Joe Johnson sees no need for Hawks to make trade

[Cobb]

LOS ANGELES -- We’re less than a week from the trading deadline, a time of year when rumored deals are nothing new. One team that has been the subject of much speculation has been the Hawks, especially because they’ve been oddly inconsistent this year -- suffering some embarrassing blowout losses, allowing a historic comeback to the Bobcats and yet still on pace to win 50 games.

 

And then there’s Atlanta’s fate in the last two postseasons, when the Hawks were able to sneak into the second round with wins in seven-game opening series (beating Miami in 2009 and Milwaukee in 2010), only to get swept in the second round.

Joe Johnson sees no need for Hawks to make trade The Atlanta Hawks have been long-rumored to be a team intent on making a deal. Joe Johnson tells Sean Deveney the Hawks must play better with what they have.

 

The Hawks could look for big-time change by trading sixth man Jamal Crawford or star forward Josh Smith, but both of those players are almost guaranteed to stay put. More likely, sources say, the Hawks will target an upgrade at point guard, with players like Cleveland’s Ramon Sessions and Houston’s Aaron Brooks on the radar. Of course, if the Suns were to put Steve Nash on the market, the Hawks would leap, but that won’t happen until the summer, if at all.

 

All-Star two-guard Joe Johnson, though, isn’t sure any such move is needed, especially not after the Hawks made an offseason coaching change, going from Mike Woodson to former assistant Larry Drew. “I think we have made some changes already, whether it’s changing some players here and there, or the coaching change,” Johnson told Sporting News. “We are out of excuses and we have to just step up to the plate and make a play.”

 

In addition to adding Drew, who has altered the team’s offense to make it less reliant on Johnson, there is the hope that simply having gone through the playoff grind the last three seasons will have the Hawks more prepared, should they reach the second round and play a team like Boston or Miami. “I think experience definitely helps, because we have been through adversity the last two years,” Johnson said. “I think now is the time for us to really take that next step up. Like I said, we have run out of excuses.”

Would be really nice to see them step up to the plate.