Hawks should have taken Conley
Let’s see. Going into this week’s NBA draft, the Hawks needed two things: A center and a point guard. So, with a couple of splendid picks overall, they grabbed somebody who is sort of a center at No. 3, and then they grabbed somebody who is sort of a point guard at No. 11.
Yeah, that makes sense.
The Hawks didn’t need another forward of any kind. Even so, they just drafted another one for the sixth consecutive year during the Billy Knight regime.
The Hawks really, really needed a point guard. Instead, they continued their habit of passing on a definitive one in the draft (hello, Chris Paul and Deron Williams) and selected Acie Law, more of a shooting guard than a point guard.
At least the Hawks resisted their urge to risk rolling snake eyes again by ignoring the gamble that is China’s Yi Jianlian. Which brings us to this: You know you’ve been a woeful franchise when the best that can be said about your draft is that you didn’t totally screw it up.
With the Hawks making NBA-ready forward Al Horford the overall No. 3 pick and grabbing clutch-shooting Law eight spots later and letting Yi stay on the board for somebody else, the Hawks didn’t totally screw it up. They just didn’t totally get it right, not with Mike Conley Jr. sitting there as the player they needed the most. He is as engaging as the majority of the Hawks are bland. He’s a great passer, a relentless defender and an accomplished winner. He’s also a definitive point guard.
Not only that, Conley is the Hawks’ Calvin Johnson, and that’s not good.
Just as the Falcons foolishly passed on Calvin Johnson in this year’s NFL draft to allow the former Georgia Tech wide receiver to take his charisma and greatness to the Detroit Lions, the Hawks will look as omnisciently impaired as the Falcons when Conley does wonders for the Memphis Grizzlies at the point and at the box office.
The only way the Hawks soften their Conley blows on the horizon is to hope Law isn’t what he appears to be, and that is a glorified Salim Stoudamire. The Hawks already have the real Stoudamire, a prolific shooter in college who showed quickly that he can’t distribute the ball well enough in the pros.
“I mean, [Law] is a point guard, but he’s just a scoring point guard,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said Friday. “He’s kind of been lumped into this role of being a scorer, because at the end of games, he looks to take over. And I don’t care how you cut it: [Hawks All-Star] Joe [Johnson] is going to be double-teamed, so we’ve got to have guys who can make shots around him.
“I’m not saying Acie is going to be a big-time scorer at this level, but we just felt he could distribute enough and make shots enough for us. At least, that’s what we’re hoping.”
Sound familiar? The Hawks always are “hoping.” They also have this tradition of trying to make a triangle into a circle. When they acquired Calvin Johnson from Phoenix, they were adamant he’d lose his shoot-first mentality and run their offense. The Joe Johnson Experiment at point guard lasted closer to days than weeks.
Now the Hawks have the Al Horford Experiment at center. He spent most of his time helping Florida win back-to-back national titles as a power forward. The Hawks could keep the 6-foot-10 Horford at his natural position and ease their self-inflicted glut of “3s” and “4s” by acquiring an experienced point guard. The guy mentioned the most in trade rumors is Seattle’s Luke Ridnour. Such a move would create more questions.
For instance: If Ridnour is among the Hawks’ answers, why was he splitting playing time with the great Earl Watson for an awful Sonics team?
If the Hawks were going to trade for a point guard, why did they use such a high pick on Law?
Why didn’t they just get Conley?
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