Hawks are 17-24. What's happening?

[mg]

trae been exposed is only half the answer. the other half is their terrible acquisitions from collins to gallinari. thats 50 mil deadweight right there. huerter is your 3rd option extend him asap 5/100 and they need a cp3 type vet all star caliber.
a ben simmons acquisiton would make them title contenders.

They already extended Huerter to a very reasonable deal.
From my outside POV it appears they have way too many mouths to feed on the offensive end. Too many players need shots. It was also no coincidence they went on a run last season when 1-2 of their guys got injured. They have a bunch of 3rd-4th options but probably need a legit 2nd option scorer to put next to Trae to take some of the pressure off him. Hawks could really use a consolidation trade or at least reset a few of their assets as they can't pay them all anyway.

The schedule has been difficult but the Cavs schedule has been equally bad or worse. Can't use that as an excuse.

[jayu70]

8 road games out of 12 to start the season. Literally have played 8 straight playoff (or play-in) teams from a year-ago.

They haven't played well CONSISTENTLY and whatever Nate is doing with his lineups are head scratching.
However, besides the teams they've played they've had a very compact schedule with 2 sets of 3 games in 4 nights and games every other day so no real off day for real practice.

"By the time these Hawks make it to the court in Denver on Friday, they will have “enjoyed” the first two-day “rest” period (i.e., no game days) since the season began.

Of the 29 other NBA clubs, only three will have waited longer for their first two-day siesta than the Hawks, once off-day #2 arrives for Atlanta on November 11th. Seventeen of them have already “enjoyed” it at least twice, like Denver and Phoenix thrice, while the entire Western Conference have already kicked back for at least one. The Jazz, like the Warriors, Suns, Cavs, and Pistons (all Hawks opponents played in the early going), have had at least one stanza of three or more non-game-days."

[Johnny Bball]

Their defense has been garbage.

They are better than their record but, doubt they make another ECF run anytime soon.

Why would anyone think that was in their fuutre anyway? I mean, they sohuldn't, but I'm guessing lots of people did.

[Danny1616]

They were overrated last year.

Teams like the Raptors and Celtics were hit hard by Covid and bumped out of the playoffs.

They got lucky Ben Simmons literally went 25-73 from the free throw line and was afraid to shoot or Philly wins that series in 5 or 6.

[JujitsuFlip]

Still very early.

The new free throw rule hurts Trae and the team goes as he does.

Wright and Dieng have been awful leaving huge holes at the backup 1 and 5. When Okungwu gets back that should help.

They also seem to have a lot of guys vying for the same backup minutes. To clear up that logjam they could trade a wing for a backup PG, 2 birds with 1 stone.

Maybe cut the rotation down by a couple guys, there's plenty of time to turn it around.

[TwoStarz]

Trae has got to do something about his inefficiency. Being league average, at best, in that regard while also being a turnstile on defense is not going to let him team go anywhere.

[ChuckChilly]

They were overrated last year.

Teams like the Raptors and Celtics were hit hard by Covid and bumped out of the playoffs.

They got lucky Ben Simmons literally went 25-73 from the free throw line and was afraid to shoot or Philly wins that series in 5 or 6.

That sounds like typical Ben Simmons play to me not luck

[Danny1616]

They were overrated last year.

Teams like the Raptors and Celtics were hit hard by Covid and bumped out of the playoffs.

They got lucky Ben Simmons literally went 25-73 from the free throw line and was afraid to shoot or Philly wins that series in 5 or 6.

That sounds like typical Ben Simmons play to me not luck

In 2018 playoffs he shot 70% from the line.

In 2019 playoffs he shot 58% from the line.

In 2021 playoffs he shot 34% from the line.

If Ben just shoots 50% from the line, they probably win that series in 5 or 6.

Philly was up 2-1. In game 4 they blew a lead where Simmons was 1-5 from the line and in game 5 they blew another big lead where Simmons was 4-14 from the line. Both games they lost by 3. All Simmons had to do was shoot his 60-70% that he did in previous playoff years.

[HotelVitale]

KAT would work real well with Trae, with Capela covering for his lack of defense. Probably a package centered around picks/Reddish/Huerter/Gallo?

