Hawks -- State of the Franchise

With Atlanta knowing it had no control of its 2025 selection, the Hawks entered the 2024-25 season with no incentive to lose, regardless of how good the likes of Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey project to be. The Hawks were free to focus entirely on winning. Now the front office won't make panicked deadline deals to worsen the team in a chase for better offseason lottery odds.

Instead, the Hawks can get down to business and attempt to make a legitimate push toward the playoffs and a possible return to the Eastern Conference finals, which they made in 2021.

The streamlined thinking between front office, coaching staff and players might also be what the doctor ordered for the relationship between the organization and All-Star Trae Young. Having a full season to put the noise aside and focus on the actual games should give both sides a better idea of whether they want the partnership to last. So far, nothing indicates that won't be the case.

Yes, a lot needs to get done before the Hawks are legitimate contenders. And perhaps they do make the call that pivoting off Young is ultimately the right way to go.

But that won't happen before they give this team a real chance. And for that chance to be taken seriously, players have to buy in. So far, they have. Young seems almost relieved that his offensive burden has been lessened, just as Johnson seems almost eager to take on a larger responsibility.

If that dynamic persists, the Hawks could lay the foundation for a very interesting future.

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Post #187 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 12:05 am

I'm honestly not at all worried. (Yet.)

I'm liking what I see on the court, just need a few breaks in the health/scheduling departments.

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Post #188 » by **HMFFL** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 12:10 am

Jamaaliver wrote:Snakebit

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We always have something going on that sets us back. The Atlanta Spirit being another one. There needs to be stability.

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Post #189 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 3:08 pm

LOVE THIS!!!!

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jayu70 · Post #190 » by **jayu70** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 5:53 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:LOVE THIS!!!!

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Full article here:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5910719/2024/11/11/hawks-rebuilding-trae-young/

How Hawks are rebuilding around Trae Young by taking the ball out of his hands

The Hawks are a different team this season.

After the front office reshaped the roster to give coach Quin Snyder a group of athletic playmakers early in their career, Snyder finally has the personnel to match his preferred style of play. But with Young back as the unmistakable leader once again, leadership, the coaching staff and the players are doing things differently.

“I think this is an exciting time for Trae in the arc of his career,” Synder said. “Any time a team or a player has success at doing something well, you hit a point where you’re forced to adapt and you need help with that adaptation process.”

What Snyder wants is for his star to get rid of the rock, early and often. The (Trae) Young Hawks 2.0 want to minimize his time with the ball, so there is more unpredictability to their offense.

“Something the Hawks haven’t utilized before is Trae’s gravity,” new teammate Larry Nance Jr. said. “Him being on the court means 1.5 guys need to know where he is at all times defensively. On the ball, that’s fantastic. But what I think we’re starting to explore some more is using his gravity for others to make plays. We’re excited to start using decoy Trae Young a little bit.”

Whether Young is spacing to the corners or running without the ball, defenders tend to face-guard him tightly, taking themselves out of help mode. When he gets the ball with a head of steam, defenders who help have to be more aggressive in forming a wall. Young can pass through and around those walls, which is taking the pressure off of him to run the show at all times.

raleigh · Post #191 » by **raleigh** » Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:51 am

Beachfront property in Kansas, but people will line up to buy nonetheless.

Must be nice to get paid millions but face little accountability.

Post #192 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Nov 13, 2024 2:40 am

raleigh wrote:Beachfront property in Kansas, but people will line up to buy nonetheless.

Must be nice to get paid millions but face little accountability.

If you pay attention to more than just the final score, you'll see that the foundation of success is there.

Process and system over results.

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Post #193 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Nov 13, 2024 3:43 am

raleigh wrote:Beachfront property in Kansas, but people will line up to buy nonetheless.

Must be nice to get paid millions but face little accountability.

This is the framework of what Quin has been trying to build for the last 18 months...

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Post #194 » by **HMFFL** » Wed Nov 13, 2024 3:54 pm

The Boston win was impressive. It proves that Trae is still an issue because we lose that game if he's on the court. Inrealize that's difficult for people to realize.

When Bogi and Hunter return, things will be even more promising. The issue will be Trae until he has an elite big man inside but more so a generational talent..lol

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Geaux_Hawks · Post #195 » by **Geaux_Hawks** » Wed Nov 13, 2024 7:20 pm

HMFFL wrote:The Boston win was impressive. It proves that Trae is still an issue because we lose that game if he's on the court. Inrealize that's difficult for people to realize.

