The Hawks have five unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents heading into this summer. I have a feeling that Joe Johnson is going to want league max money and he doesn’t strike me as worth that kind of cash. I think the Knicks are going to make a huge play for him because of his past in which he played for head coach Mike D’Antoni. With the way Johnson talked about the fans of Atlanta in the playoffs I just don’t see the Hawks putting a legit effort into bringing him back. Backup SG/SF Maurice Evans will likely be back for the Hawks in 2010-11 as he has a player option. He might get lost in all of the glitz this summer if he opts out so I see him picking up his option and coming back to Atlanta. Backup forward Joe Smith is a good guy to have on the end of the bench so the Hawks might try to bring him back at around the league minimum if he will play for that. Center Jason Collins and forward Randolph Morris are the last of the unrestricted free agents on the Hawks and I would be surprised if they brought either of them back. Josh Childress is a restricted free agent and he is considering a return to the NBA. The Hawks would likely want to keep him around if he wants to come back to the NBA as Childress is a solid player. Mario West is the other restricted free agent on the Hawks and they would likely match a small deal for him.

32-year old starting point guard Mike Bibby had his worst year ever in 2009-10. He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Hawks last season in which he averaged 27.4 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Bibby will likely see his minutes cut even more in 2010-11 with second year man Jeff Teague snatching some of his P.T. Bibby has now played in 882 games (878 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 35.3 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. It would be nice if Bibby could rebound in 2010-11 but I just don’t see it.

I have a feeling that 28-year old shooting guard Joe Johnson punched his ticket out of town when he dogged the fans after game #3 against the Magic when he said that he didn’t care if any of them came to game #4. I have a feeling that Johnson will leave this summer as a free agent with the Knicks being his most likely destination as he like playing for Knicks’ head coach Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix. Johnson played in 76 games (all starts) for the Hawks last season and he averaged 38.0 minutes, 21.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has now played in 699 games (629 starts) in his 9-year NBA career and he has averaged 36.9 minutes, 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Rumors have John Salmons of the Bucks very interested in coming to Atlanta if Johnson skips town.

UPDATE: (7/4/2010) – It appears as if Joe Johnson is going to accept a six year deal from the Hawks valued at around $120 million bucks.

UPDATE II: (7/8/2010) – The Hawks have inked Joe Johnson to a 6-year, $123.7 million dollar deal today.

After the Atlanta Hawks recent 4-0 series loss to the Orlando Magic, speculation has been growing that head coach Mike Woodson will likely not return next season.  The Hawks weren’t just swept by the Magic, they were embarrassed by losing the four games by a total of 101 points for an average loss of 25 points per game.  Woodson’s contract expires this Monday (5/17) and it doesn’t look very likely that the Hawks will re-sign him.  In six seasons with the Hawks, Woodson has a regular season record of 206-286 (.419) and a postseason record of 11-18 (.379).  He had a lot of success the past two regular seasons with a record of 100-64 (.609), but the Hawks haven’t come close to making it out of the second round of the playoffs and have been swept in the Conference Semifinals two years in a row.  Woodson has proven he can be a solid coach in the NBA, but he can’t get the Hawks to even compete with the elite teams deep in the playoffs.  Hawks’ co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. has expressed publicly some of the things he did not like about the way Woodson chose to run the team, particularly Woodsons’ reluctance to play the young and talented point guard Jeff Teague.  Gearon has a point there, since the 32-year-old Mike Bibby had the worse season of his career and Teague only played 6.6 minutes per game.  The decision on whether to keep Woodson will ultimately be up to GM Rick Sund though, who hasn’t commented either way yet.  It does sound like the Hawks are ready to go in a new direction, so Mike Woodson should be ready to pack his bags.

The Hawks didn’t play any defense at the Magic shot 55.4% from the floor and they didn’t show much heart as were outrebounded 37-30. Jamal Crawford led the way for the Hawks last night with 18 points and 3 assists off the bench but he only shot 5 of 15 from the floor. Josh Smith was the one Hawks’ player who really came to play last night as he finished up with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Joe Johnson played a poor game as he was 5 of 15 shooting from the floor as he finished up with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Al Horford pitched in with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. The Hawks got swept 4-0 by the Magic by a stunning 25.3 points per game.

The Hawks only shot 34.9% from the floor and they were outrebounded 51-34 which explains the scoreboard yesterday. The Hawks didn’t look like they wanted to play yesterday. Jamal Crawford led the way for the Hawks in this game with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 31 minutes off the bench. Josh Smith was the only big man who really came to play for the Hawks yesterday with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Al Horford pitched in with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists but he was dominated by Dwight Howard of the Magic. The Hawks are down 0-3 to the Magic and they are looking like they are toast.

The Hawks were only down 1 point heading into the 4th quarter before the Magic thumped them 28-15 to pull away. The Hawks didn’t play much defense in this game as the Magic shot 55.9% from the floor and it cost them in this game. Al Horford really came to play for the Hawks last night with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Jamal Crawford was solid off the bench for the Hawks last night with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 34 minutes. Joe Johnson only shot 5 of 16 from the floor as he finished up with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Josh Smith had a solid game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists last night. The Hawks are now down 2-0 in this series as it shifts to Atlanta.

The Hawks didn’t show up last night as they only shot 34.6% from the floor and they were outrebounded 53-35 which helps explain the scoreboard. They also didn’t show much effort defensively as the Magic shot 52.4% from the floor which also didn’t help things. Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks in this game with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in only 23 minutes on the floor. Zaza Pachulia put up a fight in his 21 minutes on the floor as he had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist. Joe Johnson had a night to forget as he only shot 4 of 11 from the floor to finish with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 30 minutes on the floor. The Hawks are now down 1-0 in this series.

