Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
Toby Bailey was a huge star at UCLA, scoring 26 points as a freshman and leading the Bruins to the 1995 NCAA Championship. But after playing two years with the Suns, he headed to Spain where he later faced a young Ricky Rubio. In this FanHouse exclusive hear what Toby has to say about Ricky and why he calls him "The Truth." We Also hear from former UCLA Star Billy Knight who now stars overseas.
We'll remember Sund for his drafts of Robert Swift, Johan Petro, and Saer Sene in successive years. But in total, his stay with the Sonics was fairly productive. He landed Ray Allen for an angry, aging Gary Payton, signing some smart deals (Rashard Lewis, Chris Wilcox) and hired Nate McMillan. Every GM has its thorns, and Sund is no exception (Earl Watson? the aforementioned Gang of Three?). But his roses smell pretty nice, in retrospect.
Besides, even if you think Sund's the worst hire in the world, it's not like the Atlanta pot was brimming with exceptional candidates. They shot for the stars (reportedly asking Sacramento's Geoff Petrie to stop in for a chat, which was quickly refused), and ended up with someone as effective as Knight or better.
The Hawks are officially back to square one in their search for a general manager to replace the outgoing Billy Knight. ESPN's Marc Stein reports that the team had offered the position to current Cavs front-office exec Chris Grant late last week, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith even went so far as to say "The only thing missing is the official announcement," but after thinking things over this weekend, Grant has apparently passed on the deal.
Maybe this wouldn't be so embarrassing for the Hawks if Grant weren't the only candidate to pull his hat out of the ring: Stein reports Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey pulled his hat out of the ring before talks heated up with Grant.
Ordinarily a team would probably prefer to get their front office affairs settled before the NBA draft, but in that respect the Hawks are somewhat "blessed" -- they don't have a single pick, giving up their first-rounder to the Suns as part of the 2005 deal for Joe Johnson and their second-rounder to the Kings as part of this year's Mike Bibby trade.
That said, there is a lot of unfinished business this team needs to attend, namely contract extensions for restricted free agents Josh Smith and Josh Childress, addressing coach Mike Woodson's job security and dealing with the redundancy in the front court. I don't know if the Hawks' ownership group is doing something to scare off would-be candidates, but this should be a semi-attractive job considered the Hawks' young core.
Remember Thursday night, when an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story by Sekou Smith concerning Billy Knight's thirst to fire coach Mike Woodson bounced on and offline? Late Friday, Smith's story went live for good, followed quickly by a cryptic blog post from Sekou:
Let me make it clear this one time, and this one time only. I stand by every word written in the story as it reads now, read yesterday and every other time you might have seen it. There are no minced words in there and none of the read-between-the-lines passages like the ones I love to spin around here. That was a straight news story.
The story out there today is not terribly different from the one Brinson posted about Thursday, though this Smith line (from today's story) makes it apparent what caused the story to disappear:
Early online publication of the news Thursday night on ajc.com resulted in the a flurry of attention on sports talk radio Friday morning. (Part owner Michael) Gearon Jr. appeared on 790-AM. The Zone, and said he was misquoted, but did not dispute the story's accuracy.
The bottom line, though? No one with the Hawks denies Knight asked permission to can Woody multiple times this year, despite ample opportunity (in the form of two days) to do so.
Want one more twist? Reggie Theus interviewed (with Atlanta's permission) and hired Woody's top assistant Larry Drew to be the top assistant for the Kings. After OKing the interview, Knight stepped back and refused to allow Drew to get out of his Atlanta contract for a lateral move... even though it was clear from the start what the new position in Sacramento would be. Do Knight's doubts about the length of Woody's tenure go back that far? Seems plausible. Without seasoned Drew in line, Knight's goal of firing Woodson would be even more difficult to justify.
Okay, this is really bizarre. Not the fact that Mike Woodson is a candidate to get fired -- he has a seriously talented Atlanta Hawks team seriously underperforming in a very weak Eastern Conference. What's bizarre is the Atlanta Journal Constitution has had an article on and off the front page of the Hawks and Sports section for the past few hours, where Sekou Smith states that Billy Knight has approached ownership three times, the most recent on February 16 over the All Star Break (post-Mike Bibby trade) and stated the opinion that Woodson needed to be removed from his position as head coach.
The article appears to be live now, and purely hypothesizing here, but it seems as if the AJC was obtaining additional quotes from both Woodson and Michael Gearon Jr., one of the Hawks owners, who confirmed "Knight's desire to fire Woodson" but would not say why.
It was not the first time Knight wanted to fire Woodson, two people familiar with the situation told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On two previous occasions Knight sought permission to fire Woodson, the two people familiar with the situation said. Gearon said he would neither "confirm nor deny" those conversations took place.
"We evaluate every facet of our organization on a daily basis to determine what we need to do to get better," Gearon said.
Knight declined comment on Thursday.
Woodson insisted Thursday that he's never been approached about being fired.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith teases the Hades out of something us keypad commandos have been wondering about all season.
Word is they've got something brewing, a trade that could drastically change the look of this team heading into this week's Western Conference road trip and beyond. It wouldn't be right to share details right now. Not with the particulars still somewhat murky and no deal officially done (what I can tell you is that not all the talent is heading to the Western Conference. Some of it might head East).
What I can tell you is this, after all the moaning and groaning that's gone on around here over the Hawks sitting on their nest and not seeking out a spark to shake things up a bit, there appears to be a serious roster shake up on the horizon. And I mean SERIOUS!
