Yes, this blog is primarily about the business of soccer but as a Georgian and hardcore Hawks fan, I felt compelled to speak on the recently released email from Hawks majority owner, Bruce Levenson.
My feelings are hurt. Not because of the email but because I feel as though my intelligence is being insulted. I can summarize the Hawks' problems and this blog post in one sentence: The Hawks passed on Chris Paul for Marvin Williams. I'm not saying this one decision defines the Hawks. But this one and several others like it certainly point to issues within the front office.
Whether or not Bruce Levenson's email was racist or not is going to depend on who you ask. That can debated all day. The real issue with the Atlanta Hawks and their attendance is the fact that they haven't put a solid product out on the floor for quite some time now. Yes, they've made the playoffs every season for the past 7 seasons. And sometimes they even give us a strong showing against the Celtics or Pacers in an exciting first round seven game series. But that's no longer enough. As a fan, I want to see a championship, ANY championship come back to ATL. I think the last time the city won anything sports related, I was in middle school.
The Atlanta Hawks seem to be developing into a team of high achieving role players which, in my opinion, is a step in the right direction to the "Spurs of the South" model they're trying to cultivate with the arrival of Danny Ferry (who may or may not be on his way out given recent developments to this story). Part of the reason for bringing him in was that he had success putting together competitive teams as opposed to a group of super stars.
I danced a jig in my living room when I saw that he was able to offload the contracts of an aging Joe Johnson AND Marvin Williams. WHAT?! He managed to swindle the Nets into taking Joe Johnson's $20 million/ season contract while also avoiding having to amnesty him and taking a hit to the team's bottom line. And the Marvin Williams deal was nothing short of Wizardry. I don't know how on Earth he got that done...seriously.
Now, all of a sudden, we have roughly $30 million in cap space just in time for a huge 2013 Free Agency summer. All signs pointed to shifting some things around and at least ATTEMPTING to make a play for CP3 or Dwight Howard (who is an Atlanta native). Instead, we did virtually nothing. More of the same Hawks. Underpromising and barely over delivering. In Ferry's defense, up to this point, D. Howard has proven that he's not the missing piece that is going to help you win a championship. But that acquisition would have allowed Al Horford to slide over to his natural position in the #4 spot, D. Howard at Center, and Jeff Teague running point. Maybe that's not a Big 3 but its a 2nd or 3rd round playoff team. Especially in the Eastern Conference. Medium sized 3.
So that's one example of where the Hawks front office has been historically weak in Free Agency. Let's take a look at some of their drafting decisions over the last few years.
2005 - As I mentioned above, the Atlanta Hawks picked Marvin Williams before Chris Paul with their #2 pick in 2005. They also looked over Deron Williams, Adrew Bynum, Danny Granger, and David Lee in that same draft year.
2006 - With the #5 pick, they selected Shelden Williams over J.J. Reddick, Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, and Rajon Rondo. It should be noted that I remember going to a Rockets vs. Hawks game in Houston and during a timeout huddle, Shelden was paying 0 attention to the coaches and looking up at the promotion on the video board.
2007 - Acie Law with the 11th pick. Drafted before Thaddeus Young, Rodney Stuckey, and Glenn Davis.
Acie Law is now playing in Greece.
The list goes on. I understand that personnel decisions are EXTREMELY difficult. There are all sorts of things that need to be considered when putting together a team in the NBA, many of which I'm probably not even aware of. So I don't think any reasonable person expects the front office to get the draft and Free Agency right every time. That ism't realistic. But when it becomes consistent, it is now a part of your team culture and the fans notice that. If ownership and team executives aren't invested in putting a contending team on the floor every year, its a very tough sell to get fans to come out and support the team. A better team means more people at the stadium which translates into being able to increase the price tag of your sponsorships.
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