When the Hawks get good again, we'll look back on this pre-draft briefing as the moment when the climb began. Nothing significant was said or done Monday, and that's the point. Owing largely to factors beyond their control, the Hawks can't say or do much of anything. They have an interim general manager and an interim coach and a not-yet owner and a lame-duck president and a salary-capped squad and the 21st and 37th picks in Thursday's draft. They're as low as they can go.

"We hope to have a new, hopefully positive message crafted soon," Stan Kasten said, and even that sounded forlorn. If David McDavid buys the Hawks, Kasten doesn't figure to be the president anymore, and Billy Knight, who's overseeing the draft, may be filling out a roster for the benefit of some new regime.

"The pending sale hasn't had any effect on what I'm doing," Knight said. Later he announced that he should be paying his employers for the chance to work in the wondrous realm of professional basketball. (Note to McDavid: GM candidate here will work cheap.)

For this franchise, Monday marked the bottom -- lower than the Jon Koncak contract, lower than the Isaiah Rider trade, lower than the playoff guarantee. Kasten and Knight sat before the assembled media trying to sound cheerful, and nobody bought any of it. Can you sign a big-ticket free agent if the free agent doesn't know exactly who owns the team? Can you negotiate a satisfactory trade if the other party doesn't believe you're long for your job? Can an interim GM hire a full-time coach?

For all Kasten's muted bravado -- "This team has a lot of pieces in place; we've got the opportunity to get very good very quickly" -- the cold truth is that nothing good can happen until the ownership matter is settled. Once it is, the Hawks are free to begin again. If the sale to McDavid is approved, he can start hiring. If it falls through, then Kasten can act as the de facto owner and prepare the team for next season. Things will need to happen, and not much has happened lately. As Kasten conceded, "We've been laying low."

But the beauty of sports is that there's always next season. No matter what, the days ahead cannot be as muddled as these. Clarity is a powerful thing. Even if the Hawks don't land the absolute best coach available -- the best who hasn't yet taken a job would be Rudy Tomjanovich -- simply having A Coach should have a therapeutic effect.

And if the lingering sale has precluded the Hawks from finding the next Red Auerbach to run the franchise, retaining Knight shouldn't be construed as a worst-case scenario. He's a bright guy. He grew up in the Pacers' organization, which is among the NBA's best. While with Memphis, he acquired Pau Gasol, who would become the 2002 rookie of the year. That's one more rookie of the year than the Hawks have ever generated.

Of the Hawks, Kasten said: "All the pieces that caused us to be optimistic [last season] are still in place." (Well, all except for the apparently superfluous Pete Babcock and Lon Kruger.) Technically true, this is nonetheless false. Those semi-great expectations were fueled by the notion of what those Hawks might look like. We've since seen, and we know Glenn Robinson is a lousy fit. Having a full-fledged GM would enable the Hawks to shop the overblown Big Dog. There mightn't be any takers, but at least he can ask.