In head coach Mike Woodson’s five years in Atlanta the Hawks have improved in wins every single season. If that happens again the Hawks will be in great shape this season. The Hawks were 47-35 (57.3%) under Woodson last season and they were also 4-7 (36.4%) in the playoffs. Woodson now has a 153-257 (37.3%) in his five seasons with the Hawks during the regular season and he is 7-11 (38.9%) in the post season. The Hawks hope that Woodson continues the good work as the fans in Atlanta have high hopes for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

The power forward situation for the Hawks sounds more like a law firm than a basketball depth chart. 23-year old Josh Smith will start at power forward this season for the Hawks. He played in 69 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 35.1 minutes, 15.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. He is one of the best stat stuffers in the NBA as he can do it all well and he will again in 2010. 34-year old Joe Smith will serve as the Hawks back up power forward and he is a talented player. Smith played in 57 games for the Thunder & Cavs last season and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 6.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Back up center Zaza Pachulia will also get some playing time at power forward for the Hawks this season and he will do well.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B+

28-year old Joe Johnson is one of the best players in the NBA and he seems to be getting better. He played in 79 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 39.5 minutes, 21.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Johnson can take over games on offense as he has a lot of great moves and he can really shoot the rock. 29-year old Jamal Crawford will back up both Johnson at shooting guard and Bibby at the point. He played in 65 games for the Knicks and Warriors last season in which he averaged 38.1 minutes, 19.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Look for Crawford’s numbers to come down since he doesn’t have a starting job but he won’t be shy about putting up his fair share of shots.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: A

Rookie Al Horford will be the top backup at both power forward and center. He will likely get more playing time at center behind Zaza Pachulia and he might eventually replace him at some point in the season as the starter. Josh Childress will also get a ton of minutes off of the bench for the Hawks as the main backup to Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson at small forward and shooting guard. He played in 55 games (13 starts) last season and he averaged 36.8 minutes, 13.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also shoots the ball well as he hit 50.4% of his shots from the floor, 33.8% from three point range and 79.5% from the free throw line. Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue will both get some playing time at point guard for the Hawks. Johnson is a traditional pass first point guard. The veteran played in 27 games (17 starts) for the Hawks last season and he averaged 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Lue was one of the better offensive players for the Hawks last season and he can also play some shooting guard. He played in 56 games (17 starts) last season for the Hawks and he averaged 26.6 minutes, 11.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Shelden Williams will get whatever playing time that Horford, Smith and Pachulia don’t hog up this season. Williams played in 81 games (31 starts) for the Hawks last season and he averaged 18.7 minutes, 5.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Salim Stoudamire will provide instant offense off of the bench if the Hawks have a need at shooting guard. He played in 61 games (0 starts) last season and he averaged 17.0 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.2 assists per game. Solomon Jones and Lorenzen Wright will be sitting at the end of the bench for the Hawks this season. Jones was solid when he got to play, which wasn’t much. Jones played in 58 games (8 starts) last season and he averaged 11.5 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Lorenzen Wright also will be sitting on the bench and he deserves to after how he played last season. He played in 67 games (31 starts) last season and he averaged 15.4 minutes, 2.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Speedy Claxton will also be nailed to the end of the bench despite his hefty paycheck.

Rookie first round draft pick Acie Earl has beaten out Speedy Claxton as the starting point guard of the Hawks. He did so by playing in 4 pre-season games (1 start) and he averaged 33.3 minutes, 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He’s a shoot first point guard so it will be interesting to see how well he does with a collection of players that want the basketball in their hands. But the Hawks have no doubt that Earl is a huge upgrade on Claxton. Marvin Williams has held off Al Horford for the starting job at small forward which will move Josh Smith to power forward. Williams had a decent year for the Hawks last season. He played in 64 games (63 starts) and he averaged 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He needs to improve his shooting a little bit as he only hit 43.3% of his shots from the floor, 24.4% from three point range and 81.5% from the free throw line.