Interview with Hawks GM Billy Knight
by Micah Hart

With the 2007 NBA Draft on the horizon, the Hawks find themselves the talk of the league thanks to their presence at the top of the draft. With picks #3 and #11 as well as a wealth of young, talented players on the roster, Atlanta is perhaps the most popular target for other teams looking to perhaps make deals this offseason.

At the center of the whirlwind of activity in Atlanta is Hawks GM Billy Knight, who will preside over his fifth draft with the organization on June 28th (7:00 pm ET, ESPN). We had a chance to sit down and chat with Knight recently about this year's draft and the process the team goes through to evaluate which prospects will make the best fit in the organization. Check it out:

Hawks.com: Do you expect this draft season to be the busiest of your tenure in Atlanta?

Billy Knight: We certainly are busy. We are talking to a lot of people and having a lot of conversations. In this business, that doesn’t always translate to something happening, but we’ve been very popular so far with teams outs there.

Hawks.com: You said at your post-lottery press conference that with Oden and Durant set, the draft sort of begins with us. Do you still feel that way?

BK: Sure. The consensus is there on the top two picks, and after that, a myriad of players could go at #3. We get our choice there, and we think we are going to get a player who will be a perfect fit for us because there are so many diverse players to choose from. It could be a big man or a perimeter guy, and even amongst the bigs there are perimeter threats or post threats. So we feel confident there is someone there at #3 that will be a fit for our ballclub.

Hawks.com: Fans out there say the Hawks need help at the #1 and the #5. Yet most of the big men at the top of the draft, like Florida’s Al Horford, aren’t really considered centers, even if they are low-post players. Is that an issue?

BK: While some may not consider Horford a center, we think he is a versatile player. There are a lot of versatile guys in the draft, who people may not think are centers but we feel can maybe play some center for us. That’s the way the NBA is going – there are only a few true centers in the league, and a lot of teams use their power forwards as their center. We aren’t worried if a guy is a true center. We want a good basketball player who can help us and be versatile, because he may have to go out on the perimeter and guard some guys out there too.

Hawks.com: How important are the individual workouts to the overall decision-making process?

BK: I think the workout process helps the coaches more than anyone else. Our scouts have seen these players for basically their whole careers, whether it’s American players or guys from Europe or elsewhere. Our coaches will watch film on guys we give them to get to know them, but all they’ve seen is tape. So when we bring a guy in, they get to see the actual size, strength, and athleticism of a guy, get to meet them – we all do. I think the workouts help the coaches the most in this process, and it helps us continue to accumulate information towards ultimately making our decision.

Hawks.com: Have you ever had a player come in and their workout totally changed your viewpoint on the prospect of drafting them?

BK: The information accumulates. If you don’t like someone before their workout, or vice versa, you have to take the new information in with all of what you already have. You aren’t going to have a guy come in and workout and you say, “Well, we are just going to throw out everything else we know about this player.” You can’t base a draft decision strictly on a workout.

Hawks.com: How much does the system a player is coming from matter?

BK: Some systems help a player and some hold a player back. You have to evaluate the system they play in and the team around them as well as the competition they faced. But you also have to evaluate a player’s performance in the context of the system they played in to get an accurate assessment of their capabilities.

Hawks.com: How much has the growth of international basketball changed the way you prepare for the draft?

BK: The competition in Europe has gotten pretty good, so you certainly have to travel more. Every year is different, in terms of how many international prospects there are. This year, we don’t think there are as many international players out there, so we didn’t scout there as much as we might in other years. But every draft year is different. Some years it’s a big man draft, other years strong guard draft.

Hawks.com: With picks #3 and #11 but no others selections at this point, are you focusing on players who will be available at those spots, or do you still have to keep an eye on other players who you might not take at those spots as well?

BK: In general, we evaluate the whole draft rather than looking at players for your certain pick(s), but we don’t limit it to just that. You never know what’s going to happen on draft night. There are players we would like to take later on than at our #3 and #11 right now, but you just have to wait and see how it unfolds. There may be some players out there who we think can help us down the line, and we are always trying to devise ways of getting those guys. Just like with trades, you talk a lot about trades and maybe they don’t end up happening, but you still have a wish list.

Hawks.com: Looking at this draft, would you be happy to take two players at #3 and #11, or would you rather be able to draft one or both of them to get some veteran help?

BK: If we do a deal, we’ll do a deal that we think will help us. We have been the youngest team in the league the last few years, and we will add some veterans to the roster if they’re the right guys. Our goal is to get good players who will help this team improve. Whatever ends up being the best way to make that happen, we will take a look at.

Micah Hart is the Manager of Websites for the Atlanta Hawks