Hawks getting some recognition - today's Daily Dime

[azuresou1]

LAS VEGAS -- Sometimes a crossroads is a refreshing place to find oneself.

For the Atlanta Hawks -- for years defined by their inability to transcend mid-seed purgatory -- a little uncertainty has to feel like a bit of a reprieve. Moving forward after the departure of Josh Smith, the Hawks are a team loaded with value contracts and intriguing young players. It's a construction that affords the flexibility so many teams crave, but almost no certainty about the team's future.

In Vegas, the Hawks possess two of the most intriguing rookies and a player in John Jenkins who figures to have a spot in the team's plans as a knockdown shooter. Rookie point guard Dennis Schroeder was drafted the spot after Brazilian center Lucas Nogueira in the first round, and the two rooks together don't have 40 years between them. Schroeder has been the darling of Summer League with his preternaturally mature game, and though Nogueira is likely a few seasons away from regular rotation duties, the Hawks nonetheless boast a cache of promising youth many teams would envy.

And yet, despite letting Josh Smith walk and stocking the cupboard with tantalizing prospects, the Hawks are a far cry from tanking. They replaced Smith with Paul Millsap on a deal that makes cap nerds salivate; he makes just $9.5 million for the next two years, a pittance for a player of his quality and an almost entirely painless contract length.

They matched Jeff Teague's offer sheet from Milwaukee to retain the point guard for four years at $32 million -- a deal that, like Millsap's, seems so reasonable as to be a shock amongst the contracts that free-agency arms races often produce. In short, the Hawks have spent the summer locking in a 25-year-old starting point guard and one of the league's most efficient scoring power forwards for less than Zach Randolph is owed.


What's more, they continue to employ Al Horford at one of the league's best values, have signed Kyle Korver for $6 million a season and will pay Lou Williams a shade less to provide a little bench combustibility. If it's possible, this team is excessively frugal, awash in solvency. For a squad locked into the enormity of Joe Johnson's deal and Josh Smith's caprice just one year ago, the Hawks enjoy a confluence of talent and frugality few teams can match.

A major factor in this course shift is GM Danny Ferry, who was hired a little over a year ago. Ferry seemed to announce his intentions with the Johnson trade, and in swapping Millsap's contract for Josh Smith, to have nearly realized his vision. Or at least, his vision of the cap sheet. How the team will compete, exactly, is an open question, which means that the Hawks' enviable ledger must be more transitional phase than final goal. Hence, the crossroads.

Horford, Millsap, and Teague form a nice core, but they are nobody's idea of a murderers' row; with the depth Atlanta has amassed, the Hawks have every reason to be confident of a playoff berth, but without more firepower it seems that even their previously inevitable 4-seed might be asking a bit much.

Similarly, Schroeder and Nogueira have the makings of a long, athletic and fluid pair of franchise players, but both are years away from warranting that sort of commitment. In trying to stay young while competing in the postseason, it's impossible to have the best of both worlds, but the Hawks have pulled off something close. It remains to be seen which of the worlds has more gravitational pull.

One of the lessons of this offseason is that amassing talent can pay off big even if the talent doesn't necessarily mesh perfectly, as the Rockets demonstrated by turning their stockpile of desirable young players into the superstar they'd been pursuing. The Hawks' questions of fit are not so much an on-court issue as an organizational one --- you can think of their assets as conflicting positions in the game of roster building.

Will the Hawks try to split organizational touches, between their young but developing players and their veteran stalwarts? Is that even the game? Perhaps Atlanta's future looks like that of a few other teams starting over with smart management: fringe competition, a revolving door to the locker room, and a constant effort to land one of the league's crown jewels. But for a team that had been locked into a level two steps above mediocrity, the devil they don't know is likely the one they prefer.

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[parson]

Schroeder has been the darling of Summer League with his preternaturally mature game, and though Nogueira is likely a few seasons away from regular rotation duties, the Hawks nonetheless boast a cache of promising youth many teams would envy.

It little bothers me that we'll have to wait a year (or 3) to see these 2 on the court - I'm just happy that Ferry swung for the fences with an intelligent and workable plan. I'm even happier that he seems to have gotten 2 hits.

[2Mas]

Atl is def a playoff team. & like theudde stated above me, these 2 are gonna be developing habits on a winning team & playoff team. It's not gonna be like Kemba & MKG where 2 years into the league they won like 25 games total lol.

Seriously If those develope into starters, your cap situation is good. Overpaid Korver a bit but he's deadeye. No bad contracts, young really intriguing prospects & underrated vets. Gonna be that 6th in the east prob & definitely tons of room to grow.

[jagstang76]

I'm honestly excited about the future of this team. We all know there are some glaring weaknesses right now, but there will be adjustments made and opportunities to improve with time. I think it's interesting that we have a number of guys flying under the radar who will make significant contributions like Jenkins, Scott, and Carroll. Shoot, Scott was dropping Millsap numbers during the summer league and has played well in games too. With time, this will have a lot of depth that can hurt you in so many ways. All that with guys we know like Al and Teague. I don't think we're going to be a pushover.

[ATL Boy]

I'm telling you guys, Ferry may have struck out on Dwight and never had a chance with CP3 but he had a pretty good plan B Which consisted of drafting high ceiling guys (I don't think anyone expected Schroder to be this good in Summer league, Bebe should spend another year or 2 overseas though) and handing out good, manageable short term contracts which will let us pursue top tier FAs in 2015 when there isn't that much competition from other teams (a lot of teams will have max cap space next year).

We also still have good young players with room to grow (Jenkins, Scott, heck maybe even Cunningham) and we have good trade chips for next summer/further down the road with Millsap, Teague, and Korver. If Sund had stayed GM we'd currently be in the pit of mediocrity with no room to grow with a core of Horford/Joe Johnson/Smith (prolly would've overpaid for him)/badly drafted rookies.

[Jamaaliver]

^What's ironic, ATL, is that we have a really good supporting cast of plAyers, but no superstar. We need an All Star at SF or Center. Cause we've got great supporting players at other positions.