Woodson wanted Chris Paul or Deron over Marvin?

[HMFFL]

So that means that 12 Hawks fans at the time wanted another Forward, and 3 wanted a Guard.... And that's not even including who might have wanted Gay, if he was available instead of Bargnani and Thomas...

And, in fact, as many people wanted Sheldon as wanted Roy. With the *4th* pick.

So maybe BK's decision isn't as questionable as some would like to make it look, in hindsight...

Doesn't matter. I even heard Dominique Wilkins praise Shelden Williams, but he's not the GM, Billy Knight was, and he made a promise that will never disappear due to the way it was handled. It's stupid to promise someone the draft spot when you don't even work them out.

[JoshB914]

Is Shelden Williams one of the most obvious busts ever?

[evildallas]

Is Shelden Williams one of the most obvious busts ever?

As a top 5 draft pick, I think yes. It was clear from watching him play in college that he had problems catching the ball (in college he could recover and still score), struggled against large athletic players, and built his reputation as a help defender against smaller players while getting lit up on the ball. His measurements were thought to be a little undersized for a PF. If due diligence of a workout was included with the likes of Alexander Johnson and Paul Millsap it would have been obvious that he didn't have anything over those players who were projected in the second round (I suspect he may have been blown away). Reputation and the success of Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer (both have better hands) blinded those who didn't look hard enough. Maybe as a 2nd round pick struggling to prove he belonged in the league he could develop into a poor man's Reggie Evans, but as it is I see him becoming a league minimum journeyman bruiser once his rookie deal expires.

None of this analysis is second guessing. I wrote similar reviews prior to the draft. And this review is coming from a life-long Duke fan. If I can see past the hype and school loyalty then it inexcusable for a paid GM to draft a guy that high because he liked what he saw on TV. BK will be haunted by passing on Chris Paul and rightfully so, but the Shelden Williams pick was worse and was bungled in every possible way. He should have been terminated after that summer of 2006.

Shelden Williams should always send Billy Knight a Christmas Card because he made him about an extra $6M over the life of his career by that one boneheaded draft maneuver.

[JoshB914]

I hear that, Evil. I remember when we made that pick and we were in the same boat. Shelden was DOMINATED by any player with any type of athleticism or size. I was at school at IU for his senior year and saw freaking Marco Killingsworth (playing in Turkey last I heard) drop 40 on him live.

[HoopsGuru25]

Marvin over Paul is hindsight(by the media)but that doesn't excuse BK for missing. It isn't like Paul was drafted 8 spots behind ala Bynum. He was one of the 4 players we considered drafting and he had his best workout here. I've compared it to the Mario Williams situation(on the football tip) ....everyone killed them for taking him over Bush/Young but it turns out that they stuck with their gut feeling and he has been the much better player in his 1st two years than the people they passed on him for. BK missing on Paul and THEN drafting Shelden when the next 3 players taken(Roy/Foye/Gay)were clearly better prospects proved to me that BK has no eye for talent and that there was no logic behind his picks. You can't say that you take the best players regardless of position and then reach for Shelden(ranked 20th on Chad Ford's big board at the time)at 5.

[smabie]

Actually, this reminds me to ask a question...

Isn't there a scouting department for the Hawks? BK wasn't the only guy watching tapes, or making evaluations, was he? There were other people in the infrastructure who assisted in making these decisions, yes?

In fact, isn't one of those guys from that very same scouting department the top candidate for promotion from within?

[JoshB914]

Actually, this reminds me to ask a question...

Isn't there a scouting department for the Hawks? BK wasn't the only guy watching tapes, or making evaluations, was he? There were other people in the infrastructure who assisted in making these decisions, yes?

In fact, isn't one of those guys from that very same scouting department the top candidate for promotion from within?

I couldn't agree more with this. Maybe it just wasn't publicized but heads should roll in our scouting dept too. They did a terrible job alongside BK, and are to blame as well.

[dms269]

Actually, this reminds me to ask a question...

Isn't there a scouting department for the Hawks? BK wasn't the only guy watching tapes, or making evaluations, was he? There were other people in the infrastructure who assisted in making these decisions, yes?

In fact, isn't one of those guys from that very same scouting department the top candidate for promotion from within?

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.

BK has been the scapegoat. It is easy to blame everything on the GM because eh is the one out in public. The scouting department are the ones looking over tape, going to the games to scout, at the workouts. Yes Bk was involved, but he has other things to do such as look at player's contracts, trades, free agents...

[conleyorbust]

-= original quote snipped =-



Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.

BK has been the scapegoat. It is easy to blame everything on the GM because eh is the one out in public. The scouting department are the ones looking over tape, going to the games to scout, at the workouts. Yes Bk was involved, but he has other things to do such as look at player's contracts, trades, free agents...

The scouting department sucks but since BK has final say, final responsibility falls on him. The point of hiring a former player is that they should be better at player eval because they played with stars and know what to look for.