Who Is Rick Sund - Atlanta Hawks New GM

In case you didn't know the Atlanta Hawks have hired Rick Sund as their new GM. I guess the young upstart GMs didn't want to come to Hotlanta. Their loss.

I heard on the local radio station that the host did not know who Rick Sund is. The short answer is that he is one of the worst GMs in the NBA but a upgrade over Billy Knight and a huge upgrade over what was supposedly the front running candidate Billy King.

What can we expect from this new GM. Experience in handling unstable ownership (ala Seattle) and more amiable personality on the radio.

What else? As you will see below, his draft history is worse than Billy Knight's! His penchant for project players make him a liability. He does a great job of cleaning up messes with trades, but sometimes he doesn't make the right decision.

My biggest fear is that the utterly retarded Rashard Lewis move repeats itself with Josh Smith.

Here's a rundown of his moves.

• 2/03 -Sund took advantage of the Ray Allen/Michael Redd situation in Milwaukee by stealing Ray Ray away, only giving up a washed-up point guard (Gary Payton) and a guy who still can’t shoot (Desmond Mason). However, Allen is a guy who commands max money but doesn’t provide max results.
• 7/03 – He did a fair job landing two serviceable players in the unspectacular Nick Collison (#12) and the wispy Luke Ridnour (#14), but neither guy has developed into an established starter. In that draft, Sund passed on the likes of David West, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard. He’d trade both Collison and Ridnour for any of those guys in a heartbeat.
• In the next three drafts, Sund picked three project centers: Robert Swift (#12) in ’04, Johan Petro (#25) in ’05 and Saer Sene (#10) in ’06. In drafting these guys, he passed on Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, David Lee and Marcus Williams. Swift is injured while Petro and Sene are combining for a dreadful 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds this season. What a brutal draft run.
• 2/06 – Turning short timer Vladimir Radmanovic into Chris Wilcox was a nice move, though he hasn’t developed into a 15/10 guy like the Sonics hoped. The team may eventually regret re-signing him last summer.
• 2/06 – Sund acquired Earl Watson for Reggie Evans, trading toughness in the frontcourt for toughness in the backcourt. Watson is erratic but is a solid backup.
  
• 2/07 – Sund’s biggest mistake was not to trade Rashard Lewis before the deadline after deciding not to sign him to an extension before the season. Now it looks like Lewis will opt out this summer, which means the Sonics may get nothing in return for their stud swingman.

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Atlanta Hawks GM Search - Can't Blame Them For Trying

The only thing going for the Atlanta Hawks right now is that they are in one of the most marketable cities to young athletes. Their brief post season run is all but forgotten now that the Celtics have been exposed as the pretenders they are. If the new GM is stuck with Woodson, then that's less than ideal... why have a GM at all, some would say. Of course, there's also that whole, "not having a draft pick" this year that might stop a new GM from coming.

ESPN reports that Grant is latest candidate to drink the wine and taste the food, but reject the Atlanta Hawks.

Hawks part-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that the process "is coming to a close," but it was not immediately known whom Atlanta will turn to now. One source close to the process described the Hawks as "scrambling" because they believed they had Grant, who ultimately decided against making the leap from one of the most stable franchises in the league to a team that just halted the league's longest playoff drought and which is known for feuding factions in its crowded ownership group.

GM Candidate List

• Chris Grant - Assistant GM Cleveland Cavs - REJECTED OFFER
  
• David Lindsey - Assistant GM San Antonio Spurs - REJECTED OFFER
  
• Tommy Sheppard - VP of Basketball Admin (Also being wooed by NY)
  
• Dave Wohl - Assistant GM Boston Celtics
  
• John Gabriel - Personnel Scout Portland Trail Blazers
• Billy King - Former 76er GM - PRAYERS FROM HEAVEN ARE BLOCKING HIM
  

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Most Distraught Atlanta Franchise Is The Only One With A Plan

One year ago, I'd say that there was only one franchise in Atlanta Sports that had any sort of plan at winning. It wasn't that the Falcons weren't trying, it was just a number of events that took them out of the entire equation. The Hawks, well, they're the Hawks... and are we really going to talk about the Thrashers? Yes, the Atlanta Braves, the staple and example of a winning team seemed, at the time to be the only one with a plan.

Today, there is still only one Franchise that seems like it has a plan to win while the others are languishing with unanswered questions.

The Atlanta Hawks have yet to select a GM and with their ownership situation it will be harder to lure any of the top candidates. Until that is settled, it leaves the coach up in the air as well as the two Joshes.

The Atlanta Braves are doing well with Chipper and their patchwork bullpen, but Smoltz had a set back and there is no consistency out of their starting pitching.

The Thrashers traded away a player that is taking his team to the Stanley Cup...

Yes, The Atlanta Falcons, believe it or not, have developed a winning formula. They've hired a GM for a winner, drafted a winner at QB, hired a winner at Coach and for once have some depth there, at least in terms of backups. They have an actual owner.... there's a lot of positives. There's some hope at least. There's some question marks about the team obviously, but there is only one place to go for the Falcons and that's most certainly is up. To think last year, this was the leagues worst franchise to come into this year with a team with some major promise. Maybe not this year, but in short time the Falcons seem poised to get rid of that record for years without a consecutive winning record.

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