the Atlanta Hawks are NBA Championship Contenders 2012-2013: Atlanta Hawks NEED Shaq, Shaq NEEDS the Atlanta Hawks

Hello, HOTlanta. It has been a very interesting NBA off-season thus far, all the free agent players trying to put themselves in a position to win a championship almost makes you forget who actually won the 2010 championship, so before i get to the Atlanta Hawks, i would like to take a moment to congratulate the undisputed most skilled, best leader, and most clutch performer in the NBA today, Kobe Bryant and the most controversial, infamous rapper/basketball player of all time, Ron Artest and the 2010 NBA Champions the Los Angeles Lakers. Nothing else that occurred in the 2010 NBA Playoffs is relevant, well, except the obliteration called the Magic vs Hawks series, the worst 4-game sweep in NBA History, featuring one of the worst performances by any so-called "team leader" in the same amount of time. BUT, thankfully all of that is behind us, and the great anticipated free agent bananza began!

One of the first things the Atlanta Hawks franchise did to try to spell some of that embarrassment is they fired Mike Woodson. We at PlayoffsHawks were very supportive of Mike Woodson and we would have been more upset if it wasn't for the replacement of Mike Woodson with Larry Drew, that shows the team is committed to keeping the "defense, rebounding" foundation while hopefully getting the offense more fluid and more efficient. Even still, WE LOVE YOU WOODSON! Here is a youtube video a PlayoffsHawks fan made to Mike Woodson.

We, at PlayoffsHawks wonder how Joe Johnson's 12.9 ppg 29% shooting performance in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, the same 2010 Playoffs which before it began where Joe Johnson declared, "I want to show the world that we have one of the best teams and that I am one of the best players." How did this guy earn the BIGGEST CONTRACT given to ANY PLAYER in free agency? It was safe to say that Joe FAILED in that demonstration of being the best, but Joe WON with selling himself as a franchise player, somehow. Now, I understand where the Atlanta Hawks franchise is coming from, this is the guy that took us from 13-69 to 53-29 in 5 seasons with 4 all-star selections and consistent 20/5/5 regular season statistics. However, his performance in these past 2 seasons playoffs have been atrocious, last season in the clean-sweep by the now-irrelevant Cavaliers was slightly excusable because of the slight injury he suffered in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but this past playoff performance against the Orlando Magic was inexcusable.

With all of that being said, the biggest "move" made in the off-season was the"LeBron" brand "taking his talents to South Beach" and that wouldn't be so bad if the great Dwayne Wade and top 5 big Chris Bosh weren't going there with him. And at this point in free agency they've also signed Udonis Haslem, Zydrunas Ilgauskaz, Mike Miller, Carlos Arroyo, James Jones, Jamaal Maglorie and surely others are coming. What does that mean for the Atlanta Hawks? That means the Joe Johnson signing means NOTHING in a division that features thel likes of Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and G.O.A.T. player whom is now the only black majority team owner in all professional sports, Micheal Jordan. Amare Stoudamire is with the Knicks, Carlos Boozer is with the Bulls, Nate Robinson is back with the Celtics, Rudy Gay the Grizzlies, Paul Pierce the Celtics with Jermaine O'Neal, even the Bucks got Corey Maggette. Without question, the Hawks will inevitable drop in the standings and ratings if bring back the same team, the cannot possible expect to improve or stay at 53-wins in the 2010-2011 season with just Joe Johnson. If the Hawks slip into mediocrity, they will slip into irrelevancy, unless they can show some competitive fire against the NBA elite, there is one way the Hawks can undoubtedly stay relevant and have a legitimate rivalry with the division neighbors Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, because without question there is one SUPERSTAR FREE AGENT left on the market the Atlanta Hawks must sign, Shaquille O'Neal.

I cannot believe Shaquille O'Neal is getting the Allen Iverson treatment. Its a sad state of the NBA when a 4x NBA Champion, the 2000 NBA MVP, 3x NBA Finals MVP, one of the undisputed greatest multi-talented players of all time is one of the last free agents left, when he WANTS to play for a contender. Granted, he may be 38 years old, but Shaq was playing extremely well for the Cavs last season, in 23.4 MPG averaged 12 PPG 6.7 RPG 1.8 BPG which translated to 18.5 PPG 11.3 RPG 2.4 BPG per 40-minutes. Now, of course Shaq isn't gonna play 40 MPG but his value to the young Atlanta Hawks team cannot be understated, he is more than just a "savvy veteran" he is a champion AND exactly the giant personality or unstoppable skill and confidence the Hawks need to get to the next level. Plus, JOE JOHNSON NEEDS the endorsement of SHAQ to play up to the pressure of his potential, imagine if Shaq signs and says the same thing he has said about Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, and LeBron James, "I came here to play with one of the best players in the game, and to help this city win a championship." Imagine what that confidence would do for the city of Atlanta sports! Josh Smith agrees with this sentiment and expressed it in this recent quick SLAM magazine interview.

