After a year spent in NBA purgatory the artist formerly known as the Atlanta Hawks’ GM, Danny Ferry, finally finds himself on the unemployed list.
Ferry, who was accused of making a racist remark about Miami Heat forward Luol Deng back in 2014 (something he was subsequently cleared of, well, in as much as an investigation revealed his comments bore no racial or ethnic “animus”), was the man behind the team that recorded the best record in the East this year. But, with that team now on the market, the franchise has opted to part ways with Ferry in a smart move that has way more to do with public relations than it does with basketball.
So where does that leave the Hawks?
Well, first of all it’s important to note that Mike Budenholzer, who now has two years’ coaching experience under his belt, will be given the additional responsibility that comes with being Head of Basketball Operations, while last year’s assistant GM Wes Wilcox will step into Ferry’s shoes, becoming the team’s new General Manager for the foreseeable future.
Coming off the back of a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the roster itself is actually in pretty good shape, with everyone but Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll, Elton Brand and Pero Antic guaranteed to return for the 2015-16 campaign.
Re-signing Millsap and Carroll could be key, as both were crucial to Atlanta’s success last year. Doing so, however, won’t be easy, as both are unrestricted free agents who’ve put themselves in the shop window with some pretty impressive performances this season, meaning they’re going to attract a good deal of interest when they go to market this summer.
As everyone knows, Carroll is going to be one of this offseason’s most coveted free agents and whatever happens long-term one of Wes Wilcox’s biggest challenges is going to be retaining his services, assuming that’s something he deems necessary. In 2014-15 the 28-year-old earned a mere $2.4m, a number that’s likely to hit double figures with relative ease ahead of next season.
As for Paul Millsap, he’s a savvy veteran whose versatile post game and ability to stretch the floor facilitates the numbers game, whilst enabling the Hawks to play small ball whenever necessary.
Given the fact that he secured $9.5m this year and is eligible for a max deal worth something in the region of $18m a year next, Millsap might be difficult to retain, especially as Atlanta will only have around about $23m to play with. Assuming they’re willing to shed a couple of smaller salaries, like those of Shelvin Mack and Mike Scott for example, they should have the flexibility to keep both Millsap and Carroll.
This, however, could give Wilcox his first headache, as if does succeed in re-signing both players there’s a very good chance that his team will be forced to overcome the same deficiencies that plagued it during this year’s postseason run, namely, an overreliance on jumpshooting, a lack of depth and some major size issues.
The last of these areas of concern is perhaps the most pressing, as in their Eastern Conference Finals’ matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers Atlanta was well and truly hammered on the boards, losing that battle 208-157 over the course of the series.
On the one hand, playing with Millsap and Al Horford in the front court gives their roster a truly modern feel, whilst facilitating the ball movement that made their offense such a success this season. On the other, without a true centre somewhere in their rotation they’re going to continue to get dominated on the boards going forward. Signing someone like, say, Kendrick Perkins or perhaps even Greg Stiemsma, veterans they should be able to get on the cheap, might provide a temporary solution.
Picking 15th overall in Thursday’s draft should give Wilcox an opportunity to address the team’s lack of depth on the wings, although depending on where you look names like Kevon Looney, Sam Dekker and Trey Lyles constantly crop up alongside the pick. Someone like Kelly Oubre could be a good fit, but there has been talk of the Hawks looking to trade up, with the Indiana Pacers’ 11th pick apparently in their sights. Who exactly they’d be willing to give up in the exchange, or indeed who Larry Bird would be interested in acquiring, remains to be seen though.
And as for the jumpshooting thing, Atlanta quite simply needs more players capable of creating their own shots, as, at present, it relies almost solely on Jeff Teague (and to a lesser extent Dennis Schroder) for this, while the likes of Carroll and Kyle Korver are content to wait for the ball out on the perimeter. Sure good spacing and ball movement are the calling cards of unselfish, team basketball, but, when those shots just aren’t falling, as was the case for much of the postseason, you need a plan B and at present Atlanta’s is a tad limited.
Still, if Wilcox is able to address these issues moving forward then he’ll taste success very quickly in his first stint as an NBA GM. He’s a lucky man, in as much as he’s adopting a fully-fledged roster with a ready-made identity on the brink of a break through. But with that comes a good deal of pressure too and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares at the helm of the team his predecessor built.
