2007-2008 Atlanta Hawks NBA Season Preview

It has been eight long years since the Atlanta Hawks made it to the NBA playoffs. If Atlanta wishes to end their playoff drought they will need their young core of player's to mature sooner rather than later.

Key off-season additions:
Al Horford
Acie Law IV

Key off-season losses:
Royal Ivey

The projected starting lineup for Atlanta:

Point Guard: Speedy Claxton
Shooting Guard: Joe Johnson
Small Forward: Marvin Williams
Power Forward: Josh Smith
Center: Zaza Pachulia

Valuable backups off the bench:

Josh Childress - SG/SF
Shelden Williams - PF/C
Al Horford - PF/C
Acie Law IV - PG/SG

Player bios by position:

Guard

Atlanta finally made a conscious effort to find a cornerstone player at point guard by drafting former Texas A&M star Acie Law IV with the 11^th overall pick in the 07' draft. While the Hawks still appear to be committed to incumbent point guard Speedy Claxton, it should only be a matter of time before Claxton succumbs to yet another injury and Law is inserted as the point guard of the future.

Veteran guard Joe Johnson is Atlanta's most consistent guard option and should lead the Hawk's in scoring and points per game this year. Expected to be the sixth man off the bench again this year, guard/forward Josh Childress should provide solid depth behind Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Marvin Williams. Childress averaged a career high 13 points per game last season as a backup and has a great possibility of matching and/or adding to that total this year.

The only off-season loss that Atlanta incurred was backup point guard Royal Ivey. Ivey played in 53 games last season while averaging 10 minutes and 3 points per game.

Forward

At the forward position the Atlanta Hawks have a plethora of young players. The off-season addition of 3^rd overall draft pick Al Horford should prove beneficial for the Hawks frontcourt. Horford is considered to be a potential star in the league, and thus far through the preseason he hasn't let down on these expectations. He can play both the power forward and the center position, thus enabling the Hawks great flexibility in playing him. While it is unlikely that Horford will begin the year in the starting lineup, he should get his chance to become a starter later on in the year.

Aside from the addition of Horford, the Hawks will bring back the likes of Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Shelden Williams. Of these three, both Josh Smith and Marvin Williams are considered the starters to begin the season, and both are interchangeable at the small forward and power forward position depending on match-ups against opponents. Shelden Williams was expected to take over the power forward position last season after being drafted 5^th overall, but he never was able to live up to those expectations. With the drafting of Horford, the forward position just got more competitive and Shelden Williams may have a hard time getting playing time this season.

Center

The Hawks incumbent starter is veteran Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia is worthy of a starting spot after averaging over 12 points and nearly 7 rebounds per game last season. However Pachulia just suffered a sprained knee in a preseason game on October 18. If this injury lingers into the season, power forward/center Al Horford is the logical option to take over Pachulia's spot.

Aside from Horford, the only other true center the Hawks have on their roster is 31 year-old Lorenzen Wright. As a member of the Atlanta Hawks last year, Wright played in 67 games while averaging only 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15 minutes per game.

Big games on the schedule:

The Hawks open the season November 2 with a huge match-up against the Dallas Mavericks. After facing the Mavericks, a playoff team last year, the Hawks will have to host the NBA Final's and league champion San Antonio Spurs on November 20. If the Hawks do indeed find themselves in playoff contention at the end of the season, they will have to two huge match-ups in their last three games. On April 12^th Atlanta will host the high-powered championship contending Boston Celtics, and then finish out the season by going on the road and facing the Miami Heat only four days later.

Predictions:

With a very young and inexperienced team, Atlanta will face many challenges this season. In a division that includes three playoff teams from last year, Atlanta does not have the luxury of playing weak teams in order to win games. Rather if Atlanta wants to make the playoffs they will have to show that they can contend with the likes of the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, and the Orlando Magic. In the end, odds are that Atlanta will extend its playoff drought to nine years.