Atlanta Hawks expected to remain free agent destination

Although New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony doesn’t believe any player will be willing to sign with the Atlanta Hawks in free agency, that stance appears to be in the minority.

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At least, that’s the thought process from A. Sherrod Blakely who believes the racist comments stemming from an Atlanta Hawks scouting report on Luol Deng will not hurt the franchise long-term in regards to potential free agents.

“Regardless of the racist comments that have emanated from Atlanta Hawks ownership and management, Atlanta will remain a free agent consideration for players, for the same reason they didn’t totally shun the Los Angeles Clippers when they were going through their own turmoil surrounding comments made by their former owner, Donald Sterling.”

While such a sentiment is completely possible, it’s not as if the Atlanta Hawks were a prime destination for NBA free agents. Granted, they’re not the Milwaukee Bucks but in terms of top tier talent, that’s not something the Atlanta Hawks have been able to bring in.

That said, they have put themselves in position to court big name talent like Dwight Howard and the aforementioned Carmelo Anthony, though are routinely left at the alter.

Still, with a new ownership group expected to take over and general manager Danny Ferry unlikely to return once that transition takes place, the regime that attempted to drowned the Atlanta Hawks organization will be gone. That should be plenty enough reason for those interested in playing for the organization to make the move in free agency as was done with the Los Angeles Clippers this offseason.