Burning down the Hawks
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, January 13
Updated: January 13
9:53 AM ET
Wasn't it just a year ago that Hawks president Stan Kasten called the play of his lowly Hawks "unacceptable" and vowed to fix the team?
Wasn't it a year ago that then-Hawks GM Pete Babcock admitted his offseason moves were "wrong across the board?"
And one year ago didn't Kasten and Babcock begin exploring how to blow the team apart after it was apparent that the group they had put together just couldn't get along?
The Hawks had and have a talented team on paper. But on the court, the pieces have never fit.
"When you are assembling a puzzle and two pieces don't fit, because either they are bad guys, or they don't buy into what you are doing, or they don't work hard, then it's easier to identify," Babcock said Jan. 11, 2003. "In our situation, each individual player -- they're good guys. They're working hard. They're doing the extra things. They take the program seriously. But when you put the pieces together, it's like they don't have faith in each other. They don't quite believe in each other yet.
"That's the job of this staff, to get them believe. If they can't, then you've got to reassemble the puzzle. You've got to change the pieces to get that mix that believes in one other, because this is a team sport."
A year later, Jan. 12, 2004, it's like Groundhog Day. The 10-28 Hawks are awful. The seats are empty. Players slouch on the bench. The gloom is palpable. Tempers are short. Coach Terry Stotts paces the sidelines like a sweaty, caged tiger. Jason Terry wants a one-way ticket out. Theo Ratliff has been caught screaming at the coach. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Which makes you wonder, what the hell is going on in Atlanta?
"Nothing," a Hawks source told Insider. "The team is a train wreck. Guys aren't playing hard. They're giving up. Terry [Stotts] is doing everything he can to motivate them, but the guys act offended when he asks them to play hard. No one trusts each other. Everyone is on their own page. I can't imagine there's a team that's more screwed up. But there are no signs that changes are coming. Just talk, threats really. We're worn down. I know Terry [Stotts] is under fire, but it's not really his fault. These same players have killed other coaches, and they'll kill the next guy too, if something else doesn't change."
Corporate red tape
Harsh words for harsh times. If the Hawks were a normal team, fans would be picketing the owner right now and demanding the GM be fired. But the Hawks aren't a normal team. They are mired in the corporate molasses of Time Warner. A sale has been pending for what seems like the last decade. The potential ownership groups seems to change weekly.
The official sale to a conglomerate known as Atlanta Spirit LLC took place Sept. 12, but that group still hasn't gotten official approval from NBA owners. That could happen later this month, then again, with the way things are going in Atlanta, my Jan. 13 column in 2005 may begin with the same refrain: The Hawks stink. Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?
Even when the sale does become final, who has faith in an ownership group that's not that much smaller than the Board of Directors for Time Warner? Atlanta Spirit is one-third owned by Boston businessman Steve Belkin; one-third owned by Washington businessmen Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman; and one-third owned by five local men (Michael Gearon Jr., Rutherford Seydel, Michael Gearon Sr., Bud Seretean and Beau Turner -- Ted's youngest son).
New owners, new team?
How does that committee of nine get anything done? Officially, Belkin will have two votes and Gearon Jr., Seydel, Levenson and Peskowitz one apiece on ownership decisions. Great, we've reduced the number to five.
Five heads to hopefully dismantle what has become the biggest train wreck in the NBA. The Clippers and Warriors have been bad for longer, but at least you can argue that they've made moves trying to get back on track. The Hawks keep swirling down the drain.
No one knows exactly what will happen when David Stern hands the keys to Belkin & Co. Will they bring in their own GM? Their own coach? Will they be inclined to burn the team to the ground, like Kiki Vandeweghe did in Denver? Or will they be blinded by the talent on paper and try a quicker fix to get this team playing mediocre basketball faster, like Isiah Thomas did in New York?
GMs around the league are waiting on the answers with bated breath. Why? Because the Hawks do have talented individuals with decent contracts whom other teams crave. If the Hawks decide to detonate, there will be a long line waiting to pick up the pieces.
Who should go? According to the Hawks source, who asked not to be identified, Terry and Ratliff are the biggest problems. Shareef Abdur-Rahim should go, as well, if the Hawks aren't able to parlay Terry and Ratliff into an all-star leader. In other words, Abdur-Rahim is a good enough player, but he's not a guy you build around. He's Scottie Pippen looking for someone else to lead.
