The Terrible Decisions of the Atlanta Hawks

Throughout the entire decade, the Atlanta Hawks have had to overcome many terrible draft picks, trades, and signings. Over the past six seasons, the Hawks have made steady improvement which is why they are now considered one of the best teams in the NBA. While there have been a few good front office decisions, here are some of the many boneheaded moves that haunted this franchise for years.

-In the Hawks first draft pick of the 2000s, they decided to take Cincinnati player Demarr Johnson over Hedo Turkoglu, Jamal Crawford, and Quentin Richardson. Johnson played all of 7 seasons in the NBA and averaged 6.2 points per game in his career.

-The following year in 2001, the Hawks made two great draft choices in Paul Gasol and Jamaal Tinsley in the first round. However, they traded both of them on draft night gathering only Shareef-Abdur Rahim and a future first round pick. While Rahim was an All-Star caliber player at the time, he never was the dominant force in Atlanta that had made him a star in Vancouver.

-In 2003, the Hawks, following then General Manager Billy Knight's desire to have five 6'8'' starters, drafted utility man Boris Diaw with the 21st pick over Kendrick Perkins, Leonardo Barbosa, and Luke Walton. While Diaw has since turned into a solid player, he never played a major role for the Hawks.

-Billy Knight's best draft occurred in 2004. He drafted both Josh Childress and Josh Smith in the first round. Childress might have been a reach at No. 6, but Smith was the steal of the draft at No. 17.

-In 2005, the one player the Hawks desperately needed was a great point guard. This would allow recently acquired Joe Johnson to play the off-guard, his natural position. Atlanta held the 2nd pick of the draft, and had the ability to draft either Chris Paul or Deron Williams. With two superstars staring him in the face, Billy Knight decides to draft Marvin Williams, another 6'8'' small forward who didn't even start on his college team at North Carolina. While Williams has show glimpses of his potential, he only has a 12 points per game career average which is not what GM's are looking for with the second overall pick.

-Just when Hawks fans thought it couldn't get any worse, it did in the '06 draft. Knight selected Shelden Williams, another 6'9'' player, who was a solid, but not great player in college with the 5th pick. Taken after Williams in the draft were Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, and Rajon Rondo (a point guard!). Williams averaged 4.25 points per game for the Hawks over two season before being dealt to Sacramento in the trade that brought the long overdue point guard, Mike Bibby, to Atlanta.

-In his final draft as Hawks GM, Knight made one solid pick with first round selection Al Horford and a questionable one in Acie Law. Horford has solidified the Hawks frontcourt over the past three seasons. Acie Law never found his role with the Hawks, and was dealt over the past offseason to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Jamal Crawford.

-Speedy Claxton received a 4 year $25 Million dollar deal. Claxton, whose best career numbers came in 2004-05 at 13 pts/6 asst. with the Hornets, played all of 44 games with the Atlanta Hawks and averaged only 4 points per game. Knight believed he was the answer at point guard, but it turned out to be a terrible decision.

All of these scenarios have played a major role in the dysfunction of the franchise for most of the decade. In addition to these problems, a major dispute between ownership split the front office in two. However, because of the great coaching job Mike Woodson has done over the past five-plus seasons and the influence of new general manager Rick Sund, the Hawks finally look like a contender in the Eastern Conference. This young team has blossomed into one of the most exciting teams in the NBA.

Just imagine if they only had Chris Paul playing point guard...