The Hawks have undergone some changes this summer: they lost Al Horford (Celtics) and traded away Jeff Teague (Pacers), two of the cornerstones of their starting lineups for the last few years. But they added Dwight Howard (3yrs/$70m), Jarret Jack (1yr/min), re-signed Kent Bazemore (4yrs/$70m) and Kris Humphries (1yr/$4m) and drafted Taurean Prince (#12), DeAndre Bembry (#21) and Isaia Cordinier (#44)(who will be playing in Europe next year, if I'm not mistaken). (I swear I thought I read that they re-signed Mike Muscala but I've found no one to back me up on that, so I guess I made it up)
Two years ago the Hawks gelled and had a dominant stretch though the month of January which they rode to the #1 seed in the East. They got clowned by the Cavs in the conference finals and returned last year with the same team that was good but didn't sneak up on anyone (and who also got clowned by the Cavs in the playoffs). I guess they thought it was shake up time. Personally I like Jeff Teague, I think he can be a leader for a really good team (indeed, that is what I thought we all saw for the last two years) and I also like Al Horford, a dynamic center who has injury problems but it is a solid player and citizen most of the time. Flip side: I am not a fan of Dennis Schroder (over dribbles, doesn't attack consistently enough for my tastes considering he is such a poor 3 point shooter and so-so FT shooter) or Dwight Howard (still a solid rebounder and defender but after all these years in the league is still a project on offense and an annoyingly clueless celebrity presence). Throw in that they let Demarre Carroll walk last summer but decided to give Kent Bazemore a bunch of money this summer and I'm not seeing this team as improved.
The starting five: C Howard, PF Millsap, SF Bazemore, SG Korver, PG Shroder with Tavares, Splitter, Scott, Humphries, Sefelosha, Prince, Bembry, Holiday and Jack off the bench. I liked Bembry's performance in Summer League but its hard to imagine he'll contribute right away. This team should still be solid but I don't see them being better next year: Tavares, Shroder, Prince and Bembry are on a learning curve, Korver, Jack, Humphries and Sefelosha are getting older, Howard is a still a project, Scott is under legal scrutiny. That leaves a lot for Millsap to carry. I can't see them finishing higher than 5th in the East.
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