It's over. The Joe Johnson experiment was a mild success. There is no shame in that. He came here and helped the team make the playoffs the past three seasons. He just didn't do much for them once he got there. In fact, over the past 7 playoff games Johnson averaged 13 points per game on 32 percent shooting.
If the Hawks want to be contenders in the East, they need to find a leader and a closer. They need to find their Batman. Right now they are stuck with Robin. However, we all know its not that easy to land a superhero, unless you have a lot of money or a lot of valuable assets to trade.
The Hawks are now stuck in that no-mans land. They are good enough to make the playoffs, but just bad enough to never win a 2nd round series. So how did this happen? I have my own theories, and it starts with one man -- Marvin Williams. It's two-fold. Marvin represents a mistake. He represents a giant mistake made by the former Hawks general manager Billy Knight, who selected a player that didn't fill a need at the time. The Hawks desperately needed a point guard and Chris Paul and Deron Williams were available. Billy wanted another "big." That mistake has probably set back this franchise for 5 years, maybe more. The Hawks have never been able to stabilize the point guard position since that blunder (See Acie Law, Speedy Claxton, Jeff Teague).
On top of all that, Marvin regressed this year, averaging 1o ppg in the regular season and 9 ppg in the playoffs. That is your #2 overall lottery pick. Not getting production out of that pick, in my opinion, is why the Hawks are not contenders in the East. That is the key to this whole situation. If that pick had panned out either in the form of Chris Paul or Deron Williams, or if Marvin turns into a real player (17 ppg as an example), then the Hawks fortunes are completely different.
Think about it. Everyone else on this roster pretty much gave you what you expected. Joe was a 20+ ppg all star. Horford is a solid double double guy. Josh Smith is a stat stuffer with points, rebounds, blocks and steals. Jamal lead all 6th men in scoring. Bibby was a solid role player. And then there's clumsy Marvin Williams. Not only did he fail to improve, he got worse.....and richer. That's a recipe for disaster for any franchise. That's how general managers lose their jobs.
The Hawks better make some major moves this summer. Minor tweaks aren't good enough anymore. Pull off a blockbuster trade. This team needs a hero. It needs a star. It needs a Batman....
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