Now, there are 3 concerns fans and the team seems to have:

1. Shaq is too old
Shaquille O'Neal is 15x all-star with countless other allocades, he is 38 years old, but by no means out-of-shape. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, another one of the greatest centers of all time (maybe THE GOAT at the position) brought the Los Angeles Lakers a championship and won the 1986 NBA Finals MVP at 38 years old, and that doesn't mean Shaq is gonna dominate averaging 20/10 to do the same for Atlanta, but HE CAN, Shaq was still the 3rd most efficient center in the NBA last season, and this season with Yao Ming and Greg Oden coming back from injuries and Dwight Howard still dominating as the best center in the NBA, Shaquille O'Neal can play more than efficient defense against those guys, regardless of what he provides on offense. If anything 38-year-old Shaq can defend centers to free up offense for AL HORFORD (one of the most effecient scorers in the entire NBA ;)

2. Shaq wants to start
Of course Shaq wants to start! This is not some regular 38-year-old center, this is 7 foot 1 inches 300 pounds of muscle and power! He would be underutilized and greatly disrespected if he does not START at center.
2(b). No! Shaq can't start because we would have to put Al Horford at power forward, which is good but Josh Smith CANNOT play small forward, he isn't a good enough shooter!
First of all, if the Atlanta Hawks put Al Horford at power forward, Al Horford will DEFINETLY average approximately 20 ppg 10 rpg, his natural skill and size makes him one of the most effecient and skilled power forwards in the NBA, a Carlos Boozer-type, if you will, as a center, Al Horford is quick but undersized. With that being said, second of all, Josh Smith has been facing all types of doubt and critisizm in his game every season AND every off-season, he will continue to improve inevitably. Also, Josh Smith is ONE OF THE BEST PASSING FORWARDS IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE, he averaged 15 PPG 8 RPG 4 APG. second only to LeBron James, and 2 BPG, the ONLY PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE with those averages. Josh Smith is actually one of the NBA's most unique blends of talent and skill, the only thing people can try to critisize is his attitude, if they put Josh Smith at the small forward position, the Atlanta Hawks will have O'Neal-Horford-Smith as one of the BEST FRONTLINES IN THE LEAGUE legitimately capable of defending the Magic, Heat, or the Lakers.

3. the Hawks need payroll relief
Trade Marvin Williams. Do it. I love Marvin, i will miss him as a player and a person, but the Hawks have already mortgaged the future with Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford, those are our "Big Three" and everyone else on the roster, except for Zaza Pachulia, is expendable on our quest to win a championship. I know, Marvin is only 22 years old and an excellent defender and sometimes shows flash of offensive brilliance, he is a great blue-collar worker, rebounder, he has the potential to be a great player, which is another reason why the Hawks should trade him. Marvin Williams is never going to become a great player with the Atlanta Hawks, for the reasons which were stated above, if the Hawks were to do a sign-and-trade with Cleveland for Marvin, that would give Marvin Williams a HUGE VOID to fill left by LeBron James, and i believe strongly that Marvin Williams would step up into that starting small forward position and give that team stability that it now lacks, and it would give Marvin Williams that attention and postive regard as a player, that loyalty he feels to Atlanta, Cleveland would embrace this young guy and shower him with praise on a consistent basis, Marvin Williams would develop into a leader on that Cleveland Cavaliers team, and that would embarrass LeBron James even more (not that we care about him anyway). Its obvious that the Atlanta Hawks franchise cannot afford to keep Marvin Williams as part of its core, the Atlanta Hawks need to get bigger, not faster, if we can get the biggest personality in the NBA on his last hurrah, whether the Atlanta Hawks get to the NBA Finals or win the championship or not, it would be a victory just having him represent our city, our franchise, and mentoring our players.

One last thing, Hawks GM Rick Sund has done a good job so far, but if the Atlanta Hawks franchise does not improve its roster and financial situation, and when another team throws a boatload of cash to AL HORFORD when he is a restricted free agent next summer, and if the Hawks are NOT able to match... I will burn all of my Atlanta Hawks memorbilia and never attend another Hawks game again, Josh Smith is PlayoffsHawks favorite player, but Al Horford is the best player on the team.