Well, apparently Jeff Teague’s ankle isn’t bothering him that much after all. The Hawks point guard led the team with 24 points (4-for-4 from behind the arc) in a resounding 94-72 win over the New Orleans Hornets.

Teague’s status had been questionable after he sprained his left ankle and came out of Friday night’s game, but he played a solid 29 minutes. Guard Willie Green also came up big off the bench with 16 points in 15 minutes.

For the Hornets, it looked like Emeka Okafor was the only one who showed up to play. The center had 13 points and 8 rebounds; the remaining four starters had a combined 27 points and only 7 rebounds.

The win ends the Hawks three-game losing streak against the Hornets and brings them to 3-1 on the current road trip. The team wraps up the trip Tuesday night in Toronto.

Sports Illustrated writer Zach Lowe had some rather enlightening thoughts to share on the Hawks in his column,  The Point Forward, yesterday:

“The Hawks are the Hawks — boring, predictable, effective, somehow making do with Vladimir Radmanovic, Ivan Johnson and (especially) a spry Zaza Pachulia playing Al Horford’s minutes. No one knows what to make of this team, though it will be intriguing if Marvin Williams keeps playing like he is, Jeff Teague finds his game consistently and Horford returns. But a contender? Eh.”

Honestly, not a bad assessment, imho. Taking a step back at this quarter-mark in the season, the Hawks are doing slightly better than expected (13-5, first place in the Southeast Division), although their schedule hasn’t been the most challenging thus far.

The impressive part is that they’ve done so despite major injuries to Al Horford and Kirk Hinrich, not to mention smaller nagging injuries to Marvin Williams and Tracy McGrady. But different players have stepped up at different times, the most recent of which was Joe Johnson’s 28-point performance in last night’s 97-92 victory over the Bucks.

We’re one-sixth of the way through this shortened NBA season and the Hawks are right about where pre-season predictions had them pegged– with a winning record (7-4), third place in the division, and living comfortably in the lap of mediocrity.

Despite a valiant fourth quarter effort, the Hawks couldn’t come back against the Pacers Wednesday night and lost 96-84. Atlanta outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth but it was too little too late this time, and the Hawks snapped their three-game winning streak.

For the Pacers, the story of the night was Danny Granger‘s comeback– the Indiana forward led both teams with 24 points after being sidelined with food poisoning during the last game. Granger had been struggling from the field but seemed to have found his rhythm tonight. Apparently it wasn’t causing him too much concern:

“I never shoot good at the beginning of the season,” Granger said. “Nothing different. I knew it would come around at one point. Everybody else was worried about it more than I was.”

The Hawks were playing shorthanded, with injuries to Vladimir Radmanovic, Marvin Williams, andTracy McGrady. To make matters worse, Al Horford went down during the first quarter after straining his left shoulder and did not return for the remainder of the game. His future status is still unknown.

Next Up: The Hawks return home to take on the Bobcats Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Hawks moved to 7-3 and a game and a half behind Miami with a 106-101 win over the Nets Monday night.

Josh Smith led the Hawks with 26 points, a season high for him. Joe Johnson had 22 and Jeff Teague added 20 points (and redeemed himself for some poor performances for my fantasy team).

With Marvin Williams out with an ankle injury, newcomer Vladimir Radmanovic got the start for the Hawks and put up 14 points and six rebounds.

Anthony Morrow led the Nets with 20 points, and MarShon Brooks had 19 points and 10 rebounds. New Jersey drops to 2-8 (and 0-4 at home) with the loss.

Next Up: The Hawks will take on the Pacers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST.

Hawks small forward, Marvin Williams will not travel with the team for tonight and Wednesday’s games. Williams injured his left ankle during the team’s win over the Bulls Saturday night.

According to NBA.com writer, John Schuhmann:

Hawks say Marvin Williams is out for Mon @ NJN & Wed @ IND. Didn’t travel.

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) January 9, 2012

Williams was averaging 10.9 points and six rebounds per game before the injury.

The Hawks will take on the Bobcats tonight in Charlotte for the first game of the preseason. The last time the two teams met was the last game of the 2010-2011 regular season in which the Bobcats defeated the Hawks, 96-85.

Recent draft pick, Bismack Biyombo, has freed himself from his contract with Spanish team Fuenlabrada by agreeing to pay a buyout clause and joined the the Bobcats. Coach Paul Silas said the Congolese forward would not play tonight because he hasn’t had a chance to practice with the team, but he should be in for the game this Thursday against the Hawks at Philips Arena.

The Hawks’ probable starting lineup includes: Marvin Williams (F), Josh Smith (F), Joe Johnson (G), Jeff Teague (G) and Al Horford (F/C).

For the Bobcats, likely starters include: Derrick Brown (F), Tyrus Thomas (F), Boris Diaw (C), Gerald Henderson (G), and D.J. Agustin (G).

