A few days ago the Atlanta Hawks were sitting nicely in fourth spot in the Eastern Conference and looked to have sorted any questions about the team’s ability especially with last week’s 3-0 record. The Thrashers were, although not as comfortable as in weeks previous, sitting in a play-off spot and even looking primed for a run at the Southeast Division with some solid defensive play and explosive offense. As we head into the second half of February and with trade deadlines approaching the Hawks got blown out by a distinctly average Philadelphia 76ers at home and the Thrashers will no longer be going to the postseason as things stand. The current situation has both teams looking to upgrade before the respective leagues pass their deadlines but both could find it pretty difficult.
The Hawks could do with improving their center position to allow Al Horford to return to his favoured position of small forward, there is an almost constant need to upgrade the point guard position and, beyond Jamal Crawford, the bench continues to look relatively weak. It is impossible however to imagine all three being strengthened and, because of the nature of the market, it is unlikely they will be unable to even improve two. By improving these positions it’s important to remember that the Hawks hope to become a championship quality team, not just to improve their wins totals. But looking over the Hawks roster, and it’s a difficult thing to do at times, I and hopefully anyone else would see how weak a trade position the Hawks are in. If the team hoped to acquire a championship ready piece, for example an Andrew Bynum or Glen Davis, it would require Atlanta to give up either Josh Smith or Al Horford both of whom are key pieces to how this team has got to the position it is in now. Should they go for a piece on the level below Bynum and Davis they are looking at a deal like the one I heard on a podcast the other day, Jamal Crawford heading to the Grizzlies in exchange for OJ Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet, according to realgm.com this would give the Hawks 2.5 extra rebounds a game but they would lose 2.3 points per game and 1.4 assists. This would add two 23-year-old guys to an already young core but it is unlikely that Memphis would be willing to give up two building block pieces for a one year rental. What desperation trade ideas like that, and the inability to gain any top end players in without using the teams core talent, prove is that there are no trade chips for the Hawks to work with, Larry Drew’s lack of minutes for guys like Jeff Teague and Jordan Crawford have actually decreased both their worth to the team and their trade value and Joe Johnson’s contract means there is no chance of a blockbuster trade that would set the franchise up for years.
The Thrashers are in a very similar position in that their best trade chops are either the reason behind the team’s success or potentially the beginning of the next Thrashers generation. Drafting guys like Alexander Burmistrov and Zach Bogosian should be viewed as positive steps to making the Thrashers good for the next ten years; players like this should be viewed as untouchable by any organisation in any sport. I am aware that Zach has had his struggles this year but, as proved by birdwatchersanonymous.com a few days ago, he has actually been quietly effective and is still just 20-years-old and skating against most other team’s top lines. If you make players like Zach, Burmi, Evander Kane and Bryan Little off limits due to a combination of their youth and talent that leaves more veteran guys. This bracket includes Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Tobias Enstrom and Rich Peverley, who have formed the core of what Craig Ramsay has been able to accomplish so far in 2010/11. Of those Buff has to be off limits to any trade that doesn’t include names like Crosby, that’s how important he is to this team, the others form the emotional heart of a team that had lacked one for so long. That leaves individuals like Jim Slater and Chris Thorburn as the only viable options that Rick Dudley has to play with and none of the remaining names on the Thrashers roster would bring in players that make the difference in a play-off run.
The disappointment about both of these Atlanta teams is they are both visibly on the cusp of better times but are handicapped in making the step to the next level. What we can hope is that Rick Dudley or Rick Sund can produce some general management magic unseen since John Shuerholz stole Greg Maddux from out of the Yankees pockets.
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