Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Hawks will do anything to get Dwight Howard into a Hawks jersey. The latest rumor is that Atlanta has offered Jason Terry and the #6 pick to the LA Clippers for Dwight Howard. But they don't seem to be doing much to put anybody into the coach's seat. Will Billy Knight pull a Dick Cheney and pick himself as head coach?
Four years ago, Dick Cheney was asked to scour the earth looking for the best vice presidential candidate to join George W. Bush on the Republican ticket. After an exhaustive search, Cheney apparently looked in the mirror and thought to himself, "Hey, I'm better than all these guys." So he nominated himself and the rest is history.
Yesterday was the one-month anniversary of the day Atlanta GM Billy Knight fired head coach Terry Stotts. Since then, Knight has spoken to what seems like every assistant coach in the league. The Hornets also fired their head coach at about the same time as the Hawks, but they were much speedier with their selection process and have already landed Byron Scott. The Hawks are no closer than they were one month ago.
It could be argued that Knight is far busier looking for deals to land Dwight Howard, while the Hornets have no real wiggle room holding just the 18th pick in the draft. Still, the Hawks have worked out nearly 35 top players, all without the input of the guy who will be looking to lead them to victory next year.
If the Hawks don't make a decision soon, they may need to go to the face-losing step of asking Stotts to come back.
Not that it would be a bad idea. Stotts got a lot out of his team. If he hadn't been in the unfortunate position of already being the head coach, he would have been one of the top candidates for the job.
TEAM NOTES
Jason Terry and Stephen Jackson share their favorite NBA Finals memories.
The Hawks Basketball Camp is right around the corner. It is for boys and girls aged 8-17 and will be held July 19-23 at Philips Arena. Click herefor more details.
David A. Markiewicz ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: Dwight Howard in a Hawks jersey? Yes, it's true.But it's not exactly what the club's long-suffering fans have in mind. Not yet, anyway. The Atlanta high school basketball star was spotted wearing a No. 12 red and gold Hawks road top bearing the name "HOWARD" on the back while attending the Prentis Rogers Memorial Basketball Classic at Morehouse College on Saturday.
Lacy J. Banks ofThe Chicago Sun-Times writes:The Atlanta Hawks, who have the No. 6 and No. 17 picks, are rumored to be offering guard Jason Terry and their No. 6 to the Clippers for the No. 2 pick, which they would spend on 6-10, 245-pound Atlanta high school sensation Dwight Howard.
A. Sherrod Blakely ofmlive.comwrites: Around 11:30 p.m. the night of Wallace's trade to Atlanta, Dumars called Hawks GM Billy Knight.Knight told Dumars that he would be willing to trade Wallace, but he would have to get players on the last year of their contracts in return. Dumars would have had enough players to make the deal happen if the Pistons hadn't waived Hubert Davis on Jan. 20. "I was a Hubert Davis (contract) away from having it done," Dumars said. Undeterred, Dumars started working the phones to see who could he get to become involved in a three-team deal. Dumars and Ainge had talked about 10 days prior to the trading deadline. But when Dumars realized what it would take to acquire Wallace, he got back on the phone with Ainge and, through several conversations, a deal was reached.
Grantley Bernard ofThe Melbourne Herald Sun writes: Boomers big man David Andersen has enhanced his reputation in Europe by winning the series MVP as Montepaschi Siena clinched the Italian championship. Melbourne-raised Andersen, whose NBA rights are held by the Atlanta Hawks, now returns to Australia seeking a spot on the Boomers roster for the Olympics.
The Chicago Daily Heraldran this story by The Associated Press: The Toronto Raptors hired Rob Babcock on Monday to be the team's general manager, a month after they declined to give him the job... The Raptors are also looking for a coach to replace Kevin O'Neill, who was fired after Toronto (33-49) missed the playoffs for a second straight year. Babcock said he has some people in mind, but declined to identify any potential candidates. Babcock's brother, Pete, is a former general manager of the Atlanta Hawks.
The South Carolina Statewrites: Louis McCullough and his Francis Marion University basketball coach, John Schweitz, know what you are thinking. Is this kid crazy? And his coach, too?... “Our main objective is to get exposure for Louis,” says Schweitz, knowing full well that McCullough will remove his name from the draft’s early entry list by June 17, one week before NBA teams conduct two rounds of selections on national TV. By not signing with an agent and by removing his name from the draft, McCullough can return to Francis Marion for his senior season in hopes of garnering some attention from NBA scouts. “If Louis stays healthy and if he gets a chance,” Schweitz says, “he can be intriguing to a lot of people.” Simply by filling out the necessary paperwork and getting on the NBA’s official early entry list, McCullough and Schweitz have heard from four NBA scouts. The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic called to inquire about McCullough and requested the copies of the videotapes that Schweitz sent to the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs.If any scouts travel to Florence in the fall to watch McCullough, then Schweitz and the McCullough family have succeeded. That, really, is all they want ... a look next season from the NBA.