2017 Hawks Offseason Thread

[Jamaaliver]

How to fix the Atlanta Hawks in four easy steps

1. Convince Dwight Howard to play the right way

2. Let coach Mike Budenholzer concentrate on coaching

3. Re-sign Paul Millsap

...the Hawks have made it clear they want to bring back their All-Star power forward at any cost.

That's the right approach. Millsap's versatility is key in the modern NBA. He can stretch the floor out to the 3-point line or bang with traditional fours — and he can do both on the same possession.


4. Add J.J. Redick in free agency

...the Hawks could have enough cap space to add two solid starters ... or one big-name player.

Though — no one who makes you a championship contender overnight is coming to Atlanta. J.J. Redick, on the other hand, would be a fantastic addition for the Hawks. They'll need to add a bit of 3-point shooting around a proposed pick-and-roll system, and Redick is one of the best shooters in the NBA.

He's also an outstanding team defender who would work well with Kent Bazemore on the wings.

A Schroder-Redick-Bazemore-Millsap-Howard lineup might not be a title contender, but that's more than enough to make an Eastern Conference finals. And once you're that deep into the postseason, anything is possible — even for Atlanta.

Fox Sports

[Jamaaliver]

Listening to the Locked on Hawks podcast made available through Peachtree Hoops. They reported that Bud's three big priorities this offseason are:

1. Further developing Dennis and Taurean as young pillars of the franchise

2. Re-signing Millsap and THJ

3. Improving the offense



These all seem reasonable avenues to focus on, particularly #1 and #3.

I do have doubts whether Dennis or T Prince can be pillars of a franchise. Mainstays? Absolutely. Keepers? No doubt. (For now)

But, I hope we aren't bypassing other options at SF or PG because these guys are currently on the roster.

[ATL Boy]

How to fix the Atlanta Hawks in four easy steps

1. Convince Dwight Howard to play the right way

2. Let coach Mike Budenholzer concentrate on coaching

3. Re-sign Paul Millsap

...the Hawks have made it clear they want to bring back their All-Star power forward at any cost.

That's the right approach. Millsap's versatility is key in the modern NBA. He can stretch the floor out to the 3-point line or bang with traditional fours — and he can do both on the same possession.


4. Add J.J. Redick in free agency

...the Hawks could have enough cap space to add two solid starters ... or one big-name player.

Though — no one who makes you a championship contender overnight is coming to Atlanta. J.J. Redick, on the other hand, would be a fantastic addition for the Hawks. They'll need to add a bit of 3-point shooting around a proposed pick-and-roll system, and Redick is one of the best shooters in the NBA.

He's also an outstanding team defender who would work well with Kent Bazemore on the wings.

A Schroder-Redick-Bazemore-Millsap-Howard lineup might not be a title contender, but that's more than enough to make an Eastern Conference finals. And once you're that deep into the postseason, anything is possible — even for Atlanta.

Fox Sports

Calling any of our resident cap experts -- I'd like to know if this plan is feasible. Would we have the cap space to get a player like JJ Redick (whom I assume will want close to the max) even while retaining Millsap's massive cap hold? I also assume we'd be losing out on bringing back Tim Hardaway in this scenario which I don't know how I feel about. On one hand Redick is the better player right now, but Hardaway is 7 years younger than him.

[MaceCase]

I assume that Redick may be looking to cash out but the best possible scenario I can think of on the fly is using the MLE which is about ~8 million, Hawks aren't working with much if any cap if they hold onto Sap.

[tbhawksfan1]

8 million will buy you half of Baze, then you have to fill about 5 more roster spots with min contract FAs. Hawks are in cap hell with or without Sap. Birds right to Sap and THjr means we can go over the cap to sign them, but then only have the MLE at about 8 and league minimum contracts. If they don't re-sign Sap or THJr, then they won't get that much cap relief because of cap holds.

Cap hell, with a low talent roster. Get used to it, because the solution will take a while. Especially since our hands on owner is about to compound the situation by trying to get that playoff revenue.

[td00]

Not a cap expert at all, but knowing that Sap needs to come back will tell us we won't have much room for major additions without subtraction.

Saying that, JJ Redick is looking at 18-20M. I don't believe we have room for that unless we completely redo our bench with min vets.

He would fill a void, and one that I think SHOULD be better than THJ.

How would JC1 look on this roster off the bench? He should have been brought back long ago IMO.

Shooters matter, and Houston has shown you that with lots of options.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Calling any of our resident cap experts -- I'd like to know if this plan is feasible. Would we have the cap space to get a player like JJ Redick while retaining Millsap's massive cap hold?

