What direction do the Hawks go now? (Offseason Meditations)

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks “Bet On The Character Makeup” Of Trae Young, Dejounte Murray

The Hawks‘ trade for Dejounte Murray was about finding a backcourt partner who fits well alongside Trae Young, general manager Landry Fields said in an interview with Mark Medina of NBA.com.

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“We bet on the character makeup of Trae and Dejounte,” Fields said. “Both of those guys want to win, and will do what it takes to win. They need that because their roles will be a lot different than they were last year, from both respective teams. As long as they’re able to do what it takes, Coach [Nate McMillan] then comes in and is able to get creative with how they’ll operate. From a front-office standpoint, we’ll determine if we need to inject more here, here or here. Hopefully, all three of those are working at the same time.”

Regarding the trade that sent Kevin Huerter to the Kings in exchange for Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick:

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“Justin Holiday gives us more length around the perimeter and an ability to shoot from the perimeter. That opens things up for Trae and Dejounte with an ability to space the floor. That gives room for Clint [Capela] and John [Collins] as they’re working down in the interior. Hopefully, De’Andre [Hunter] continues to take the steps that he needs.

Regarding John Collins, who has been the subject of frequent trade speculation since re-signing with the Hawks last offseason:

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“This isn’t one of those, ‘We have to get off of John.’ That’s absurd. There’s a misinterpretation of that. You always think of the player from that standpoint because he is constantly in talks. You try to make sure with him that we check in and make sure he’s doing all right. It’s something where it’s less about wondering if he’s the long-term fit and it’s more about the fact that he gets called on a lot. The moment those calls come up, people talk. Then all of a sudden, here we are in the media with this thought that John Collins is not wanted by the Hawks.”

Regarding the status of McMillan, who reportedly could be on the hot seat if Atlanta gets off to another slow start:

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“Coach has been great. After the season, as a staff, [president of basketball operations] Travis [Schlenk] had a chance to sit with him. He was working with him throughout the offseason. It’s his renewed approach to things and his viewpoints. He was leading by taking ownership and responsibility. It was good to see. You need that. I know he’s excited about the group. But he’s also hungry to get back to where we are, too. He’s been here day in and day out in Vegas. He’s been in the gym at our facility. He’s always been there.”

Hoops Rumors

[jayu70]

One thing I'm frustrated we didn't address: Hawks still don't have a top line wing defender to guard the big, scoring, Power Forwards in the East.

Whether it's defending Durant, or Tatum, or Giannis, or Siakam -- this team still needs a high end nuisance like a PJ Tucker to slow down elite 4s.

Who would youliike to sign in that role.

[Jamaaliver]

One thing I'm frustrated we didn't address: Hawks still don't have a top line wing defender to guard the big, scoring, Power Forwards in the East.

Who would you liike to sign in that role.

I was hoping for Kyle Anderson, PJ Tucker, Nic Batum, Markieff Morris, Otto Porter, Jr. or Kessler Edwards in Free Agency.

Ben Simmons, Royce O'Neal, Harrison Barnes or Jae Crowder in trade.

EJ Liddell, David Roddy, Kendall Brown or Josh Minott in the 2nd round of the draft.

Any two of these names would be useful throughout the season and in a playoff series.

[CP War Hawks]

One thing I'm frustrated we didn't address: Hawks still don't have a top line wing defender to guard the big, scoring, Power Forwards in the East.

Who would you liike to sign in that role.

I was hoping for Kyle Anderson, PJ Tucker, Nic Batum, Markieff Morris, Otto Porter, Jr. or Kessler Edwards in Free Agency.

Ben Simmons, Royce O'Neal, Harrison Barnes or Jae Crowder in trade.

EJ Liddell, David Roddy, Kendall Brown or Josh Minott in the 2nd round of the draft.

Any two of these names would be useful throughout the season and in a playoff series.