In the process, the Hawks want to unload one other big contract (read: Alan Henderson) to get far enough under the cap to make some noise this summer. If they find a way to get Terry, Ratliff, Abdur-Rahim and Henderson off the books while taking back minimal salary in return, they can reduce a projected 2004-05 payroll of $52 million to $12 million.
The blueprint
How does it happen? The options aren't that pretty. The Hawks aren't going to get equal value in return. At this point, you'd have to live with the fact that the team will get lots of cap room and a few prospects to work with. As always, Insider has some ideas.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Power Forward
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
38 19.4 9.4 2.5 .493 .856
Moving Rahim: This is the easy part. Abdur-Rahim is just 27 years old and is putting up solid numbers (19.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) once again. The knock on him is simple. Since his rookie season, when he averaged 18.3 ppg, Rahim hasn't done much to improve. Scouts see a talented kid who lacks the killer instinct to lead on the court or develop his game off the court. With the right coach and the right motivation, maybe he changes. But even if he doesn't, he'd be an awesome second or third wheel on a good team. His contract is easy enough to digest, at $13.5 million this year and $14.6 million next year.
The key for Atlanta is to get major cap relief and top prospects (like the Suns did with Marbury) in return. How does that happen? The Sonics have always been the best fit for Abdur-Rahim. They almost traded for him two years ago, before backing out at the last second. The team is rolling but needs a post presence who can score in the paint. Brent Barry, Jerome James and Vladimir Radmanovic for Abdur-Rahim gives the Hawks roughly $7 million in cap relief next year, and a top, low-priced young prospect in Radmanovic.
The Jazz have enough cap room to make a trade for Abdur-Rahim, but would an offer of a couple of high first-round draft picks and Greg Osterag's expiring contract be enough to get the Hawks to make a deal? The Warriors could offer the expiring contracts of Adonal Foyle and Avery Johnson, along with a top player like Jason Richardson or Troy Murphy, but since when have the Warriors been willing to spend more money?
Whatever the Hawks do, they shouldn't move Rahim until they have deals in place for Ratliff and Terry. They'll become even more unruly if Rahim goes and the team takes yet another step back. Trading Rahim is the last move, not the first one.
Theo Ratliff
Forward-Center
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
38 7.6 6.6 0.8 .451 .619
Moving Ratliff: Plenty of teams are also interested in Ratliff. He's one of the top shot blockers in the league and a legit center in the Eastern Conference. Ratliff is on the books for $10.1 million this year and $10.9 million in 2004-05. Who's interested? There's talk the Blazers want Ratliff and would be willing to swap Rasheed Wallace for him if the Hawks also included Terry. Terry is a base-year player, which makes that trade more difficult, but it is doable with the right add-ons. It might be simpler for Portland to offer a combo of Wesley Person's expiring contract, Jeff McInnis and a prospect like Travis Outlaw straight up for Ratliff.
The Grizzlies have interest in Ratliff, but they're running out of ammo to get him. A combo of Stromile Swift, Jake Tsakalidis and Shane Battier might be enough, but is the injury-prone Ratliff really worth that price? I don't think so, and neither does Jerry West. The Bucks could offer Toni Kukoc's expiring contract and a prospect like Marcus Haislip. The Celtics could send the expiring contracts of Chris Mills and Chris Mihm to the Hawks, but surely Atlanta would demand a first-round pick or two to make it happen.
Jason Terry
Point Guard
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
37 15.7 3.9 4.9 .429 .822
Moving Terry: Again, the interest is there, but Terry's base-year compensation status makes him tough to trade. So does the fact that he can veto any trade until this summer, because the Hawks matched his offer sheet. At this point, you'd think Terry would be happy to go anywhere else. If the Hawks want to trade him, they're going to have to package him with Ratliff or Abdur-Rahim to make the deal big enough to absorb the base-year problems. That's going to be very difficult.
The Blazers could get it done. The Jazz could too, except the Hawks aren't allowed to trade Terry to Utah for one year, because the offer sheet they matched was from the Jazz. The Pacers have had plenty of interest in Terry in the past, but they don't have the expiring salaries to get it done.
continued................
