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Will the Hawks ever commit to Shelvin Mack as a back-up PG?

From watching him last year and limited action this year, I think he is capable of being a good one.

He always had the handle and the scoring prowess and the size. He made strides as a passer since he was in college.

With Teague and Dennis there really isn't space for Mack to be a backup.

I can't think we'll "commit" to anyone on the bench as a true #2 - especially at the PG position. Between Lou, Schröder, and Mack, they all bring something that the others don't. Now, Schröder has definitely had some disappointing play of late, but it's hard to call it more than a bad (perhaps "horrid" would be a better word here...) stretch when you look at the big picture. I suspect that all of them will see minutes as backup PG going forward.

Building off this, it's interesting to look at how Coach Bud is using the bench. Only 1 player (Jared Cunningham) hasn't seen a game where he's played at least 16 minutes. If you raise the bar to 20 minutes, only 3 more players are added (Lou-Will who has only been active for 1 game due to injury, Jenkins who somehow found his way into the doghouse until recently, and Elton Brand - for full disclosure, Ayon played 19:51 for his high mark, but I rounded up). Part of it is that the bench hasn't been a strength, but I think Coach Bud likes to play matchups with the bench more so than many of his contemporaries and has no problem with playing the "hot hand" if one of the players is having a good game (ala Mack last night versus the Knicks). Sure, maybe it's just that Coach Bud is letting the players determine the rotation, but for whatever reasons, I do think this pattern will continue going forward.

He should be the 1st guard off the bench against the Heat. Rather or not it keeps up, only time will tell.

uga_dawgs24 wrote:With Teague and Dennis there really isn't space for Mack to be a backup.

I seen Schroder, he's horrible right now, he looks like he doesn't know what to do and he can't shoot and he doesn't look to shoot and everybody knows it.

The Hawks bench right now is bad and I think they need somebody that can score.

theatlfan wrote:I can't think we'll "commit" to anyone on the bench as a true #2 - especially at the PG position. Between Lou, Schröder, and Mack, they all bring something that the others don't. Now, Schröder has definitely had some disappointing play of late, but it's hard to call it more than a bad (perhaps "horrid" would be a better word here...) stretch when you look at the big picture. I suspect that all of them will see minutes as backup PG going forward.

Building off this, it's interesting to look at how Coach Bud is using the bench. Only 1 player (Jared Cunningham) hasn't seen a game where he's played at least 16 minutes. If you raise the bar to 20 minutes, only 3 more players are added (Lou-Will who has only been active for 1 game due to injury, Jenkins who somehow found his way into the doghouse until recently, and Elton Brand - for full disclosure, Ayon played 19:51 for his high mark, but I rounded up). Part of it is that the bench hasn't been a strength, but I think Coach Bud likes to play matchups with the bench more so than many of his contemporaries and has no problem with playing the "hot hand" if one of the players is having a good game (ala Mack last night versus the Knicks). Sure, maybe it's just that Coach Bud is letting the players determine the rotation, but for whatever reasons, I do think this pattern will continue going forward.

I agree with this.

I think Bud is doing a fine job and against the Knicks the second time, I liked the fact that he benched Schroeder after Schroder coughed up 4 TOs in 9 minutes.

I like how he let the bench play if they are hot, not many coaches do that.

Hawks sure are interesting for once this year, I live in the A and I been watching them on Sportssouth since I moved here. Very entertaining team.

Mack is playing better than Schroeder right now, but he doesn't fit into our long term plans. At 24 he's not a prime developmental player, and his hot start not withstanding he doesn't really have a proven track record.

I'm all for letting him prove me wrong, but even then if he plays well I'd rather try to move him as trade bait than as a core piece.

^ We're too committed to Teague and Schröder and teams know it. It'd be a true bonus to be able to trade Mack but I don't think teams would offer anything. Besides, why trade him while Schröder's suffering growing pains?

azuresou1 wrote:Mack is playing better than Schroeder right now, but he doesn't fit into our long term plans. At 24 he's not a prime developmental player, and his hot start not withstanding he doesn't really have a proven track record.

I'm all for letting him prove me wrong, but even then if he plays well I'd rather try to move him as trade bait than as a core piece.

As parsons states, I don't think we'd ever look to actually get anything of value for Mack. In his BCS, I think we'd be hoping for something along the lines of a Wil Bynum - a competent backup or #3 PG on a cheap contract that we can keep around for years. I couldn't consider that a core piece although not necessarily an expendable one either. A cheap backup steeped in our philosophies would be too valuable to simply add as a throw-in, but not valuable enough to be anything more than a throw-in for the other team.

I think it's way too early for us to think that we'll be able to get some value for Mack, he's had one good game. Remember a few years ago when Tracy Mcgrady had that great game against the Heat in Miami and then just disappeared for the rest of the season? Let Shelvin string together a few good games if he can, then we can talk trade.