What do the Hawks need to focus on this offseason?

[Rod700]

I know that is a broad topic, but this is a list that I feel shoud dictate what they do or don't do. Feel free to add or take away.

1. Our rebound difference is in the negative. We can't rebound because we can't box out. We could use more muscle in looking for a big, not just height.
2. We frequently rotate too slowly on defense. We could use a perimeter defender to compliment Joe, because he often rotates very very slowly. Seriously, watch him. Whenever, someone hits a wide open shot, I've been rewinding the game to see who was late rotating. Most times it's Joe. Sometimes it's Marv.
3. Joe is the heart of the offense, and that really is good enough to build a team around. Like anothe poster said, he is Paul Pierce before he had Garnett and Allen.
4. We have to pursue another star to compliment Joe. We have alot of good players, but only the Pistons pulled off winning a championship without much star power. They had two things we don't: impenitrable defense and a good coach.
5. #1 and #2 are very likely due in part to coaching.
6. We have to realize that trading Josh Smith is not the end of the world, so long as we get an interior defender in return. For all the shots he blocks and steals he gets, he cancels them out with turnovers and points he gives up to stronger players in the post.
7. It's not the end of the world if we trade Marv either. We probably don't want to trade them both, but it's ok to trade some of this endless youth and potential for a veteran leader . . . especially if he leads on the defensive end of the floor.

[shortstuff5023]

great post. i agree with you pretty much completely. i haven't given up on marvin being that next star...but i think he needs more confidence to reach that point. he's playing great ball right now, but if he would be more aggressive he could consistently get 18 a night IMO.

[Skyhawk1]

#1. Ship Smith's ass anywhere for a C or whoever. We got options (Okur, Kaman, Camby, Bogut). I hate BK more for not trading him for Gasol last season than passing on D. Wlliams.
#2. Zaza, Solo, Law, and any other on the bench must go.
#3. Resign Bibby (A must)
#4. Resign JJ (A must)
#5. Resign Marvin (Might let him go)
#6. Get Matt Harping (Talking about toughness plus he'll punch Smith in the face at some point)
#7. Get Mc Dyess (Vet who can play and rebound)

[ATL DirtyBird]

I think Marvin is that number 2 or 3 star but it wouldnt hurt to get another stud. Marvin just needs to be groomed a little more.

[raleigh]

Dejuan Blair would be a nice player to add via the draft. Of course, so would Cole Aldrich, Darren Collison or Evan Turner.

[LL Cool Scott]

I only want to trade Josh Smith if we get equal value in return. Eventually, he's going to grow up and become a good player - problem is it might take years for that to happen. I've noticed some improvement in him lately - he's playing more in the flow of the offense. He's got a long way to go, but he's improving. Also, he's been getting regularly booed by the home crowd and benched by Woodson when he starts playing like a knucklehead. If that continues, and if Horford continues barking at him - maybe, just maybe he'll grow up and fulfill his star potential. I still have some hope for the kid.

That being said - if we can trade him for an interior player with a lot of talent, I'd probably want to see them pull the trigger.

[raleigh]

You're not going to get equal value for Smith. What you could get is a starting center and (maybe) a draft pick.

[LL Cool Scott]

You're not going to get equal value for Smith. What you could get is a starting center and (maybe) a draft pick.

I know. That's why I'm reluctant to trade him.

[johnny878]

#1. Ship Smith's ass anywhere for a C or whoever. We got options (Okur, Kaman, Camby, Bogut). I hate BK more for not trading him for Gasol last season than passing on D. Wlliams.
#2. Zaza, Solo, Law, and any other on the bench must go.
#3. Resign Bibby (A must)
#4. Resign JJ (A must)
#5. Resign Marvin (Might let him go)
#6. Get Matt Harping (Talking about toughness plus he'll punch Smith in the face at some point)
#7. Get Mc Dyess (Vet who can play and rebound)

i disagree with alot of those points.

3. Resign Bibby a must? I guess you enjoy watching the hawks offense consist of Joe Johnson or Flip Murray dribble around for 20 seconds and then pass the ball off when they cant get to the basket forcing some one to take a low percentage shot.

