Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
I’ll keep the intro short on this one. The Hawks were the suck last year with a record of a lot of losses and not many wins. Then, after not making the playoffs for like the 200th year in a row, they went out and drafted more forwards to go with the rest of their team of forwards. All those forwards were too much even for the Hawks, so they had to give one away for future draft picks so they can draft more forwards next year.
Whew. If you want to see some Hawks related media that’s interesting, check out the classic Atlanta’s Air Force video on Slam Online. Why was everyone lovin on the music videos so much in the 80’s?
And now onto the fantasy outlook for the Atlanta Hawks.
2005/2006 RANKINGS
(24) Joe Johnson
(70) Josh Smith
(85) Josh Childress
(103) Zaza Pachulia
(139) Tyronn Lue
(204) Salim Stoudamire
(215) Marvin Williams
(302) Anthony Grundy
(343) Royal Ivey
(381) Esteban Batista
(392) Donta Smith
OUT
(74) Al Harrington
IN
(107) Speedy Claxton
(227) Lorenzen Wright
(NA) Shelden Williams
(NA) Solomon Jones
BUY
Joe Johnson – He’s still only 25 and he’s improved every year. He hasn’t missed a game in the past 4 years. He should have PG eligibility in most leagues. He was the 24th best 8-cat roto player in the league last year. And he hasn’t been getting anywhere near the play of most players at his level, especially teammate Josh Smith. What more do you want in a 3rd/4th round pick?
Josh Smith – I came into this thing ready to break the hype surrounding Josh Smith (hot fantasy stud du jour) like a Russian boxer breaking the soft Americans. Last I checked, he came in at #28 on Yahoo’s big board (one behind Joe Johnson at #27) and is the 9th ranked small forward on NBA.com (ahead of Carmelo Anthony and Richard Jefferson). But then the Josh Smith Shrine convinced me that he is indeed awesome. Ok, well, I actually looked into the numbers, and in case, Smith lives up to the hype. I ran his post all-star averages through the player rater and post AS Josh Smith came out ranked at #24. Can he keep up that pace over a full year in 06/07? With Al Harrington gone, Smith will be the clear #2 option on this Hawks team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ranked in the 20’s at the end of the year.
Marvin Williams – the Harrington trade clears room for Williams to step up and play some bigger minutes. He’ll begin the year as the starting PF on this team. Williams had a nice little rookie year and should build on that– so who really needs Chris Paul and his “gaudy stats†and “ability to dish the ball?†Not Atlanta, that’s for sure.
HOLD
Josh Childress – Meh.
Oh, I’m supposed to provide some actual commentary? Next year, we’ll look back at this season and say that the Hawks stud forward who had a breakout year was a) Josh Childress, or b) Josh Smith? I’ll let you decide. But, it won’t be Childress. He’ll still have value as a 6 man, but I see his stats flat lining again for a third year.
SELL
Speedy Claxton – Speedy fractured his left hand and will likely be out for the next 5-6 weeks, effectively causing him to miss the start of the season. And frankly, he’d be a sell whether he was healthy or not. A lot has be made of the fact that he’ll be starting for the Hawks, but his inability to stay healthy over the course of a season coupled with the fact that his stats are pretty pedestrian anyway, and I’ll be one to stay away. I don’t mind taking risks on injury prone players who have potential (e.g., Gerald Wallace), but Speedy Claxton is no Gerald Wallace.
Zaza Pachulia – Here’s a guy who can go out and give you 12 and 8 with a fun name. Don’t be greedy, they all can’t be winners. Also, Lorenzen Wright will likely take some minutes at center from Zaza this year, pushing him to a sell.
Shelden Williams – Yahoo has him penciled in as the Hawks starting center, which is a little crazy as this point considering his unimpressive summer and smallish size. Insidehoops has him more accurately spotted as backup PF. I’m not sure where he fits in, but I’m sure the Hawks have a clear plan… right?
WATCH
Hell, I’m not going to recommend that you watch the Hawks (other than the inevitable Josh Smith highlights). However, someone that you might want to keep an eye on is Salim Stoudamire. Baring more injuries to Speedy Claxton (a possibility), he’ll struggle for minutes again. But, if he can somehow get 25 minutes, he might have a little value with those threes. Otherwise, he won’t be worth much. Lorenzen Wright also won’t be worth anything except for ruining any potential value that Zaza might have had this year. I’m amazed that the Hawks obtained Wright (originally) in 1999 for TWO first round draft picks.
Finally, Fantasy Basketblog has their Atlanta Hawks preview up. If you don’t like any of my recommendations… well, sadly, we agree on most everything, so I guess I’m right.
Where I’d draft em (in a 10 team league)
Joe Johnson – 3rd
Josh Smith – 4th
Speedy Claxton – 10th
Josh Childress – 10th
Marvin Williams – 11th-12th
Zaza Pachulia – You might want to check him out that the end of your draft.
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