Atlanta Hawks: Time to Let Tim Hardaway Jr. Walk

The Atlanta Hawks have many decisions to make this off-season including the future of Tim Hardaway Jr. with the team. Signing THJ long term would be a mistake one that the Hawks should avoid in favor of adding established talent.

There is no denying that at times Tim Hardaway Jr. was the most exciting player to watch on the court for the Atlanta Hawks. But there is also no arguing that when the Hawks needed him most he would often fade and disappear all together.

Paul Millsap was the Hawks lightning rod in their biggest games of the season. As Millsap went so went the Hawks for most of the season. THJ will demand a high price tag because of his potential that money would be better spent locking up Paul Millsap long term and adding another established player along with a core of Millsap and Dwight Howard.

If the Hawks were to free up some cap space by trading Dwight or still have space after adding another established player aside from Millsap than they could consider bringing THJ back into the fold.

Watching Hardaway Jr. was fun, there is no questioning at his best he could carry a team lighting up the scoreboard with drives to the bucket or knocking down threes. The problem is when he goes cold it seems to last for long stretches and result in hurting the team more than he helped the team when he was hot.

The Hawks need to focus their attention on trying to bring back Paul Millsap and then adding an established scoring threat to put in an offense that was anemic at times with Millsap off the court. While putting together a team that can challenge Lebron James and the Cavs in the East may seem like a tall order it is possible as Golden State has proven it is the best team that often wins not the best player.