What's next for the Hawks?

[Jamaaliver]

Some TLC in the ATL?

I like it...even if he never leaves the bench this season.

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[Years80HAWKS]

I believe that he is a good player, but he is going to be our 5th perimeter guy and will not be getting playing time unless someone gets hurt or the coach decides to go with Huerter as PG.

[graymule]

Add the new Hawks that we have now (You know who they are) to all our returning Hawks. Always, there is this big if, IF the Hawks can stay healthy they will be able to play with any other NBA team and win their share of games. Some of our additions are unknown to most fans not following closely to what Travis is doing.

As fans of other teams brag, "Look how much we have improved," don't sell our Hawks short. As long as they are unaware, we will pull a sneaky on them. We will be better than they expect. Count on it. And, don't forget our coaches!

[Jamaaliver]

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[Spud2nique]

Watch on YouTube

Ahhhh what do you know Rachel you were canned like tuna. And who is that Thompson guy, Keenan, he likes the Bulls better? Ya, just come out and say that you don’t do your research, you are lazy about studying the Hawks, yet you have to form an opinion because you are on air.

These analysts are straight up clowns.

[jayu70]

Atlanta in the news!

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[Jamaaliver]

[jayu70]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryantoporek/2021/09/07/atlanta-hawks-might-be-light-years-ahead-with-their-team-building-strategy/?sh=590cc046246c

There's no guarantee that the NBA will successfully land its desired $75 billion deal, especially with ratings stagnating in recent years. Upcoming CBA negotiations could also throw a wrench into a one-year cap explosion, too.

The CBA is currently set to expire following the 2023-24 season, but both the league and players union can opt out of it one year prior. Team owners could make cap-smoothing an integral part of the next CBA negotiations, knowing that its national TV contracts will soon be up for renewal. They also might seek to take back a bigger share of BRI from players, which would limit how much the cap rises each year.

As the NBA digs its way out of financial losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming CBA discussions and new national TV deals will loom large over long-term team-building strategies. No one can say for certain what the league's landscape will look like in a few years' time, but the salary cap will likely be far higher than it is now.

The Hawks may be uniquely poised to benefit from that.

Capela's new extension ends after the 2024-25 season, and Collins has a $26.6 million player option in 2025-26 that he figures to decline if the cap does soar because of the new TV deals. However, Young's extension runs through at least the 2025-26 season—he has a $39.3 million player option in 2026-27—and new deals for Huerter, Reddish, Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu could run beyond the 2024-25 season as well.

The Hawks might have to eat huge luxury-tax bills for a few years until then, although letting Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic walk once their respective contracts expire would help decrease the financial blow. Hemorrhaging money might be more palatable if the Hawks can get their young players under new long-term contracts before the salary cap explodes because of the new CBA and/or new national TV deals.  

Team owner Tony Ressler tried to keep expectations in check while speaking to reporters following the Hawks' surprise playoff run.

"What we are trying to achieve is literally keeping our best players, as you could imagine, trying to make clear that we’re going to have to spend a lot more than we have this season," Ressler said. "We fully expect that. I’m not sure we’re going to be able to keep every single player that we want to keep. Pretty good bet, pretty good assumption we will not."

The Hawks might not be able to keep their entire core together long term, but it would behoove them to extend as many of their young players as possible. What might look like overpays now could turn into massive bargains if the salary cap jumps by tens of millions of dollars in the coming years.

The Hawks enter the 2021-22 season with the fifth-best odds of any Eastern Conference team to make it to the 2022 NBA Finals, per FanDuel Sportsbook. They're built to win now.

If they sign Huerter, Reddish, Hunter and/or Okongwu to extensions over the next year or two and lock in potential long-term bargains, their unexpected success from this past season may prove to be sustainable, too.

This is being talked about more.

[HMFFL]

Reports are saying that Zion is ghosting New Orleans. I hope our front office calls about him. Any idea what it would take to acquire him?

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[raleigh]

Reports are saying that Zion is ghosting New Orleans. I hope our front office calls about him. Any idea what it would take to acquire him?

Everything but Trae.

[Jamaaliver]

Reports are saying that Zion is ghosting New Orleans. I hope our front office calls about him. Any idea what it would take to acquire him?

Everything but Trae.

Agreed. It would cost...so much.

John Collins to start and then every player still on a rookie contract.

I imagine they'd ask for:

John Collins + De'Andre Hunter + Cam Reddish + Onyeka Okongwu + Jalen Johnson + our 2022 1st round pick.

A team built around Zion, Trae, Bogdan, Huerter is a solid starting lineup, but with Zion's injury history -- we'd be risking a lot.

[HMFFL]

I saw on the general board that Zion broke his foot working out and had surgery this off-season. Still recovering.

https://sports.yahoo.com/pelicans-star-zion-williamson-suffered-fractured-right-foot-in-offseason-workout-152902010.html

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[jayu70]

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“If everyone stays healthy, we’ve got a lot of guys that deserve to play, can play, so it might be one of those things where it varies game by game, whoever’s playing well is kind of going to get more minutes than other guys, and that’s something I’m sure over the course of the year could change up a lot,” Huerter said. “We want to get everyone healthy; obviously I think we’re at our best when everyone’s on the court. Luckily for us as players, we go out there and play and let the coaches figure the rest out.”

It’s a lesson the team started learning last year, with John Collins receiving praise for sacrificing touches as the Hawks incorporated Capela and Danilo Gallinari coming off the bench. But overall, given the injury situation, that concept didn’t come into play as much as expected.

Per Bogdanovic, the Hawks are placing the focus on winning, regardless of how individual roles shake out.

“You saw what happened last year, even if you have maybe a smaller role, but it’s not about role at the end of the day, it’s all about wins,” Bogdanovic said. “Even the little things you do for your team, everyone sees that and everyone appreciates it. Especially in our locker room and our team. We don’t care what anyone says outside, because we know already there’s a lot of guys who can be leaders on other teams as well, but we are here to try to do something bigger than that, bigger than individual awards, and trying to build that chemistry between each other.”

[D21]

At this point, with so much depth, I think that even if one player becomes free agent later, everyone would know that 14pts here would mean 20pts in a lot of other teams, and it should create any problem to negotiate anything, with this team or another one, especially if can get a title.
If they are all focused on title this year, and are lucky enough to avoid major injuries, this team can really be something

[Jamaaliver]

From the point Nate McMillan took over as interim head coach to the end of the 2020-21 regular season, the Atlanta Hawks had the third-best record in the NBA. They then made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals before an injury to Trae Young derailed them.

In 2021-22, Young—who has never been lacking for confidence—should be empowered by that playoff success and a still-developing supporting cast.

With Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic squarely in their primes, and John Collins, Kevin Huerter, De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish still approaching theirs, there's reason to believe internal progress alone will make this team better.

Collins is a dynamic inside-out offensive threat, but he can still get better on defense. Huerter still has another level to get to in terms playmaking and consistency with his jumper. Reddish has shown flashes of three-and-D upside, but they've been few and far between.

If one or two of those developments happen this season, the Hawks will be a real threat to go as far as they did last season.

Bleacher Report