Atlanta Hawks 2015 Off-Season Thread

[PandaKidd]

I just think that DMC was a 2 million dollar player, who WE turned into a 8-10 million dollar player. I have confidence that we can let him go and replace him (Spurs do this all the time with role players).

Same with Millsap. I love Paul and his work ethic/attitude, but im not paying him more than 15+ million. Again, Id take Lopez/Chandler instead and give up the offense to gain rim protection and rebounds.

I suspect what will happen is we will test the BIGs that are out there and if we cant get anyone, we will rush to sign millsap/dmc to keep it all consistent. Im just not sure that is a winning formula (as far as championships are concerned).

I do not think that bringing this team back 100% healthy is beating a 100% healthy CLE team.

[PandaKidd]

I can understand the sentiment on rebounding bigs but they are not an end all be all. We just saw Golden St. go to a small-ball lineup and completely neutralize Cleveland's bigs.

I knew that was coming, and while I agree with you, they have one of the elite small ball teams in the league.

Curry/Klay/Iggy is vastly superior than anything we REMOTELY have available. Teague/Korver/DMC? Not even close.

But, having said that, they still ran
Festus Ezeli 6'11'' 255 lbs

He had a HUGE impact on those games, where is our Ezeli? Where is our Speights? Our Bogut? Playoffs are all about matchups of course. In 1 series youll need a big, in the next you need speed and athleticism.

We need young athletic bigs and wings. You really think DMC/Teague/Korver can stop KI and LBJ going forward???? DMC/Millsap are going to start getting REALLY old really fast.

[Jamaaliver]

JR Smith went insane because we had no one to guard him or Shumpert and DMC was getting ABUSED by Lebron. They didnt STEAL that game.

We NEVER looked better than CLE at any point in the entire series except for the beginning of Game 3 before AH got tossed.

Well said, my man.

And what's frustrating:

CLE gets to add two All Star level players to that playoff roster next year. Not to mention a full training camp with Mozgov, Shumpert et al.

We got swept by a team playing only at about 75% capacity. Just wait till they're at full strength again. Also...Miami is coming.

Next season should be much tougher...but super fun.

[ATLHawksfan21]

I can understand the sentiment on rebounding bigs but they are not an end all be all. We just saw Golden St. go to a small-ball lineup and completely neutralize Cleveland's bigs.

I knew that was coming, and while I agree with you, they have one of the elite small ball teams in the league.

Curry/Klay/Iggy is vastly superior than anything we REMOTELY have available. Teague/Korver/DMC? Not even close.

But, having said that, they still ran
Festus Ezeli 6'11'' 255 lbs

He had a HUGE impact on those games, where is our Ezeli? Where is our Speights? Our Bogut? Playoffs are all about matchups of course. In 1 series youll need a big, in the next you need speed and athleticism.

We need young athletic bigs and wings. You really think DMC/Teague/Korver can stop KI and LBJ going forward???? DMC/Millsap are going to start getting REALLY old really fast.

Ezeli played 14 minutes over the final 3 games. Speights played 2, Bogut played 0.

I'm not trying to say that we are as deep as Golden St. right now. I am saying that we need to get to that point. I am in favor of keeping Millsap due to his early bird rights. Let Millsap walk and we can only sign players up to the cap. Or we could sign players up to the cap and then sign Millsap and go over the cap which won't hurt us in future years due to the cap increasing significantly. Millsap may not be the absolute perfect answer but he still has a ton of talent and it would be a mistake to let him walk.

[ATLHawksfan21]

J.R. hit some very tough shots in Game 1. Let's not act like all of his shots came on wide open looks due to him making moves past our defenders. If that was the case, he would have stayed hot throughout the ECFs.

[ATLHawksfan21]

I just think that DMC was a 2 million dollar player, who WE turned into a 8-10 million dollar player. I have confidence that we can let him go and replace him (Spurs do this all the time with role players).

Same with Millsap. I love Paul and his work ethic/attitude, but im not paying him more than 15+ million. Again, Id take Lopez/Chandler instead and give up the offense to gain rim protection and rebounds.

I suspect what will happen is we will test the BIGs that are out there and if we cant get anyone, we will rush to sign millsap/dmc to keep it all consistent. Im just not sure that is a winning formula (as far as championships are concerned).

I do not think that bringing this team back 100% healthy is beating a 100% healthy CLE team.

We will still be the 2nd best team in the East. I would rather hold consistent and try to recapture the magic that we showed throughout a great deal of this season than blow it up with these wild dream scenarios that likely won't work. Any one suggesting to trade Teague have lost their marbles.

