Rebuild reality and doin it right

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[tbhawksfan1]

This Hawks offseason and Schlenk's work has me humming an old classic from Kool and the gang ... There's a party going on aound here, a celebration to last throughout the year. Celebratation

For your Hawks happy danse

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=there%27s+a+party+going+on+around+here&view=detail&mid=3100BE9BC4FF8DFEF43A3100BE9BC4FF8DFEF43A&FORM=VIRE&PC=HCTS&cc=FR&setlang=fr-FR&PC=HCTS&cvid=ad6f536115884a4481353d328528fbe9&qs=BT&nclid=7425C70F69F7DBD9C4C92DF91583AE65&ts=1606282557113

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Code: Select all

Young’s frustration with the Hawks’ combined 49-100 record over his first two seasons might have accelerated their rebuilding process, but nothing they did this offseason should significantly handicap them moving forward. In fact, they might have expertly toed the line between improving their short- and long-term outlook.

Whenever the Hawks decide to flip the all-in switch, they’ve quietly assembled the chips they’d need to get into trade negotiations for any star. They now have great salary-matching contracts in Gallinari, Bogdanovic and Capela, and they could dangle any combination of Collins, Huerter, Reddish, Hunter or Okongwu along with future draft picks as the main pieces going back in return.

Teams need to take a step forward at some point, and the Hawks chose the perfect offseason in which to do so. With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the NBA’s salary cap, the Hawks were one of the few teams with legitimate spending power, and they took advantage by landing Gallinari, Bogdanovic and Dunn on reasonable deals.

If the Hawks were locked into this core moving forward, it would be fair to question whether they rushed into their pivot toward contention. They aren’t, though. They still have plenty of flexibility moving forward. And getting talented players who fit well with your current core is the entire goal of free agency...The Hawks might be hitting fast-forward on their rebuild, but they are by no means a finished product. If anything, they’ve now given themselves even more pathways to contention down the line.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

The Hawks face unique complications; The Hawks went 20-47 last season with a 21-year-old All-Star. [Trae] Young has already shown frustration with his weak supporting cast. That can lead to a toxic team culture. Losing is miserable, especially to a competitor like Young.

But realistically, Young – unless he breaks from precedent – will sign a max contract extension next summer that grants Atlanta control through age 26 or 27. It is far more important he’s satisfied with the organization then than now. If the Hawks commit too many resources to winning now, they could be depleted/trending in the wrong direction as Young approaches unrestricted free agency in five or six years.

Atlanta’s best method of getting players who’ll be helpful then is securing high draft picks. The Hawks already have a deep group of B(-ish)-level prospects...But what’s the confidence level that collection of players produces a sufficient supporting cast in five or six years? The Hawks could use more time in the lottery, and this team wasn’t yet necessarily bound to surge ahead. Even Young has deficiencies – defense, ball security – that inhibit winning.

But, again, another losing season would have been miserable. The star player didn’t want that. Ownership didn’t want that.

So, Atlanta used its massive cap space to build around the 22-year-old Young with veterans. Now, the Hawks might suddenly be too deep. Competing is rewarding. Winning is satisfying. One more time: Losing is miserable.

Yet, these moderate short-term gains carry long-term risk. And for what? Better matchups in a high-variance play-in tournament and no assurance of making the playoffs?

I’m concerned about the Hawks’ vision. But they didn’t go overboard by trading their first-round pick. In free agency, Atlanta did well enough to get some benefit of the doubt.

The Hawks are better. They can figure out the rest later.

Offseason grade: B-

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

Per Travis Schlenk this morning on 92.9 The Game radio:

"We're close, for 3 quarters we're right there, we have 4-5 minutes stretches where things don't go our way. 3 or 4 guys playing well and another guy not. We have to find ways to put the pieces together"....Travis Schlenk.

We're not where we want to be but there's a long way to go," says Schlenk. "We're 2.5 games out of fourth in the East, it's not like we're 10 games back. We're right there in the mix, going to get some guys back in the next two to three weeks to help. [We] just got to weather the storm, play hard every single night, and just get a couple wins between now and when we get guys back."