Hawks would be much better off if they could get a better creator at the pg spot. either via trade or FA.

Dont get me wrong. I like Bibby. But he would be much better off at this stage of his career playing alongside of someone like Wade, Kobe, Roy, basically just some one substantially better than joe.

4. Resign Joe a must? He is pretty good. Not nearly good enough to build a team around. Giving him a max or near max contract would be a mistake. if they do, the hawks might as well start rebuilding now because any team with Joe as thier best player will never compete for a ring. Would rather the hawks take thier chances in 2010 FA class.

2. I like Zaza. He is a serviceable backup C that gets under the skin of the other teams.

[HoopsGuru25]

I think the Hawks should be conservative and hold on their assets along with trying to re-sign Bibby and Marvin. We've wasted flexibility on low reward moves like Speedy/Lo/AJ(all moves which took us out the position to take on salary w/o sending any back). The Hawks really need to resist doing something dumb like trading Smith just to get a traditional center or trading a 1st round pick for depth. I'd hate for someone like Bosh to come available but we couldn't make a competitive offer because we already traded for Marcus Camby or Chris Kaman.

[lethalweapon3]

First, evaluate the team based on this season, as Sund suggests that is what he's doing.

Then hire/retain the coaching staff best equipped to improve the team in the areas below. If you hired a "big man" coach and you're at the bottom in rebounding, he's gotta go. If you hired a "shooting specialist" and you're in the basement of the league in FT%, he's gotta go. If the previous GM hired an inexperienced coach, and five years later, neither the team on the floor or the coaching staff has matured, then in the words of the late, great Robin Harris... "gotta go, gotta go!"

1. Free Throws.
2. Free Throws.
3. Rebounding. The Hawks and Heat are the sole projected-playoff teams with negative differentials for offensive and defensive boards. And it shows.
4. Free Throws.
5. Transition from a HalfCourt Jack-Up-Threes Offense to one that Fast Breaks at least 33% of the time after a missed FG or TO w/ continuation.
6. Finishing Fast Breaks. No More Keystone Kops on the Break, please!
7. Better Man Defense so you don't resort to switching point guards onto your opponent's Centers at the rim.
8. Smoove's Post Moves and Ball-Handling. The more confidence he gains the less he'll rely on his Catch-and-Brick offense.
9. Horford's Man-Defense. Won't hurt to improve regardless of whether he's a C or PF.
10. Free Throws.

Player-Personnel-wise:
1a. Bid adieu to Bibby, and...
1b. Say hello to Jason Kidd. Both UFAs are coming down salary-wise. Give him Bibby's current salary, or at least the lion's share of it. Doubles the assists total from the PG position and doesn't rely on his shot to be effective (although he shoots equally well from 3-point range as Bibby). Will get the ball where our finishers need it, and squashes the predictable ISO-JOE offense. Could do wonders for Law if we keep him.
2. Sign Antonio McDyess. Another vet presence, who'll help Horford and justify sitting Smith periodically as a starter, at least until his overall game improves.
3a. Bring in Hedo Turkoglu, and...
3b. Sign-and-Trade Williams and get some bench depth, any position. He has improved quite a bit, but ultimately he's the previous GM's albatross, no need for him to be the current one's. Cuts the "If only they had CP3/Deron!" chatter by 85 percent.
4. Let Zaza go hunting for a spot (my guess he'd want to go to NY, DC or LA, or otherwise stay put). If he's unsigned by Labor Day, bring him back at the same $4 mil.
5. Double our Team MVP's salary. And if Flip can do better than $3 mil. on the market, good for him.

~lw3

[Rod700]

3. Resign Bibby a must? I guess you enjoy watching the hawks offense consist of Joe Johnson or Flip Murray dribble around for 20 seconds and then pass the ball off when they cant get to the basket forcing some one to take a low percentage shot. Hawks would be much better off if they could get a better creator at the pg spot. either via trade or FA.

4. Resign Joe a must? He is pretty good. Not nearly good enough to build a team around. Giving him a max or near max contract would be a mistake. if they do, the hawks might as well start rebuilding now because any team with Joe as thier best player will never compete for a ring. Would rather the hawks take thier chances in 2010 FA class.