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, January 13
Updated: January 13
9:53 AM ET
Wasn't it just a year ago that Hawks president Stan Kasten called the play of his lowly Hawks "unacceptable" and vowed to fix the team?
Wasn't it a year ago that then-Hawks GM Pete Babcock admitted his offseason moves were "wrong across the board?"
And one year ago didn't Kasten and Babcock begin exploring how to blow the team apart after it was apparent that the group they had put together just couldn't get along?
The Hawks had and have a talented team on paper. But on the court, the pieces have never fit.
"When you are assembling a puzzle and two pieces don't fit, because either they are bad guys, or they don't buy into what you are doing, or they don't work hard, then it's easier to identify," Babcock said Jan. 11, 2003. "In our situation, each individual player -- they're good guys. They're working hard. They're doing the extra things. They take the program seriously. But when you put the pieces together, it's like they don't have faith in each other. They don't quite believe in each other yet.
"That's the job of this staff, to get them believe. If they can't, then you've got to reassemble the puzzle. You've got to change the pieces to get that mix that believes in one other, because this is a team sport."
A year later, Jan. 12, 2004, it's like Groundhog Day. The 10-28 Hawks are awful. The seats are empty. Players slouch on the bench. The gloom is palpable. Tempers are short. Coach Terry Stotts paces the sidelines like a sweaty, caged tiger. Jason Terry wants a one-way ticket out. Theo Ratliff has been caught screaming at the coach. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Which makes you wonder, what the hell is going on in Atlanta?
"Nothing," a Hawks source told Insider. "The team is a train wreck. Guys aren't playing hard. They're giving up. Terry [Stotts] is doing everything he can to motivate them, but the guys act offended when he asks them to play hard. No one trusts each other. Everyone is on their own page. I can't imagine there's a team that's more screwed up. But there are no signs that changes are coming. Just talk, threats really. We're worn down. I know Terry [Stotts] is under fire, but it's not really his fault. These same players have killed other coaches, and they'll kill the next guy too, if something else doesn't change."
Corporate red tape
Harsh words for harsh times. If the Hawks were a normal team, fans would be picketing the owner right now and demanding the GM be fired. But the Hawks aren't a normal team. They are mired in the corporate molasses of Time Warner. A sale has been pending for what seems like the last decade. The potential ownership groups seems to change weekly.
The official sale to a conglomerate known as Atlanta Spirit LLC took place Sept. 12, but that group still hasn't gotten official approval from NBA owners. That could happen later this month, then again, with the way things are going in Atlanta, my Jan. 13 column in 2005 may begin with the same refrain: The Hawks stink. Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?
Even when the sale does become final, who has faith in an ownership group that's not that much smaller than the Board of Directors for Time Warner? Atlanta Spirit is one-third owned by Boston businessman Steve Belkin; one-third owned by Washington businessmen Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman; and one-third owned by five local men (Michael Gearon Jr., Rutherford Seydel, Michael Gearon Sr., Bud Seretean and Beau Turner -- Ted's youngest son).
New owners, new team?
How does that committee of nine get anything done? Officially, Belkin will have two votes and Gearon Jr., Seydel, Levenson and Peskowitz one apiece on ownership decisions. Great, we've reduced the number to five.
Five heads to hopefully dismantle what has become the biggest train wreck in the NBA. The Clippers and Warriors have been bad for longer, but at least you can argue that they've made moves trying to get back on track. The Hawks keep swirling down the drain.
No one knows exactly what will happen when David Stern hands the keys to Belkin & Co. Will they bring in their own GM? Their own coach? Will they be inclined to burn the team to the ground, like Kiki Vandeweghe did in Denver? Or will they be blinded by the talent on paper and try a quicker fix to get this team playing mediocre basketball faster, like Isiah Thomas did in New York?
GMs around the league are waiting on the answers with bated breath. Why? Because the Hawks do have talented individuals with decent contracts whom other teams crave. If the Hawks decide to detonate, there will be a long line waiting to pick up the pieces.
Who should go? According to the Hawks source, who asked not to be identified, Terry and Ratliff are the biggest problems. Shareef Abdur-Rahim should go, as well, if the Hawks aren't able to parlay Terry and Ratliff into an all-star leader. In other words, Abdur-Rahim is a good enough player, but he's not a guy you build around. He's Scottie Pippen looking for someone else to lead.