The older FA vets are making too much, and they were predestined for their perspective teams. I wouldn't feel good if the Hawks were to go 10m into tax territory for Anderson or Tucker. I think Harkless is comparable to most of those guys when it comes to defending someone like Tatum.

The best bet for a big wing defender will always be via trade or draft. I feel fairly decent replacing the overall defense of Huerter and Gallo to Harkless and Holiday.

[Jamaaliver]

The bench seems thin, but this is clearly a stronger starting 5 than last season.

A lot depends on the health of Hunter, Bogdan and Onyeka.

Ranking Every NBA Starting Lineup

13. Atlanta Hawks

Starting Five: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, John Collins and Clint Capela

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Young, Hunter, Collins and Capela put up a 55.9 effective field-goal percentage when sharing the court last season, blitzing opponents for 116.7 points per 100 possessions. And if you know anything about the Atlanta Hawks' makeup, you're ready for the "but they couldn't stop anyone on the other end" coda to that sentence.

Because the Young-led Hawks were such a potent scoring outfit, they still won the minutes with those four players on the floor. And with Murray joining the party, that positive differential is sure to increase.

It says a lot that the 21.1 points and 9.2 assists Murray averaged last season with the Spurs are almost afterthoughts in the analysis of how he'll help the Hawks. Atlanta already has Young, and while an excellent secondary playmaker never hurts, Murray's true value will come on defense. That's where he'll stalk passing lanes (league-leading 2.0 steals per game in 2021-22) and put the clamps on matchups that used to salivate at the prospect of exploiting Young.

If Collins isn't traded, his three-point shooting will be a key. Murray is developing gradually in that area, but he's still a low-volume long-range shooter for a guard and hit only 32.7 percent of his treys last season. Collins is at 37.6 percent for his career, excellent for a power forward, and his spacing will be key whenever Murray and Capela share the court.

Hunter needs to get back on the path he was walking two years ago before injuries interrupted his progress toward becoming one of the better young three-and-D wings in the game. Entering his age-25 season, he'll have every chance to dial in on that limited role with Murray sparing him from too much responsibility as a playmaker.

Bleacher Report

[CP War Hawks]

One of Trae or Murray will play alot with the bench. I think it was one of the basis for the trade. Murray solves the backup role while playing starter minutes. Guys like him are prone to injury with the effort given on both ends however.

Holiday
DJM
Bogi/JH - it's a matter of who is playing well, Bogi runs either hot or cold.
OO
Kaminsky

That 2nd unit helps save last seasons main 4 core guys to finish games, potentially less wear and tear to end the season which was an issue.

[Jamaaliver]

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Atlanta’s offseason has proven one thing: the team is committed to building around Young.

Murray gives the Hawks an immediate defensive boost on the perimeter. His size, wingspan and IQ allow him to match up with the league’s best scorers.

In 2022, Murray led the league in steals and was one of the NBA’s best off-ball pests. Murray can impact Atlanta’s team defense as a primary or help defender.

Heading into next season, Atlanta will be facing a gauntlet of superstar perimeter players from contenders in the Eastern Conference. Murray will give the Hawks a fighting chance against these offensive stars.

[saloonyk8]

What still needs to happen to get out from the luxury tax? I think we're 1.5M over.

I'm so glad we didn't trade JC for spare parts. I only want to deal him off we can get a good defensive wing in return and that may require patience.

[saloonyk8]

For the third straight year our ceiling depends on hunter and OO being healthy and taking a step forward

[Years90Suns]

For the third straight year our ceiling depends on hunter and OO being healthy and taking a step forward

This year OO for sure will have a step forward.
The health of Hunter depends on things well done and luck, probably.
I do not know if a player who has been forced to play too early a couple of times will be well enough for the rest of his career. Let's hope he can play 82 games for 15+7 and his great defense.

Fives of Trae-Murray-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Collins could be seen to have a different type of game. But another big SF would be desirable.

