2010 NBA Draft Reaction

Rick Sund on Jordan Crawford:

"We love shooters."

and

"It will be hard for him to come to a team that won 53 games and get minutes. But he's talented enough where if we get injuries, he's a quality player who can do some scoring."

Translation: Don't actually want to play him but if we have to...meh.

Next up, The Sweet Comfort of Veterans. Sund:

"I think we need more veterans. We are one of the youngest teams in the league still. I think we need to fill out the rest of the roster with veterans."

Otherwise, Mike Bibby might get lonely.

Peachtree Hoops says the Hawks chose cash over winning:

Euphoria swept the Hawks fandom as we quickly added up that the Hawks could address both a small and a big with the two picks. Sure enough, when #27 came up, Xavier's Jordan Crawford was the pick.

Crawford, who can be compared to Jamal Crawford and Ben Gordon, was a good value there, and it allowed the Hawks to begin to focus on a big man with their next pick. Alabi, Whiteside, and Orton were all still available just before the Hawks were set to pick at #31. Then Orton came off the board, leaving the Hawks with two big men to choose from, as well as Varnado.

This was it. We were going to be one of those teams who played the draft with precision and skill, picking up a couple of players who can help the team and improve the overall depth. No more Jason Collins type player, even if it were a project big man coming into the fold. It was an odd feeling of "we're doing it, we're that team this year". Odd because draft night has been historically a collective stomach punch for Hawks fans over the years.

So the 31st pick seemed like it took forever to be announced. We just knew something sweet was coming. We were going to pull one over on the league, get a scorer and a shot blocking big man by trading back. This was going to be sweet. Folks even started to wonder what we could get at #53, daring to dream about getting (3) guys who could help even this season.

Something became amiss when the pick was announced, and it was Tibor Pleiss, the German center. Then, ESPN announced the worst: Not only was this pick not going to be a Hawk, rather, it would be going to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Hawks weren't even going to take a player for the pick.

Tom Ziller, FanHouse:

The Hawks came in with the No. 24 pick, and used it to trade down to pick Jordan Crawford and some cash. They could have just taken Crawford at 24 and gotten away with it, so good on GM Rick Sund for working to maximize the asset. In the second round, Atlanta took mysterious Senegalese project Pape Sy. The team didn't address more immediate frontcourt depth issues, but Crawford's a fine pull given what the team had to work with. Final Grade: B+.

If my team just drafted DeMarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside, everybody would get an A.

Chad Ford (Insider):

The Hawks had a lot of success last year with a fellow named Crawford. Jamal Crawford won sixth man of the year as a volume scorer who often lit up opposing defenses. His namesake, Jordan Crawford, can do the same. He has deep range, will attack the basket and is always hunting for his shot. With Jamal in the last year of his contract, Jordan looks like he could be a nice replacement down the road.

As for Sy, let's just say that even by the low standards that we have for international "stash" picks, this one caught us by surprise. Sy is a point forward with skills, but this pick felt like a reach -- even at No. 53. Grade: B