Hawks Sign Etan Thomas

The Atlanta Hawks are attempting to bolster their front-court by adding veteran big man Etan Thomas. At 6'10, Thomas figures to see some time at C to allow Al Horford to play more PF, where he is better suited.

Thomas, 32, was drafted 12th overall in the 2000 draft by the Wizards. He spent 7 years there before playing for Oklahoma City last year. He enjoyed his best season in 2004, when he played in 79 games and averaged 8.9 points and 6.9 rebounds. He is also in competition with Dwight Howard and Andre Iguodala for biggest biceps in the league.

Thomas will compete for minutes with Jason Collins (slow, plodding C), Zaza Pachulia (ugliest player in the league), and Josh Powell. The Hawks are widely regarded as a team that has fully reached it's potential and will be ousted in the second round every year. This summer they signed Joe Johnson to an insane 6 year $120 mil deal -- after he averaged 13 points on 29% shooting in the playoffs against Orlando.

However, recently promoted Coach Larry Drew has other plans. He has said they will not play as much isolation offense as they did under Mike Woodson and that they will play more straight up man to man. While the signing of Thomas gives the Hawks depth, it by no means pushes them over the top. Unless Al Horford, Josh Smith, or Jeff Teague make a dramatic improvement, the Hawks look to be a 4 or 5 seed and make a first or second round exit.