Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Atlanta Hawks

[Hawkamanic81]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

they need to build around trae and hunter and add a 2nd reliable playmaker like irving.

Hunter is a role player. I know he had a couple of good games in this series, but outside of 3pt shooting and some defense he doesn't do that much. Just look at his overall numbers. He isn't going to be able to live up to his draft position.

[AussieCeltic]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

The Jazz can’t wait to trade 3x DPOY away for Clint Capela…. The plus change better be John Collins and Huerter

[Fencer reregistered]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

Rarely have I seen those concepts juxtaposed.

[Rafael122]

If we're being honest, the entire team should be on the trade block, Trae included. Anyway, this team just got crazy expensive with Trae's extension kicking in.

I'd see what you can get for Capela, Gallo only has $5 million guaranteed on his deal so that is an interesting trade chip. A poster said they should go for Gobert and I think that would be an excellent move for both squads. Something like Capela, Gallo and a pick for Gobert. Utah pays out Gallo's guarantee, they'll take a step down defensively but it shakes up their core.

[Parataxis]

Keep the GM
Fire the Coach
Performed as expected, maybe slightly worse.
Treadmill team, as currently built.

I think that this offseason you need to do one of two things. Either build around Trae in a deliberate way (complimentary pieces, strong defensive support, etc...) or blow it up and get a king's ransom for Trae and aim to compete in the future instead.

[Lunartic]

Just wanted to remind everyone of a delightful thread

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2153097&start=60

I said if the Hawks are healthy they will the title.

With the Trae-Collins core you already have all the offense you need

Of course Trae could be better on that end, but he's not as bad as naysayers make it out to be.

Trae Young has the ability to lead the NBA in pts and assists. It's not his job to drop 30 and 10 and play defense.

So if it isn't his job to play defense or seemingly play offense either, is Trae even playing basketball?

[threethehardway]

The Hawks roster isn't talented enough to be consistent post season threats. Stars win championships, the Hawks only have one.

Nate McMillan is also a terrible coach.

[cupcakesnake]

I believe in the Trae/Huerter/Hunter/Okongwu core in the long term.

Trae is practically an offense unto himself so this team needs to stop goosing their offense with Gallinari types and focus on putting enough defense around Trae. Okongwu and Hunter are promising in this regard but they need 1-2 more defensive plus rotation players, especially with Capela and Delon Wright not likely in their long-term plans.

I quite like John Collins but sort of think he should be the trade bait that upgrades their defense. I'm also down with the Hawks keeping them if they have elite defense on the wings and at center. The Hawks sorely missed Collins offensive versatility, toughness and hustle after he was injured.

It was pretty annoying to see McMillan play Lou Williams for so long when the defense was ranked 30th in the middle of the season.

Some Hawks were like: we need a legit wing scorer! My brothers in Christ... your offense was 2nd in the league. Your defense finished 26th. You need nothing offensively. Find some defense and go back to the Conference finals in a couple years.

Yeah Miami bullied and outcoached them, but we saw this Hawks team do special things in 2021. They'll be back. It's not bad for them to take their lumps right now as a very young team.

[Sothron]

I will ignore the obvious trolls in this thread.

For those who clearly didn't know Collins has been injured since early Feb. He has a torn tendon in his finger on his shooting hand and a fascia tear in his right foot, his plant foot. He came back in the Heat series at nowhere near 100% and it showed. He was having a good season up to the injuries. Capela was out hurt, Bogi was hurt, Trae was hurt after Lowry intentionally clipped him on the knee in game one of the series. It is frustrating to see a season end due to injuries but injuries are part of the sport.

My vote is keep the GM, fire the coach, team is on the rise and performed worse than expected. Injuries and covid account for that.

My offseason wishes would be to fire Nate, trade for a star player and resign Delon Wright. We have plenty of good players on good contracts to make that happen.

[Jadoogar]

They need a PG who actually knows what the word "Defense" means.

Disagree to an extent. Point guard is the least important defensive position. Yes trae is bad on defense but so are their wings and that's far more harmful. Steph isn't a great defender, Morant is pretty bad too. But they are surrounded by great defensive players.

[ConSarnit]

They need a PG who actually knows what the word "Defense" means.