Kyrie, Love, Varejao, these guys have been injury prone their entire career. There's no guarantee that they are healthy this time next year. The league is also supposed to start testing for HGH and Lebron is 100% on some stuff. We saw how he struggled at the beginning of this year before he took his 2 week needle vacation to Miami.

I will take my chances with this team with better health + minor improvements over the majority of the major roster adjustment ideas that have been proposed in this thread.

[PandaKidd]

I can understand the sentiment on rebounding bigs but they are not an end all be all. We just saw Golden St. go to a small-ball lineup and completely neutralize Cleveland's bigs.

I knew that was coming, and while I agree with you, they have one of the elite small ball teams in the league.

Curry/Klay/Iggy is vastly superior than anything we REMOTELY have available. Teague/Korver/DMC? Not even close.

But, having said that, they still ran
Festus Ezeli 6'11'' 255 lbs

He had a HUGE impact on those games, where is our Ezeli? Where is our Speights? Our Bogut? Playoffs are all about matchups of course. In 1 series youll need a big, in the next you need speed and athleticism.

We need young athletic bigs and wings. You really think DMC/Teague/Korver can stop KI and LBJ going forward???? DMC/Millsap are going to start getting REALLY old really fast.

Ezeli played 14 minutes over the final 3 games. Speights played 2, Bogut played 0.

I'm not trying to say that we are as deep as Golden St. right now. I am saying that we need to get to that point. I am in favor of keeping Millsap due to his early bird rights. Let Millsap walk and we can only sign players up to the cap. Or we could sign players up to the cap and then sign Millsap and go over the cap which won't hurt us in future years due to the cap increasing significantly. Millsap may not be the absolute perfect answer but he still has a ton of talent and it would be a mistake to let him walk.

Didnt Speights go crazy in Game 1? Ezeli last night had a HUGE impact. Its not usually in the stat sheet. Again its about matchups. They went small but they still had rebounding bigs coming off the bench. Pero/Brand , good bye.

I guess my hesitation is if we resign Millsap I look at that as a "stay the course" move. I guess if they announced Robin Lopez at the same time as a backup C I would be completely ok with it. We need size , athleticism , and I feel the same with DMC. Signing DMC is possible DEPENDING on the price. 8-10 million? Good bye. Ill trust Bud finds someone to replace him.

[PandaKidd]

I just think that DMC was a 2 million dollar player, who WE turned into a 8-10 million dollar player. I have confidence that we can let him go and replace him (Spurs do this all the time with role players).

Same with Millsap. I love Paul and his work ethic/attitude, but im not paying him more than 15+ million. Again, Id take Lopez/Chandler instead and give up the offense to gain rim protection and rebounds.

I suspect what will happen is we will test the BIGs that are out there and if we cant get anyone, we will rush to sign millsap/dmc to keep it all consistent. Im just not sure that is a winning formula (as far as championships are concerned).

I do not think that bringing this team back 100% healthy is beating a 100% healthy CLE team.

We will still be the 2nd best team in the East. I would rather hold consistent and try to recapture the magic that we showed throughout a great deal of this season than blow it up with these wild dream scenarios that likely won't work. Any one suggesting to trade Teague have lost their marbles.

Kyrie, Love, Varejao, these guys have been injury prone their entire career. There's no guarantee that they are healthy this time next year. The league is also supposed to start testing for HGH and Lebron is 100% on some stuff. We saw how he struggled at the beginning of this year before he took his 2 week needle vacation to Miami.

I will take my chances with this team with better health + minor improvements over the majority of the major roster adjustment ideas that have been proposed in this thread.

you realize the only reason we are having this conversation is due to a MAJOR ROSTER shakeup right

Ferry dismantled the entire roster in 30 days.

Major moves are complete undoings, every team upgrades. CLE had a MAJOR roster shakeup in the middle of a season. Howd that turn out?

[ATLHawksfan21]

I just think that DMC was a 2 million dollar player, who WE turned into a 8-10 million dollar player. I have confidence that we can let him go and replace him (Spurs do this all the time with role players).

Same with Millsap. I love Paul and his work ethic/attitude, but im not paying him more than 15+ million. Again, Id take Lopez/Chandler instead and give up the offense to gain rim protection and rebounds.

I suspect what will happen is we will test the BIGs that are out there and if we cant get anyone, we will rush to sign millsap/dmc to keep it all consistent. Im just not sure that is a winning formula (as far as championships are concerned).

