Hawks Basketball: Larry Drew experimenting while in last year of contract

Atlanta Hawks head coach Larry Drew has used five different starting lineups in five preseason games, an obvious attempt to throw his newly put-together pieces to the wall and see what sticks in a season of uncertainty for the Hawks. Adding to that uncertainty is the fact that Drew is in the final year of his contract, something he admitted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz is a "challenge."

"The situation is what it is, the contract is what it is, the timing is what it is," he said. "I have a contract I have to honor and I'm going to do that. I'm going to come out every day and give it my all. I know it's not the best situation to be in, but I look at it as a challenge. It's an opportunity."

Drew's option was picked up for this season before the hiring of new general manager Danny Ferry, who managed to unload the contracts of Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams while piecing together a guard-heavy team and holding on to forwards Al Horford and Josh Smith. Drew is still trying to figure out how best to use his new players, even if he might not have much guaranteed time to do so:

"We have guys who can make shots and get up and down the floor," Drew said. "But we're not going to play street ball. We're going to be well organized. We're going to be relentless on the attack and on defense."