Atlanta will have $68,969,035 on their cap sheet if they renounce all their exceptions, all their free agents, waive non-guaranteed contracts, stretch Dunleavy’s contract, and account for their five incomplete roster charges. If the salary cap is at $101 million, the team would be looking at about $32 million in cap space. That is not enough cap space for a max level player of 10+ years of experience. The team would need to move other contracts to create cap space.

...there is absolutely no chance the team can have cap space and resign Millsap with the currently constructed roster.

...if you only want Hardaway back, then toss his cap hold back in ($5,704,013), take away a roster charge (-$815,615), and the team is sitting at $73,857,433 on their cap sheet. That would be about $27 million in cap space to throw around.

Peachtree Hoops


1. Adding Redick while keeping Millsap seems unlikely unless we could get a sign & trade and/or dump Bazemore.

2. There are few good options outside of trading Baze or Dwight.

3. Those two contracts are going to hinder us for years to come in our Free Agent pursuits.

[tbhawksfan1]

I want to see the Hawks go in a very different direction. How can Hawks owners and fans see the team as a possible contender when our best player is Sap? or Horf? The teams GMing has been playing to win for a long time with average talent. Besides bringing in a decent Sap (at the time he joined the team) who else have they brought in that had any chance of elevating this team; Thabo...?

Bud is a good coach, but not a miracle man.

Hawks ONLY chance is to invest way more in the draft and stop tying the cap space to older players that keep the team's ceiling low. Baze and DH were silly signings if the team had a true contention vision.

[HMFFL]

I want to see the Hawks go in a very different direction. How can Hawks owners and fans see the team as a possible contender when our best player is Sap? or Horf? The teams GMing has been playing to win for a long time with average talent. Besides bringing in a decent Sap (at the time he joined the team) who else have they brought in that had any chance of elevating this team; Thabo...?

Bud is a good coach, but not a miracle man.

Hawks ONLY chance is to invest way more in the draft and stop tying the cap space to older players that keep the team's ceiling low. Baze and DH were silly signings if the team had a true contention vision.

Horford might not be having his best season but his team is clearly having more success right now than our Hawks. Playing team basketball and every playing giving their best effort is key, but our Hawks seem to lack that, and can learn by watching Boston.

I understand why you want us to go into another direction, but my concern is letting Sap walk, and not having a true plan. He is our best player and while a longterm contract concerns me, I doubt our ownership is even thinking lottery bound, so extending Sap is something I want to see happen as of right now.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[D21]

I made an example of the ATL contracts without any F.A but Millsap re-signed at 25M on first year, which maybe be lower than what he could get but still a possibility, to see what's left in this case.
Forget Muscala, and Dunleavy is kept in first case, and cut before July 1st in the second case.



The cap should be at 102M.
We need to had several minimum roster charge with only 8 players, and picks cap hold, so it won't make a lot of room, with room MLE coming then.
Millsap will certainly have a cap hold higher than what he will get paid, so better sign him or let him find another team quickly.
If Millsap walk away and free some room, it's different, but once again, like last summer, teams will overpaid players, so it's not the best option to gamble on F.A. signing. Better try to make some changes with trades or sign-&-trades IMO.

[Jamaaliver]

Five questions to answer

1. Who will run the Hawks next season?

Who will be the new president of basketball operations General Manager? And after finding that person, which path forward will the Hawks take during a pivotal offseason in Atlanta?

A team that already had a lot to sort out suddenly has more questions. This is the first chance for owner Tony Ressler to put his imprint on this franchise, and it will be fascinating to see what he does.


2. Will Paul Millsap re-sign?

Millsap has made four consecutive all-star teams and become one of the best all-around big men in the NBA.

The team will now probably face the same decision it did with Al Horford last summer: Give Millsap a five-year max deal or offer him something less and watch him walk.

Much of this decision could come down to how the new [GM] feels about the way the franchise should move forward. The guess, though, is that Millsap will be playing elsewhere (Denver? Minnesota?) next season.


3. What does Dwight Howard have left?

It was jarring to watch the Hawks-Wizards series and see just how out of place Howard looked in today’s NBA. Howard, hampered over the past few seasons by back injuries, struggled to keep up with the pace of play; in fact, the Hawks often looked significantly better when he wasn’t on the court.

If Millsap leaves, the Hawks will look to move Howard — though what they’d get in return remains to be seen, particularly given the expected glut of centers on the market.