This will be a interesting series as the Hawks had a dogfight on there hands before disposing of the Bucks in 7 games while the Magic swept the Bobcats in the first round. I have a feeling that the Hawks were looking past the Bucks and I expect them to be ready for this series. Here is a closer look at the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD: Mike Bibby might be ancient but he had some good games in the first round of the playoffs. He will likely have some problems keeping up with Orlando’s Jameer Nelson because of his speed. Bibby played in 7 games (all starts) against the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 11.0 points, 3.4 rebounds adn 2.9 assists per game.

Jameer Nelson was outstanding in the first round of the playoffs for the Magic as he was on his game. The Magic will likely need him to keep up the good work against the Hawks in this round and his youth will probably serve him well against Mike Bibby. Nelson played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bobcats in which he averaged 36.3 minutes, 23.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

EDGE: MAGIC

SHOOTING GUARD: Joe Johnson is one of the better kept secrets in the NBA as he is a outstanding player. This will be the series that he will likely breakout in as Vince Carter never steps up when it counts. Johnson played in 7 games (all starts) against the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs in which he averaged 41.0 minutes, 20.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

Vince Carter is starting to slow down quite a bit due to his age and he’s never been a good post-season player. This is not a good matchup for Carter as Johnson will likely keep him busy on both ends of the court. Carter played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bobcats and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

EDGE: HAWKS

CENTER: The Hawks went as Al Horford did in the first round of the playoffs. He is a outstanding center and they Hawks need him to have a good series if they want to beat the Magic. Horford played in 7 games (all starts) against the Bucks in which he averaged 36.0 minutes, 15.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.1 blocked shots per game.

Dwight Howard averaged 5.5 fouls per game against the Bobcats as he fouled out of 2 of the games in that series. The Magic won’t be able to overcome Howard being in foul trouble in this series because the Hawks are a much better team than the Bobcats are. Howard played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bobcats and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 9.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 5.0 blocked shots per game.

EDGE: MAGIC

POWER FORWARD: Josh Smith will really be a problem for the Magic in this series because of his physicality. He will easily outmuscle Rashard Lewis around the basket offensively and he will be in his face defensively. Smith played in 7 games (all starts) against the Bucks in which he averaged 36.0 minutes, 13.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.4 blocked shots per game.

Rashard Lewis will need to toughen up for this series as Josh Smith is tough as nails. Lewis will have to make Smith chase him around on defense to keep Smith away from the basket to open up things inside for Dwight Howard. Lewis played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bobcats in which he averaged 38.3 minutes, 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

EDGE: HAWKS

SMALL FORWARD: Marvin Williams does the dirty work for the Hawks as he gets a lot of rebounds for a small forward and he plays good defense. He has a size advantage on Matt Barnes so the Hawks should try to post him up some in this series. Williams played in 7 games (all starts) against the Bucks in which he averaged 31.0 minutes, 9.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.

Matt Barnes is supposedly the defensive stopper of the Magic. Well, Marvin Williams isn’t a big part of the Hawks’ offense so Barnes should probably look for his own shot more in this series. Barnes played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bobcats in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 27.0 minutes, 8.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

EDGE: EVEN

BENCH: The Hawks’ top bench player was also the best bench player in the NBA this season as Jamal Crawford won the 6th Man of the Year Award. He brings instant offense off the bench playing both point and shooting guard. Crawford played in 7 games (0 starts) against the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 30.1 minutes, 15.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Zaza Pachulia and Joe Smith are tough guys who could help out in this series in the frontcourt if they are needed. Maurice Evans and Jeff Teague could help out in the backcourt in this series but chances are that the Hawks’ won’t use them much.

The Magic have a nice arsenal on the bench. Center Marcin Gortat always seems to step up in the playoffs. He played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Bobcats and he averaged 21.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Mickeal Pietrus and J.J. Redick really stepped up when called upon in the first series and I see them playing well against the Hawks. Ryan Anderson, Jason Williams and Brandon Bass are all talented players but they likely won’t play much in this series.

EDGE: EVEN

COACH: Mike Woodson has really improved as a coach along with his team. He will need to be smart with the X’s and O’s to beat the Magic but it’s not near a impossible task as the Hawks have a very talented roster. Under Woodson the Hawks are 11-14 (44%) in the post season and he will be looking to improve that record in this series.

Stan Van Gundy is one of the best coaches in the NBA as he always seems to know the right buttons to push with his team. He got screwed in Miami by Pat Riley but he rebounded well and he has the Magic in a groove right now. The Magic are 22-16 (58%) in the post season under Stan Van Gundy.

EDGE: MAGIC

PREDICTION: The Hawks will give the Magic all they can handle in this series. The home court will and the head coach will be the difference for the Magic who will win this series in 7 games.

The Hawks were very serious yesterday as they outrebounded the Bucks 55-34 and they also held them to 32.6% shooting from the floor which were the big reasons for the blowout. Jamal Crawford led the way for the Hawks in this game with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists in 35 minutes off the bench. Al Horford was solid around the basket with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots. Josh Smith (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 blocked shots) and Mike Bibby (15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists) both helped out offensively for the Hawks yesterday. The Hawks won a tough series 4-3 and for that they get the prize of dealing with the Orlando Magic starting tomorrow.