2012-2013 Finish: 32-50

Season Highlights - In a disappointing season, its tough to find some highlights. But the Hawks did manage to pull off a 7-1 record during weeks 7 and 8. Led by Bayless, Wright, Fields, Johnson, and Mohammed, this team just found a way to win those weeks. Sadly the following week they would go 0-4. But the play of Wright and Bayless through out the season was the highlight of the season. These two guys really took advantage of their playing time and showed Hawks fans that they were the real deal.

Season Lowlights - The Atlanta Hawks had a disappointing season overall. Their top three players missed most of the season due to injuries. Even Landry Fields missed 22 games. They went 15-25 through the first half of the season, and improved just a bit with a record of 17-25 to end the second half of the season. They ended up with the 4th worst record in the East.

Best Trade - The Brooklyn Nets send Jerryd Bayless to the Atlanta Hawks for 11 GM points.

Atlanta Hawks send Jose Barea to the San Antonio Spurs. The Atlanta Hawks receive 2 GM points. The Brooklyn Nets receive 3 GM points.

This was a two part deal, and the best deal the Hawks made this season. For 9 GM points and Jose Barea, they came away with their best player of the season. It was a big surprise he would play so well for the club, but with Derrick Rose on IR, Bayless really came through for the Hawks, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and assists.

Worst Trade - The Washington Wizards send Rodrigue Beaubois to the Atlanta Hawks for 18 GM points.

This wasn't that bad of a deal at the time, but 18 GM points was a little too much for a player like Roddy. The Hawks are all set to let him walk as they took back their qualifying offer on him. 18 GM points for 12 games of a losing season doesnt sound like a good deal to me.

Other Notable Trades - The Atlanta Hawks send Chuck Hayes to the Oklahoma City Thunder for 2nd-rounder(OKC) and 7 GM points.This was a small, but great trade for the Hawks.

Not only did he get rid of Hayes horrible contract, still 2 years, 5.7 mil left on his deal, but he actually got something in return for him. This deal also had a small effect on another future deal, where the second round pick he got from OKC, was used in a deal to get Danny Granger.

- Atlanta Hawks trade Danny Granger, 1st-rounder (NY), and 5 GM points to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jeff Green, and Draymond Green.

This deal was a pretty good move. Granger missed most of last season, and who knows what kind of player he will be when he comes back. He might even see less of a role in the NBA. So it was a good idea to move him. Getting someone like Jeff Green was a solid addition to the team. He can start for the Hawks right away. The NY 1st rounder turned out to be Allen Crabbe, which looks like a nice player. But the risk is on Minnesota for this deal.

Best FA Signing - Derrick Rose - Rose decided to test the free agent market instead of re-signing with the Hawks. After signing a 5 year, 16.4 million dollar offer sheet with the Golden State Warriors, the Hawks matched the offer two days later. Smart move to keep the teams superstar in town. Derrick Rose is a top 10 player, he is the face of this franchise, and in his mind, he is the best player in the NBA.

Worst FA Signing - Landry Fields - The Hawks offered Fields a 3 year, 5 million dollar offer sheet to try and take him away from the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers decided not to match the offer and let Fields walk. Fields, while having a decent NLL season averaging 10 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in 33 minutes, had a terrible NBA season. Fields only played in 51 games for the NBA Raptors, averaging 4.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists a game in 20 minutes. But his three point shot has really gone south since entering the league. He fell from 39% to 25%, and in his third season only shot 14%. He will be earning 5.2 million next season, hopefully he can bounce back and live up to his contract.

Star - Dorell Wright - Wright is going to be my choice, only because Bayless was my surprise. Wright has been in Atlanta the last three seasons and he has performed well for them. Last season he did see a dip in his points per game average from the previous season, but played in 12 more games overall. Wright averaged 19.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Wright is a free agent and it looks likely that he wont be back in Atlanta, which is a shame because they could really use him. Guess he is tired of missing the playoffs his last three seasons in Atlanta.

