NBA Draft

As a Hawks fan, draft night usually means I should go to bed early. Although I have yet to be mistaken for an NBA expert, I rarely agree with their decisions. Even when they're not busy selecting busts like Priest Lauderdale, Cal Bowdler, and Marvin Williams, I'm consistently disappointed with their moves.

Al Horford has been an All-Star and Josh Smith has brought an exciting brand of basketball to Philips Arena. But, this team can not win a championship with both players at the core of their roster. Smith fills up the stat sheet, but also has a tendency to forget that his 3 point shot is both dismal and deficient. If healthy, Horford could be a very valuable asset to this team, but he's gotta be moved to power forward. For that to happen, Atlanta needs to acquire a quality center to take over the 5 spot. Then, the high flyin' J Smooth must be evicted from playing the 4.

In today's NBA, good ain't good enough. You've got to have an elite squad, if your goal is to win championships. Atlanta has plateaued and will continue to be another title-less team, if significant upgrades to the roster aren't made. A rebuilding project will be tough to overhaul with Joe Johnson's immovable contract on the books. But, an attempt at shaking things up, in order to pursue a greater collection of talent would be extremely refreshing.

Braves vs Nats

A rainy night in Washington caused Friday's game between the Nationals and Braves to be postponed. Stephen Strasburg will get the series started at 4:05 this afternoon, when he throws the first official pitch. Instead of Mike Minor opposing him on the mound, Atlanta will turn to Brandon Beachy, who is 5-3 with an ERA of 1.77 in 2012. Today's matchup is very intriguing, as a couple of the game's best young pitchers will duel in D.C.