The First Sign of the Hawks Apocalypse

Today, I've got a column up that details the Hawks' impending doom. Sometimes, truth is quicker than writing. As if on cue, Billy Knight has declared that he'll step down, effective July 1.

How will history view Billy Knight? Well, he sees himself as "leaving the organization in much better shape than it was in when I took over," and he's right. Knight has certainly drafted some good players, as we all saw in round one. And then there's the whole ownership logjam, which makes it hard to tell exactly what decisions were his, or what options he really had. In fact, you've got to wonder if this isn't a good move on his part—he knows as well as anyone what's wrong with that organization, and after this post-season his stock as a talent evaluator is looking pretty good.

Then again, he'll always be haunted by the 2005 draft, when a team so desperately in need of a point guard went with another small forward. Marvin Williams is hardly a bust, and is getting better every season; if Smith and Childress split, he could have a Rudy Gay-style breakout next year. But if Isiah's great at scouting the draft, awful at free agent decision, Knight is an even more comically specialized talent: Supreme tea-leave reader for athletic guys between 6'7" and 6'10", with everything else a blind spot.

If you buy that line, it's hard to say exactly what—if anything—is next for him. Could he actually get another GM job based on this limited acumen? Supposing he jumped, and wasn't pushed, he's probably counting on the Atlanta/Boston series being the lone entry on his resume going forward.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.