Disagree to an extent. Point guard is the least important defensive position. Yes trae is bad on defense but so are their wings and that's far more harmful. Steph isn't a great defender, Morant is pretty bad too. But they are surrounded by great defensive players.

You can’t win a title with someone who is as massive a negative as Trae is on D. He’s not just bad, he’s flat out atrocious. Maybe worst in the league. Even if Ja is below average he’s still a couple levels above Trae. Curry is at least a neutral/average defender.

I can’t think if single title team that’s had as bad of a defender at pg. Parker wasn’t great in 2014 but he was backed up by Green, Kawhi and Duncan. Good luck to ATL trying to find that level of surrounding defensive talent. I’d also add that 2014 Parker was still WAY better than Trae on defense.

[jokeboy86]

I fear this is going to be a Lebron/Cavs situation for Trae similar to what Luka will probably experience: Team is too good with star to ever get a 2nd high ceiling player from the lottery and team also has trouble acquiring 2nd star in FA/Trade. So the question is will the Hawks eventually attempt a swing-for-the fences trade just to get Trae some help and even did it takes two to tango.

[KembaWalker]

this is still a rising team, Trae Young is only 23 and thats all that matters
its just that progress isn't always linear, the team overperformed last year and underperformed this year

[Texas Chuck]

I think the run to the conference finals was a slight mirage, but I also think this series is too. Trae doesn't have some fatal flaw offensively. He just had a terrible series, likely the worst he will ever have.

That said, the roster isn't very Trae friendly. They definitely need to make some major changes. They knew they didn't want to pay Collins, but then fell into that trap so many teams do, where well we can't lose him for nothing especially coming off an unexpected deep run. I'd start there. Then I'd look to move one of Bogdan/Huerter and probably one of Capela/OO. And be really aggressive in pursuit of a 2nd guy the offense can revolve around besides just Trae.

[ConSarnit]

The Hawks roster isn't talented enough to be consistent post season threats. Stars win championships, the Hawks only have one.

Nate McMillan is also a terrible coach.

Their run last year screwed them coaching wise. Forced them to re-sign McMillan. Signing 55+ year old coaches who will never be a top 10 coach is just dumb. You already knew what he was, where is the upside for him to become a better coach? Why lock yourself into guaranteed mediocrity?

I get why they did it but they should have made the hard decision and cut bait to try and find a better long term coach. They are just going to have to fire him anyways.

[Duffman100]

Surround Trae with defenders. They need people who want to make stops.

[matt6715]

They will need to be aggressive this offseason and shuffle the deck quite a bit IMO. Looking at their roster it's pretty clear they don't have enough talent yet. Okongwu seems like a long term piece - does he make Capela expendable?

[Jadoogar]

They need a PG who actually knows what the word "Defense" means.

Disagree to an extent. Point guard is the least important defensive position. Yes trae is bad on defense but so are their wings and that's far more harmful. Steph isn't a great defender, Morant is pretty bad too. But they are surrounded by great defensive players.

You can’t win a title with someone who is as massive a negative as Trae is on D. He’s not just bad, he’s flat out atrocious. Maybe worst in the league. Even if Ja is below average he’s still a couple levels above Trae. Curry is at least a neutral/average defender.

I can’t think if single title team that’s had as bad of a defender at pg. Parker wasn’t great in 2014 but he was backed up by Green, Kawhi and Duncan. Good luck to ATL trying to find that level of surrounding defensive talent. I’d also add that 2014 Parker was still WAY better than Trae on defense.

sure but there is a big gap between winning a title and where the Hawks are currently. they should take incremental steps to improving their team rather than focusing on if it will result in a title.

[bebopdeluxe]

Keep
Keep? idk yet
Below expectations
Rising or treadmill

First and foremost resign Delon cause i'm a sucker for effort guys off the bench. Trade JC & Huerter for more defense and/or some disgruntled wing who can consistenly create as a secondary ball handler

They should try to get Dipo.

[Duffman100]

They need a PG who actually knows what the word "Defense" means.

I'm big on calling out that Trae is a **** defender. Because he is.

But I also think he's incredible offensive player. I think they just need to assemble a roster around him that makes sense.

Collins, Lou Willams, Gallo and Bogdan are all bad fits.