ATL's Best Franchise - 2014 Edition

[Jamaaliver]

I ran a thread similar to this one last year. I'll try to make it an annual thing.

2013 was a year of big changes and lingering disappointment for the city's sports landscapes.

We began the year with real hopes of our football team making a run at a SuperBowl appearance. And ended the year with that same team intact and tied for last place in the division. Somehow, the Falcons managed to experience two seasons worth of disappointment into a single calendar year. The team did get its first playoff victory of the Dimitroff/Smitty/MRyan era, did make it to its first NFC Championship Game in more than a decade. A close loss to old rivals, the San Fran 49ers, in the NFC Championship Game in January led to optimism that the team might be able to get over the hump with just a few tweaks and make another deep playoff run. Alas, injuries, poor drafting and the ill-fated release of key veterans all led to the worst regular season record since the Petrino/Vick debacle of 2007. The Falcs do have top ten picks in each round of the NFL draft and a shot at acquiring not just a difference maker, but a young superstar in the first round. Hope, in the face of disappointment, remains. Also worth mentioning, Owner Arthur Blank negotiated a new stadium deal, much to the chagrin of voters, taxpayers and Atlanta Braves brass.

The Braves were expected to make it back to the playoffs by a number of pundits/analysts, but surprised even the most ardent fans by winning the division over their heavily (over?)hyped rivals, the Washington Generals...Expos...I mean Nationals. They acquired the Upton brothers and garnered a fair amount of hype/excitement of their own as they made an historic start to the season. Longtime Brave Brian McCann had a memorable farewell season as he provided veteran leadership and served as a steadying force all year. We also saw J Heyward rebound from a disappointing start to the season and watched Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman become two of the best young players at their position. The Braves suffered from a number of injuries, losing Tim Hudson for the year and Jason Heyward for a long stretch at seasons' end. The excitement from the start of the year, however, faded down the stretch as the Bravos cooled off by September, falling from the best record in the NL and losing in the 1st round of the playoffs. Longtime vets like McCann and Hudson were allowed to leave as GM Frank Wren focused on: developing our young players, salvaging the career of BJ Upton (who now stands as the biggest contract in team history), and trading the increasingly useless Dan Uggla. In 2013, the Braves premiered one of the most exciting young upstarts in recent memory in rookie Evan Gattis, longtime GM and Manager Bobby Cox was voted into the Hall of Fame, and the franchise made plans to move into a new stadium in Cobb County in 2017. Busy year for these guys.

The Hawks absolutely had the most change in 2013, hiring a new Head Coach but parting ways with a longtime building block and face of the franchise. Yep, many fans were heartbroken by the departure of Zaza Pachulia as 2nd year GM Danny Ferry went in a new direction personnel wise. The loss of Pachulia was further exacerbated by the Hawks decision to allow Josh Smith to leave in Free Agency, as well. The 9th year vet and hometown hero had spent his entire career in a Hawks uni. But Coach Bud and Free Agent acquisition Paul Millsap have been more than able to help turn the page to a new era of Hawks basketball as the new leadership focused more on solid, fundamental efficient play over the high flying but erratic ways of the past. The Hawks made the playoffs last season, losing in the first round again. This year's team seems likely to make the playoffs in a weakened Eastern Conference, but the loss of AL Horford to injury has fans once again pondering the big man's long-term future with the team. Sharpshooter Kyle Korver re-signed over the summer, and set a new ALL Time NBA record for consecutive games with a 3-pter in an Atlanta uniform. This has been a real source of pride in very trying times for the fanbase and has brought the team some national recognition as he extends the streak. The Hawks drafted some highly touted foreign prospects and maintained cap flexibility for the future. So even as the present is sometimes difficult to watch, the future seems bright.

Also, the Atlanta Dream made the WNBA Finals....so there's that.

Now, with all that in mind: Which team are you most excited by? Which team has the brightest future both short and long term? Which team makes a deep postseason run first? Which is closest to winning a championship? Which GM/Coach combo instills the most confidence in you? -

see last years thread at http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&p=34159999

[Jamaaliver]

I'm pretty torn, Falcons had such a terrible year and struggled with the basics of football: blocking and tackling. Tony G is gone.

But the coaching staff is back intact.

They have stability, a top 10 QB, the best WR corps in football and an owner committed to winning it all.

Hawks still lack talent on the wing and lack size in the frontcourt. Schroeder has looked awful and Bebe has been hurt. Jenkins does not seem to be leaving a positive impression on the coach. Luckily, the option to swap picks with Brooklyn at least leaves us with some options. Millsap and Teague have been playing like All-Stars. Korver remains the best 3-pt shooter in the league....and J-Smoove is off disappointing, torturing, (electrifying?) another team's fan base. The ownership group has managed to stay silent and not trip over themselves recently. This, plus a solid regular season, should assist with Free Agent recruiting in the future.

