Post-Mortem: 2022-23 Atlanta Hawks

[ElectricMayhem]

Murray arrived this year but couldn't really help the Hawks fly higher.

Here is the data from previous years' Post-Mortems:
2020-21:

Spoiler:

Post-Mortem Results I: GM Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results II: Coaching Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results III: Performance Compared to Expectations
Post-Mortem Results IV: Rising/Treadmill/Waning

2021-22:
2021-22 Post Mortem Final Summary

Team Name: Atlanta Hawks
Record at Time of Death: 41-41 (.500) (1st Round Loss)
Head of Front Office: Landry Fields (2022-)
Coach: Quin Snyder (2023-)

Offensive Rating: 7th
Defensive Rating: 22nd
Rebound %: 16th
Turnover %: 3rd

Front Office: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Trae Young ($40m)
John Collins ($25m)
Clint Capela ($21m)
De'Andre Hunter ($20m)
Bogdan Bogdanovic ($18m)
Dejounte Murray ($18m)
Onyeka Okongwu ($8m)
Saddiq Bey ($5m)
AJ Griffin ($4m)
Jalen Johnson ($3m)
Bruno Fernando ($3m)
Garrison Matthews ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed)
Vit Krecji ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed)
Tyrese Martin ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed

Team Options:

Player Options:

Free Agents:
Aaron Holiday
Trent Forrest
Donovan Williams

Dead Money:

Previous Post-Mortems:
30. Houston Rockets
29. San Antonio Spurs
28. Detroit Pistons
27. Charlotte Hornets
26. Portland Trail Blazers
25. Indiana Pacers
24. Washington Wizards
23. Orlando Magic
22. Utah Jazz
21. Dallas Mavericks
20. Toronto Raptors
19. New Orleans Pelicans
18. Chicago Bulls
17. Oklahoma City Thunder
16. Brooklyn Nets
15. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
12. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Atlanta Hawks

[durden_tyler]

Explore for trade for Trae or Murray- that smallish backcourt just won't work. You'll get more value from the former so prioritize that.

[BostonCouchGM]

Fire, Keep, As expected, Treadmill

They badly need to overturn the entire roster moving forward with just Dejounte, Griffin, Hunter, Johnson and Okwungo. Let them win or lose with the young guys and see where they stand after next season. My guess is they'll be try hards that win 30 games but at least they'll get their kids some playing/development time and can look forward to a high draft pick. Spinning their wheels with guys making bank like Trae, Bogs, Collins and Capela is a dead end. Snyder is the right coach for the kids. Find a new GM that knows what he's doing.

[Upperclass]

They hired Quin Snyder just to fire him in 3 seasons

[Asianiac_24]

You won’t get fair value for Trae, so IMO try to build around his weaknesses. Gobert would fit the team nicely IMO, keep Hunter and get another 3 and D player at the four. Basically the Utah Jazz but upgraded from Mitchell to Trae/Murray

[Johnny Tomala]

Keep, keep, as expected, treadmill.

[Jellybeans]

Get someone at 5 or 4 who can actually give you around 20 points a game

[tsherkin]

They need to change how much they rely on Trae Young. He doesn't have the ability to score effectively in the playoffs, and that hurts. Also, they need to tighten up their defense. They got CRUSHED by Boston's offense. Not even their defense, but their offense. And they don't have the guns to fight against something like that with Trae offering up 9/28 performances.

Dunno what they can do about it, though, which is the challenge. No real incentive for the FO to do much and certainly not time for a panic move.

[Rich Michmond]

Will John Collins finally be traded next season? Also, sooner or later Capela might hit the trading block as Okongwu may claim the starting spot in the not-too-distant future.

[Larry_Russell]

After watching trae the last couple of games atlanta should give him to boston.

[CP War Hawks]

Will John Collins finally be traded next season? Also, sooner or later Capela might hit the trading block as Okongwu may claim the starting spot in the not-too-distant future.

Capela being moved is the most plausible now that I sit and think it over. QS has a history of his center being non effective vs 5 out lineups. He had to relive all over again vs Bos. Trade Capela while his value is in good standing and try to get a big that can shoot.

Lopez is really ideal being the pseudo back up to OO. Collins and OO can play 4 next to him effectively. Just thinking about it, he would be awesome pick and popping or rolling with Trae.

[jasonxxx102]

Based on the poll the hawks were super predictable and basically everybody is in agreement lol

[jasonxxx102]

Will John Collins finally be traded next season? Also, sooner or later Capela might hit the trading block as Okongwu may claim the starting spot in the not-too-distant future.

