Atlanta Hawks should eye next off-season to improve the roster – NBA Feature
The Atlanta Hawks started the off-season with hopes of landing a certain big fish to improve the roster overall and immediately put the Hawks in contention of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hawks have been consistently
making the playoffs over the past 5 seasons, but do not seem to go beyond the Eastern Conference Semi Finals. This year, they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics. They knew they needed an upgrade to the roster.
Like many other teams, the Hawks also had their eyes set on Dwight Howard. Ever since Howard make it known that desired to be traded, there were a number of teams actively engaged with the Magic front office over possible trade
talks, and the Hawks were one of them. All over the league, analysts and commentators alike kept saying that the Hawks were the most suitable team for Howard for the next season.
But, in a drastic change of events, Howard was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers in a four team blockbuster trade, ending the Hawks dreams of landing the big guy.
With Howard out of the picture, the Hawks were not in a good position to make any other additions as firstly, most of the talent had already been signed by that point in free agency and secondly, it made more sense for the Hawks
to hold on their cap space till next summer and try to land a big fish either in free agency or in a trade at that time.
The Hawks had one big achievement for the off-season; they were able to trade away Joe Johnson and his huge contract to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets needed a good forward and were willing to take Johnson. The Hawks thought that
he was being overpaid and got a great deal of cap space freed up with the deal.
Johnson is set to make nearly $90 million over the next four years. The Hawks also added Kyle Korver from the Chicago Bulls, in an attempt to improve their shooting, particularly from the three point range. And they traded Marvin
Williams for Devin Harris. The addition of Lou Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers was hailed as a great move, as Williams was the scoring leader for the Sixers last season despite the fact that he came off the bench. His addition gave the Hawks a legitimate
offensive player in the absence of Johnson.
Overall, the Hawks will most probably take a fall next season as teams such as the Brooklyn Nets will become much better. The Hawks will feel the absence of Johnson for the first season at least, as the team learns to adapt to
the new line-up. Josh Smith will play a central role once again, and Lou Williams and Devin Harris will try to get themselves familiar with the team philosophy. But in all frankness, next season is just about getting through and done with for the Hawks, so
they can approach free agency next season with cap space in their hand and the chance to land a true star who will take the franchise to the next level.
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