The Hawks' thought process: Our team is bad, which means all of our players are bad too, so we want different players. We'll give away every valuable player we have and replace them with, well, whoever we can talk into signing with us. When Free Agent Superstar X sees our money, he'll realize that this is the place for him, despite our utter lack of any other attractive qualities and the fact that superior teams, including the one he already plays for, are offering equal or greater paychecks. If that doesn't work, we'll have OutKast perform "Hey Ya" for the player and his family.
Extrapolating this logic past the locker room, the executives making these decisions should fire themselves for their association with the franchise. Or to take it further, Atlanta should demolish their whole city because they have a terrible pro basketball team.
History teaches that the destroy-and-rebuild method of team-making is an exceedingly dangerous game with long odds for success. Five years ago, Orlando and Chicago threw in their cards and asked for a new hand, with disastrous results that continue to haunt each franchise.
The Magic were able to land Tracy McGrady, a rising superstar, with the cap space generated by their player giveaway. However, the misfortunes of their other prize signing, the perpetually hobbled Grant Hill, and the accompanying financial inability to make any moves of real consequence, have brought the franchise to a new low. What's worse is a look at the list of players Orlando let walk for the sake of cap space: Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Matt Harpring, Quentin Richardson, and Corey Maggette, as well as the draft pick Phoenix used to get Amare Stoudemire.
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