Moderators: dms269, Jamaaliver, HMFFL
Atlanta Hawk Fan wrote:Jamaaliver wrote:Is it time yet to start filling in some specific holes on the roster?
Absolutely not. We draft for high potential talent waaayyyy over hole filling this draft. Sometimes you do both but we aren't in the "fill a specific need" stage of our building.
Atlanta Hawk Fan wrote:Jamaaliver wrote:Is it time yet to start filling in some specific holes on the roster?
Absolutely not. We draft for high potential talent waaayyyy over hole filling this draft. Sometimes you do both but we aren't in the "fill a specific need" stage of our building.
Jamaaliver wrote:
High 5 wrote:I'm not sure why he would admit to that. I can't imagine Trae appreciates it.
steady wrote:High 5 wrote:I'm not sure why he would admit to that. I can't imagine Trae appreciates it.
You know it probably would have bothered Trae more at start of season - which may be why Travis did not mention it then.
At this point Trae is playing well and is confident - probably does not matter,
Just like how DeAaron Fox probably does not lose sleep over having been chosen after Tatum and Lonzo Ball. Does not matter once you are good.
High 5 wrote:steady wrote:High 5 wrote:I'm not sure why he would admit to that. I can't imagine Trae appreciates it.
You know it probably would have bothered Trae more at start of season - which may be why Travis did not mention it then.
At this point Trae is playing well and is confident - probably does not matter,
Just like how DeAaron Fox probably does not lose sleep over having been chosen after Tatum and Lonzo Ball. Does not matter once you are good.
I'm sure Trae has always known the score. But I just feel like once you draft a player they should be 100% your guy. Especially when they're already under so much scrutiny.
macd-gm wrote:Travis said this the day after the draft. That they viewed the 2 guys equally and were happy with Luka if they couldn't work out a trade. Not seeing the news here.
24/7 SportsDefining success or failure for every team
...this season is an unambiguous success for the Hawks, especially if you're thinking long-term. John Collins and Trae Young have both shown flashes -- or, in John Collins' case, more than just flashes -- that they are All-Stars in the making. Kevin Huerter has been the exact type of knockdown-shooting wing so valued in today's NBA. And they'll likely have two more shots to hit it big in the lottery.
Buy stock in this team now.
The AthleticNBA Power Rankings: Best Case, Worst Case Scenario
Atlanta Hawks (Previously 25th), 23-45 (-5.8 net rating)
Best Case: They go grab a significant piece this summer. Travis Schlenk has been guiding this slow rebuilding process and it looks like it’s going swimmingly. They have three nice young options in Trae Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter. Let’s make it five by throwing in Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry. The Atlanta Hawks are on the verge of having a ton of cap space to play with this summer and especially in 2020. The Hawks have the patience to wait out their turn to pounce, especially in a trade. But best case scenario is the turnaround in the middle of this season shows the Hawks they can add to the team, continue the rebuild, and still get the young players some playoff experience.
Worst Case: The league adjusts to Trae Young while he doesn’t combat expectations. Early in this season, Donovan Mitchell struggled a lot to start out in his second season in the NBA. He had a different, more detailed scouting report than existed as a rookie. He didn’t adjust to the ways defenses adjusted when they tried to take him out of his game. Mitchell didn’t handle any of this particularly well on a consistent basis and he came out with “overrated” cries flying his way. Young has been incredible during the last 2.5 months, but it’s just the surface of the difficulties he’ll see moving forward. The great ones continue to adapt and adjust.
saloonyk8 wrote:Question - if Morant is BPA at#3 with Barrett and Zion of the board, what would you do?
saloonyk8 wrote:Question - if Morant is BPA at#3 with Barrett and Zion of the board, what would you do?
Peachtree HoopsHawks recognized as fast-rising organization by ESPN
Some national love for the rebuilding squad
When the Atlanta Hawks hired Travis Schlenk with the express charge of rebuilding from the ground up, many were skeptical of the decision. After all, the Hawks made the playoffs following the 2016-17 season and it isn’t a regular occurrence in the NBA to see a “playoff team” (albeit a shaky one) stripped down with an eye on the future.
