Atlanta Offseason in ReviewHartfordWhalers wrote:Hartfordwhalers Review
Key Losses:
Horford
Teague
Teague was pretty obviously on his way out, but Horford was more of a surprise. That Joe Johnson/Josh Smith/Horford core is now finally done, replaced with Bazemore/Milsap/Howard as the top three salaries.
Losses:
Kirk Hinrich
Lamar Patterson
Draft:
#12 Taurean Prince
#21 DeAndre' Bembry
#44 Isaia Cordinier (stashed overseas)
#54 traded
Atlanta found itself in the area of the draft where all the top end talent was gone, and what was left was solid unspectacular guys or flawed toolsy prospects. They probably would have made some people very happy taking Skal and Dejounte Murray types and going for a home run with at least one pick. But they might just get two solid singles and Cordinier is a nice stash, which wasn't a bad draft at all.
Trades:
Teague for #12
#54 for 2.4m
That haul for #54 was nice. And I didn't have Teague by himself able to get over the bridge into that top 8 tier. Despite liking Prince/Bembry draft perfectly fine, I just don't like the trade. It just feels like not significant enough of an asset to return when the draft plays out, even if 12 in a vacuum is fine.
Free Agency:
Dwight 3/70.5
Bazemore 4/70
Humphries 4m
Malcolm Delaney 2/5m
Jarrett Jack 1.6m
Mostly ung min deals to Matt Costello ung 2 year
Signed what was probably the second best center on the market, kept a swingman who looked great in their system in a year where the average swingman got record amounts. Jack is a nice flier if he comes back at the cost.
Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Dennis Schröder, Jarrett Jack, Malcolm Delaney
SG: Kent Bazemore, Kyle Korver, Tim Hardaway Jr.
SF: Thabo Sefolosha, Taurean Prince, DeAndre’ Bembry
PF: Paul Millsap, Kris Humphries, Mike Scott, Mike Muscala
C: Dwight Howard, Tiago Splitter, Walter Tavares, Matt Costello
Needs:A breakout from Schroeder. A long term plan with Milsap. A fountain of youth for Korver. Dwight to keep his stuff together. Jack and/or Delaney need to fill the backup pg spot. Bazemore needs to sustain his production and live up to his contract versus being a product of the Atlanta system. Pronce or Bembry need to look like they can fit in right now. Lots of open questions everywhere, and I haven't touched on does Schroeder/Milsap/Dwight work together.
Additional Thoughts: Could a Milsap/Dwight front court be a matchup nightmare for Cleveland? Especially with a bunch of defenders that Atlanta has, and Schroeder's speed versus Irving as an interesting side plot. I don't see an Atlanta team set up for serious success beyond what they have been achieving, but this team could be a matchup nightmare.
Did you know: Dwight is only 6 months older than Horford
Projected Win/Loss: 42-40
Off-Season Grade: C+ I wish they had kept Horford. Even over Bazemore after signing Dwight, even including fit which would have been a disaster. Given what Orlando paid for Ibaka, I wish they had traded Milsap then and kept Bazemore with the money that freed up (Toronto comes to mind as an ideal trade partner). This offseason feels like a small step back to take maybe that exact step forward later. Within the short term it maintains a team as a 4-8 seed area perhaps, but it also doesn't shape the future enough. Maybe there was no great way to, and there is significant value in staying a playoff team. And getting Bazemore/Dwight isn't bad at all. But I look at Atlanta and see a player and asset base that looks to have a little less value than it did before, and a little less flexibility going forward.
bondom34 wrote:bondom34 Review
Key Losses:
Horford
Teague
Losses:
Kirk Hinrich
Lamar Patterson
Draft:
#12 Taurean Prince
#21 DeAndre' Bembry
#44 Isaia Cordinier (stashed overseas)
#54 traded
Trades:
Teague for #12
#54 for 2.4m
Free Agency:
Dwight 3/70.5
Bazemore 4/70
Humphries 4m
Malcolm Delaney 2/5m
Jarrett Jack 1.6m
Mostly ung min deals to Matt Costello ung 2 year
Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Dennis Schröder, Jarrett Jack, Malcolm Delaney
SG: Kent Bazemore, Kyle Korver, Tim Hardaway Jr.
SF: Thabo Sefolosha, Taurean Prince, DeAndre’ Bembry
PF: Paul Millsap, Kris Humphries, Mike Scott, Mike Muscala
C: Dwight Howard, Tiago Splitter, Walter Tavares, Matt Costello
Needs:
Though Korver can play some, a backup for Thabo with a little more experience would be nice to me. As well, Jack is a big question since he was out much of last season, but really they've overall got a solid fairly deep team.
