The Hawks have released 23-year old forward Othello Hunter. Hunter played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this season and he averaged 4.7 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He played in 23 games (0 starts) in parts of two seasons with the Hawks in which he averaged 5.4 minutes, 1.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. The Hawks won’t miss Hunter too much.

31-year old shooting guard Juan Dixon is trying to make the Atlanta Hawks. He played in 50 games (6 starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Dixon has now played in 436 games (77 starts) in his NBA career in which he has averaged 19.5 minutes, 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Even if Dixon does make the Hawks’ roster he will have a hard time getting playing time behind Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford and 1st round pick Jeff Teague.

UPDATE: The Hawks have waived Juan Dixon.

The Hawks liked the taste of success they had last season and they want it to continue. They proved it be re-signing starters Mike Bibby (PG) and Marvin Williams (SF). The Hawks didn’t stop there as they also brought backup center Zaza Pachulia back. The Hawks traded some garbage (Speedy Claxton, Acie Earl) to the Warriors to bring in PG/SG Jamal Crawford who will bring more offensive firepower to the Hawks’ attack. They added veterans Jason Collins (C) and Joe Smith (PF) to the bench to strengthen it even more. Rookies Jeff Teague and Sergiy Gladyr will have hard times getting on the floor much but that’s a good thing for the Hawks as it shows how deep they now are. The Hawks lost backup center Solomon Jones to the Pacers but they won’t miss him.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE SO FAR THIS OFF-SEASON: A

The Hawks have signed 30-year old center Jason Collins to a 1-year deal. Collins played in 31 games (22 starts) with the Timberwolves last season and he averaged 13.6 minutes, 1.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Collins will need to improve shooting the ball if he wants to earn minutes off the bench for the Hawks this season as he only shot 31.4% from the floor and 46.4% from the free throw line last year. Collins has now played in 572 games (479 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 23.4 minutes, 4.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. This was a good move for the Hawks as the bench appears really deep now.

The Hawks have signed 34-year old power forward Joe Smith to a 1-year deal. Smith played in 57 games (3 starts) for the Thunder and Cavs last season and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 6.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Smith has now played in 950 games (615 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 27.7 minutes, 11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. This was a very smart move by the Hawks as Smith is still a very good player off the bench.