I think the problem is the value mismatch between what the Hawks think and the rest of the league. I don’t think anybody really thinks Collins is any good

[76ciology]

I’d trade Dejounte. What good is he? He’s not an efficient scorer nor is he stopping anyone on defense.

[makubesu]

Why didn’t the Hawks just keep throwing the inbounds at the Celtics ****s until they surrendered? Bad coaching I guess.

I think this team will get better. Murray and Trae are good pieces and they just need a third guy and to keep building on length. Snyder will keep them in the mix for awhile.

[cupcakesnake]

The offense was good again this year but not nearly as good as it has been relative to the league. The league caught up with them offensively, and Trae Young's struggled with his shot for most of the season. They got the defense out of the putrid zone into the "normal bad" territory. A team with Trae Young playing big minutes is never going to be a top 10 defense, but they need to pull it up to average if they want to get back to winning in the playoffs.

- The Trae/Dejounte experiment was a meh. They both put up numbers but didn't play together well or help each other out? This isn't really new for the Hawks. They've never been connected. They've always had a ton of firepower, but whenever anyone is doing anything it has to be their turn, whether that's Bogbog or Trae or Hunter.

- Speaking of "their turn", you know who's turn it never is? John Collins. He has absolutely rotted in Atlanta. His usage and FGA have declined for 5 straight seasons. Like 3 seasons ago we all knew John Collins needed a new team but the Hawks were like: Nah! We'll just keep him, play him minutes, and never let him do anything and watch him become utterly useless as a player. Like what is going on? They start him, never let him play pick & roll, don't use him in any other role. They basically just ask him to stay tf out of Trae Young's way. He's not an asset since his play has been dropping off, so they now have to attach value just to get rid of him. He's on the books for 3 more seasons! This sucks for everyone involved. Get this man to Dallas, Indiana, Memphis, Phili, Phoenix, Miami, Detroit.... but mostly just anywhere but Atlanta.

- I thought they actually looked pretty good in the playoffs over those final 4 games. They figured out how to score on Boston and put them on their heels. The offense worked. THey just couldn't stop Boston from giving it back and then some.

- Low key a nice wing rotation forming here. Hunter, Bey, Griffin. Add the young frontcourt guys (Okongwu and Jalen Johnson) and the Hawks are keeping the back of the cupboard well stocked.

- That's important because this team is capped out forever and ever. They paid everyone until 2026 or 2027. Dejounte will be looking for a big contract after next season. Capela will be a free agent in 2026 and be 30. I could see them moving on from Capela as soon as this summer. It's tough though. Okongwu is already a better defender, but he's not a lob threat and you kind of need that with Trae. Capela boosts their offense as a screener/diver more than people realize. He's not just a finisher off Trae either, he can run the pick & roll with any of those perimeter guys. The Hawks have a 121 Ortg with Capela on the floor without Trae!

- Their core players are all in their mid-20s, so if the FO likes this core, they should be building for the near future. They have a 2-year timeline to build this team into something closer to a contender. But my guess is they don't like this core and they'll be looking to shuffle things up. I don't think they'll be shy about trading anyone if they can find a good deal.

[hugepatsfan]

I think they have a good collection of talent but it doesn’t seem well put together. Murray and Young are a questionable pairing as your top guys because it’s two smaller guards. Bogi is a good player but a tough wing to play when you’re already committed to smaller guards who can be hunted on switches by wing players. Investing lots of money in Capela while a good young prospect in Okongwu is forced to take a marginal role seems like poor allocation of resources. Collins is talented but doesn’t feel like his combination of skills really fits well within a team framework that works for both him and everyone else.

Feels like they could make things work with a few player for player trades if the right opportunities are out there.

[Rainwater]

They hired Quin Snyder just to fire him in 3 seasons

Truth. They will keep firing coaches until they admit what the real problem is.

[Upperclass]

Hunter is soft, injury prone and inconsistent.. they could use an actual defending, tall wing

[Clav]

Keep, keep, as expected, rising

The Hawks were within one game of .500 +/- almost the entire season. It's pretty incredible, I think from late Dec to one of the final games of the season the team was right on the middle line. One streak could have changed this team's positioning a lot, but they were good for two games, avg for 2 games, good win, bad loss, etc all year long.

Picking up that G5 win @ Boston again shows that sometimes, Young is going to win a game by himself, even if he's picked on as a poor defender. Bottom line... Young needs to be a better defender, there's got to be a way to be more effective. It's frustrating to see ATL hemorrhage points and then go cold offensively, that isn't going to win in the end.

Trades incoming this offseason I'm sure something is going to shaken up.