Post Mortem #13 - Atlanta Hawks

[Nuntius]

I do agree about the offensive help, though. I'm biased, of course, but they need to follow Indiana's blueprint. Trae is a gifted playmaker so surround him with play finishers.

Yeah. But of course, they need their Siakam and other supporting scorers, right?

But yeah, the Hali role is probably a good one for Trae; he's a phenomenal playmaker, but he's overextended as a scorer.

Yep and how good that role is for someone like Hali and Trae really shows. Hali had a poor shooting game for us in game 1 and it didn't matter one bit. He still controlled the offense and got the rest their scoring opportunities that they converted on. Trae cannot afford those games.

[tsherkin]

Yep and how good that role is for someone like Hali and Trae really shows. Hali had a poor shooting game for us in game 1 and it didn't matter one bit. He still controlled the offense and got the rest their scoring opportunities that they converted on. Trae cannot afford those games.

He cannot, he flatly doesn't have the help, no doubt. It really comes back to that; it's very clear that he isn't a tier-1 guy, not a superstar. And his scoring ability holds him back, for sure. But his playmaking is very high end, and if he had much of anything to work with, it's clear that the Hawks would be a lot better than they are now.

[ChuckChilly]

Thanks for the lotto pick

You Spurs fans are weird. Yall act as if you got revenge on a rival team as opposed to just getting the better end of a trade. Very strange.

Lol. I promise you it's not that deep.

Everywhere I go, from here, to Reddit, even YouTube comments there's ALWAYS some Spurs fan popping up in something Hawks related gloating about the DM trade, rooting for us to lose. I get it, but it just seems way overboard.

[Bornstellar]

You Spurs fans are weird. Yall act as if you got revenge on a rival team as opposed to just getting the better end of a trade. Very strange.

Lol. I promise you it's not that deep.

Everywhere I go, from here, to Reddit, even YouTube comments there's ALWAYS some Spurs fan popping up in something Hawks related gloating about the DM trade, rooting for us to lose. I get it, but it just seems way overboard.

We own the Hawks draft for the next three years so of course we want them to lose. We don't got a lot going for us these days it's all in good fun though, like I said man it ain't that deep

[Jamaaliver]

We own the Hawks draft for the next three years so of course we want them to lose. We don't got a lot going for us these days it's all in good fun though, like I said man it ain't that deep

Landry (and the owner's son) are believed to be the masterminds behind the disastrous Hawks trade for DeJounte Murray.

This firing is warranted, but oddly timed.

Read on Twitter

Noteworthy fact:
Tony Ressler became Head Coach in 2015. Since then, the Hawks have had 4 different GMs and 4 different Head Coaches.

It's impossible to make any real progress when leadership is constantly changing the direction of the franchise.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

We own the Hawks draft for the next three years so of course we want them to lose. We don't got a lot going for us these days it's all in good fun though, like I said man it ain't that deep

Landry (and the owner's son) are believed to be the masterminds behind the disastrous Hawks trade for DeJounte Murray.

This firing is warranted, but oddly timed.

Read on Twitter

Noteworthy fact:
Tony Ressler became Head Coach in 2015. Since then, the Hawks have had 4 different GMs and 4 different Head Coaches.

It's impossible to make any real progress when leadership is constantly changing the direction of the franchise.

Tony Ressler is reactionary. No clear direction for this franchise.

[Bloodbather]

If JJ, Risacher, and Dyson keep improving, it makes no sense to trade Trae. They're very complementary players. I'd look to get a proper big (size wise) instead of Okongwu, though. You need a big guy patrolling in the back if you have Trae on your team.

They need Capela to back in his 2021 form. Healthy, catching lobs, playing good defense, etc. Hell, even 2024 form would be a boost. And they need a real scorer next to Trae, not some trash like Dejounte Murray.

Risacher in the second half was pretty solid, and Dyson was quite solid. But they need scoring support, because Trae isn't the guy you want to hit up for high-volume scoring. He doesn't have the tools to do it reliably, particularly when the 3 isn't falling. Which is unsurprising, really, given his size and his lack of an ATG mid-range game like Chris Paul.

Capela is toast as high level starter, imo. He can help off the bench but OO is their starter now and he needs to keep developing.

I do agree about the offensive help, though. I'm biased, of course, but they need to follow Indiana's blueprint. Trae is a gifted playmaker so surround him with play finishers.

I agree that Capela is toast, that's why I skipped him entirely and said they need a bigger big to replace Okongwu in the lineup.

Okongwu is a good player but he's listed at 6'8", that won't cut it as the starting center on a Trae team.

[tsherkin]

Okongwu is a good player but he's listed at 6'8", that won't cut it as the starting center on a Trae team.

We'll see. He was an efficient 13/9 guy in 28 mpg this year (so like 17/12 PER36). So he's filling a role for them effectively. But they do need more, for sure. And a larger center who could do the same things but also provide a little more defensive value would help. But Okongwu was contesting 7 shots a game in 28 mpg, getting about 2.5 screen assists, and generally making good use of his time on the floor. He isn't Brook Lopez, but I think he's been of good value to them. And high-end defensive bigs who can play the lob game well, they aren't particularly common.

[Nuntius]

They need Capela to back in his 2021 form. Healthy, catching lobs, playing good defense, etc. Hell, even 2024 form would be a boost. And they need a real scorer next to Trae, not some trash like Dejounte Murray.

Risacher in the second half was pretty solid, and Dyson was quite solid. But they need scoring support, because Trae isn't the guy you want to hit up for high-volume scoring. He doesn't have the tools to do it reliably, particularly when the 3 isn't falling. Which is unsurprising, really, given his size and his lack of an ATG mid-range game like Chris Paul.

Capela is toast as high level starter, imo. He can help off the bench but OO is their starter now and he needs to keep developing.

I do agree about the offensive help, though. I'm biased, of course, but they need to follow Indiana's blueprint. Trae is a gifted playmaker so surround him with play finishers.

I agree that Capela is toast, that's why I skipped him entirely and said they need a bigger big to replace Okongwu in the lineup.

Okongwu is a good player but he's listed at 6'8", that won't cut it as the starting center on a Trae team.

His draft profile lists him at 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan but I see your point. As tsherkin said, he is doing a good job so far. A bigger guy could help, obviously, but he'd also need to be able to contribute offensively.

[Jamaaliver]

The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

[Jamaaliver]

If Trae Young truly wants to contend in Atlanta, he'll need to leave some money on the table so Atlanta can pursue other top vets.

In his position, I'm not sure if I'd:

• sign a short term extension to place pressure on the organization to be aggressive
• or just take the security of a long term contract.

From Bobby Marks at ESPN: