The Hawks took 22-year old, 6’11″, 230 pound center Keith Benson out of Oakland with the 48th overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Benson played in 35 games for Oakland last year and he averaged 32.4 minutes, 17.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 3.6 blocked shots per game.  He played in 135 games in his four years in college and he averaged 26.8 minutes, 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 2.7 blocked shots per game.  Benson should be able to add toughness, defense and rebounding to the Hawks when he is on the basketball court.  The Hawks have to be pleased with this pick because Benson should have been long gone by #48.

UPDATE:  (12/23/2011) – The Hawks have waived Keith Benson.

The Atlanta Hawks only have the 48th overall pick in the NBA Draft.  They have a need at center so they could decide to take the best overall big guy that’s left on the board.  I have a feeling that PF/C Jeremy Tyler might be available and the Hawks would probably take him.  Beggars can’t be choosers, so the Hawks won’t be able to get an impact player without dealing a veteran player.

The Hawks laid an egg at the wrong time last night.  The Hawks only shot 36.5% from the floor while the Bulls shot 53.2% from the floor and that did them in big time.  Joe Johnson led the way for the Hawks last night with 19 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.  Josh Smith filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots last night.  Jamal Crawford only shot 2 for 10 from the floor last night as he finished up with 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal in 24 minutes on the floor.  The Hawks lost this series 4-2 to the Bulls.

The Hawks have picked 22-year old forward Pape Sy with the 53rd overall pick of the NBA Draft. Sy played in 30 games in France last season and he averaged 14.2 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. This is a major project for the Hawks as Sy appears to be a very raw basketball player right now.

The Hawks picked 22-year old small forward Damion James with the #24 overall pick and then they shipped him to the Nets for 22-year old shooting guard Jordan Crawford (#27 overall) and the #31 overall pick (center Tibor Pleiss). The Hawks then sold the rights to Tibor Pleiss to the Thunder pocketing some cash on the deal. SG/PG Jordan Crawford played in 35 games (34 starts) at Xavier last season and he averaged 20.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He played in 65 games (42 starts) in his two years in college and he averaged 15.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The Hawks really like Crawford and he will be a safety net for the Hawks if Joe Johnson leaves as a free agent.

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.

The Atlanta Hawks were frustrated by the play of their point guards last season so they decided to fix that in the draft.  The Hawks selected Acie Earl with the 11th pick in the first round of the NBA Draft.  Earl was a shoot first point guard at Texas A&M but that doesn’t bother the Hawks one bit as they just want a starter that can contribute.  Earl is 6’3″, 195 pounds so he should be able to handle defending some of the bigger point guards in the league.  He played in 122 games at Texas A&M and he averaged 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  He also is a pretty good shooter as he hit 46.6% from the floor, 35.7% from three point range and 76% from the free throw line.  Earl should have very little trouble winning the starting job at the point for the Hawks.

The Atlanta Hawks resisted trade offers for their draft picks and they selected a couple of pretty good players.  Horford was picked #3 in the first round by the Hawks.  Horford is a 6’10″, 245 pound power forward from Florida.  It will be interesting to see what the Hawks do to fix their logjam at the position seeing how they already have Marvin Williams and Shelded Williams there.  Horford will do his best to make their decision a tough one and he definately has the skill to beat those guys out and start from Day #1.  He played in 109 games at Florida and he averaged 10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.7 blocks per game.  He doesn’t have much range as a lot of his shots are from close range which explains his 58.6% shooting from the floor and his 62.4% free throw shooting.