The Atlanta Hawks way of business the past few years have centered around good team basketball and a no-stars approach. While it has garnered them wins in the regular season; strictly because teamwork will always make the dream work, it hasn’t garnered them much success outside of playoff births. But of course, the playoffs are always a different monster. Talent, coaching, strategy, team chemistry, morale and most importantly, momentum, all trigger in success in the playoffs. So, it’s been a foregone conclusion among fans and basketball pundits alike that the Hawks may need a superstar for the next season. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has written an article detailing the possible scenarios the Hawks will have if they want that superstar of the future. Let’s look at excerpts of the article and break it down from there.
"The most common way of acquiring a top 10 player is to draft one. Selecting high in the draft increases the odds. The best way for a team to do that is to be so bad that it can enter the draft lottery, have the ping-pong balls bounce right and then pick the right player (assuming there is one) who then develops into a superstar (because hardly any rookies are that good)."
Well, top ten is out of the question because the Hawks have the twenty first pick in the draft.
According to multiple sources, pundits want the Hawks to select a big man in the first round. Since the league is turning more and more into a guard/swing-man league, either a stretch four/five would suit the Hawks more.
"The second-most common way to acquire a top 10 player is via trade but that’s not easy, either, unless a franchise happens to be near LeBron James’ hometown. It takes assets to get a superstar in a trade, and if a team trades away a lot of assets to get a superstar and then has no easy way to get better fast, will the superstar wants to sign long-term with his new team? Even superstars need help."
Current superstars of the league; Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and of course Stephen Curry. All five are vital assets to their team and organization. Usually, when a superstar is traded, the team trading the superstar either starts over (Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves) or the team trading the superstar gets better (Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies to the Lakers for the rights to his younger brother Marc). In this instance, the only players on the Hawks roster with significant trade value is Jeff Teague. This is strictly because of his youth. If they do try to trade Teague, the Hawks would have to probably send other players with him or future first round draft picks.
"The third-most common way to acquire a top 10 player is to sign one via free agency but . . . well, you know. First the superstar must want to leave his current team and, under the current CBA’s Bird rules, he must leave a lot of money on the table to do so. That’s happened only a handful of times. Multiple franchises clear cap space for the chance to sign a superstar and then they have to sell the player on why he should choose them over the others."
This one basically comes down to cap space. The two highest paid players on the roster coming into next season are Paul Milsap and Al Horford for a combined 38 million dollars. While Teague is their most valuable asset via trade options, Horford and Milsap are the ones who are the most expensive. Both men will be playing this upcoming season in their 30’s, so this one now comes down to who do they want off the books. If they trade Horford or Milsap, then the receiving team will use one of the two to add experience and leadership. If it’s Teague, then the team must be ready to let Teague become a superstar. To put it in shorter elaboration, the Hawks need NBA owners more than NBA owners need the Hawks.