In recent days multiple reports have surfaced about potential moves the Atlanta Hawks might make leading up to the NBA Draft on Thursday, and general manager Danny Ferry hinted that there could be some truth to them in a video posted on the team’s website.
Yahoo! Sports reported on Monday that the Hawks could package the team’s two first-round picks (they own Nos. 17 and 18, the second coming from Houston via Brooklyn in the Joe Johnson trade last summer) to try and move up, possibly as high as the top five. Their intent would be, the report said, to try and draft UCLA small forward Shabazz Muhammad. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Muhammad averaged 17.9 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 37.7 percent on his three-pointers, a skill that seems especially prized by Ferry and the new Hawks regime.
“I think there’s going to be a couple of good players there,” Ferry said in the team video of the 17th and 18th picks, “or there’s going to be opportunities to move around and do different things as well.”
In other news that could impact what the Hawks do at the draft, The Sporting News reported that Boston might make a sign-and-trade pitch to the Hawks for impending unrestricted free agent forward Josh Smith, one of the team’s top players in recent seasons who seems ready to move on. If the Hawks received picks or other assets in such a trade, it could help them to move up into the top five.
Ferry and his staff, along with new coach Mike Budenholzer, who only recently joined the team after completing the NBA Finals with San Antonio where he had been a long-time assistant, are evaluating all of these options, some of which might soon take shape as realities.
“I feel like we’re putting ourselves in position by Wednesday where we will have a clear vision of what will probably be there and what we’ll want to do,” Ferry said.
In that video, Ferry also talked about the kinds of players for whom he is looking. He said he prizes smart players but also unselfish ones who “want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
“Obviously we’re looking for talented players but talented players that fit into how we want to live, work, etcetera,” he said.
Set to embark on his second calendar year with the Hawks, Ferry is working with virtually a blank canvas as he remakes the Hawks’ roster. The few players with guaranteed contracts are forward Al Horford, guard John Jenkins (last year’s first-round pick) and guard Lou Williams. Starting point guard Jeff Teague is a restricted free agent, as are forwards Mike Scott (last year’s second-round pick) and Ivan Johnson.
Reserve center Zaza Pachulia is an unrestricted free agent who could return, as he has expressed his desire to remain in Atlanta.
If Ferry cannot pull off a deal to move up, one player who would seem to fit the bill of what he’s looking for and who is slotted to fall where the Hawks are is Mason Plumlee of Duke, Ferry’s alma mater. (Ferry has already gone to the Duke well once, hiring his former college teammate Quin Snyder as an assistant coach.)
In Plumlee, Ferry could see something of himself. At 6-foot-11, 245 pounds, Plumlee is somewhat similar in size to Ferry. From there, the comparisons could end. Ferry was an NBA 3-point-shooting specialist while Plumlee did not attempt a single one in his last two college seasons. In his final season at Duke, Plumlee averaged 17.1 points and shot nearly 60 percent from the floor to go with 10.0 rebounds per game.
A similar type of player in terms of size is Gonzaga 7-footer Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk is perhaps a better scorer than Plumlee, averaging 17.8 points in fewer minutes (albeit against lesser competition), but not as good of a rebounder. He averaged 7.3 rebounds last season.
Since the Hawks already have a young guard in Teague, drafted Jenkins and have Williams under contract, they might not opt to go in that direction in the first round. But if they do, a possibility is 6-foot-6 Cal shooting guard Allen Crabbe. Crabbe averaged 18.4 points and 6.1 rebounds.
And since Ferry is an acolyte of the European game, another option is 6-foot-1 point guard Dennis Schroeder. Some experts project Schroeder could go higher, which would force the Hawks to move up, although perhaps not dramatically so. Schroeder is said to be a player who can create for others off the pick and roll but has a weakness for turnovers, which could be a correctable byproduct of his youth.
“The whole mantra for scouting,” Ferry said, “is eyes, ears and numbers.”
Thursday will show what Ferry’s eyes and ears tell him.