2. I like Zaza. He is a serviceable backup C that gets under the skin of the other teams.[/quote]

I think some middle ground might be important on these points:

3. I think it is a must to resign Bibby . . . if a better playmaker is not available for a price appropriate for their skill level.
4. I do think Joe is good enough to build around in the same since that Paul Pierce is . . . but neither player is worth the max contract.
2. I agree that Zaza is a serviceable back-up. He is pretty lost on defense, but he is a good offensive rebounder, and I can't count the number of times that another team has started to build momentum with some alley oop jam or something and Zaza comes right back down the floor, bulldozes inside and draws a foul, effectively killing the momentum and slowing the game down. Still though I don't think it is a must to resign him or to get rid of him.

[evildallas]

It's interesting to see how divergent the plans are. I'll try to type up one later. In the meantime I'd like to point out a few things that might impact some of the suggestions.

Joe isn't a free agent yet and has little incentive to sign long term extension this summer. Anything short of the max would be unlikely to even get consideration. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from having that as a priority, but if it is then it pretty much means offer him a max extension and if he doesn't take it the odds are good that he's going walk in 2010.

The market value of Josh Smith will be at its lowest this summer (well unless it craters in the future). Teams are concerned about economics and some are saving for 2010. Josh wouldn't be attractive to either. Consider that strongly when you advocate of trading him at this time, you aren't going to get a jackpot for him. Again not trying to dissuade, just wanting to make sure your realistic in the market for him and the return.

Starting Centers are hard to find and normally have warts like health issues or bloated contracts. It's not easy to trade and get a good one unless you have exactly what a team wants like expiring contracts or picks.

The draft happens prior to free agency. It's not possible to trade any free agents (Bibby, Marvin, Zaza, Flip, etc) in a draft related deal. Additionally it means that any choices made on draft night happen before resolving PG, SF, and key bench positions. Josh Smith is BYC until July 1st, so use in a trade until then is tricky.

[evildallas]

Now for a plan.
Starts with some decisions
1) Decide on coaching direction. While I doubt the team will buyout Woodson with a year left, you have to decide if he's the guy to go with. I may revisit that later on.
2) Decide on the future of Acie Law. The reason this is so high is because I would like a decision on Acie by draft night for 2 reasons. I expect to have a choice of a good potential PG in this draft and I may want to try to move Acie Law for a high 2nd rounder if he's not going to be the PG on the future.
3) Decide on what you want to offer each free agent and Joe. There are financial realities to understand and as GM you have to know how much you have to spend so you can do your best to field the right team.

Draft night
1) I see what it takes to get a pick to select a true C like Thabeet, but I doubt we have the firepower to move up.
2) Draft the best value I can get likely a PG in the middle of the 1st. In the second, I try to get some beef down low.

Free Agency
1) Approach Joe about an extension. If he isn't willing to sign a max extension then he becomes my biggest trading chip as an expiring deal. If that happens I become much more likely to try another coach. This is #1 because it shapes so many other decisions like the type of PG and other expenditures.
2) PG. If Joe is in the fold, I try to resign Bibby starting with a 3yr/27M offer. If Bibby balks I look for similar experience PGs. If Joe isn't inked long term then I shop for Bibby sign and trade options with an expectation of letting him walk and plan on a different style of PG. Either case, I make a reasonable offer to Flip Murray to retain his services. Jarrett Jack is my fall back to Flip if he decides to go elsewhere.
3) I shop Josh Smith to determine his value, but expect it to be too low to make a move at this time.
4) I try to resign Marvin, but expect this one to take some time to play out. I'm not heart-broken if he plays out his deal on the qualifying offer. I match any reasonable contract because I don't think he'll be an albatross contract.
5) I would hunt for front line depth and a big man coach to go with them. Top candidate is Johan Petro for affordability and length. I'm not opposed to resigning Zaza, but he can't be my only bench big that plays.
6) I see if I can turn Speedy's expiring deal into a player. Atlanta isn't a prime free agent destination, so cap space doesn't equate to improvement. This is a chance to get talent for little sacrifice. If I can't move him during the offseason I don't panic figuring he may come in handy at the trade deadline.
7) I check on Josh Childress extending a QO. If he wants to return to the NBA, I check to see what the sign and trade market looks like. If he wants to stay in Greece I renounce him if I need the cap room to make a signing or other move. I've no desire to bring him back the Hawks.

