How The Hawks lost the best Starting Five in franchise history

[Jamaaliver]

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'It Wasn't The Same': What Split Up The Hawks' Famous Starting Five

...flashback to Co-Eastern Conference Players of the Month from January 2015, when Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford quite literally dominated the NBA. Atlanta’s perfect 17–0 slate set a record for the most prolific month in league history.

As the Hawks soared to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, Horford, Millsap, Teague and Korver all earned All-Star nods, with Budenholzer on the bench. “We all knew that it was because of the team that we were all there and that made it really special,” Korver said.

It was over before it ever began. In the blink of an eye, a world-beater starting lineup can be dispersed across an entire conference. Carroll departed to Toronto in free agency that July. “I don’t think the Hawks have been the same since,” said Teague.

Teague asked former teammate Horford why he departed the only professional city he had ever known. “The group wasn’t there,” Horford whispered. “It wasn’t the same.”

A member of that 60-win team will likely represent the East in the Finals, emerging from at least one battle against a former ally. The stage will be bright. The history will stand forever. The taste of the title, however, can disappear the moment it hits your lips.

A really insightful piece...

[Jamaaliver]

Hard to believe only two guys remain from that record-setting group...less than 2 years later.

I have to think it will play a part in whether Millsap stays or goes this summer.

[tundraknight]

So the answer to the "How?" is that they left in free agency? Isn't that common sense?

"Why?" would be the better question.

Wasn't this during the time when the Hawks got Swept twice in the row by the Cavaliers?

[Jamaaliver]

So the answer to the "How?" is that they left in free agency? Isn't that common sense?

"Why?" would be the better question.

Wasn't this during the time when the Hawks got Swept twice in the row by the Cavaliers?

LOL

Touché.

Perhaps the thread is mistitled. It appears that Demarre's departure and Dennis's emergence were the impetus for the others departing.


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[simon24]

Hard to believe only two guys remain from that record-setting group...less than 2 years later.

I have to think it will play a part in whether Millsap stays or goes this summer.

I highly doubt it. I think it will be the same situation like Horford's last summer, will the Hawks give him the money he wants.

If Millsap cared about that team, he would have took a paycut. He's all about his money.

[simon24]

So the answer to the "How?" is that they left in free agency? Isn't that common sense?

"Why?" would be the better question.

Wasn't this during the time when the Hawks got Swept twice in the row by the Cavaliers?

LOL

Touché.

Perhaps the thread is mistitled. It appears that Demarre's departure and Dennis's emergence were the impetus for the others departing.


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I'm glad Carroll left. He wasn't that good and he isn't worth the money TOR is paying him now. Ferry/Bud drafted horribly and it shows they weren't prepared long term.

[tbhawksfan1]

We need to be talking about how to pick up the shattered pieces. The fact that they are keeping the FO in place suggests more band-aids and more diminishing returns.

Bad usage of draft assets. Bad FA choices.

[Yungsta404]

Whoever misses that team should watch the 15 Cleveland series on repeat.

It was an aging low ceiling core that had a 2 month peak.

[simon24]

We need to be talking about how to pick up the shattered pieces. The fact that they are keeping the FO in place suggests more band-aids and more diminishing returns.

Bad usage of draft assets. Bad FA choices.

True. I expect Hardaway and Millsap back.

Maybe Dennis, Hardaway and Prince can get legit chemistry this offseason and Dennis and Hardaway could each average 20+ pts and Prince could be a solid 3 & D option like DeMarre.

Dwight need to come off the bench but we know that isn't going to happen so just resign Muscula and give him more minutes than Dwight while keeping him as starter.

[simon24]

Whoever misses that team should watch the 15 Cleveland series on repeat.

It was an aging low ceiling core that had a 2 month peak.

Yeah, BK exposed Korver. Rebounding was a huge problem. Hawks lacked a 2nd option who could create their own shot and make plays for others.

