In his second season as a pro, opportunities opened up for Hawes when the starting center Brad Miller was traded to the Chicago Bulls. Hawes' numbers went up in every major statistical category, at 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game with a .466 field goal percentage in 29.3 minutes per game. Hawes also started in 51 games, but missed the final game of the season due to an injury that occurred from a flagrant foul assessed to Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets. The foul would result in controversy as Kings co-owner, Joe Maloof, would later state, "That (the hard foul) was thuggery, and you can quote me on that."