[外電] Hawks ponder point: Rookie or vet?
Hawks ponder point: Rookie or vet
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/20/06
As guards Rajon Rondo, Randy Foye and Marcus Williams staged a
competitive workout for the Atlanta Hawks on Monday morning, the
decision-makers for the team pondered whether backcourt
improvement — particularly at point guard — should come through
the draft, free agency or a trade.
A look at the teams that made this season's playoffs would
indicate it could be better for Atlanta, with the fifth pick
in the June 28 draft, to acquire a point guard already groomed
by another team, instead of nurturing another young player on an
already-young team.
Just four postseason participants — Phoenix (Steve Nash),
Chicago (Kirk Hinrich), San Antonio (Tony Parker) and Milwaukee
(T.J. Ford) — start point guards they drafted. Nash was somewhat
of an exception because he was re-signed by the Suns in 2004
after playing six seasons in Dallas.
Point guards acquired through free agency or trades guided the
remaining 12 teams into the playoffs.
So would the Hawks be better off making a play for Clippers free
agent point guard Sam Cassell or former Atlanta point guard Jason
Terry? Or should it draft Williams, Foye or Rondo and hope he
could be as effective as last season's Rookie of the Year Chris
Paul, whose New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets failed to get into
the postseason?
"We're going to get a young player, but is that young player
ready to play? Probably not," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said
Monday. "We've got enough young guys. We could better ourselves
as well by trying to look at some of the veteran point guards
and veteran bigs that are out there."
Other than Cassell and Terry, Mike James and Speedy Claxton are
pending free agent point guards. Of those who played point guard
for Atlanta last season, Joe Johnson is better suited to play
shooting guard, and Tyronn Lue and Royal Ivey are more effective
off the bench.
That is why the Hawks have been so forthcoming about the need to
address the point guard position.
Williams (Connecticut) is pegged by most mock drafts to be the
first point guard chosen. Foye, who played at Villanova, is a
combination guard like the Hawks' Johnson and Salim Stoudamire.
Kentucky's Rondo is a distributor, much like Williams, but
less highly regarded.
All said they did their homework on the Hawks before stepping on
the practice court at Philips Arena.
"You've got to look at the situation when you're coming to a team
like this," Williams said. "They've got a lot of young players,
some great wings. I think they just need someone to get them the
ball in the right places, [a player who] could develop with the
franchise."
The fifth pick, the third pick in the second round (33rd overall)
and/or free agent Al Harrington also could give the Hawks trade
or sign-and-trade options for a point guard who is under contract.
Beefing up the interior also is a priority. Nabbing a bigger
body, like Duke's Shelden Williams, might seem more appealing
than a point guard if team officials think the talent and value
is more in line with their lofty pick.
Plus, if the team trades or fails to re-sign Harrington, the
second-leading scorer (18.6 points per game) and second-leading
rebounder (6.9 average), it must replace him.
The Hawks will work out Bradley's rising center, Patrick O'Bryant,
on Friday. He is projected as a top-10 selection. Atlanta worked
out big men Solomon Jones (South Florida) and Mohamed Kone
(Valparaiso) on Monday. Justin Williams (Wyoming) and Yemi
Nicholson (Denver) will work against O'Bryant on Friday.
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0620hawks.html
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