Atlanta Hawks: Franchise players in each NBA Team – NBA Feature Part 1
NBA Teams are all about superstars these days.
In the past decade and even before that, there have been only few franchises that have laid their claim on the Larry O’ Brien trophy and that is because they has the best talents available.
In the present era, the segregation between the small market and the large market teams has grown. While there are teams like the Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers and the New Orleans Hornets who do not boast of even an above
average player, and are mostly relying on the NBA draft for the rebuilding process to begin, there are also teams like Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and the Brooklyn Nets, who relentlessly shop for one superstar after another.
However despite the imbalance of powers within the NBA, every team has that one player, around who the whole system works and in this article, and in the ones to follow, we will take look at the franchise player of each NBA team.
Atlanta Hawks – Josh Smith
For the better part of the last decade, Atlanta Hawks have been a symbol of consistency - a team that consistently make it to the playoffs from the Eastern Conference and then bows out in either the first or the second round.
Till last season, the franchise mainly rested on Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, with the former being the alpha dog of the club. However the arrival of new General Manager Danny Ferry saw the Hawks trade their most expensive player
holding a $ 90 million five year contract to the Brooklyn Nets, and thus make Hawks J-Smoove’s team by all means.
The power forward, who has a career average of 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds, was simply sensational last year racking up 18.8 points, 9.6 rebound and nearly 4 assists per game in what many analysts think was the season in which
Smith really announced himself on the NBA stage.
Till last week, the player was also thought to be biggest chip in the Hawks’ effort to lure Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Howard however got traded to the Lakers recently and the only chance the Hawks have now is to somehow
miraculously convince D-12 next season to sign with them as a free agent.
The other problem for the Hawks is that Smith will be entering his last year of contract next season and given that the player has shown to be a part of a progressive team which wants to build a championship culture, Ferry and
his associates will need to make some major improvements in the roster to retain him on a longer term.
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