KAT at PF would be turrible. I would trade Huerter/Collins/Capella + picks for KAT/McDaniels/Vanderbilt/Okogie
Wolves get starting level players, Hawks get a superstar.

Meh. I'd give the Capela/KAT front court a shot. Especially with KAT being one of the best shooting bigs, they wouldn't muddy up spacing I don't think. Plus without Capela, Trae and KAT will be exposed far easier due to their lack of defense.

These aren't serious offers. Reddish/Huerter/Gallo isn't too far off from a neutral package at this point, let alone one that's going to net a 25 year-old star like KAT. Huerter is a nice rotation player who's being paid like a starter now, Gallo is almost done and at best only useful as a bench guy on a PO team, and Reddish has upside but still hasn't even shown he's a reliable rotation player.

Huerter/Collins/Capela and picks is better but there's still nothing tempting coming back for MIN. They would be entering some kind of rebuild if KAT moves on, and you probably don't want to start a rebuild by taking back $65m in contracts annually for vet players, especially since none of them are stars (or really have potential to be). And you're basically asking for Wolves fans to jump you in the parking lot by throwing in McDaniels to that trade.

The best chance ATL would have at KAT would be Hunter plus whichever 2 they wanted of Collins, Okongwu, Reddish, Huerter, and JJ and like 3 picks.

[Mavrelous]

They looked dominant in the 1st game against the Mavs, especially Hunter, he played Ben Simmons level defense and Capela was contesting shots and rolling like crazy.

[ItsDanger]

Sometimes less is more. Role players who don't need stats can make a team and the more talented players better.

[NoStatsGuy]

the east is just way better than the west for the 1st time in god knows how many years. the teams got so much better.

its still a long way to go. way to early to draw conclusions.

[Ballerhogger]

Trea not getting the calls, they aren’t shooting well . Their defense needs help

[HotelVitale]

Should had cashed out last season but injuries slowed them down and couldn’t make the finals now you have other teams playing better than expected..

What do you mean cashed out? They weren't very close against the Bucks, they won two games sure but they lost the other 4 games by an average of like 16 pts, and none of their losses were within single digits. And sure Trae missed two games but Giannis missed those same two games and they were still easy MIL wins. That wasn't a close series.

[jlokine]

cue the "TRAE EXPOSED!!!" thread

[TwoStarz]

the east is just way better than the west for the 1st time in god knows how many years. the teams got so much better.

its still a long way to go. way to early to draw conclusions.

They just went on a west road trip and got smoked... what does the east have to do with this?

[kodo]

Just a rough schedule lately. Nets, Jazz, Suns, Warriors, Jazz is a stretch any team could lose. And going to play Jokic & Giannis next.
Previous to that stretch they were 50/50. They may get a break with a Jokic suspension.

Really the only game where I could say they should have won was CLE. All the other losses were vs decent teams. They split vs WAS, which is fine.

[CobraCommander]

Hilarious comment by Trae re regularly season.

They’re not a contender and they’re losing games facing better players, period.

The comments that he made before facing Curry were insane, and they paid for it.

A guy under valuing the regular season that hasn’t won a ring or even really challenged for one and isn’t OLD and trying to save himself is strange. It’s like his commitment to the excellence it takes to make it to the top is now going to get questioned. He isn’t Giannis that has to dial it back after modifying his body, winning 2 MVPs, dpoy and leading the league in wins...so he felt like he needed more focus on the playoffs...or even GSW after 73...a lot of the guys in his class mailing it in and living on their pass success...

Trae...please be your best self. I think this dude is a monster that could be a mvp...but he has to want it like he does in nyc every night

[yesh]

Maybe if Trae didnt find the regular season so boring hed win them some games.

Things are taking a turn for the better. In his five games for November, all losses, Trae is averaging:
25.4/4.4/9.0 with a TS% of .546.

His TS% for Octobers 6 games was .514. He will be fine by December. Then the haters will be left with bashing his hair...

Or lack thereof.

[Madhouse]

They are a treadmill team I fear. 45 wins is what I expect.