Additional Thoughts:
Well, they finally pulled the plug on Teague, and honestly I wasn't thrilled with the return. I can be proven wrong if Prince is good, which will be the real test here. Bud took a risk he knew what he wanted in the draft and now we get to see how it pans out, but the good part is Schroeder is a great fall back and they've still got a ton of depth. The Dwight addition to me is a good one as well and I think he sees a rejuvenation of sorts back home. All in all a pretty solid offseason.
Projected Win/Loss:
46-36
Off-Season Grade:
B
dbrandon wrote:dbrandon Review
Key Losses:
Horford
Teague
Horford surprised me a little, though when Atlanta wouldn't give him the 5th year I figured it'd be more of an option. Teague wasn't very surprising--either he or Schröder was headed out, and Schroder is younger and (I suppose) has more potential. Maybe he winds up better than Teague, maybe not. But you know what you have with Teague, and Schröder still has some growing to do.
I'll also add Kenny Atkinson to this list. He's had remarkable involvement with the growth of a lot of young players over the years, and I think they'll miss him.
Losses:
Kirk Hinrich
Lamar Patterson
Not really worth mentioning. I love Hinrich, but at this point in his career he's not giving you a lot. Patterson is eminently replaceable.
Draft:
#12 Taurean Prince
#21 DeAndre' Bembry
#44 Isaia Cordinier (stashed overseas)
#54 traded
Prince and Bembry don't really move the needle much for me, but they could turn out. I like Cordinier a lot as a stash. #54 generally doesn't get you much, so I'm OK with selling it.
Trades:
Teague for #12
#54 for 2.4m
I don't like Teague straight up for 12, though perhaps it's fine in a vacuum. They got good value out of the #54, though. 2nds went for a bit more than usual in this draft, while 1sts were cheaper. Main reason I think they could have wrung a little more value out of Teague.
Free Agency:
Dwight 3/70.5
Bazemore 4/70
Humphries 4m
Malcolm Delaney 2/5m
Jarrett Jack 1.6m
Mostly ung min deals to Matt Costello ung 2 year
I like the Dwight signing, though the fit is going to be interesting. This is a team that relies on older players to be key contributors, and they lost a little bit of playmaking with Horford. They're going to look dramatically different next year.
Bazemore's contract is about market value. Dwight might be a little high, but in this market I think you pay it. Humphries and Jack as value signings are solid, though a player at Jack's stage of his career coming back from injury is an iffy proposition. He's a solid player when healthy, though.
Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Dennis Schröder, Jarrett Jack, Malcolm Delaney
SG: Kent Bazemore, Kyle Korver, Tim Hardaway Jr.
SF: Thabo Sefolosha, Taurean Prince, DeAndre’ Bembry
PF: Paul Millsap, Kris Humphries, Mike Scott, Mike Muscala
C: Dwight Howard, Tiago Splitter, Walter Tavares, Matt Costello
Needs:Schröder has to be the real deal. Period. If he's not, you're in bad trouble right out of the gate. Across the board, this team relies on players on the back 9 of their careers to be as good as they've been, which scares me. The Spurs have done that, but the Spurs also had Duncan and Ginobili, who stayed better than they had any right to be for a long time.
They need Sefolosha, Korver and Jack to be the best versions of themselves. That bench scares me a little if I'm Atlanta--can you trust the rookies to be instant contributors? They can definitely stand to upgrade at SF, and I'm expecting them to have to make a move for a better backup PG if Jack struggles coming back from injury.
Dwight HAS to buy in to being a pick and roll center and not a back to the basket guy. Can he? If he does, that team suddenly becomes remarkably dangerous, at least if you're only going 8 deep in playoff rotations.
Additional Thoughts: This feels very "same story, different year". They could be really really good, if that tiki-taka ball movement stays as seamless as it's been, if Howard buys in and stays healthy, if the rest of their roster buys in and stays healthy, if no one falls off due to age, if Schröder and Bazemore continue to develop. If, if, if. This could be a great roster. But there are a ton of questions, and if I project them 50/50 good and bad it comes out to another mid-playoffs exit. If everything breaks right, this is a team that could push the best of the East, but I just don't know.
This is the team that's most likely to make me look stupid, one way or another. High variance.
Projected Win/Loss: 47
Off-Season Grade: C They have a good team. Is it better than last year? I don't think so. It could be, but there are too many questions for me to grade it above an average. Did they make any big mistakes? Don't think so, though letting Horford go could be that in time (but I'd grade him and Howard as a push, personally). Smack dab middle of the road.