Just to get your gears cranking, I'll lay out the theoretical parameters. Atlanta has about $11 million in small, expiring contracts and all its future picks except this year's first-rounder (which goes to Phoenix). The assumed needs are point guard and center. The bait could very well be Josh Childress, a tremendously underrated player trapped behind Josh Smith and Marvin Williams in the rotation.
Atlanta's been a good story this year; all that languid youth finally approaching expectations and making the postseason look (almost) reachable. Some would owe it to patience (Billy Knight has refused to sell low on guys like Marvin Williams, who's worth his weight in copper all of a sudden) and some might point to the good karma of not stooping to the tanking games of late 2006-07. Hell, some would just owe it to Josh Smith, who's been incredible.
But a Western road trip have turned things toward sour, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Sekou Smith wonders if success might again slip away from Hawks fans.
Perhaps even more outlandish is that the Hawks seem to be tight-roping that dreaded point of no return, that fork in the road where they have to make an immediate and radical change of some kind or risk watching their entire season go down with their current (11 losses in their past 15 games and six of their last seven) slide.
The ownership situation in Atlanta is still a disaster, some two years after Joe Johnson made it so. Consensus opinion is that the Hawks cannot pursue major personnel moves, fire the coach or even re-sign their young stars solely because of the unsettled boardroom. And you have heard all the 'Hawks fans dressed up like empty seats tonight!' jokes you can stomach. Even with the expected upswing this year (talent can only be suppressed so long), Atlanta is not an enviable franchise.
Now what if Forbes (via Kelly Dwyer) told you the Hawks were a profitable enterprise? Not only are the Hawks profitable, in fact, but the franchise has boasted a positive net operating income in each of the past four years. And last year, the team was more profitable than 15 other franchises. And that the team's value has risen an average of 11% since the currently squabbling owners took control in 2004?
I'm no finance whiz, but it looks like Atlanta's strongcorporatepresence keeps the Hawks afloat with sponsorship and luxury suite dollars. (Having a low payroll and what I assume is a minimal marketing budget don't hurt, either.) If the owners would just get out of their own way, invest back into the franchise in the form of a Josh Smith contract and a new front office, and raise those disastrous gate receipts with a minty on-court product (which they are on their way towards already), this could be a good NBA franchise. Until then, it will remain a punchline... a profitable punchline, but a punchline nonetheless.
The Hawks have famously had many, many high draft picks over the past several years. Not a terribly high amount have turned out to be good players. Josh Smith is one whom did turn out good, awesome in fact. Picked #17 in 2004, he's probably among the five best players in that draft class right now. Billy Knight should be proud...
... except now the Hawks don't want to pay Smith. With the rookie extension period edging toward closure next week, Smith's agents bristled at Atlanta lack of interest in an extension and have called off negotiations, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith. The agents say Atlanta made one offer back in July and "haven't really shown any interest" since.
We don't know how much the Hawks offered Smith -- I'd guess the low side of $45 million. If Josh has an identical season as 2006-07 this year (and teams have cap space, which isn't a given), I could see Atlanta having to decide whether to hand over $70 million or not. Smith's a special defensive player who hasn't even turned 22 yet. He's 6-foot-9 and finished second in blocks last year. And he can score. And his team will be better; wins equal dollars. As Sekou Smith notes, only Josh and Shawn Marion finished last year above 16 points per game and in the top 20 in rebounds, blocks, and steals. This is not a player you gamble with on the market. If Atlanta ever does decide they want to keep him, they'll be paying out the nose to do so.
After a seemingly interminable period of, well, drafting small forwards and nothing else, Hawks GM Billy Knight finally nabbed a point guard. And not coincidentally, with Acie Law on board, he now feels they're now done rebuilding. At least in the most literal sense of the word. From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:
"Everybody we have is here because we wanted them here," Knight said. "Nobody is in a contract leftover from a previous regime or from a trade that had players added so it would work. Everybody is on this team because we want them on this team and want them to add to the collective that is this team."
Part owner Michael Gearon, Jr. was even more optimistic (and explicit):
"We have high expectations, long-term expectations, for this team. And this is what we've been working hard for the last several years, to get to this point where we have a very athletic, deep team that wouldn't be some one-year wonder, but a team with a core group of guys capable of being competitive for many years in our league."
Hey, why not. The East is still supremely weak. The Hawks do have a lot of talent and some semblance of a real distribution of height and skill. Josh Smith is about to blow up in a major way. And things can only get better as the Steve Belkin crisis is forced to find some resolution. So let's grant them their moment of hope, and then check back in February. At very least, I expect Atlanta to win over thirty games.
I'd like to see them do it for the sake of Sekou Smith, the author of the linked AJC article and one of my favorite. Forget what the fans deserve; let's see some justice done on the behalf of long-suffering beat reporters.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 
... and just like that, the AJ-C's Sekou Smith reports Atlanta 
The Hawks are officially back to square one in their search for a general manager to replace the outgoing 
Remember Thursday night, when an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story by Sekou Smith concerning Billy Knight's thirst to fire coach Mike Woodson bounced 
Okay, this is really bizarre. Not the fact that 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith 
Atlanta's been 
The Hawks have famously had many, many high draft picks over the past several years. Not a terribly high amount have turned out to be good players. 
After a seemingly interminable period of, well, drafting small forwards and nothing else, Hawks GM 
