Marvin Williams, Hawks
Williams starts at the 3 for the Hawks but can also play the 4 in a small-ball lineup. He is the guy the Hawks infamously took instead of Chris Paul in 2005.While Williams has been solid, he hasn't been great. And the Hawks will have a tough decision to make with him hitting restricted free agency this summer. The team already is cash strapped. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have huge deals. Mike Bibby will also be a free agent. Ditto for Josh Childress. And sooner than later, they're going to have to pay Al Horford.
All of that has led to some rumblings around the league that Williams is available in return for a lottery pick and a little cap relief. My source in Atlanta denies it, but it's something to keep an eye on.
Chance of trade: 15 percent
There just aren't any obvious, good solutions to the Hawks' long-term salary cap problems.
3 comments:
I think Marvin is a very underrated player - when you look at him in his own light instead of pulling out the phrase that has become legally part of his name "who the Hawks took instead of Chris Paul," he does bring good things to the table. He's quietly become an excellent rebounder and has the range to shoot it from anywhere in the halfcourt offense. I think he's our most consistent mid range shooter, and has done a nice job developing that 3 point shot. I love his triple threat game: he's very effective in that position both against smaller and larger players. He's always been a decent defender as well.
Unless we could get something that could help us right away (a backup 1 that can shoot) and pick(s) for the future, I don't know why we would trade him in the middle of the season...
agree 100 percent Warren.
it may not have been the right investment, but it was an investment.
just because it is going to yield 10 times less than an all league player doesn't mean its not yielding something.
He forgot to mention Zaza Pachulia's pending free agency, as well. Zaza is piece you'd love to retain since he's among the best (if not the best) reserve centers in the NBA.
There is hope, though, on the cap front. As has been pointed out, there are very few teams who will be under the cap next season, and there's a few quality wings out there. Hawks can probably afford to lowball Marvin this offseason and still keep him, since odds are that his best offer will be around the MLE (don't know what his cap hold is going to be, though).
Also, if Childress decides to stay in Greece, they could renounce him and clear his cap hold, or if he doesn't, they could do a sign and trade with him. Or, by letting Bibby walk, they could perhaps afford him and he could try to be their missing piece (though they'd still desperately need a PG).
Whatever they decide to do with Childress, they need to hang on to their draft picks. Now that they've built a solid core, they need to build up some depth, and the cheap way to do that is with draft picks.
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