In the process, the Hawks want to unload one other big contract (read: Alan Henderson) to get far enough under the cap to make some noise this summer. If they find a way to get Terry, Ratliff, Abdur-Rahim and Henderson off the books while taking back minimal salary in return, they can reduce a projected 2004-05 payroll of $52 million to $12 million.
The blueprint
How does it happen? The options aren't that pretty. The Hawks aren't going to get equal value in return. At this point, you'd have to live with the fact that the team will get lots of cap room and a few prospects to work with. As always, Insider has some ideas.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Power Forward
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
38 19.4 9.4 2.5 .493 .856
Moving Rahim: This is the easy part. Abdur-Rahim is just 27 years old and is putting up solid numbers (19.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) once again. The knock on him is simple. Since his rookie season, when he averaged 18.3 ppg, Rahim hasn't done much to improve. Scouts see a talented kid who lacks the killer instinct to lead on the court or develop his game off the court. With the right coach and the right motivation, maybe he changes. But even if he doesn't, he'd be an awesome second or third wheel on a good team. His contract is easy enough to digest, at $13.5 million this year and $14.6 million next year.
The key for Atlanta is to get major cap relief and top prospects (like the Suns did with Marbury) in return. How does that happen? The Sonics have always been the best fit for Abdur-Rahim. They almost traded for him two years ago, before backing out at the last second. The team is rolling but needs a post presence who can score in the paint. Brent Barry, Jerome James and Vladimir Radmanovic for Abdur-Rahim gives the Hawks roughly $7 million in cap relief next year, and a top, low-priced young prospect in Radmanovic.
The Jazz have enough cap room to make a trade for Abdur-Rahim, but would an offer of a couple of high first-round draft picks and Greg Osterag's expiring contract be enough to get the Hawks to make a deal? The Warriors could offer the expiring contracts of Adonal Foyle and Avery Johnson, along with a top player like Jason Richardson or Troy Murphy, but since when have the Warriors been willing to spend more money?
Whatever the Hawks do, they shouldn't move Rahim until they have deals in place for Ratliff and Terry. They'll become even more unruly if Rahim goes and the team takes yet another step back. Trading Rahim is the last move, not the first one.
Theo Ratliff
Forward-Center
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
38 7.6 6.6 0.8 .451 .619
Moving Ratliff: Plenty of teams are also interested in Ratliff. He's one of the top shot blockers in the league and a legit center in the Eastern Conference. Ratliff is on the books for $10.1 million this year and $10.9 million in 2004-05. Who's interested? There's talk the Blazers want Ratliff and would be willing to swap Rasheed Wallace for him if the Hawks also included Terry. Terry is a base-year player, which makes that trade more difficult, but it is doable with the right add-ons. It might be simpler for Portland to offer a combo of Wesley Person's expiring contract, Jeff McInnis and a prospect like Travis Outlaw straight up for Ratliff.
The Grizzlies have interest in Ratliff, but they're running out of ammo to get him. A combo of Stromile Swift, Jake Tsakalidis and Shane Battier might be enough, but is the injury-prone Ratliff really worth that price? I don't think so, and neither does Jerry West. The Bucks could offer Toni Kukoc's expiring contract and a prospect like Marcus Haislip. The Celtics could send the expiring contracts of Chris Mills and Chris Mihm to the Hawks, but surely Atlanta would demand a first-round pick or two to make it happen.
Jason Terry
Point Guard
Atlanta Hawks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
37 15.7 3.9 4.9 .429 .822
Moving Terry: Again, the interest is there, but Terry's base-year compensation status makes him tough to trade. So does the fact that he can veto any trade until this summer, because the Hawks matched his offer sheet. At this point, you'd think Terry would be happy to go anywhere else. If the Hawks want to trade him, they're going to have to package him with Ratliff or Abdur-Rahim to make the deal big enough to absorb the base-year problems. That's going to be very difficult.
The Blazers could get it done. The Jazz could too, except the Hawks aren't allowed to trade Terry to Utah for one year, because the offer sheet they matched was from the Jazz. The Pacers have had plenty of interest in Terry in the past, but they don't have the expiring salaries to get it done.
continued................