Braves have talent, but no real ACE starting Pitcher, our money is tied up for the forseeable future. But young players like Freeman and Heyward (plus all the youngsters in the farm system) keep feeding hope and affordable young players to the big league team. Wren has proven to be a proactive, effective GM, but he has been known to take chances that blow up in our faces. Also, his hands are tied by the suits over at Liberty Media. Perhaps a greater amount of revenue from the new stadium deal will allow us to spend more on Free Agents. (Hey, I can dream, right?)

NOTE: Sorry for the length of the post. I dread having to read a novel just to get to a poster's point. Been meaning to make this for weeks.

You guys, however, be as detailed and lengthy as you like.

Also, congrats on getting married, UGA!!! Read it in another thread in passing, but never got to mention it!

[ATL Boy]

I went with the Falcons: a very bad season saw Atlanta's Football team finish in the cellar of the NFC South but that was mostly due to awful O-Line play and crippling injuries (Julio Jones comes to mind). Looking at the talent level of the Falcons, and the fact that they're so high up in the draft, they should be able to be Superbowl contenders again next season. Also, they'll have a lot of money to spend in the offseason: they have around $7 million left over from last year, Tony Gonzalez coming off the books adds another $7 million (We'll miss you Tony!!!!), and the number of cuts we'll make (Most notably Asante Samuel, to get his $5 million off the books) should give us near $25 million to work with in Free Agency, before the re-signings of course.

The nucleus of this football team will be intact next year and for years to come: with Corey Peters and Jonathan Babineaux being the best players who's contracts are expiring (I say, re-sign Peters and let the aging Babineaux go), Roddy might restructure his contract and there have been reports that we'll extend Julio and Roddy this off-season. All that being said, with the draft and FA, the Falcons should be able to fill their needs at TE, O-Line, and D-Line. A healthy Falcons roster should be poised to make a superbowl run next year, and let's not forget how great and professional their front office is: led by Arthur Blank and GM Thomas Dimitroff, along with a great coaching staff led by 2 time coach of the year Mike Smith.

The Falcons got the nod over the Braves for me because of one reason: money. The Atlanta Braves signed a 20 year TV contract which pays them $10-20 million per year, which is pretty laughable compared to other teams: the Phillies recently signed a TV deal which will pay them a total of $2.5 billion, and the Dodgers make $280 million per year from their TV deal. The Braves' deal doesn't expire for another 14 years! Since there's no salary cap in baseball, big money teams such as the Dodgers and Yankees turn other teams into their own personal farm system, and since the Braves don't have the big money or any rich owners who care more about winning, they'll get victimized of this (look at this year when they couldn't re-sign Hudson or Mccan). Nonetheless, the Braves are experts at developing home-grown players, the problem will be re-signing them once their initial contracts expire (most notably: Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, and Craig Kimbrel, all of whom will expire before the Braves earn some money from moving to their new Cobb County stadium.) The Braves are still World Series Contenders thanks to the fine work of GM Frank Wren.

The Hawks? Well, they're on the right track. Danny Ferry has come in and corrected a lot of mistakes made by his predecessors. They'll have cap flexibility, again, in two short years and we don't really have any bad contracts that are unmovable. Schroder and Noguera have potential to be good starters in this league in a few years, and Schroder could be an All-Star if he realizes his potential. Then, of course, there's the Nets' pick, which could be our greatest asset: a top 8 pick in this draft will be golden, but that's looking pretty unlikely with how bad the East is. In Ferry we trust, he's building a truly professional organization and is putting us on track to be a title contender (it can't be done overnight), and hiring Coach Bud, who was the right hand man of arguably the Greatest Coach in NBA History, was the perfect move for this organization.

The Dream? Good job on making it to the WNBA finals and for almost giving this city its first champion since the Braves did it in 1995 (Atlanta's only champion ever). Angel Mccoughtry is very good.

[parson]

Congratulations, uga!

[parson]

I voted for the Falcons.

[Jamaaliver]

Updating this to reflect the Braves signing their entire core to long-term deals. Freeman for 8 years. Kimbrel for 5 years. Teheran to 6 years.

The biggest question mark regarding that team is Manager. Freddy G is solid, but I'd have been more than okay had the team made a move to pursue Terry Francona after his year on ESPN.

But I love the fact that Frank Wren is so aggressive as opposed to just sitting back and doing nothing.

I love the fact that Dimitroff has the Falcons making bold moves in hopes of acquiring truly great players. Tony Gonzales. Julio Jones. When we're rumored to be going after a big name player...we get the job done.

Ferry....made a great hire as coach. But we're still waiting to see some tangible benefits to his rebuild in year two. So far the results have largely been like the last couple of regimes: Slightly above avg players starring on slightly above avg teams.