NBA TV Preview

If you're glass is half-full, raise it to toast a 2005-06 season in which Atlanta doubled it's previous win total, vaulting to 26-56 after the 13-win debacle in 2004-05. Only two teams (New Orleans, Utah) improved more last season.

You can also celebrate what appears to be the arrival of a bona fide superstar. Guard Joe Johnson had the type of season that justified the steep price and internal turmoil the Hawks suffered to acquire him. Johnson averaged a career-best 20.2 points and 6.5 assists per game and earned a berth on the US team that participated in the FIBA World Championships.

Now the bad news. Only New York and Portland won fewer games than the Hawks, who will find it much harder to improve without Al Harrington, their second-leading scorer. The Hawks got a first-round pick in the sign-and-trade with Indiana, but they needed some players too, and got none. Fortunately, Harrington was their only significant loss.

General Manager Billy Knight has done a good job addressing the team's lack of interior bulk, a deficiency that became critical last year after Jason Collier's death. The signing of Zaza Pachulia was last year's best offseason move; the 22-year-old center was the Hawks leading rebounder (7.9 rpg) and third leading scorer (11.7 ppg).

This year, first-rounder Shelden Williams (6-9) and free agent Lorenzen Wright (6-11) add additional muscle, perhaps enough to turn a weakness into a strength in a conference with a dearth of dominant big men. The selection of the defensive-minded Williams and second-round pick Solomon Jones, an athletic 6-10 shot-blocking forward, indicate an effort to improve a defense that allowed opposing teams to shoot .478 a year ago.

The team addressed its other glaring need – point guard – with the signing of Speedy Claxton, who averaged 12.3 points, 4.8 assists and 1.52 steals for the Hornets last year.

This is still a frighteningly young team – only Claxton, Wright and Tyronn Lue are over the age of 25 – but they enter the year with better talent, more continuity and less turmoil (front office notwithstanding) than at any time in recent memory.

Though the Hawks likely won't be good enough to draw comparisons to the teams led by Dominique Wilkins, who entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in September, at least they seem to represent a step in the right direction.
-- Bill Evans

2006-07 Hawks Ticket Plans

Williams

During a rookie season in which he was buried behind Al Harrington and Josh Smith, Marvin Williams could take his time developing without the weight of extreme expectations. He did just that, improving his scoring average in every month throughout the 2005-06 season.

By April, over his final 10 games, Williams was averaging 12.3 points and 6.1 rebounds a game, comparable with many other top rookies from the 2005 Draft class.

This year, the learning curve steepens. Harrington is gone, and Williams will be counted on to be productive from day 1 whether he starts or assumes a sixth man role.

He played like a man possessed in summer league, earning MVP status at the Rocky Mountain Revue with 23.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists in five games.

Williams has additional motivation. He must prove to Hawks fans that the club didn't err when it selected the versatile 6-9 forward ahead of point guard Chris Paul, the 2005-06 Rookie of the Year.
-- Bill Evans

X&O STRENGTH

Woodson

Young ball club. What was very interesting about them is that even though they weren’t going any place, down the stretch in the last month they played hard... Joe Johnson is a good guy. His experience (with the US National Team) should be a positive for everybody... How he goes will be how the Hawks will go.

X&O WEAKNESS
Marvin Williams is 20 years old now. One year under his belt, when they drafted him it was for the future. You like to think his experience in the summer time will have given him enough confidence to say ‘yes, I truly belong and can be consistent in this league.’ But the summer time is just the summer time.

HEAD COACH PHILOSOPHY
Do his players believe in what’s going on down there? He has to get them to continue to believe in the system. They are all trying to find their little niche in the NBA as far as who they are and what they are.
-- Butch Beard (courtesy of the National Basketball Coaches Association)

Josh Childress is so-so, Joe Johnson can't carry a team, he's a second or third option, Pachulia isn't a guy you need to worry about.
Josh Smith, I thought was exceptional coming out of high school, but he hasn't blossomed quite yet.
Shelden Williams is one of the few guys from this draft who's MOST ready to play, but he's a little undesized (I don't know if that 6-9 is legit) and not quick enough to play the three.
Claxton can push the ball, but again, he's not a top tier point guard, you don't need to worry about him like a Nash or a Kidd.
Marvin Williams played well at the end of last year, Lot of people thought he could have been No. 1 in 2005. He's as athletic as anyone. He could be a stud, but he wasn't outstanding last year.
-- Eastern Conference Scout

Marvin Williams: The second overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft was the MVP of the Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League and has room to produce with Al Harrington now in Indiana.

Tyronn Lue: With Speedy Claxton now in the picture, you'll see Lue's minutes and production fall.

More fantasy news

The Hawks used to be another one of those teams with one, maybe two, solid fantasy players. Not anymore. Joe Johnson will lead this squad of talented youngsters and will clearly benefit from the addition of Speedy Claxton. The Hawks have a trio of talented swingmen that are ready to bust loose as they mature and gain more experience in the NBA. Atlanta may be a few years away from contending in real life, but there may not be a more exciting team in terms of fantasy upside in 2006-07.
-- Brian McKitish
Hawks Fantasy Preview

12.3

2.7

4.8

20.2

4.1

6.5

8.5

4.8

0.8

11.3

6.6

2.4

11.7

7.9

1.7

10.0

5.2

1.8

11.0

1.6

3.1

9.7

1.9

1.2

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--

--

5.8

5.1

0.6

Uruguay

Georgia

Free agent

Draft

Draft

Free agent

Trade

Trade

20.2

7.9

6.5

1.26

2.60

97.2

(16th)

102.0

(26th)

.454

(14th)

.478

(27th)

-0.18

(14th)