The Right Stuff? Hawks Draft Day Moves: All Shooting Guards

Former Atlanta Hawks General Manager Billy Knight will be forever remembered for his annual draft day collapses that crippled the franchise, devastated its fans, and always left the team fledgling through the NBA lottery the following year.

2004 brought perhaps his best move (landing Josh Smith at 17), but only after taking Josh Childress at No. 6 (ahead of Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala). In 2005, with the team in excruciating need of a point guard in one of the most point-guard-rich drafts of the decade, it seemed like the Hawks may finally get one right.

Knight, however, opted instead to spend the number two overall pick on Marvin Williams (the next three off the board were Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Raymond Felton).

As usual, Knight's shenanigans put the Hawks in the position of having yet another lottery pick the following year. In 2006, still suffering at the point guard position, and with a rare second chance to remedy their epic blunder from the year before, the Hawks once again laughed in the face of logic and selected Shelden Williams...who was followed in succession by Brandon Roy, Randy Foye and Rudy Gay.

To be fair, Pete Babcock set a shamefully low standard before Billy Knight's arrival in 2003.

Pop quiz: anyone know who drafted Pau Gasol? The reason you didn't know it was the Hawks (in 2001) is because they immediately traded him away for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Gasol went on to win Rookie of the Year (and we all know what he's doing now). Abdur-Rahim ended his career with one of the lowest winning percentages of any player in NBA history (of course, spending a few years with the Hawks didn't help that statistic).

Perhaps Babcock's most forgettable year was one that most people, not surprisingly, forget. In 1999 the Hawks had an unprecedented FOUR first round picks. With a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start anew with fresh talent, the Hawks settled on Jason Terry (10), Cal Bowlder (17), Dion Glover (20), and Jumaine Jones (27).

Add that to the legacy of Adam Keefe, Demarr Johnson, Priest Lauderdale--the list could go on ad nauseum.

The fact is that the Hawks have not drafted an All-Star (Pau Gasol doesn't count, since he never played a game for them) since 1984 (Kevin Willis). This is an incredible, improbable feat.

This sordid visitation with the ghosts of draft day past is a painful one for Hawks fans, and it is a trip that we generally go to great pains to avoid. But there is a point to this rambling.

The Hawks on Thursday completed a trade that landed Jamal Crawford, a crucial complement to Joe Johnson at the guard position. Crawford relieves Johnson from shouldering the entirety of the scoring duties and also absorbs some defensive pressure. This move seemingly set the table for the Hawks to finally draft that legitimate point guard they haven't had in over a decade.

So they selected: another shooting guard. Jeff Teague was a great college scorer. No doubt about it. But the Hawks have scorers. Johnson, Smith, Williams, Horford and Crawford will all score. We do not need another mouth to feed, we need a hand to feed them.

This begs the question, then, with Eric Maynor, much more of a true distributing point guard, still available, was Teague the best move?

Maynor was a four-year college player. Teague played two years. Yes, Teague competed in the ACC, but he also averaged just three-and-a-half assists per game last year (and an equal number of turnovers). Maynor averaged nearly seven assists per game, fewer turnovers, and the same amount of steals as Teague.

The Hawks then selected another shooting guard in round two. That means we brought three new shooting guards to the team yesterday, and filled no other position.

I hate to be the downer on a day all Hawks fans should be rightfully celebrating. The Hawks got much better yesterday, and we should be excited about it. But if history has taught us anything about this team and its draft decisions, it is to approach them with skepticism, or at most, reserved optimism.