[D21]

For the third straight year our ceiling depends on hunter and OO being healthy and taking a step forward

This year OO for sure will have a step forward.
The health of Hunter depends on things well done and luck, probably.
I do not know if a player who has been forced to play too early a couple of times will be well enough for the rest of his career. Let's hope he can play 82 games for 15+7 and his great defense.

Fives of Trae-Murray-Bogdanovic-Hunter-Collins could be seen to have a different type of game. But another big SF would be desirable.

Now that there's Murray here, Hunter won't be the guy defending on the best scorer every night. It will happen when it's a SF/PF, but when it's a SG, Murray will take care on that, so his defense can improve by having less effort to do, and it would be time to test him as second offensive option, because we can't just have PG+SG scoring a lot, we need more option and having a good offensive SF would be great.
It doesn't have to on every games, but as long as Hunter has a good matchup, I want them to give him a lot of shots, at least for a 20 games stretch, and see what happens

I really hope he can be 100% now, but like you said, several times returning too early in one year... I don't know the consequences.
Just hope that even if he can't reach it's full potential, he can play at 80% of it but healthy.

[tbhawksfan1]

I think that we should also see more OO and a bit less Capela. Nothing against Capela, but OO is more versatile on D and has way more offensive potential. Plus Capela seems to have fatigue related injuries every year. Let OO grow. Give JJ some play. We have one of the deepest teams in the league and we need to see Nate use it to our advantage

[HMFFL]

I think that we should also see more OO and a bit less Capela. Nothing against Capela, but OO is more versatile on D and has way more offensive potential. Plus Capela seems to have fatigue related injuries every year. Let OO grow. Give JJ some play. We have one of the deepest teams in the league and we need to see Nate use it to our advantage

The depth part is a good point because we now have depth that I trust. We have some solid veterans that our young talent can learn from. Let's just hope our young Hawks like OO and Johnson develops into realible talents.

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[Jamaaliver]

Observers still don't see us as a 50-win squad?!?

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[saloonyk8]

The East is going to be tough, can anyone honestly say we're definitely better than Bos, Mil, Miami, Philly?

I would like our chances against Miami and Philly in a series but that's because I'm a fan... No way we are near Milwaukee or Boston level

[jayu70]

Working!

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[jayu70]

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[Jamaaliver]

Hawks' Biggest Win and Loss of the 2022 Offseason

Biggest Win: Acquiring Dejounte Murray

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Though there'll be kinks to work out between Murray and Trae Young, both of whom ranked in the top five in total time of possession last season, the Atlanta Hawks got significantly better by adding a top-flight backcourt defender who can run the show with or in relief of Young.

Murray is coming off a breakout season with averages of 21.1 points, 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.0 steals. The Hawks paid handsomely in the form of Danilo Gallinari, three first-rounders and a swap, but there aren't a lot of 25-year-olds out there with near-triple-double averages and shutdown chops on D. If the Hawks can work through the ball-sharing dynamics their new backcourt presents, ideally by weaponizing Young off the ball more than in the past, this move will pay off nicely.

Biggest Loss: Diminished Wing Depth

De'Andre Hunter is still around, and he'll reprise his role as defensive stopper on the wing. But Kevin Huerter, whose average matchup difficulty wasn't far behind Hunter's last season, is gone via trade to the Sacramento Kings. Delon Wright took a few turns against larger guards and smaller forwards last year as well, and he signed with the Washington Wizards in free agency.

Murray will handle the toughest assignments in the backcourt, but the Hawks will need some wing D from rookie AJ Griffin, second-year forward Jalen Johnson or some other source to make up for what they lost. Maurice Harkless and Justin Holiday, both added in the Huerter trade, are stopgaps at best.

Bleacher Report

[CP War Hawks]

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Starting to really like this kid. Thinking out loud, but would it have been more beneficial to give him a two way deal and then a long term deal. Something like what was suppose to happen with Cooper and his timeline if he actually progressed of course.

[Jamaaliver]

Dre looks healthy going into a contract year...

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