I’ve had some time to cool off and reflect on the implications of the Atlanta Hawks best bench player playing basketball in Europe on opening night. And I’ve reached a conclusion:
this is going to be worse than I thought.
It doesn’t seem likely that the Hawks will make any real attempt to replace small forward Josh Childress. Considering they still haven’t even resigned the second best player on the team, I have trouble believing they’ll bring in anyone that commands more than a league minimum level salary.
If the Hawks were a real NBA team, they would try to bring in a big time small forward AND resign Smith, because Smith has become a quintessential power forward, no matter how they list him. Instead it seems likely that the five starters (assuming Smith is back) will be asked to increase their mpg workload. And even then, remember the four guys that sat on the bench every night last season and NEVER got any minutes? Well, one of them is going to be forced into the fire. 
Unfortunately for Hawks fans, not a single player (beyond the starters) on this roster has the size, athleticism or versatility of Childress. So it’s going to take contributions from a number of players to replace the minutes and numbers that Childress consistantly posted.
Center Zaza Pachulia is now Hawks coach Mike Woodson’s first option off the bench. If Pachulia can play wth the kind of intensity that he brought to the first round playoff series vs. Boston, he could become an integral part of the Hawks defensive arsenal. With increased playing time throughout the season, it’s not unreasonable to expect ten points a game from Pachulia. He scored 11.7 ppg in 31.4 mpg while starting in ‘05-’06.
Veteran point guard Speedy Claxton is tearing up the Summer league and certainly hasn’t played like a man with bad knees. Claxton has missed the better part of his two seasons in Atlanta, but he could prove a valuable defensive asset off the bench for the Hawks. He would also give Woodson the option of sliding point guard Mike Bibby over to the shooting guard position. This would put Joe Johnson at the small forward. It could work because along with all the things Johnson does offensively, he is a capable rebounder with good size.
Second year point guard Acie Law has worked hard during the offseason to improve on his shooting after a dissapointing rookie campaign. He went from starting point guard to injured to out of the rotation completely. If Law can hold his own, he’ll provide much needed backcourt help because Childress played at least half his minutes at one or both of the guard positions.
In any event, it’s all for naught if the Hawks can’t resign Smith. Because to lose two high caliber players is far more than even an All-Star player like Joe Johnson can overcome.