Still, there was a bit of applause for the franchise’s chosen direction on Tuesday, and it came from Kevin Pelton and Bobby Marks of ESPN.
The pair put together a “future power rankings” of NBA teams and, after placing the Hawks at No. 28 overall in the same exercise before the 2018-19 season began, Pelton and Marks combined to place Atlanta at No. 16 this time around. That jump put the Hawks among the biggest risers in the league and it came with the notion that “Atlanta’s rebuild since 2017 is further along than many in the league expected.”
That is almost certainly the case, as Trae Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter have all met or exceeded expectations to this (very) early point in their respective careers.
The piece asserts that “the Hawks ranked dead last in roster (assets) before the season and are now No. 19 because of the progression” of Young, Collins, Huerter and Taurean Prince. Beyond that, Schlenk and his staff could be working with between $40 and 47 million in salary cap space (depending on the outcome of the draft pick owed from Dallas and where any draft slots actually are) this off-season and that comes in handy, even when dealing with non-free agency ventures.
In conclusion, ESPN asserts that “Atlanta can keep this roster intact, continue to develop and maintain financial flexibility to add in free agency for the foreseeable future” and that is certainly a fantastic place to be.
Bleacher ReportRanking the Futures of Every Projected 2019 NBA Lottery Team
3. Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks' rebranding as the Golden State Warriors East is ahead of schedule.
As unfair as those Stephen Curry comparisons may have seemed, Trae Young's explosive post-All-Star stretch shows why they were made. The 20-year-old sharpshooter has rocketed up to 26.1 points and 9.0 assists per game since intermission while hitting 2.9 triples per night at a 41.4 percent clip.
Then, there's fellow freshman Kevin Huerter doing a strikingly good impression of Curry's sibling-in-splash, Klay Thompson. Since snagging a full-time starting gig in late November, Huerter has tallied 11.2 points and 2.1 threes per game while shooting 39.6 percent from distance. For comparison, the freshman version of Thompson went for 12.5 points and 1.7 long-range bombs while clearing 41.4 percent outside.
John Collins may not fit the Warriors' mold, but the second-year big man might be the best player about whom no one talks. He's one of just nine contributors averaging at least 19 points and nine rebounds, and his jump as a three-point shooter (0.9 threes per night on a 37.7 percent clip) shows there's plenty of helium left in his upside.
It's tough to say how many other keepers are on the roster, although Taurean Prince and Omari Spellman both offer Golden State-style versatility at both ends. The financial books are mostly clean, save for Kent Bazemore's $19.3 million player option and Miles Plumlee's $12.5 million salary for next season. The Hawks could also collect as many as three additional first-rounders in the coming years.
Atlanta hired Travis Schlenk from Golden State as general manager and tasked him with bringing the lessons he learned from the Warriors in their rise to becoming a dynasty to the Hawks.
He turned to Lloyd Pierce, an assistant in Philadelphia throughout The Process under Brett Brown who was widely regarded as one of the league’s top development coaches. Schlenk sought out Pierce for that reason...
Pierce knew why he was one of Atlanta’s top candidates and spent his interview laying out how he felt they could create the culture that the Hawks so desperately wanted. Inside the Hawks facility, Pierce saw opportunity. In Philadelphia, he learned the importance of establishing a culture of transparency and work ethic in the building when going through a rebuild.
The Collins-Huerter-Young core shows plenty of promise, but the Hawks know they need more. They’ll add a lottery pick or two in June, but as Hill noted, there’s ample cap space at Atlanta’s disposal this summer.
Atlanta isn’t expecting a meteoric rise from this year to next year, but instead see an opportunity to build on what’s been a successful first season of a new era of Hawks basketball. They won’t skip steps to get there, and hope their patience is rewarded in pushing the Hawks ceiling higher than ever.
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