Latest Hawks Stories
Posted: Jul 2nd 2009 11:15 AM ET by Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Bucks, Hawks, Euroleague, NBA Rumors

There were various reasons to believe
Josh Childress might be spending only one season in Greece. The forward, who signed with Olympiakos last summer after reaching an impasse with the rights-holding Hawks, is a quality player who belongs in the best league in the world, the NBA. He reportedly got the yips when the Greek league championship game
fell victim to an assault of explosives thrown by fans. And all told, he didn't really set Europe on fire as hoped.
So that Childress is back in America talking turkey is not a big surprise. But the particular team he will first visit with -- the Milwaukee Bucks -- registers as a stunner.
Posted: Jun 29th 2009 10:30 PM ET by Tim Povtak (RSS feed)
Filed Under: 76ers, Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Pacers, Pistons, Raptors, Rockets, Suns, NBA Rumors

Not everyone is waiting for 2010 – the mother of all free agent summers – to try to improve their team by throwing big money at the seasoned veterans.
Even in hard economic times, the top players like
Carlos Boozer,
Hedo Turkoglu and
Jason Kidd will leave teams and get their financial reward in other places. The squeeze will be on the lower-level free agents who must settle for minimum or various exceptions.
What hurts this class is that only seven teams really have major room under the salary cap to make something happen, and they usually aren't the NBA's biggest spenders. Unless the free agents stay with their current teams, only Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Atlanta, Portland, Toronto and Detroit have major room.
Although there has been plenty of dancing and unofficial talks the last few days, the real dealings can't start until 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Here is a breakdown by position of the five most intriguing – and unrestricted – free agents.
Posted: Jun 26th 2009 1:12 PM ET by Matt Steinmetz (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Cavaliers, Hawks, Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Wizards, NBA Draft, NBA Transactions

There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:
The Deal: Phoenix sends
Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland for
Sasha Pavlovic,
Ben Wallace, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash.
The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside
LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
Posted: Jun 26th 2009 10:00 AM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Hawks, Knicks, Warriors, NBA Transactions, FanHouse Exclusive
Jamal Crawford finally has the opportunity to compete with a playoff-caliber team; the oft-traveled guard landed in Atlanta on Thursday in a three-player trade, with
Acie Law and
Speedy Claxton headed to Golden State.
When reached by FanHouse, Crawford was thrilled about the chance to return to the Eastern Conference and play with a club that has advanced to the playoffs the past two seasons. Crawford said he signed an agreement that he would not opt out of the final two years of his contract, as was his option by June 30.
"This is what I've been searching for, I didn't think it would happen like this or this fast but I am excited," said Crawford, who has played 597 games with no playoff appearances. "My agents called me [Wednesday] and said it was close and it was Atlanta. I was just ecstatic. They are an up-and-coming team, and I want to see if I fit in there."
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 10:35 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: 76ers, Bucks, Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Hornets, Kings, Knicks, Pistons, Rockets, SuperSonics, NBA Draft, Thunder
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.Hard to believe that several NBA general managers can have regrets after two years, but it's true. The results of the 2007
NBA Draft are slowly reaping, which should teach a lesson to their 2009 brethren on Thursday about taking chances on raw college players, international prospects and even those who are allegedly "proven."
The biggest debate two years ago was whether the Portland Trail Blazers should take
Greg Oden or
Kevin Durant first overall. Oden was a franchise center out of Ohio State while Durant was the smooth scoring swingman from Texas. Durant had the better workout with the Blazers, apparently blowing the mind of coach
Nate McMillan. Yet, the Blazers stuck with conventional thinking and took the big man.
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 4:49 PM ET by Matt Steinmetz (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Hawks, Warriors, NBA Rumors

Warriors coach
Don Nelson made it clear to
Jamal Crawford late in the season that if Crawford didn't exercise his early termination option, the Warriors would look to move him.
Apparently, Crawford isn't going to walk away from the $19 million left on his contract, because the Warriors are in fact looking to move him. According to
ESPN.com, the Warriors and Hawks are close to a deal that will send Crawford to Atlanta for
Speedy Claxton and
Acie Law.
A Hawks source has confirmed to FanHouse, though, that the trade is still in the discussion stages and no deal has been struck.
Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 11:40 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Celtics, Hawks, Raptors, SuperSonics, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, NBA Draft
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.It's hard to blame the Toronto Raptors for taking a 7-footer with 3-point range and the ability to play three positions. That's what
Andrea Bargnani presented as the No. 1 pick. There was no clear-cut top choice. The 2006 NBA Draft was filled with unproven early entries, a couple of seasoned seniors and raw big men looking for a big payday.
So the Raptors took the player they thought had the best upside. Hey, the NBA Draft is about development these days, right? Nobody in this supposed weak draft was supposed to be an All-Star anyway, right? No one told that to
Brandon Roy, who was passed up by five teams and traded by another. Finally, the
Portland Trail Blazers, still ringing from a reputation of bad guys, car racers and dog fighters, had a franchise player in their hands, and he was from nearby Seattle.
Posted: Jun 22nd 2009 7:10 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Bucks, Hawks, Hornets, Jazz, NBA Draft
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.The 2005
NBA Draft would change the course of the future of two teams -- the
Atlanta Hawks and
Milwaukee Bucks. There was no clear-cut No. 1 pick, but Utah's
Andrew Bogut was big, skilled and NBA ready. He wasn't the most convincing or dominant No. 1 pick, especially with
Dwight Howard averaging a double-double in his rookie season, but he appeared to be the best choice for the Bucks.
Meanwhile, the Hawks decided on a player who was a sixth man of his college team.
Marvin Williams had all the physical tools to be a star but played just one season at North Carolina. He fed off the Tar Heels' national title run and opted for the draft. It sounded like a good idea, although he was only 19. It's not that these were poor choices. Neither Bogut nor Williams are busts. They are productive NBA players, but when compared with the next two drafted, they are disappointments.
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 7:00 AM ET by Tim Povtak (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Bobcats, Hawks, Heat, Magic, Wizards, NBA Draft

With only one lottery pick (Washington), there isn't a lot of draft buzz around the Southeast Division. The
Orlando Magic, who reached the
NBA Finals, don't have any picks, and the
Miami Heat, who lost in the first round of the playoffs, have only picks in the second round.
Washington WizardsPicks: No. 5 (first round), No. 33 (second round).
Needs: After such a disastrous season, they need one of those Obama Stimulus giveaways. They need a quality big man who can rebound, but they also need help on the perimeter so that
Gilbert Arenas can limit his minutes and avoid getting hurt again. They need depth, and most importantly, they need some durability because there were too many guys sitting out too many games last season.
Posted: May 23rd 2009 2:00 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are considered one of the NBA's rising teams, as evidenced by consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 10 years. The Hawks, however, were easily swept in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who spent four games exposing Atlanta's numerous flaws and weaknesses. The Hawks are approaching a critical time for their franchise, with
Mike Bibby a free agent and third-year forward and former lottery pick Marvin Williams seemingly without a role.
Hawks legend
Dominique Wilkins, the team's vice president of basketball, said the Hawks need two key components to challenge, Boston, Orlando and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.