[Dannyboy36]

Celts fan here. I'm just a huge NBA fan and that was quite a team. Maybe it was that they had no other gear where ya got the Cavs who are just too talented.
Like the Celts getting the #1 seed is crazy this year. We're not even close to the best in the EAST over 7 games when teams are rested. I wouldn't wanna play you guys. The celts just happen to have one tiny unguardabld guy and a bunch of role players pretty much ,that just have a more consistent effort over 82 games.
I think your Hawks just brought it more than anyone over that season.
I think you guys should reboot. There's nothing worse than being a treadmill team. Us celts fans are counting on luck of ping pong balls as a first step to get to contention( we'd still need to sign a star or acquire one in trade and then MAYBE.
It's sooo friggin hard to be a real contender. It blows.
Good lick vs the Wiz. Oh.I was curious if you guys dig the blue uniforms with the lime? I think those are awesome. I think you guys should change to those main colours.

[Jamaaliver]

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[pughead]

I don't mind a rebuild, but how are they letting guys just walk away for nothing?! Other franchises get criticized for what they got in return. Not the Hawks! They just let everyone go and get nothing in return.

[Jamaaliver]

I don't mind a rebuild, but how are they letting guys just walk away for nothing?! Other franchises get criticized for what they got in return. Not the Hawks! They just let everyone go and get nothing in return.

Bingo. Bad asset management.

Which is why the GM, Asst GM and Pres of BBall Ops were all replaced in the last 12 months.


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[Geaux_Hawks]

I'm kinda sad now. Looked like a really family/brotherhood type of team. It's like The Last of the Mohicans.

[MaceCase]

I don't mind a rebuild, but how are they letting guys just walk away for nothing?! Other franchises get criticized for what they got in return. Not the Hawks! They just let everyone go and get nothing in return.

Pat Riley lost every member of a championship core yet still gets called the Godfather. You don't walk into a store with a pocket full of money, not see anything you want to buy, walk out and say "you got nothing in return". Not everyone prefers walking into a store looking for a pair of jeans and walking out with 5 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of underwear instead just to say they "got something".

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

Great read from 'The Ringer':

The Life Cycle of Eastern Conference Contenders in the Age of LeBron
The Bulls, Pacers, and Hawks all rose to the top of the East before falling apart. Can the Celtics avoid a similar fate?

The Hawks: In 2014–15, they won 60 games, a number that typically signifies a great team rather than a good one. Only 75 teams in history have managed 60 wins.

LeBron helped sweep them in the 2015 playoffs, and again in 2016. On Sunday, Atlanta lost the fifth and final member of its 2014–15 starting lineup when Paul Millsap decided to sign with the Nuggets. The Hawks built something great, witnessed firsthand the greatness of the significantly greater thing they were supposed to compete with, and then ditched their approach as quickly as possible.

They were like a pack of vicious dogs moving in for a kill that suddenly heard fireworks and scattered in the presence of a force they could barely understand, let alone defeat.


Atlanta Hawks (2014–15)

...the Hawks had a unit so cohesive that their entire starting five won Player of the Month honors after a 17–0 January. (This happened two years ago. I swear.) Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll, and Kyle Korver complemented one another perfectly in head coach Mike Budenholzer’s offense. There was no reason to expect them to thrive as they did — they had gone 38–44 the year before — and it did not continue, as they dropped to 48 wins the next season. They had just one moment when they seemed on the brink of challenging LeBron, and even then they clearly were not good enough: The Cavs swept Atlanta in the 2015 Eastern Conference finals. A year later, Cleveland swept the no. 4 seed Hawks out of the playoffs again.

Some of the subsequent deconstruction of that roster was self-induced: The Hawks didn’t need to trade Teague to the Pacers; they unwittingly chased Horford [away] by signing Dwight Howard in 2016; and they apparently didn’t extend a contract offer to re-sign Millsap this offseason. They even traded Korver to LeBron’s team last season, allowing their best shooter to chase a title with the Cavs. Regardless, Horford and Millsap presumably left town knowing Atlanta wasn’t going to get over the LeBron hump.

The Ringer