The Hawks have signed 22-year old, 6′11″, 260 pound Randolph Morris to a 2-year contract. Morris has not had much of a chance to show what he could do in his two years with the Knicks. He played in 18 games (2 starts) with the Knicks last season and he averaged 10.1 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. Morris should get a chance to get some minutes in Atlanta as the bench looks a little weak right now. Morris has now played in 23 games (2 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 9.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. This was a low risk move for the Hawks but one that was probably worth taking.

The Atlanta Hawks have acted quickly to replace Josh Childress as they have signed Maurice Evans to a 3-year, $7.5 million dollar contract. Evans is 29 years old so he still likely has a lot of good basketball in his future. Evans played in 75 games (47 starts) for the Magic & Lakers last season and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Look for Evans to be the 6th man for the Hawks this season which should earn him a lot of playing time in 2008-09. Evans has now played in 306 games (69 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 19.2 minutes, 7.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. This was a solid move for the Hawks but Evans is not near as good of a player as Childress was so it’s a downgrade overall for the Hawks.

The Hawks have lost 6th man Josh Childress to Olympiakos (Greece) as he signed a 3-year, $20 million dollar contract with them. This is a serious blow to the Hawks as Childress was one of the best bench players in the entire NBA. Losing Childress coupled with the fact that they didn’t have any draft picks in June will surely set the Hawks back some. Childress played in 76 games (0 starts) with the Hawks last season and he averaged 29.9 minutes, 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He also shot an amazing 57.1% from the floor as he rarely took ill advised shots. Childress finished his career with the Hawks having played in 285 games (67 starts) in which he averaged 11.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Childress shot 52.2% from the floor in his 285 games with the Hawks. This will hurt the Hawks big time in 2008-09 and beyond.