Surprise - Jerryed Bayless - In his 2011/12 campaign, Bayless played for Denver, Orlando, and Philadelphia, and played in a total of 28 games. He averaged 4.6 points, and 2.3 assists. Atlanta acquired Bayless from the Brooklyn Nets for just 11 GM points in the offseason. What a steal that was, and a big surprise would he be. Bayless went on to be one of the stars of the Hawks last season. Bayless started 77 of his 82 games, and average career highes in points (20) assists (7.2), and rebounds (3.7). Without Derrick Rose, the Hawks gave Bayless every chance he could get to be the starting point guard, and he took advantage of that opportunity.

Goat - Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bogut - You would never think of these players being a teams goat. But last season the Hawks had terrible luck with injuries. Rose, Granger, and Bogut played a combined 37 of 246 games. Without their big three they still managed to win 32 games. But if they had them for a full season, there is no telling how far the Hawks could have gone.

Draft Report Card - A

- Round 1, Pick 16 - Kelly Olynyk - Kelly will be a solid addition to the Hawks. The Hawks said that Olynyk has a high basketball IQ. He has a solid outside shot, and could hit three pointers in the NLL. Olynyk was impressive in summer league, where he put up 18 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in 5 games. However he was one of the worst athletes at the combine, which probably doesnt matter, but he is dealing with plantar fasciitis, which is not good when you are backing up Andrew Bogut.

- Round 2, Pick 49 - DeShaun Thomas - Thomas is an interesting player. He is a tweener, not really a small forward, but not really a power forward. However it looks like he will stick in the NBA, which would be great for where he was selected in the draft. In summer league Thomas averaged 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists a game. He is a good scorer who can create his own shot, and shot well behind the arc at .37% in summer league.

Looking to the Future - The Hawks are already over the salary cap, but have 12.4 million left under the luxury cap. The first thing they should decide is if they want to put a bunch of GM points on Dorell Wright or not. Right now he has about a 5% chance to resign with the Hawks, and Houndy has 65 points he can use to boost that up to 70%. However they are one of five NLL teams that will get the bigger MLE to offer on free agents. Plus the Hawks only have two players in the top 120 CBS ranking. Those things might work in the Hawks favor in signing a free agent. They dont have to do one or the other, they could actually go for both. The Hawks main concern next season will be health. Last season Rose, Bogut, and Granger missed a ton of games for them. If Rose, Bogut, and the rest of the team can stay healthy, they have a pretty good roster, and depth to compete in the east. With Rose, Bogut, and Jeff Green to build around, and players like Amir Johnson, Avery Bradley, Jerryd Bayless, Kelly Olynyk, and Landry Fields, the Hawks could easily have a better season than last.

Upcoming Free Agents

- Nazr Mohammed - This guy has played his whole NLL career with the Hawks, and he should be easy to resign if the Hawks want to bring him back.

- Dorell Wright - Dorell should be the Hawks main target when it comes to resigning their own players. But it looks like Dorell wants a change of scenery. The Hawks will have to shell out a lot of GM points to sway him to stay.

- Darius Morris - The Hawks have put a qualifying offer on Morris, so he will most likely be back next season. Morris was great for the Hawks in 2011/12 season when he averaged 12.5 points and 6.6 assists a game. Last season he didnt get as much playing time, but was still able to score 6.5 points, and 2.5 assists in 11 minutes less than his previous season. His three point shot is horrendous. He shot a career high 12% last season, despite having a 76 rating for three point shots. However there is no reason why the Hawks shouldnt bring him back.

- Jeremy Tyler - Like Morris, the Hawks have put a qualifying offer on Tyler, so he will most likely be back for next season too. He is most likely to play as a backup center or power forward who can rebound the ball for the Hawks. Tyler seems to have a bit of potential moving forward. If he gets playing time in the NBA, he could be a surprise.

- Rodrique Beaubois - The Hawks put a qualifying offer on Roddy, but has since took back the offer. Roddy was an exciting prospect when he first came into the league, but since then he has had a hard time staying on the court. It will be interesting to see if he is even in the league next season.

- Jeff Adrien - It doesn't look like Jeff Adrien will be back for next season.

- Daniel Orton - Orton wont be back with the Hawks next season, unless they go after him in the free agent market. But thats assuming he is even in the league during the FA period. Either way the Hawks dont need him, and could find a more serviceable big man in free agency.