Zaza Pachulia News

With Josh Smith's contract coming off of the books, the Atlanta Hawks will have plenty of cap space to pursue free agents this offseason and take the next step in becoming an elite franchise in the NBA .

More than a week after getting bounced from the NBA playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks are still trying to figure out who's going to coach them next season.

Of the 30 franchises in the NBA today, 22 could care less about the outcome of the next few weeks.

Apr 29, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Delvin Harris talks to head coach Larry Drew during the closing moments of game four of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at Philips Arena.

The Atlanta Hawks once again made the NBA Playoffs this season, but made an early exit from the postseason as they fell in six games to the Indiana Pacers .

What would the Hawks have been like with Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams? Or Rudy Gay or Brandon Roy instead of Shelden Williams or Conference finals appearances instead of first round exits? Global recognition of a basketball brand reborn with superstar talent instead of a league laughingstock and the team that can always ... (more)

It wound up being just another galling end to another teasing playoff series. From 19 points down, the Hawks had drawn within three on Al Horford's dunk off a deft Josh Smith feed inside the final two minutes, and right there even the biggest Hawks doubter - there are many - had to think they might just save Game 6 and force the stunned Indiana ... (more)

May 1, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson tries to sneak in with Atlanta Hawks Jeff Teague , Devin Harris , Al Horford , Ivan Johnson and Kyle Korver as they huddle up in game five of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

We won't call it a repeat performance but Game 5 was all too similar to Games 1 & 2 for the Atlanta Hawks .

We are seeing the other side of the Hawks' looking glass - the team that hustles, the players who share the ball for open looks, the Josh Smith who defends at one end, attacks at the other and broods at neither .

His most memorable contribution came in the 2011 playoffs, when he banged with Dwight Howard for six games and helped the Hawks pull off an upset of the Orlando Magic.

Longtime NBA center Jason Collins on Monday became the first active player in a major American pro team sport to announce that he is gay.

Al Horford tallied a playoff career-high 26 points and 16 rebounds in the Hawks' 90-69 rout of the Pacers in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference first- round series.

After losing their two games in Indianapolis by a combined 32 points, Josh Smith and the Hawks bring the first-round playoffs series to Atlanta tonight.

The undersized Atlanta Hawks are making Indiana look like a high-scoring power. The Pacers ranked 23rd in the NBA with fewer than 95 points per game in the regular season.

The Indiana Pacers know the opportunity is there. They know the Atlanta Hawks are a fragile team that can be shook easily.