The Hawks are loaded with young, talented players. Each bring different skill sets to the team and the Hawks have a bright future if they can keep this team together. With a future to look forward to, who is the best player to build around? Josh Smith? Al Harrington? Josh Childress? or this year's Draft Pick? Josh Smith - He is the fan favorite in Atlanta. Josh Smith made a name for himself in the Slam Dunk Contest and is coming along nicely for the Hawks. Along with his highlight dunk package, Josh Smith is a great shotblocker, and is slowly improving on his jump shot. As popular JSmooth is, can the Hawks build around his talent, or is he better being 'the other' superstar on a team? or maybe just a solid role player? Al Harrington - Hard to belive at age, 24, Al Harrington is a veteran on the Hawks team. Right now Al Harrington is the most complete player on the Hawks, offensively & defensively. He's capable of being a 20/10/5 player every night once he gets more consistent and shoots FTs better. Can the Hawks build a team around a small forward? With Al's health concerns and hampering injuries, should the Hawks pin their future on his chronically injured knees? Josh Childress - In college, the Stanford Cardinals built their team around Childress and it produced great results. He's probably the most fundamentally sound, and efficient player on the roster for Atlanta. Josh Childress can rebound and score without any plays being called for him, so imagine the numbers he can put up if he becomes the 'go-to-guy.' Childress is also money at the FT line, shooting 83%, to go along with 47% from the field. Childress is averaging 9PPG on only 7 shot attempts. Can Childress improve his passing and range on his jumper? Josh Childress is coachable and has a great work ethic, but is he the best talent to build around? This year's pick - Assuming the Hawks get a top 3 pick in the draft, they will land Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams (has yet to declare), or Chris Paul (has yet to declare). Does it make more sense to build around these players, or should the Hawks start drafting to compliment one of the players mentioned above instead?
Interesting question. I was thinking about it and I think that the Hawks will be kind of a Pistons like team. No one on the Pistons is the true leader. There is Big Ben, Rip, Billups and Sheed. Those can all be consider stars and leaders of teams, but no one really is a true leader. I see it being something like that for Atlanta. I think people are going to consider Josh Smith the star because how he won the Slam Dunk contest.
Franchise I dont believe that Harrington, Smith or Childress can be franshise players. They would be an excellent supporting group but they need a point gaurd to run with because they are very athletic. The teams franchise player could be Paul if he declares and they draft him. If he doesnt they are more likely to trade down and get another of the many PGs in this draft.
Honestly, Josh Smith is my favorite to be the franchise player. The Hawks should just build around him and draft a good defensive guard or Center. Josh Childress could be a great 6th man (although it was not what i expected from him) and of course Harrington would be great to compliment Smith. Josh has got the fans, the flash, and the potential to be something great in the NBA, so why not give him a shot?
I'm going with authentiq for one reason Josh Smith has unlimited potential. I think we can have a good gaurd duo in the form of Chidress and Smith both are deadly on the fast break, play good defense and they're both fan favorites and sooner or later the hawks are going to start having some sellout crowds. Josh Smith is a good defensive player and his jumpshot is coming along well, practically the only real big flaw in his game is his jumpshot and thats being worked on immensely. Smith takes it to the hole hard and just needs to tweak his free throws a bit too. The biggest positive about Smith is he's 19 and every part of his game is improving at a good pace.