I do not think that bringing this team back 100% healthy is beating a 100% healthy CLE team.

We will still be the 2nd best team in the East. I would rather hold consistent and try to recapture the magic that we showed throughout a great deal of this season than blow it up with these wild dream scenarios that likely won't work. Any one suggesting to trade Teague have lost their marbles.

Kyrie, Love, Varejao, these guys have been injury prone their entire career. There's no guarantee that they are healthy this time next year. The league is also supposed to start testing for HGH and Lebron is 100% on some stuff. We saw how he struggled at the beginning of this year before he took his 2 week needle vacation to Miami.

I will take my chances with this team with better health + minor improvements over the majority of the major roster adjustment ideas that have been proposed in this thread.

you realize the only reason we are having this conversation is due to a MAJOR ROSTER shakeup right

Ferry dismantled the entire roster in 30 days.

Major moves are complete undoings, every team upgrades. CLE had a MAJOR roster shakeup in the middle of a season. Howd that turn out?

What does that have to do with anything. The roster was a dump then.

Are you trying to compare that team to the most successful team in Hawks history? People need to learn patience. Rome wasn't built in a day and it's rare that a team wins it all in their first trip in this league.

Cleveland traded away their garbage and future picks for players. I'm all for giving that a shot but that's a little different than trading away key pieces. I don't recall Cleveland trading away Love or Irving.

[ATLHawksfan21]

I knew that was coming, and while I agree with you, they have one of the elite small ball teams in the league.

Curry/Klay/Iggy is vastly superior than anything we REMOTELY have available. Teague/Korver/DMC? Not even close.

But, having said that, they still ran
Festus Ezeli 6'11'' 255 lbs

He had a HUGE impact on those games, where is our Ezeli? Where is our Speights? Our Bogut? Playoffs are all about matchups of course. In 1 series youll need a big, in the next you need speed and athleticism.

We need young athletic bigs and wings. You really think DMC/Teague/Korver can stop KI and LBJ going forward???? DMC/Millsap are going to start getting REALLY old really fast.

Ezeli played 14 minutes over the final 3 games. Speights played 2, Bogut played 0.

I'm not trying to say that we are as deep as Golden St. right now. I am saying that we need to get to that point. I am in favor of keeping Millsap due to his early bird rights. Let Millsap walk and we can only sign players up to the cap. Or we could sign players up to the cap and then sign Millsap and go over the cap which won't hurt us in future years due to the cap increasing significantly. Millsap may not be the absolute perfect answer but he still has a ton of talent and it would be a mistake to let him walk.

Didnt Speights go crazy in Game 1? Ezeli last night had a HUGE impact. Its not usually in the stat sheet. Again its about matchups. They went small but they still had rebounding bigs coming off the bench. Pero/Brand , good bye.

I guess my hesitation is if we resign Millsap I look at that as a "stay the course" move. I guess if they announced Robin Lopez at the same time as a backup C I would be completely ok with it. We need size , athleticism , and I feel the same with DMC. Signing DMC is possible DEPENDING on the price. 8-10 million? Good bye. Ill trust Bud finds someone to replace him.

Again, I agree that we need a 3rd big. I just think it will be a huge mistake to dump Millsap in replace of a Chandler or R. Lopez. I would rather add one of those to Millsap. Signing Millsap will not ruin our chances of being able to do that either. It may be a year before we can add the player but we would likely find that 3rd big in the following year when the cap explodes.

[PandaKidd]

I just expect a complete retooling of the SG position and the bench. If we keep PM and AH , great, we better have more than BRAND/PERO/MUSCALA on the bench.

I really hope we move Korver to the bench which frees up SG, and I hope we seriously upgrade that.

I understand the cap exploding in a year, but that doesnt mean you write bad contracts NOW. Is Millsap a 15 million a year guy at 30? Is he worth MORE than Deng? Remember Deng was looking for all that money and he never got it. Deng was an all star too , kind of the same circumstances.

[ATLHawksfan21]

I just expect a complete retooling of the SG position and the bench. If we keep PM and AH , great, we better have more than BRAND/PERO/MUSCALA on the bench.

I really hope we move Korver to the bench which frees up SG, and I hope we seriously upgrade that.

I understand the cap exploding in a year, but that doesnt mean you write bad contracts NOW. Is Millsap a 15 million a year guy at 30? Is he worth MORE than Deng? Remember Deng was looking for all that money and he never got it. Deng was an all star too , kind of the same circumstances.