4. Where can Dennis Schroder go from here?

In his first full season as a starting point guard, Schroder had an up-and-down year.

But Schroder was terrific going up against John Wall in the postseason, averaging 24.7 points and 7.7 assists while committing just 1.7 turnovers and shooting 42.5 percent from three-point range. He showed why the coaching staff moved on from Jeff Teague last summer and handed Schroder the keys to the franchise.

If he plays as he did in the playoffs, he could potentially be part of the Hawks’ long-term solution.


5. How much will Tim Hardaway Jr. get in restricted free agency?

...after a rough 2015-16 season in Atlanta, he rebounded to have his best season as a pro, setting himself up for an interesting trip into restricted free agency.

Hardaway averaged 14.5 points in 79 games (including 30 starts), but he remains an average shooting guard (he hit 35 percent of his threes, right at his career average) who doesn’t do much creating for his teammates (2.3 assists).

...he’ll likely get somewhere in the $10 million per year range. The lack of wings on so many teams, however, could potentially push his value a bit higher.

Washington Post


Anyone wanna take a guess at answering these?

[Jamaaliver]

what's the new GM going to do with an owner that wants to keep Sap and compete?

Millsap’s future is first and foremost. (No matter who is picked as GM, Millsap will be dealing directly with Ressler on his contract going forward, I’m told.) Budenholzer and the owners want to do everything possible to re-sign him -- “there’s no disagreement on whether we’re going to try and keep him, and whether he’s great for the Atlanta Hawks,” Ressler said.

nba.com


Oh, my.

[tbhawksfan1]

what's the new GM going to do with an owner that wants to keep Sap and compete?

Millsap’s future is first and foremost. (No matter who is picked as GM, Millsap will be dealing directly with Ressler on his contract going forward, I’m told.) Budenholzer and the owners want to do everything possible to re-sign him -- “there’s no disagreement on whether we’re going to try and keep him, and whether he’s great for the Atlanta Hawks,” Ressler said.

nba.com


Oh, my.

Yeah, he might as well hire his grandmother

[Geaux_Hawks]

Wonder what it would take to land Okafor? We could use him like OKC uses Kanter off the bench, and give the 2nd unit a scoring punch.

[PandaKidd]

Trade BAZE/Howard

Keep THJ (for the right price).
Embrace the youth movement.
Resign Millsap but look to trade him at the deadline (if hell even stay).

The fact is no big name game changing FA is coming here, and re-upping with the exact same core tells me they care more about gimmicks than winning.

[Jamaaliver]

Atlanta's Biggest Flaw to Address This Summer: Off Ball Weapons

The Atlanta Hawks need to reinvigorate their offense, regardless of whether Paul Millsap stays or goes.

Dennis Schroder appears capable of running the show, but until he's surrounded by better off-ball weapons who can maximize head coach Mike Budenholzer's three-point desires, the Atlanta scoring unit will continue to stagnate.

During the regular season, the Hawks scored a meager 102.3 points per 100 possessions, and it didn't get much better during the postseason.

Something has to change, and that something is the perimeter prowess of this organization.

Schroder is capable of finding shooters. But if those shooters can't connect at better than a 34.1 percent clip—No. 23 during the regular season—the Hawks' efforts will already be doomed.

Bleacher Report


I agree that we need to flank Dennis (and to a lesser extent, Dwight) with knock down shooters at SG & SF.

A point forward to serve as a secondary facilitator would be beneficial, also. But DS needs space to effectively drive, thus preventing opposing defenses from packing to the paint.

[tbhawksfan1]

If someone can show me a senario where we put a better team on the floor next season, I'll push for you as GM. Given the cap situation, the players with contracts next season and the cap and you see the problem.

Sign Sap and THJ and we are maxed. If we don't sign them, we'll have less money to offer other FAs (because of bird rights). See the contract chart above.

The best team that the Hawks can put on the floor next season is

DH / Moose
Sap / Kelly
Prince / Baze
THJ / Bembry / Dunleavy
Schro / Delaney

#19 / #31

You can add an MLE FA at about 8 million. The rest has to come from minimum contracts.

Anyone think Ressler will go into lx tax to further this core? I hope not....

If my interpretation of the cap situation is off, let me know

This team needs a rebuild real bad

[PandaKidd]

If they trade Baze/Howard does that come off their books ASAP? Or is there still cap holds?

[ATL Boy]

If they trade Baze/Howard does that come off their books ASAP? Or is there still cap holds?

It'll come off the books ASAP, but I'm sure the team we're trading with would try to send a salary filler back our way, especially if they're not way under the cap.