Atlanta Hawks
Best-case scenario: Is Danny Ferry available? Not the Danny Ferry who serves as general manager of the Atlanta Hawks. I’m talking about the guy from Duke. You remember the stat line from his senior year with the Blue Devils: 22.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.7 assist. Yeah, that screams star potential, the type of player who can help push Atlanta into contending territory. To be clear, if there were a way to resurrect the old Danny Ferry to fill the hole Josh Smith left, it’d be best not call on the role player who spent 13 seasons with the Cavs and Spurs. Just go for the college guy, the one with all the talent. That’s the only way Atlanta would do anything remotely interesting with their upcoming season.
Worst-case scenario: Al Horford has been a model citizen in Atlanta. Through all of the bad shot selection and bad defense, he hasn’t lashed out or publicly called for a trade. Even when the Hawks were in the “Iso Joe” days, the team functioned best when run through Horford, a solid big man and willing passer. In fact, he might have been the lone player who knew his limitations. I say that to say the Hawks are now limited to Horford. They don’t have much else, though Jeff Teague, Lou Williams and Kyle Korver stand to contribute. None of those players, though, can lead a team. So the worst thing that could happen in Atlanta would be for the team to fail Horford one more time. He should be the focal point for this team under any and all circumstances.
Dallas Mavericks
Best-case scenario: Maybe Monta Ellis really does have it all and can make good on his three-year, $25 million contract. For eight years now, we’ve considered Ellis a chucker, a player who needs 17-20 shot attempts to score 17-20 points. Perhaps we were wrong. If Ellis, one of five guards in Dallas standing at 6-foot-3 or shorter, can magically become something we all know he’s not then the Mavericks could be in good shape. Dallas would have a solid player alongside Dirk Nowitzki, and maybe even Jose Calderon will step up. Check that, Calderon would have to first find the correct locker room before he could contribute and live up to his four-year, $29 million deal.
Worst-case scenario: Reality. The reality is Dirk Nowitzki is entering the final years of his career and has to rely on Ellis and Calderon as major pieces. I’m sure he thanks the heavens for Shawn Marion, who has proved durable late into his career. Brandan Wright and Jae Crowder could be bright spots on this team, but your team is going nowhere fast if the biggest positives pulled from your roster are Brandan Wright and Jae Crowder. Both are serviceable, but neither is a franchise-changing talent. With Nowitzki healthy, Dallas will win some games. Still, they’ll struggle to make the playoffs and another season of Dirk’s career will go down the drain. The Mavericks’ free agency misgivings are wasting the talents of Dirk and the mind of Rick Carlisle, who’s already called out a player’s conditioning in preseason. With their owners trading history, you’d think they could fashion a better roster.