When Bogi and Hunter return, things will be even more promising. The issue will be Trae until he has an elite big man inside but more so a generational talent..lol

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How so? We've lost games where Trae is stellar, while everyone else is subpar. If anything, it shows that we need to see more Nance/OO in general and featuring DD/JJ as a duo to supplement when Trae is on the bench.

raleigh · Post #196 » by **raleigh** » Wed Nov 13, 2024 9:41 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:Process and system over results.

That's cute, as long as you ignore that the "process" in the NBA doesn't begin until you have an All-NBA talent to build around.

No system can overcome a lack of top-tier talent.

First things first.

CP War Hawks · Post #197 » by **CP War Hawks** » Thu Nov 14, 2024 2:05 am

Geaux_Hawks wrote:
HMFFL wrote:The Boston win was impressive. It proves that Trae is still an issue because we lose that game if he's on the court. Inrealize that's difficult for people to realize.

When Bogi and Hunter return, things will be even more promising. The issue will be Trae until he has an elite big man inside but more so a generational talent..lol

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How so? We've lost games where Trae is stellar, while everyone else is subpar. If anything, it shows that we need to see more Nance/OO in general and featuring DD/JJ as a duo to supplement when Trae is on the bench.

I mean I'm not sure where "if Trae is gone, all our troubles will go away" stance is coming from with him. Hawks needed all three centers to play really well, multiple missed free throws from Brown down the stretch, a fortunate tip in winning bucket from OO, and finally a heavily contested mid ranger from Brown with the Hawks luck, he hits 7.5 out of 10 tries.

So the main jist is the Hawks need great center play to win tough games. They obviously aren't getting that, it's serviceable but not high level play.

jayu70 · Post #198 » by **jayu70** » Thu Nov 14, 2024 2:55 am

CP War Hawks wrote:
Geaux_Hawks wrote:
HMFFL wrote:The Boston win was impressive. It proves that Trae is still an issue because we lose that game if he's on the court. Inrealize that's difficult for people to realize.

When Bogi and Hunter return, things will be even more promising. The issue will be Trae until he has an elite big man inside but more so a generational talent..lol

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How so? We've lost games where Trae is stellar, while everyone else is subpar. If anything, it shows that we need to see more Nance/OO in general and featuring DD/JJ as a duo to supplement when Trae is on the bench.

I mean I'm not sure where "if Trae is gone, all our troubles will go away" stance is coming from with him. Hawks needed all three centers to play really well, multiple missed free throws from Brown down the stretch, a fortunate tip in winning bucket from OO, and finally a heavily contested mid ranger from Brown with the Hawks luck, he hits 7.5 out of 10 tries.

So the main jist is the Hawks need great center play to win tough games. They obviously aren't getting that, it's serviceable but not high level play.

We had guys with career nights in a 1-point win. Let me see a repeat performance. We beat Boston inside and killed them with Offensive rebounds.

atlantabbq99 · Post #199 » by **atlantabbq99** » Thu Nov 14, 2024 7:41 am

Hawks need to fix their 3pts shooting and then should be able to get some Ws.

Post #200 » by **HMFFL** » Thu Nov 14, 2024 11:04 am

Geaux_Hawks wrote:
HMFFL wrote:The Boston win was impressive. It proves that Trae is still an issue because we lose that game if he's on the court. Inrealize that's difficult for people to realize.

When Bogi and Hunter return, things will be even more promising. The issue will be Trae until he has an elite big man inside but more so a generational talent..lol

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How so? We've lost games where Trae is stellar, while everyone else is subpar. If anything, it shows that we need to see more Nance/OO in general and featuring DD/JJ as a duo to supplement when Trae is on the bench.

Watch him play and look over his numbers.

He's a sinkhole for any team unless they have a generational talent at the 5 and Trae would still be frustrating to play with.

We already know his preferred teams but Landry Fields can't move him because of the lack of value he has. Trae and Landry Fields are playing the waiting game together.

We'll see who's right as things proceed.

You want to see more Nance and OO? I love Nance, always have, he's the dawg every team needs, but he's a career role player.

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