A lot of it's fuzzy, but its early and I'm more focused on the here and now.

[tbhawksfan]

Trade Smoove and a second for Monta Ellis and PF Brandon Wright

Hire a NBA coach. Woodson has been on my $hit list for a looooong time

Let Bibby go. Monta, Acie, Mo and JJ should be a nice back-court.

Sign Marvin or let him play QO.

Re-sign Zaza. Resonable contract, decent output.

Sign a decent starting C. Okur might be doable (Bibby's money), if not, look for one marginal C. Zaza and another decent C should be able to hold down the position. Okur and Zaza would be great.

Draft: Looks like BPA since we don't have any real holes.

Okur / Zaza
Horford / Wright
Marvin/Mo
JJ/Flip
Ellis/Law

[parson]

Smoove for Ellis and Wright is a good idea -- and I think GS would at least consider it. They are angry with Ellis right now. Problem is, Wright is coming out of their doghouse and they might not be willing to part with him anymore. PLUS, putting Don Nelson and Josh Smith in the same bottle would cause an explosion if you shook it too hard.

Brandon Wright would be fine coming off our bench. Monta Ellis would be better than fine alongside Joe: Ellis could bring the ball up and let Joe run the halfcourt offense. Smoove could fit Nelson's idea of a point forward.

[JoshB914]

It wasn't that long ago that the majority of this board balked at the idea of a Smith-Ellis trade. How things have changed (and even when Ellis is having a terrible season).

[parson]

My opinion: after 5 years of hearing about Billy Knight's "dream" and waiting on how it could possibly play out, I've seen flashes of greatness in the "long-players" philosophy.

I THINK we play killer defense when we use our length to tip passes and chase down long rebounds. We can, at times, shut down the passing lanes and we intercept loads of passes. At those moments, sometimes I think I can see the ol' Laker showtime, creating turnovers and then getting out on the break.

I THINK D'Antoni's scheme (on offense) perfectly suits our defensive advantages. I can see us running and shooting major #s of 3's, creating those long rebounds, defensive turnovers and opportunities for driving to the basket. Look at us: we have 3 very good 3-pt shooters and a great running center. Smoove is an amazingly talented finisher and slasher.

Imagine Joe, Bibby and Marvelous bombing away on OPEN 3-pt attempts, rather than in the present, half-court-iso attack we now imploy.

Imagine Marvelous, Horford and Smoove driving to the basket through a stretched-out defense.

[evildallas]

My opinion: after 5 years of hearing about Billy Knight's "dream" and waiting on how it could possibly play out, I've seen flashes of greatness in the "long-players" philosophy.

I THINK we play killer defense when we use our length to tip passes and chase down long rebounds. We can, at times, shut down the passing lanes and we intercept loads of passes. At those moments, sometimes I think I can see the ol' Laker showtime, creating turnovers and then getting out on the break.

I THINK D'Antoni's scheme (on offense) perfectly suits our defensive advantages. I can see us running and shooting major #s of 3's, creating those long rebounds, defensive turnovers and opportunities for driving to the basket. Look at us: we have 3 very good 3-pt shooters and a great running center. Smoove is an amazingly talented finisher and slasher.

Imagine Joe, Bibby and Marvelous bombing away on OPEN 3-pt attempts, rather than in the present, half-court-iso attack we now imploy.

Imagine Marvelous, Horford and Smoove driving to the basket through a stretched-out defense.

It's a beautiful thought that will never occur with Woodson running the show.

[Rod700]

You're not going to get equal value for Smith. What you could get is a starting center and (maybe) a draft pick.

I know. That's why I'm reluctant to trade him.

See the Charlotte trade I just posted. It shows how we might improve the team with a Josh Smith trade if we target a team a team like Charlotte that has a horrible record and has been willing to make some moves.