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 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.

The Hawks have re-signed 25-year old center Zaza Pachulia to a 4-year deal. He played in 77 games (26 starts) last season for the Hawks and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 6.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Pachulia could have maybe got a starting job if he left Atlanta but he got a nice raise to stay. He has now played in 422 games (162 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 21.2 minutes, 7.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. This was a smart move for the Hawks who probably didn’t think that Pachulia would stay.

The Atlanta Hawks have re-signed 31-year old point guard Mike Bibby to a new 3-year deal. Bibby played in 79 games (all starts) for the Hawks last season and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 14.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. This was a smart move for the Hawks as Bibby is good at running the offense. Bibby has now played in 802 games (798 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 36.1 minutes, 16.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

The Atlanta Hawks selected 20-year old shooting guard Sergiy Galdyr with the 49th pick in the NBA Draft. Galdyr wasn’t expected to be drafted so maybe the Hawks have some inside information on him. He averaged 15.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last season in a pro league in the Ukraine. He looks like a developmental prospect.

The Atlanta Hawks selected 21-year old combo guard Jeff Teague with the 19th pick of the NBA Draft last night. Teague played in 61 games in his two seasons at Wake Forest in which he averaged 16.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assist and 1.9 steals per game. Teague is a good long range shooter as he nailed 42.1% of his shots from behind the three point arc in his college career. Look for Teague to get a lot of minutes backing up both Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson as a rookie.