Atlanta Hawks: The Roster Construction Blueprint No One is Talking About

[bluerap23]

People keep saying we’re a superstar away, and then there are teams like the Hawks who are way more equipped to make such a move and not be decimated with what’s left afterwards.

The Hawks are exactly what our fans keep hoping for. They have all the assets in the world, all their pics, a young team, are already a ECF ceiling team.

Why would a team take the Raptors worse offer for a star versus the Hawks better one.

But no let’s shoot down the Hawks even though if the shoe was on the other foot we would be excited for the future.

Love it or hate it but Bogi > Fred and he’s just one of the key guys to their team, not their number two.

I was extremely skeptical that a team with Trae Young could be this good. I guess in today's NBA you can find a way to hide the worst defender in the league. I still don't believe that a Trae lead team can win a championship, but I am not as certain any more. I am surprised that he hasn't been hunted more in offensive schemes during these playoffs. Philly has a deep enough starting lineup to have that be their main mode of attack but I didn't watch the second half of game one so not sure if they went there.

Your points in this post are good though. They have a done very good job with the roster construction around Trae.

The trade to acquire Trae was terrible but everything they have done since has been miles better than Dallas.

[soloxylo]

Sacramento should've matched on Bogdanovic and traded Hield for whatever.

The Kings doing King like things, as usual.

[Badonkadonk]

This reminds me of the last time Atlanta was 'good', though I actually like their current coach.

Fool's gold imo.

[canz55]

What's the obsession with the Hawks all of a sudden? I don't get it?

Yes they're better than us but they're not going to win a Championship so who cares?

[WuTang_OG]

If the Raptors had the Hawks team, everyone would be over the moon.

Since it’s another team, meh, no big deal.

no we wouldnt lol
stop over hyping them.

[execoftheyear]

we won a freakin championship....I think our front office knows what blueprint brings this organization success

[RaptorReloaded]

If the Raptors had the Hawks team, everyone would be over the moon.

Since it’s another team, meh, no big deal.

no we wouldnt lol
stop over hyping them.

Funny thing is if we had the Hawks roster he’d still be on this forum complaining about something.

[garbagnani]

There’s a reason no one is taking about it.... it’s trash.

They play no D, they will never win a championship with this blueprint.

[ruckus]

Atlanta has surprised for sure but lets tone down the hype. They made the 2nd round (so far).

I'm impressed by how their offense looks but I feel that they haven't met a stiff defense yet. The Knicks let Atlanta control the pace of the series. I don't know what Philly was doing in game 1

If Philly can get a player to clamp down on Trae, which at this point looks like a difficult task, we'll see if the roster construction is worthy of "blueprint" status.

Also, I'm not convinced that their defense is capable of handling a good offense.

This series will reveal a lot. It looks to be in Atlanta's favour so far though.

[VanWest82]

Hawks have gotten really lucky with the seeding. First two rounds their opponents have no star perimeter player (let alone two) who can force the mismatch on Trae and roast him. He's gotten a free pass.

They've made some good moves over the last year though. Signing Bogdan and the Capela heist were difference makers.

[Pooh_Jeter]

I mean this isn't even close to the Hawks final form so I don't understand why people are acting like this isn't impressive. Teams don't go from the top of the lottery to a championship their first time in the playoffs. They are frankly ahead of schedule right now.

Yes, Trae isn't a good defender, but you can hide one poor defensive guard. Also, he brings so much to the table offensively and in terms of playmaking it doesn't really matter.

This also just illustrates how far the Raptors have to go in terms of being a true contender. You look at the Hawks asset base and they still need either a big jump or two from one of their young guys or the acquisition of another all-star calibre player to be a championship team.

[Basketball_Jones]

Pretty sure if we were healthy we'd be on par with a 5th seeded team lol. Issue is the long term upside with the Raptors, and I think after seeing Flynn/Harris/OG this past season with a pending top 10 pick we should be pretty solid there now. Granted, some consolidation into finding more of a long term go to scorer will need to happen some day. Or maybe there's a one year Kawhi scenario again.

[Los_29]

We need to be careful to not overrate what the Hawks have accomplished so far. They beat a Knicks team that were being carried by a 33 year old point guard in Rose who has been bouncing around the league for the past 5 years. The Knicks are a mediocre basketball team that will likely be fighting for a playoff spot next year.

Then the Hawks played exceptionally well in game 1 against a Sixers team with a hobbled franchise player. Hawks aren't a bad team by any means but when your 2nd best player is Bogdanovich then you're not going to go very far in the playoffs. Bogs, Collins, Capela and Gallo are all solid players but they aren't great players.

Unfortunately with that current core there isn't much upside there. Collins is due for a raise, Trae is going to get his max then you got Gallo making 20m per year, Bogs making 18m a year and Capela making 17m a year. Someone is going to have to go and considering how eager the Rockets were to get rid of Capela, I don't see him or Gallo netting any value in the trade market. They have lots of "meh" pieces in a very weak conference and benefitted from a very favourable 1st round matchup.

[Fairview4Life]

I prefer the Raptors championship winning blueprint.

[Steelo Green]

The Hawks are at the worst on par with the Demar/Kyle years. Not sure how our blueprint was better.

Demar and Kyle lost their first series on their rise, Hawks won their first and maybe might even go to the ECF, something we didn’t do until much later including after an embarrassing sweep against the Wiz.

What’s the better blueprint? Kawhi being available?

[OakleyDokely]

Wake me when the Hawks have 5 straight 50+ win seasons and win a title.

[Merit]

There is no point in trying to copy a blueprint of another team, every team has a unique path to how they can build out their team. It's become readily apparent that teams require that star shot creator surrounded by secondary ball handlers, floor spacers and switchable defenders.

The bigger thing is that this is another team in the East that is clearly ahead of where the Raptors are. You had a lot of people laughing at the thought of the Hawks being better than the Raptors earlier in the season and now it's clear the teams aren't even close.

This is definitely a hot take, at least the part where the raps are clearly behind the hawks. I do think the Raptors need a primary shot creator. I think that trae is incredible offensively but nowhere close to Fred defensively. I think the raps will improve internally as they always do, and the draft could very well bring in the type of player they’re missing. I’d rather be the Raps this off-season than Boston, that’s for sure. They held on to their assets too long. Raps have a chance to pivot.

[Merit]

People are severely underrating Nate McMillan as a coach. Somehow (point) guards always look better with him coaching - I’m thinking Brandon Roy years here, and he seems to do well with the locker room (see Indiana Currently). Nate got out of the first round this time so let’s see if he can keep that train going.

[OakleyDokely]

The Hawks had 4 top 10 picks over the last 3 years.

The Raps are in a transition phase after winning a title. Their highest pick was 23rd since 2016.

The teams are in different stages of development so the comparison is hard one to make.

That being said, I'd take our coach/management over theirs.

[Los_29]

I prefer the Raptors championship winning blueprint.

It is actually pretty funny when you think about it. The Hawks just beat perhaps the worst playoff team in the league aside from Washington and then stole a game 1 victory over a team with a hobbled superstar and now all of a sudden they have the "blueprint." Blueprint for what? They haven't accomplished anything.

I'll take the Raptors blueprint which actually won the championship.