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Sounds like Schlenk is signaling early on that his 15th roster slot is up for auction.

Not seeing why that would have anything necessarily to-do, though, with keeping the #6 or not. Of course, you could theoretically package taking on a bad contract with the #6, and perhaps get a significant asset back.

I know it’s smart to remain flexible just in case, but Schlenk doesn’t think we have a chance at Giannis does he? A lot can change in a season but there’s no one else that really screams “max” to me in that pool. Would rather not have another year with money tied up in players who aren’t helping us win. Then again, I’ll admit I’m an impatient fan.

This article sounds different from Hood's tweet regarding taking on a Parson's type contract.

Expect Schlenk to consider all options in the months leading up to the draft, whether it’s to move up, down or completely out.

“We’ve proven that we’re not afraid to move one direction or the other in the draft, so we’ll see what options are out there on that front,” Schlenk said. “If we stay at six, we’re going to take the player we feel like is going to be the best player long term. If we create competition with some of our other young guys because they play the same position, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s healthy. You can never have too many good players. That’s not a problem.”

Schlenk reiterated his stance will be to pick the best player on the organization’s draft board, if the Hawks end up keeping the pick, come Oct. 16. There are a few players who might be in play for the Hawks who make sense for them to consider: Maccabi Tel Aviv’s (Israel) Deni Avdija, Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton and Florida State’s Devin Vassell. Each of those players should be able to crack the rotation, no matter what the team decides to do in free agency or through trades.

The plan for the past two seasons has been for the draftees to play early and often and play through their mistakes. That likely changes this next season. Coach Lloyd Pierce already declared that Atlanta will be a playoff team next season. Stating that comes with some pressure on himself and the organization to reach that goal. Gertz said earlier this week that her “prayer” is this is the last season the Hawks will be picking in the lottery for the foreseeable future.
“We feel like we have a good young core of guys,” Schlenk said. “Obviously, we got more aggressive this past trade deadline and took on some players who had money, which is something we hadn’t done in the past. I think it’s fair to say that we do want to see our group start to improve on the court as far as wins and losses go. I wouldn’t necessarily say or put the pressure on them or anyone that it’s playoffs or bust, but we do want to see our group improving on the floor for sure.”

And this:
?s=20

I think they want a player that can actually play.

Don't think there will be many buyers this year. I expect Hawks to draft one of Hayes, Haliburton, Okoro, Okungwo

To the point of the OP...

Keep an eye on Gordon Hayward's situation. That's the quintessential perfect opportunity for Schlenk to pounce. What I mean is, if his injury appears to have impact on what Hayward can possibly contribute in BOS next season... and/or Ainge just decides he has to look for other options given his general propensity for injury throughout his career... Schlenk can offer to absorb the $34m for 2020-21 in exchange for some asset.

But in that situation, even if Hayward can't play for most or even all of the season, you still get two appreciably important benefits in addition to whatever that asset would be--i.e., his veteran presence that can serve Reddish and Hunter well, and a toehold on getting him to stick around and be a key veteran rotation player as he heads into his 30s.

what about just signing Danilo Gallinari?

Add Lamarcus Aldridge to the list of possible cap space rental options.

https://airalamo.com/2020/08/15/san-antonio-spurs-outgrown-aldridge/

I would love for TS to bring in a little vet help on short deals and absorb a bad contract (1 year) and a FRP. Let the young talent develop another year with some FA help for a PO push and keep accumulating picks and keep his cap flex going into 21 FA

New name. James Johnson ($16m).

Why not shoot for Ben Simmons. Move Collins in the deal, and take Harris back.

Add Bertans in FA.

Chandler Parsons (and a few others over the last few years) = cap space rental in exchange for some asset.

Schlenk's comment Thursday night made clear that he's prepared to repeat that yet again, whereas some of us... or at least, I did.. thought we were probably now beyond that phase.

Within the context of a specific conversation about the #6 pick, it would be natural to translate the mention of "taking on a contract" to mean, "we can afford to move the pick and take on a [large] contract if we're also getting something we want in return."

Whether that "something we want in return" would also happen to be the player/talent attached to that large contract, I suppose, could be argued, and may even be correct.

But conventionally speaking when you're talking about that, you don't use the phrase "taking on a contract"... you instead say, "we're in a place financially where we can afford to consider adding veteran talent," or similar.

My inclination is that there was implicit invitation to other teams to make an offer for the #6 pick, and if ATL has to absorb one year of James Johnson et al in the deal, if it means we also get KAT ( ), then we can do that.

I just see a higher likelihood that the cap space gets rented when all is said and done.

At the same time I say that, it's also true that months ago, I was among the first to assert (insofar as I'd read at the time) that Schlenk had effectively laid out his master plan for us, if one was willing to piece together and try to make sense of his words over the extent of his tenure. And he is, indeed, at that point where we should expect that he's efforting hard to land that Iggy-like talent to add to the "young core." That's why he's kept this salary cap space sacred, only signing guys on limited deals that would not impinge on his capacity at this very moment in the timeline to lay claim to a veteran high-tier talent.

It's just that wording he chose, in combination with how complicated everything is right now--NBA and the ecology within which the NBA exists--that I say I see a higher likelihood that that Iggy-like acquisition will wait another year. Had he not used that term "contract," and instead used a term that is innately about talent, I'd be much more optimistic.

Am I putting too much into one quote? I've said it could be interpreted differently above... and so, at least I've acknowledged that I may be. I'm content that I'm being fair in my analysis.

_s_t_u_r_t_ wrote:Chandler Parsons (and a few others over the last few years) = cap space rental in exchange for some asset.

Schlenk's comment Thursday night made clear that he's prepared to repeat that yet again, whereas some of us... or at least, I did.. thought we were probably now beyond that phase.

If this is the statement in question, I certainly read it differently. It sounds to me like he's looking for another Clint Capela situation, where he's AGAIN willing to trade a draft pick for an established player on a long term contract.

This makes more sense as we have publicly stated that our goal is to compete for a playoff spot and Schlenk has already stated we might be adding older players from this point.

_s_t_u_r_t_ wrote:I just see a higher likelihood that the cap space gets rented when all is said and done.

You seem to be ignoring what has explicitly been stated and reading too much into a single quote...

Travis Schlenk wrote:I think we’re committed to it. Obviously our pick is going to be a top-10 pick, so obviously we’ll keep that, unless some great offer came our way, something we couldn’t turn down.

Travis Schlenk wrote:What we’d like to do, ideally, is add guys to our core that we feel like are still growing, maybe not 20-year-olds, 21-year-olds like we have, but maybe guys in their mid-20s who still have room to improve and are maybe coming off their first contract, or that we feel like would be good additions to our group, and try to increase our depth a little bit.

April 2020