The game will be on NBA TV and begins at 7 PM EST.

A few things to keep in mind for Atlanta basketball fans as the end of the lockout nears:

The Hawks will play their first game on December 27 in New Jersey against the Nets. Which side of the court will Jamal Crawford be on? Right now, it’s anyone’s guess. The team’s first home game will be on the 28th against the Milwaukee Bucks.

On the economic side of things, Atlanta will be working with a tight budget come December 9 when the free trade market opens– the team currently has about $65 million in guaranteed salary, and the salary cap in the new agreement is expected to remain at $58 million, with a $70 million luxury tax cap.

Additionally, a proposed amnesty provision in the new agreement would allow teams to remove one player’s salary from cap and tax considerations over the life of the CBA (10 years total, or six if one side opts out). According to Hawks beat reporter, Michael Cunningham,

“Judging by the comments of my blog people, Tweeps and the radio interview I did yesterday, Marvin is the people’s choice to be waived under the amnesty clause. The move would reduce Atlanta’s salary commitments for 2011-12 from $65 million to about $57 million. Assuming the accounting down to the final cent comes to about that figure, Atlanta’s team salary would be just below the expected salary-cap level.”

Oh yes. And the eventual return of something other than former Hawks players and cheerleaders on the team’s homepage.

Marvin Williams (Photo by Dan Fornal)

ESPN recently published an article on the player each team was most likely to regret signing, the “most likely amnesty candidate.” (It’s a creative idea, but yes, the lockout really sucks.)

The candidate for the Hawks? Not surprisingly point guard Marvin Williams. Williams was the Hawks’ number one pick in 2005 over Chris Paul and Deron Williams during the team’s span of uh… less-than-stellar draft picks. Here’s what ESPN had to say about him:

Analysis: Sources with knowledge of the Hawks’ thinking insist that the team isn’t ready to give up on Williams. Atlanta apparently still thinks that, at worst, it can deal him away, despite the Hawks’ inability to find any sort of trade market for Williams up to now. The fact that Atlanta’s ownership situation remains highly unsettled, thanks to the latest revelations about Alex Meruelo’s attempt to buy the franchise potentially collapsing, might also buy Williams some more time in the ATL.

Yet most rival teams believe that, at some point in whatever amnesty window is ultimately made official, Williams and the remaining money on his deal ($25 million through 2013-14) have to go. The guy (Billy Knight) who drafted him ahead of Chris Paul when Paul wanted to land with the Hawks is long gone. There can be no conceivable motivation left within the organization to try to camouflage the grave Williams mistakes (drafting him and then extending him) of the past.

Happy Friday! Here are your Hawks news links and updates:

• Minority group puts in bid to purchase Atlanta Spirit Group – the CEOs of Global Wellington Financial Corp and Oriana Capital Partners bid $500M to acquire the Spirit, USA Today
• Rumor Mill: Monta Ellis headed to the Hawks? – Warriors Guard Monta Ellis has been rumored to be heading to the Sixers, Magic or Hawks, SB Nation
• Mo Williams undergoes back surgery – Hawks forward Marvin Williams had a discetomy on his lower back, AP
• Al Horford hosts basketball camp – Horford will hold a two-day camp at Emory University to benefit the Boys and Girls Club, Patch.com

Ever wonder if, financially speaking, the Hawks could trade Josh Smith for Chris Paul? Or what players they would have to give up to get Kobe Bryant? What about how to create the “Atlanta Heat” and what players it would take to get Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh?

There are a number of rules, regulations, exceptions, and exemptions embedded in the CBA that make certain trades financially feasible based on player salaries, team payrolls and contract restrictions.

I recently discovered ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine, a tool that allows you to play GM. You can see what trades are possible based on a team’s payroll and players’ current salaries. The tool also provides the rationale for why a trade is not feasible based on the CBA and what would need to happen to make it work. Some of  Hollinger’s stats are also incorporated to determine the likely affect of the trade on wins and losses.

So for example, the Hawks could trade Kirk Hinrich and Zaza Pachulia for Dwight Howard for an increase in 17 wins.

If the Hawks wanted to get LeBron, Wade and Bosh (but still keep Joe Johnson), they’d have to give up Horford, Smith, Hinrich, Pachulia, and Williams. This would give them +26 wins according to Hollinger’s formula.

However, trading Josh Smith for Chris Paul would not work: the trade would put the Hawks over the salary cap, their incoming salaries are greater than 125% plus $100,000 of their outgoing salaries. The Hawks would need to cut $215,153 from the incoming value to make this trade possible.

Of course, this is all based purely on the contracts and economics rather than an owner or GM’s desires. And it’s all based on the current CBA, for that matter. Who knows what will happen with all the negotiations in the air? Or even if there will be an NBA season next year? But at least I’ve found a new toy to keep myself entertained with the “what-could-be’s” in the meantime.