2025 Season discussion and analysis part I

I believe we are in a position in which we have a good number of players with talent and at the fine age to even improve as players ans as a group.
Also I believe we have the financial flexibility to enter new transactions that could add depth and more quality to the roster. Or veteran guys.
I feel we are as we were some years ago, may be three, with Reddish, Bogdanovic, Bey and Hunter all signed to good contracts and with CC, Fernando, etc. Also Trae and Huerter.
Then all that kind of disappeared and we did not get the return that we should have received, either in trades or in quality playing time.
Let's hope this time we can count on Mann, Bufkin, LeVert (I hope he stays) and the rest of the bench guys and also see how the FO manages to add quality, may be by using the contracts of Nance, Niang, CC and the draft picks.
Although I very much like these players off the bench, I believe we lack some athleticism, even if Gueye develops into a solid player.

Post #29 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Mar 25, 2025 2:41 pm

Rebound Mound wrote:I feel we are as we were some years ago, may be three,

with Reddish, Bogdanovic, Bey and Hunter all signed to good contracts

and with CC, Fernando, etc.

Also Trae and Huerter.

Then all that kind of disappeared and we did not get the return that we should have received, either in trades or in quality playing time.

I don't believe all those players were here at the same time, brother.

Post #30 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Mar 25, 2025 5:42 pm

Hawks were surprisingly damn good this season against winning teams.

Spoiler:

jayu70 · Post #31 » by **jayu70** » Tue Mar 25, 2025 5:46 pm

jayu70 wrote:
Rebound Mound wrote:
Jamaaliver wrote:This front office has become sneakily good in the past 9+ months...

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I am really happy, as a fan, about the situation they have put us in so we can have a more competitive roster next year. I hated seeing Hunter go, now that he was playing great and with no injuries. LeVert and Mann are good players that fit in from the beginning, but Hunter is a 6-8 SF who can play PF in today's game and was a sure thing from the bench.

For what I see, CC, Nance and LeVert all finish their contracts in 3 months, so that means 49 million free, but 30 of them will go to JJ's new agreement. If LeVert and Nance stay, which I would like, and we S&T Capela, that would mean 12 players plus the one/ones who could arrive for CC.

We have like 4/5 players that should go, although all of them had good stints with us (Matthews, Roddy, Wallace) and I do not whether we should take the long road of waiting for the development of Gueye, Barlow, JJ, OO... or we should be more aggressive and ship Niang, CC and Levert or Mann and use the cap space we will have to get a second top player so we can maximize Trae's tenure with us.

Our youngs are promising (JJ, OO, Gueye, Barlow), but Trae will be 27 for next season, entering his prime, supposedly.

I don't think all 3 players we traded for will be on the team to start next season. Mathews is also expiring, Roddy was traded, Wallace is on a 2way contract, Mo's contract is not guaranteed, Barlow's is a team option, Vit's is a partial guarantee, you need to account for the two drafts picks (currently #14 and #23), so we will have technically have 2 slots to fill. We don't have any cap space but we have space under the Luxury Tax.

Here is a breakdown of where we are for next season:

Hawks 2025-26 Salary
Salary Cap $154.6 million
Luxury Tax $187.9 million
1st Apron $195.9 million
2nd Apron $207.8 million

Exceptions available:
MLE $14.1 million
DJ TPE $25.2 million
TM TPE $13.1 million
AJ TPE $3.7 million

11 Players with a contract (*partial guarantee/non guaranteed/TO):

Trae Young $45.9 mil
Jalen Johnson $30 mil
Terence Mann $15.5 mil
Onyeka Okongwu $15 mil
Zaccharie Risacher $13.1 mil
Georges Niang $8.2 mil
Dyson Daniels $7.7 mil
Kobe Bufkin $4.5 mil
*Vit Krecji $2.3 mil
*Mohammed Gueye $2.2 mil
*Dominick Barlow $2.2 mil

CONTRACT TOTAL for 11 players $146.6 million

Pick #14 $4.4
Pick #23 $2.9
Two Draft picks total $7.3

CONTRACT TOTAL for 13 Players/picks - TOTAL $153.9

Hawks will have ~$34 million to spend AND stay under the Luxury Tax.

Free Agents: Clint Capel, Caris Levert, Larry Nance Jr, Garrison Mathews

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Post #32 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Mar 25, 2025 11:26 pm

Spoiler:

Rebound Mound · Post #33 » by **Rebound Mound** » Wed Mar 26, 2025 12:26 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:
Rebound Mound wrote:I feel we are as we were some years ago, may be three,

with Reddish, Bogdanovic, Bey and Hunter all signed to good contracts

and with CC, Fernando, etc.

