Dumping salary and getting as far under the cap as possible so you have the most money to lure free agents sounds like a good strategy in theory, how as history shows it rarely works out favorable for the teams.

Chicago tried this in 2000, chasing the likes of Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Eddie Jones, striking out on all four accounts.

Utah had a boat load of money,  $21 million, to throw out players this past offseason after the retirement of John Stockton and with Karl Malone moving on and, apart from signing a few offer sheets, they struck out with every major free agent as well.

The only team who truly could be considered winners with this method would be the Los Angeles Lakers, who landed Shaquille O'Neal and a rookie Kobe Bryant in the summer of 1996 after Shaq bolted from Orlando.  

Speaking of the Magic, they might be a semi-success story after landing Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill in the same summer as the Bulls woes, but as they sit at the bottom of the NBA this season while watching Ben Wallace - the player they sacraficed for Grant HIll - dominate in Detroit can this truly be called a success?

With a poor strikerate is it really wise for the Atlanta Hawks to follow the same blueprint this summer?  General manager Billy Knight traded away Glenn Robinson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff, Rasheed Wallace, Nazr Mohammed and Dan Dickau in the past year to set up this summer.  

With just four players under contract going into this offseason, the Hawks are in a position similar to that of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats --- except the Hawks won't have the benefit of an expansion draft. They will have to build through the normal draft --- they will have two first-round picks and three second-rounders --- and through free agency, with $20 million to $22 million to spend.

"We have flexibility," Knight said. "We have the possiblity to do something. Definitely, it's going to be a challenge [to lure free agents]. If it was easy, everyone would do it; everybody could do it or would've done it. Teams have been in this position before and it hasn't worked out for them, but we'll play this out."

Knight says the Hawks have a lot in their favor: a new, exciting ownership group, a relatively new arena, and Atlanta, a cosmopolitan city with good weather that's the offseason home to several professional basketball players. Most important, Knight says, the Hawks have money.

"You've got to have money to pay them --- that's the first thing," Knight said. "Sure, the team hasn't been winning to the point that we'd like it to be, but we're going to build to that."

There will certainly be good players becoming free agents this offseason, lead by Kobe Bryant who is expected to opt out of his contract with the Lakers.  But the Hawks will certainly have competition with Phoenix, San Antonio, Denver, Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers all having cap space and all expected to make a push for Bryant.

"The way that franchise has been the last couple of years, hardly anybody would want to go there," said McGrady, who chose the Magic over the Bulls in 2000 to play with Hill. "They've got to go out and shop and hope they can get a big-name player to turn the city around, because it's bad right now."

Kenyon Martin, a restricted free agent with the New Jersey Nets, could just be that player, although it is unlikely the Nets would let him walk.

"Right now, I'm a Net. I'm open for options," Martin said. "I'd be flattered if they were interested. It's a nice city. I don't know why people wouldn't want to go there. If they bring a couple of guys in, people may say, 'They're trying to do the right thing. They're trying to win.' "

Should Knight's plan fail like it has for so many others the space is still valuable in trades for teams looking to dump salary.  Knight could potentially find some bargains along with draft picks to help the Hawks down the line.

A number of superstar players could be traded this summer --- Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Steve Francis, Jamal Mashburn and McGrady are among those mentioned in trade rumors, and a third team with cap space like the Hawks could just be the sealer.