Recap of Hawks draft night

Here's a blog I wrote for Score Atlanta on the Hawks draft picks. Make sure to pick up your copy of Score Atlanta at any QuickTrip location in the metro Atlanta area and check out scoreatl.com for the latest on Atlanta sports.


Another draft is in the books for the Atlanta Hawks and some would say they really had a solid night. They picked at No. 24 in the first round and selected Damion James ─ a forward from Texas ─ but he was not a Hawk for long, as he was traded to the New Jersey Nets. The Hawks received in the deal the second of their first-round picks (No. 27) and their second-round pick (No. 31). The Nets then selected guard Jordan Crawford from Xavier at No. 27 and at pick No. 31 they selected center Tibor Pleiss from Germany, who the Hawks sold to the Oklahoma City Thunder for $3 million. For the Hawks, they selected Pape Sy a forward from Senegal for their second-round pick.

I have to say I agree with the pundits because the Hawks end up with a one of the best scoring guards that were not in the lottery and he is a guy that is not afraid to make the tough shot. Crawford is also an explosive jumper that can attack the rim (LeBron James can second that notion).

Crawford only spent one year at Xavier, but made an instant impact, leading the team and the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring with 20.5 points per game. He led Xavier to a NCAA tournament appearance and averaged 29 points in three games. As a result, he was named to the All-West Region team.

Crawford coming to Atlanta is no doubt a great move, but two questions have to be addressed. The first is with Crawford selected, is Joe Johnson on the way out? I think that still remains to be seen because I think Johnson could end up signing with the Hawks if he likes the direction this team is headed. On the other hand, he may feel with the selection of Crawford could mean the Hawks are moving on, which would give Johnson the opportunity to look at other teams.
The other question is if the Hawks were so high on Crawford, why did they not originally pick him when he was on the board? Well, in this case it’s all about money. By singing the 27th pick instead of the 24th the Hawks will save $90,000 a year in salary. And if the Hawks are going to make any other moves this off season, they need as much money saved as possible.

As far as the Hawks’ second-round choice, Sy, he played professional basketball over in France and the Hawks’ scouts in Europe really like his potential. He came to Atlanta for a workout recently and head coach Larry Drew like his game so much and he was nervous that other teams would catch on to what Drew had seen. But like Crawford, Sy fell into the Hawks laps.

So overall, it was a good night for the Hawks. They grabbed an athletic wingman that can score, a Frenchman with tremendous upside and $3 million. Even if the team doesn’t sign Johnson, they still have plenty of talent and could be one of the top teams one again in the Eastern Conference if the veterans continue to improve and if Crawford plays like he did at Xavier.