Also Trae and Huerter.

Then all that kind of disappeared and we did not get the return that we should have received, either in trades or in quality playing time.

I don't believe all those players were here at the same time, brother.

You are right.
When typing I was almost sure I was making a mistake.
Either it was Huerter-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Reddish in 2020/2021 or Hunter-Bogdanovic-Bey-Johnson in 2023.

Either way, we had four forwards with good contracts. I can see a similar situation now and we should be very precise in what we do, because we could be really near to having a great roster for years and close to achieving big things...

Post #34 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 26, 2025 2:16 pm

Read on Twitter

Post #35 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 26, 2025 2:24 pm

He's the 21st Century Scottie Pippen...

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Post #36 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 26, 2025 3:38 pm

And he'll actually expect to be paid like a star this summer...

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Post #37 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 26, 2025 4:59 pm

Read on Twitter

Geaux_Hawks · Post #38 » by **Geaux_Hawks** » Thu Mar 27, 2025 3:09 pm

Rebound Mound wrote:
Jamaaliver wrote:
Rebound Mound wrote:I feel we are as we were some years ago, may be three,

with Reddish, Bogdanovic, Bey and Hunter all signed to good contracts

and with CC, Fernando, etc.

Also Trae and Huerter.

Then all that kind of disappeared and we did not get the return that we should have received, either in trades or in quality playing time.

I don't believe all those players were here at the same time, brother.

You are right.
When typing I was almost sure I was making a mistake.
Either it was Huerter-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Reddish in 2020/2021 or Hunter-Bogdanovic-Bey-Johnson in 2023.

Either way, we had four forwards with good contracts. I can see a similar situation now and we should be very precise in what we do, because we could be really near to having a great roster for years and close to achieving big things...

I don't view our current mix of forwards/wings similar to our early years group.

For one, JJ is absolutely the best of both groups, and actually showcases the versatility we need around Trae.

Zacch is starting to showcase a similar type of versatility as well. This was something none of the previous showed.

Add in Dys being an elite, All NBA defender already with a good bit of offensive upside, and I see a group that is for sure the core group to a great roster around Trae.

Huerter, Bogi, Hunter, Reddish, Bey were all lacking in too many other areas and it is starting to show that Landry actually did a better job of fulfilling Schlenks own plan to build around Trae. Because of that, Ressler may be willing to actually spend money on keeping all of these guys around now, unlike before. We certainly need to start adding more W's to the W/L column, but this team is primed for a breakout year in 2025/2026 with Quin continuing to develop the young talent this off-season.

jayu70 · Post #39 » by **jayu70** » Thu Mar 27, 2025 9:35 pm

Geaux_Hawks wrote:
Rebound Mound wrote:
Jamaaliver wrote:

I don't believe all those players were here at the same time, brother.

You are right.
When typing I was almost sure I was making a mistake.
Either it was Huerter-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Reddish in 2020/2021 or Hunter-Bogdanovic-Bey-Johnson in 2023.

Either way, we had four forwards with good contracts. I can see a similar situation now and we should be very precise in what we do, because we could be really near to having a great roster for years and close to achieving big things...

Huerter, Bogi, Hunter, Reddish, Bey were all lacking in too many other areas and it is starting to show that Landry actually did a better job of fulfilling Schlenks own plan to build around Trae. Because of that, Ressler may be willing to actually spend money on keeping all of these guys around now, unlike before.

The Bogi and Hunter extensions, trading for Bey, and offering him an extension (though he declined, thank you) were all done after Landry was made the GM.

Geaux_Hawks · Post #40 » by **Geaux_Hawks** » Fri Mar 28, 2025 2:19 am

jayu70 wrote:
Geaux_Hawks wrote:
Rebound Mound wrote:
You are right.
When typing I was almost sure I was making a mistake.
Either it was Huerter-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Reddish in 2020/2021 or Hunter-Bogdanovic-Bey-Johnson in 2023.

Either way, we had four forwards with good contracts. I can see a similar situation now and we should be very precise in what we do, because we could be really near to having a great roster for years and close to achieving big things...

Huerter, Bogi, Hunter, Reddish, Bey were all lacking in too many other areas and it is starting to show that Landry actually did a better job of fulfilling Schlenks own plan to build around Trae. Because of that, Ressler may be willing to actually spend money on keeping all of these guys around now, unlike before.

The Bogi and Hunter extensions, trading for Bey, and offering him an extension (though he declined, thank you) were all done after Landry was made the GM.

Yes, but Schlenk drafted Huerter, Hunter, Cam, and traded for Bogi. Bey was the only acquisition Schlenk didn't make. With hindsight in mind, the extensions was mostly kicking the can down the road.