grizzlies Get:
Lakers 2006 1st
#59 pick
Cash
Why For Atlanta: They get another 1st round pick.
Why For Memphis: They sell their pick just like they wanted and they get back a bit more than they were planning for.
DRAFT SELECTIONS:
#5-Deron Williams
Why?
Deron is the perfect point guard for this team. He has great size and court vision. He is a great defender. He could guard many shooting guards because of his size. Reminds me of Kidd.
#19-Chris Taft
Why?
He would make a great 3rd string power forward for his first 2 or 3 years. Then he could become second string and get more time.
#31-Daniel Ewing
Why?
Great 3rd string point guard for first couple of years.
FREE AGENCY:
Sign Kwame Brown 4-Years $34m with a starting salary of $7m.
Why?
He may have been a bust in Washington but that's only because he was lazy. I think Mike Woodson could change that.
Sign Bonzi Wells 4-Years $34m with a starting salary of $7m.
Why?
Great scorer, though he doesn’t care if you win or lose. He just cares about the money.
Sign Chris Andersen 4-Years $18m with a starting salary of $3m.
Why?
Great energy guy off the bench.
Sign Juan Dixon 3-Years $12m with a starting salary of $3m
Why?
Great reserve.
Sign Theron Smith 2 Years Min.
Why?
Useful in case of injury.
Sign Kerry Kittles 2 Years Min.
Why?
Useful in case of injury.
New Lineup
C Jamaal Magloire/Chris Andersen/Jason Collier
PF Kwame Brown/Melvin Ely/Chris Taft
SF Josh Smith/Josh Childress/Theron Smith
SG Bonzi Wells/Boris Diaw/Kerry Kittles
PG Deron Williams/Juan Dixon/Daniel Ewing
This is a young team that can mature together.
Plan #2 is from atl_fan
TRADE 1:
Atlanta receives:
Jamaal Magloire
New Orleans receives:
Al Harrington
Boris Diaw
Laker's future 1st rounder
Why?
This trade helps both teams, in my opinion. The Hawks get a true center that they need and the Hornets get a good prospect and a starting small forward in Harrington. They also get an extra pick.
TRADE 2:
Atlanta receives:
5th overall pick
13th overall pick
Melvin Ely
Charlotte receives:
2nd overall pick
Peja Drobnjak
Why?
This trade provides Atlanta with two first rounders and a backup power forward, Charlotte moves up to get the player they want (Marvin Williams) and a decent backup center.
DRAFT:
#5-Raymond Felton
#13-Hakim Warrick
#31-Louis Williams
#59-Lawrence Roberts
Draft Breakdown:
I know many people think that Deron Williams would be a better option than Felton but I think Felton has better court vision in addition to more speed. As for Hakim Warrick, all the other power forwards in the draft will be gone by then (Villanueva, Splitter,May,Vazquez,Taft) so Warrick will be the best option available. He’ll probably have to bulk up so he won't be pushed around by the bigger power forwards in the league. Louis Williams and Lawrence Roberts will both be serviceable backups.
FREE AGENCY:
Re-sign Tyronne Lue
David Andersen(brought over)
Free Agency Breakdown:
I really don't think the Hawks will get any big time free agents so these are the two I see them signing.
05-06 HAWKS ROSTER:
PG-Felton/Lue/Ivey
SG-Childress/L.Williams/Delk
SF-J.Smith/D.Smith
PF-Warrick/Ely/Roberts
C-Magloire/Anderson
These moves give us a solid core to build around and still plenty of money to spend in the summer of 2006 where we may have more luck signing free agents.
Plan #3 is from Corley Watson
TRADE #1
Atlanta gets:
Jamaal Magloire
#4 pick
Hornets get:
Al Harrington
Predrag Drobjnak
#2 pick
TRADE #2
Atlanta gets:
#5 Pick
#13 Pick
Bobcats get:
#4 pick
TRADE #3
Atlanta gets:
#19 pick
Memphis gets:
Boris Diaw
#31 pick
DRAFT SELECTIONS:
#5 pick-Deron Williams
#13 pick-Martell Webster
#19 pick-Johan Petro
FREE AGENCY:
Sign Tyronn Lue to a 3-year deal starting at 3.5 million.
Sign Joe Johnson to a 4-year deal starting at 7.5 million.
Sign Kwame Brown to a 4-year deal starting at 6 million.
2005-2006 HAWKS ROSTER:
PG-Deron Williams/Ty Lue
SG-Joe Johnson/Martell Webster
SF-Josh Childress/Donta Smith
PF-Josh Smith/Kwame Brown
C –Jamaal Magloire/Johan Petro
My Analysis:
As you can tell, many fans seem to be enamored with acquiring Jamaal Magloire through some sort of draft-day trade. Personally, I think it’d be a great to get Magloire. We need a quality center and Maggs fits the bill.
With regards to the draft, most people selected a point guard with the Hawks top pick and if any lower first round picks were acquired, a big man was usually taken.
On the free agent front, the opinions were varied. Some people think we should go after Samuel Dalembert and Joe Johnson, while others think we should sign Kwame Brown and Larry Hughes.
I would like to thank everyone again for sending in their offseason plans. I truly enjoyed reading them. |
