Monday, July 15, 2013

Hawks filling out roster

Well, the revamping of the Hawks roster is almost complete with today's signing of Elton Brand and it is apparent that GM Danny Ferry has a true method to his madness.  I believe, contrary to most, that Jeff Teague was coming back no matter what.  Ferry just wanted the rest of the NBA to set Teague's market value rather than doing so himself.  The signing of 2 versatile forwards in Paul Millsap and Brand along with bringing back Kyle Korver shows what Ferry is looking for in his roster.

First, by using a 2013 1st round pick on Dennis Schroder to team up with Teague, the Hawks now have 2 blazing fast point guards to push the tempo and penetrate.  The front court rotation of Horford, Millsap, and Brand along with another 2013 1st round pick in Lucas Nogueira is full of good size and versatility.

What goes well with versatile bigs and quick guards?  Shooters.  From the beginning of his tenure as GM, Ferry has brought in guys who could shoot the basketball.  Now, with Korver, 2012 1st round pick John Jenkins, and Louis Williams, there is a solid group of shooters to knock down shots as Teague and Schroder break down the defense and the frontcourt rotation keeps the D honest in the paint.

Finally, the Hawks brought in veteran small forward DeMarre Carroll to provide a defensive presence on Eastern forwards and you get a sense of what the plan has been from the beginning.

Now, I don't see this as an Eastern Conference Finals team, but there is some potential with the young guys and the ability to shoot the 3 if healthy.  

The best part of Ferry's roster though, is the deals are very manageable (or trade-able if you will) should the team not perform up to standards.  With the next few drafts looking to be loaded with talent, February deals for picks are definitely a possibility if the wins are not coming at a fast enough rate.  

Either way, Hawks fans should be excited about this new roster, by rule you must use at least 90% of the new salary cap of 58.68 million, so simply signing small 1 year deals to tank for ping-pong balls wasn't a realistic possibility.  

However, signing smart contracts that are moveable and don't hinder future cap space was not just a possibility, it was the right 
thing to do.

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