The Hawks are in great shape at center heading into the season. 23-year old Al Horford really stepped up last season and his game is still growing which should scare the hell out of the Hawks’ opponents. Horford played in 67 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 33.5 minutes, 11.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He will have to work hard on the boards to improve his scoring as the Hawks don’t run many plays on offense for him. But his defense and rebounding will always be solid. 25-year old Zaza Pachulia was re-signed to back up Horford. Pachulia played in 77 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 6.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He could step right back into the starting lineup if anything were to happen to either Horford or Josh Smith at power forward. 30-year old Jason Collins will serve as the #3 center on the Hawks this season. He played in 31 games for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 13.6 minutes, 1.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. 23-year old center Randolph Morris will have a hard time making the Hawks’ final roster. He played in 23 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 3.9 minutes, 0.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: A-

23-year old Marvin Williams will be the starting small forward for the Hawks this season and for the future. He played in 61 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 13.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Williams has the potential to score more for the Hawks but he is often the #4 option when they have the basketball. 30-year old Maurice Evans will back up Williams once again this season. He played in 80 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 23.0 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Evans is a really good back up player for the Hawks.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B