Millsap has far less mileage on his body and far better history in regards to injuries than Deng had. Deng was one year removed from being an all-star and he also had a terrible second half of the year leading up to his free agency while Paul had a great year. It's also easier to find someone to do what Deng does vs Millsap.

I'm fine with starting Korver for one more year. I expect Baze to make a decent jump this off-season since he will have a full off-season to train with our staff. Add a wing in the draft, a backup big in FA and resign Millsap + Carroll. Continued development of Dennis + Baze + Muscala and we will be ready to roll next year.

[Jamaaliver]

you realize the only reason we are having this conversation is due to a MAJOR ROSTER shakeup right

Ferry dismantled the entire roster in 30 days.

Major moves are complete undoings, every team upgrades. CLE had a MAJOR roster shakeup in the middle of a season. Howd that turn out?

PK, as it stands do you think we would have beaten CHI in the playoffs this year?

The Bulls Front Office seems to be expecting a transformation next year similar to what the Warriors just went through. Across the board, they probably are the most talented team in the East. With a coach capable of running an efficient offensive approach, Bulls will be tough again next year. if we have to face them in Round 2 in 2016, there is a chance we may not even survive to get another shot at CLE.

Ditto for a healthy MIA team with Bosh, Whiteside and Goran Dragic.

Every top team in the East now features a high caliber Center. We have to get bigger...

[PandaKidd]

If we faced the bulls in the second round, I dont think so, but I think it would have been competitive. They look just as gassed as CLE did LAST night which was telling.

I dont think the Bulls are that good next year TBH, they likely lose Butler from what we are hearing, Rose cant stay healthy, Noah/Taj/Dunleavy isnt enough for them to win.

If i had to bet RIGHT NOW, id say the Bulls are a 4-5 seed next year if they lose Butler. They wont have enough offense.

The team you need to be looking out for is Indiana IMO. Quietly they had a decent season missing their all star. What they do without Hibbert will be interesting. I think Bird will be in favor of going smaller and trying to move on from some of those aging pieces (hibbert,scola).

[PandaKidd]

Also throw in you have NO IDEA what the celtics are going to do (land love? Cousins? LMA?) and we have no idea where the Bucks are going. The bucks have a decent team with Parker coming back.

[Jamaaliver]

The team you need to be looking out for is Indiana IMO. Also throw in you have NO IDEA what the celtics are going to do (land love? Cousins? LMA?) and we have no idea where the Bucks are going. The bucks have a decent team with Parker coming back.

Agreed. The East has the chance to see big changes next season. The Final Four from 2014 looked completely different from Final Four 2015. It certainly isn't written in stone that we automatically get back to the big dance.

Regarding CHI: Jimmy Butler is a Restricted Free Agent trying to maximize his earnings. I don't think there's a chance Butler isn't the franchise building block moving forward for the Bulls.

But MIA and Indy are my two major wild-cards in the East. Their respective GMs won't allow them to stay bad, not when they have superstar players on their roster. I hear Heat are secretly hoping Dwyane and Luol each opt out. In which case, we could see them being very aggressive this summer armed with a top 10 pick.

[PandaKidd]

Is Butler R? I thought he was UFA? shows how much I know.

Miami is the sleeper team, if Whiteside is for real, dragic, cap space depending on Wade/Deng will be interesting.

I think Wade is playing politics, I can't see him turning down his contract , is there really someone out there that will give him a long term deal? I doubt it.

[td00]

Also throw in you have NO IDEA what the celtics are going to do (land love? Cousins? LMA?) and we have no idea where the Bucks are going. The bucks have a decent team with Parker coming back.

Panda, would like to see if the Hawks would be interested in Middleton; he had a strong end-of-year and can be had for a decent price that wouldn't do big damage to the cap. We won't know if Korver will be ready until he arrives at Camp.

I wouldn't have an issue with looking at KJ McDaniels either, though he's more of a defender/slasher.

Counting on the draft to help us on the interior.

[Skyhawk1]

David Lee?

[PandaKidd]

I really liked MIddeltons game and the guy from Brooklyn (i always forget his name, he TORCHED us).

David Lee I would be ok with but not for 15 million dollars. he is still owed way too much but he is an EXCELLENT PnR and passer. Problem with lee is with his contract hes a starter. And hes not better than PM in this system (because he doesnt shoot 3s). Im not sure hes an upgrade and if hes being traded its because he wants starter minutes.

The guy I would go AGGRESSIVELY after, Donatas Motiejunas. Im really high on him (should Millsap leave and we cant find a suitable replacement ). You would have to trade for him, and Houston needs a lot of pieces.