Repeat after me: Hibbert and Law

I'm still on a sports kick, I know, but I have to talk about basketball.

When my family moved to Atlanta in 1986, I became an instant Atlanta Hawks fan. I worshipped at the alter of Dominique Wilkins, revered Tree Rollins (and later Moses Malone), and even threw unconditional support to Jon Koncak. I mean, I was brainwashed.

Then the Hawks traded 'Nique in the middle of a playoff run in 1994. That's right, they traded their top scorer when they had the best record in the Eastern Conference. I still throw up a little in my mouth when I think about it. I have had girlfriends that I truly adored break my heart with less emotional resonance than the Dominique Wilkins trade. What is worse, I heard about the trade at a Rush concert, about twelve nanoseconds after I realized that Rush was a sonic affront to mankind and not even the free tickets and a trip to Atlanta was worth being subjected to Geddy Lee's cats-in-a-jet-engine vocal stylings (although Neal Pert was as good as advertised).

Since 1994, the Hawks have been paying the karmic price, with no notable teams since the big trade and no playoff appearances since 1999. They have been the worst franchise in the NBA, which is saying something, considering that the NBA is just coming out of a 10-year skid that has featured the worst hoops since the shot clock was instituted. Tonight, however, the statute of limitations may have run out on the Hawks' bad karma penalty.

The Hawks landed two, count 'em two, lottery picks in the deepest NBA draft pool in years. Hawks General Manager Billy Knight has the ability to totally crap the bed on even that ray of sunshine scenario, as past picks have proven, so I'm going to help Billy out.

No. 3 – Roy Hibbert, Georgetown, Center
No.11 – Acie Law, Texas A&M, Point Guard

There. That wasn't so hard, was it?