Full Interview here: https://omny.fm/shows/92-9-the-game-morning-show-w-john-and-hugh/travis-schlenk-with-john-and-hugh-39

Read on Twitter

?s=20

The Hawks were down two with 3:29 left in the game, and the team’s most important player did not attempt a shot. The team’s second-most important player attempted one shot during that stretch, with the Hawks down 11 with 11 seconds to play. The latter player, John Collins, attempted one shot in the final 14 minutes of the game, in which he was 8-of-13 before the final meaningless shot attempt..................Young said he felt like the Knicks were being aggressive in their pick-and-roll defense and dropping back toward the rim to take away lobs, layups and floaters. He also said the Knicks were trying to make him kick out to shooters to make shots. Collins didn’t have an explanation for why he attempted only one shot in the fourth quarter.

“I just try to play within the flow of the offense, you know what I mean?” Collins said. “Go with what Coach is running and with what’s working for the team. I try not to think about shot attempts. It’s not really in my mental (headspace) when I’m playing. Obviously, it’s something, maybe, I could shoot a couple more times but nothing I’m stressing about. It’s really about team effort and just trying to win the game. Whatever that may be.”

What is very apparent is De’Andre Hunter is sorely missed. The Hawks are 2-7 in games Hunter has missed. When Hunter isn’t on the floor, the Hawks have a 115.2 defensive rating, which would rank as second worst in the NBA, ahead of only Sacramento. They miss having a secondary creator on the floor with Young to limit those double-teams and traps he’s consistently seeing. They miss his ability to lock up the opposing team’s best perimeter player.

“When you miss a key player, you are a different club,” Pierce said. “You’re going to have different guys step up and be effective in their way. Clint is our anchor of the defense. Dre’s probably our most solid and consistent defender. You take that out and it’s the same deal. I know all of the metrics and analytics when Trae comes out of the game, your offense isn’t as good. It’s not rocket science. He’s pretty damn good offensively, so you’re going to miss that when he’s not on the floor, which is what we miss when Dre is not on the floor on the defensive end and on the offensive end. You’re asking other guys to do something in a different capacity and in a greater capacity. You’re not asking him to be Dre, but you’re asking other guys to step up, which is always the next-man-up mentality. We will miss Dre when he’s not on the floor, as we miss (Rajon) Rondo and his leadership when he’s not out on the floor and (Bogdanovic Bogdanovic) and his shooting and leadership when he’s not on the floor. We’re just asking other guys to fill those roles in their capacity and play to the best of it.”

Collins summed up his feelings on where things stand with the Hawks.

“Basketball is a very random game, an imperfect game.”

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[tbhawksfan1]

A true work of art. Hold the course. The only thing that this team needs is a few offseason tweeks and maturation...and health

For now we can just savor this incredible run by our young Hawks team

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks make amazing turnaround between 2015 and 2021 conference finals



Hawks president-coach Mike Budenholzer and general manager Wes Wilcox were not long ago disagreeing on whether or not to rebuild as Atlanta declined from its peak – a 60-win season that culminated with a run to the 2015 Eastern Conference finals.

Just six years later, the fully rebuilt Hawks are back in the Eastern Conference finals.

It’s an incredible breakthrough.

Especially because Budenholzer – who wanted to stay the course – won that 2017 debate with Wilcox.

The Hawks hired Travis Schlenk as general manager and didn’t even offer a contract to Millsap, who signed with the Nuggets. Atlanta slowly but surely rebuilt. By 2017, the Hawks’ four 2015 All-Stars – Millsap, Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver – were gone. By 2019, everyone from that 2015 team was gone.

Atlanta made Trae Young its centerpiece and drafted John Collins, Kevin Huerter and De'Andre Hunter. The Hawks then accelerated their ascent by trading for Clint Capela before the 2020 trade deadline and signing Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari last offseason.

For Atlanta to completely turn over its 2015 conference-finals roster and return to the conference finals just six years later is special. Only the Suns (1984–1989) have completely changed a conference-finals roster then returned to the conference finals more quickly since the NBA-ABA merger

Here are the teams that made the conference finals, built an entirely different roster then reached its next conference finals most quickly since the merger:



The Hawks lost their best two 2015 players, Horford and Millsap, for no return in free agency. This Atlanta team was mostly built from scratch.

As he undertook this project, Schlenk made one gaffe. He said the Hawks didn’t want to dip down 2-3 years in a row. For competitive people, that much losing sounds miserable. Well, Atlanta lost 60% of its games his first three seasons.

But, really, that was a short slump.

The payoff has come exceptionally quickly.

NBC Sports

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter