Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 8:10 am  |  47 responses

Tweet

SLAMonline Mock Draft: Patty Mills, No. 19

That’s not a point guard…THAT’S a point guard!

by Lang Whitaker

There are two ways to go when you are a team confronting the NBA Draft: 1) Draft for immediate need; 2) Draft for the future.

Thus far, the Atlanta Hawks and their new GM Rick Sund haven’t been particularly good at executing either of these plans.

The Hawks (under, and I mean literally under) Billy Knight not only famously passed on Chris Paul and Deron Williams to take Marvin Williams, but they subsequently passed on Brandon Roy to select Sheldon Williams, who isn’t even the best basketball player in his marriage. And in 2007, the Hawks took Acie Law over Rodney Stuckey and Aaron Brooks. We didn’t land on Billy Knight, Billy Knight landed on us!

As for Rick Sund, before coming to Atlanta last summer, here were his last three first round picks in Seattle: Mo Sene, Johan Petro and Robert Swift. In fact, Sund drafted 16 players as the GM of the Sonics and never selected an All-Star.

Ahem.

So you can excuse us Hawks fans if we’re not exactly confident that our team will be able to competently handle the Draft process.

HOWEVA!, going back to the two ways of drafting, the Hawks are kind of in a weird place this summer. So much of what the Hawks should do or could do in this Draft is dependent on what else they’re planning to do this off-season. What do the Hawks need? Considering the Hawks were the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference last season, that list is surprisingly long. Right now they have three starters under contract (Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Smith). Marvin Williams is a restricted free agent, and Mike Bibby is a free free agent. Zaza Pachulia is a free agent, as is the only other big on the bench who got any playing time, Solomon Jones.

Will the Hawks be able to re-sign Mike Bibby? The more I think about it, the less sure I am, and not only about being able to sign him but even wanting to sign him. I think the Hawks are going to offer Bibby either the Mid-Level Exception or even a little less, and Bibby should be able to make that somewhere else, or at least make the same amount for a longer contract than Atlanta will offer. Having Mike Bibby on your team is something of a balancing act, as he’s still a very good perimeter shooter, yet calling him a defensive liability for us this season is an understatement. If the Hawks are planning on losing Bibby, would they be able to get someone to replace him in this Draft? Probably, but they’d have to trade up. They have the assets to do that — they could throw in Acie Law (who I think is dunzo in Atlanta), or Josh Childress’s rights, or maybe even a future first-rounder.

But I’m getting off track here. Who will the Hawks select at 19?

I have said many times that the player I’d like the Hawks to draft is Florida State combo guard Toney Douglas. I still don’t understand why this guy is only being projected as a second rounder. He can play the 1 or the 2, he can definitely defend (he was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year), he was runner-up as ACC Player of the Year, he’s originally from Georgia, and his brother plays on the Atlanta Falcons. If you want an endorsement from a college coach, how about Coach K, who said this about Douglas:

“He’s a great player. He’s my favorite non-Duke player in the country. I love that guy. I talk about him a lot to our guys. They’re probably mad at me. He’s as good as there is in college. He’s as good as there in college. He’s a kid I’d love to coach, no question about it.”

To me, Douglas could be a cheaper version of Flip Murray — he could come off the bench and back-up the 1 and the 2. Plus, unlike Acie Law, he doesn’t seem to get injured all the time.

All of that said, I don’t think the Hawks should draft Douglas at 19. Everyone I’ve talked to projects him going later in the first round, if in the first round at all. So if Toney Douglas is your guy, either you trade down to get him or you pick for someone else and then trade for Douglas.

So who will the Hawks select at 19?

Chad Ford has us taking Jeff Teague from Wake Forest, but from what I understand, that probably will not happen.

So who will the Hawks select at 19?

One interested observer that I spoke to was lobbying me to draft Wayne Ellington, the 6-5 swingman from UNC. I don’t like him at 19, though, not only because he’s projected much lower and they could trade down and still get him, but also because 6-5 guys are about the last thing the Hawks need right now.

So who will the Hawks select at 19?

Well, throwing all the variables out the window and assuming the core of last season’s Hawks team remains intact, and assuming the Hawks actually choose 19th, I think there’s two positions the Hawks are in need of: A big with toughness and a small, fast point guard.

As far as bigs go, I’ve heard the Hawks like Tyler Hansbrough at 19, and I think 19 might not be a bad place to take him. (Besides, you can always trade him to the BETcats.) I don’t think he’ll be as bad as Sheldon Williams, but I also don’t think he’ll surprise anyone — what you see is what you get.

So who will the Hawks select at 19?

Let’s do this: With the 19th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks select…

Patty Mills from St. Mary’s. He’s small — 6-1, maybe 175, kind of reminds me of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in that regard — but he’s fast and quick. He can drive and score (he put 20 on the Dream team in the Olympics), he can create open shots for Joe and Marvin and Mo Evans, and he’s also a tough defender, which will earn him playing time from Mike Woodson. I think he’d be a great fit for the Hawks and could eventually supplant Mike Bibby. His jumper still needs work, but remember, Tony Parker didn’t have a jump shot until about two years ago, either.

Also important is that Mills seems like a good kid. The Hawks have managed to build a respectable team without assembling a crew of knuckleheads, and I think Mills would represent this franchise, my franchise, well. And for a team like the Hawks who still don’t have the sizable fanbase that some of the League’s other big teams have, would it be such a bad thing to draft one of the most popular Australian players and get that huge fan base handed to you on a silver platter?

Here’s a good Patty Mills video feature to close out on…