Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Atlanta Hawks

[timO]

Dificult to fix this team via trades or FA.

They better select a gem at #16.

[sca]

I’m surprised that most people think they’re treadmilling. They’re still very young. Players don’t typically hit their primes at the age of 23, and I don’t think Trae Young is an exception.

[CraftylikeaFox]

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.

I mean, what team in the playoffs is 100%? Kyle Lowry has dealt with injuries all year. Jimmy Butler was obviously not at 100%. Bam had surgery earlier in the year.

I'd say it was a pretty even playing field injury wise. The Heat just game planned better and focused on making Trae's life as difficult as possible and Trae didn't respond well to it. He's obviously the engine of that team so when he is being shut down the team has no chance. The focus needs to be adding players that can take that pressure off of Trae and bringing in defenders because the Hawks struggle there, injuries or not.

[jokeboy86]

I’m surprised that most people think they’re treadmilling. They’re still very young. Players don’t typically hit their primes at the age of 23, and I don’t think Trae Young is an exception.

Problem is other than Trae who's the other high-ceiling player on their roster. Don't know how much better Collins is going to get.

[machu46]

I went with Rising because Treadmill felt a little too harsh for them. With Trae Young and other young talent, they have a chance to be more than just a treadmill team. I don't think they'll likely win a title or anything, but I think they could be a top 4 or 5 team in the conference in the near future if they build the team correctly/get good development from their young guys. This series was mostly a disaster but DeAndre Hunter was extremely promising at least. Trae, Hunter, and someone that can take the ball out of Trae's hands a bit and you have something cooking there IMO.

Having said that, I think this year's performance was more indicative of what they are right now than last year's playoff run was. They just aren't an upper echelon team right now.

[Bobbymcgee]

To me the biggest differences between last season and this one were the injuries and the seeming lack of chemistry.

The team just didn't have the same camaraderie and bravado it did in last year's post-season. Something is going on there.

I think they should make some minor tweaks and give it one more year before making any major moves. Maybe try and pick up some bench players interested in playing defense.

[giberish]

They've got some issues with Young and his offensive and defensive roles that limit them as currently constructed.

Young is a bad defender, even by PG standards. Physically, he's never going to be a great defender but with effort he can get close to average. This is important for two reasons. First there is a bigger difference on team D between an average defensive PG and a very bad defensive PG then many fans believe. Second as a team leader Young sets a tone for the rest of the team. If Young doesn't try on defense, it hurts the defensive effort of the rest of the roster, while if Young does care about defense and brings reliable effort on D than everyone else is likely to follow.

However having Young give a reliable effort on defense will take some energy away from him. He won't have the energy to dominate the offense the way that he has. This will need to be offset through some combination of adding offensive talent (ideally without hurting the defense any more), giving more offensive responsibilities to guys already in-house, and running a more varied offensive system. While these options may hurt the regular season offense from it's currently lofty mark, they will make it more playoff robust as their offense won't be as straightforward to stop.

IMO as long as the Hawks are built as Trey Young with some backup dancers they will struggle to get much above .500 and will be an easy playoff mark for any good team that isn't busy self-destructing.

[CP War Hawks]

Really simple fixes can be made. NM finessed this team with the extension. Hawks need to eat that and pursue Atkinson. The starting lineup had Gallo and Huerter with Trae. I don't care how good your defense is, you put Gallo with Boston and they struggle to defend.

Huerter was often matched guarding the best wing scorer. He's more suited toward reserve guards and wings. Capela, Collins, Huerter, and Bogi all have value to varying degrees. Schlenk gave the unit a chance after his infamous pre deadline rant, now he knows what needs to be done...

[ch434355]

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.

Dude, YOU are the troll. Do you really not realize that?

[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.

Dude, YOU are the troll. Do you really not realize that?

Says the person hiding behind their alt account. Check my join date. I didn't join in 2001 to be a troll. I have never trolled and it is laughable for someone to suggest otherwise.

[Vampirate]

Trae Young is still a fantastic piece to have, but he cannot have another playoffs like this.

[chrismikayla]

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.

I would be glad to be proven wrong, but I'm not sold on Huerter just yet. He seems out of it sometimes, especially on defense. But he is still young and can grow.

[ch434355]

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.

Dude, YOU are the troll. Do you really not realize that?

Says the person hiding behind their alt account. Check my join date. I didn't join in 2001 to be a troll. I have never trolled and it is laughable for someone to suggest otherwise.

You trolled all year with the over the top "nobody can beat the Hawks" shtick. How did that turn out?

[NO-KG-AI]

Trae Young is one of the top young talents in the entire league, and they have a ton of valuable pieces that can both grow or be moved. They are far from treadmilling or being stuck in place.

[GrindCityHustle]

They over-acheived last year but they are still in a good spot. They are kinda like how Boston was when Tatum and Brown were still learning to come together. I remember threads on how they should be broken up lol

[Sothron]

Trae Young is still a fantastic piece to have, but he cannot have another playoffs like this.

i agree 100% with this.

[DroseReturnChi]

I would be glad to be proven wrong, but I'm not sold on Huerter just yet. He seems out of it sometimes, especially on defense. But he is still young and can grow.

thats ur own personal opinion. huerter isnt some overpaid vet to get rid of. least of their concerns.

[SerialChiller]

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.

I thought it was the refs that ended your season, now it's the injuries?

But in all seriousness, I think people are being way too hard on Trae. I think he's a very good player and the Heat targeted him on defense because they think so too. The Hawks do have some good pieces, I have always felt Bogi was a scary shooter, Collins and Capela are solid athletic bigs, and Hunter really has potential to get even better. They just need some perimeter defenders and another guy to handle the ball and create to take pressure off Trae though. Probably a better Coach too as you said.

[Geaux_Hawks]

Keep the GM. Yeah he chose to just run it back, but he's probably the best GM we've had in the last 20 years(Maybe all-time).

Fire the coach? I'm 50/50 on this. I feel like Nate is just doing his best with what he has. Could he do some things differently? Of course. I'd give him 1 more year at least, and make a decision then. Would like to see him with more defensive talent to work with, and maybe a secondary ball handler/creator with Trae.

The team underpormed slightly in my eyes. Thought we were at least a top 6 team, with potential to make some noise again. Maybe not ECF's noise, but a 2nd round exit in 7 games seemed possible.

I'm hoping John Collins days are numbered in a Hawks uniform. He just was never the 2nd option many thought he was. A choice needs to made between Huerter/Bogi. You've basically got 2 similar players even though Kevin could actually become a legit 2 guard in the league if he just stopped being so timid and inconsistent. I'd prefer keeping Huerter, but if he's needed in a trade for some talent, then i'd pull the trigger. We can live with Bogi when he's healthy and being a threat. If both are gone, so be it.

Hunter as a 3rd option would be ideal if he can finally stay healthy and improve some more. I don't see 2nd best player on a championship team in his cards though. A healthy Capela is a must. At least with him healthy, we can see 2/5's of a starting rotation. If Galo would come back on a cheaper deal to play off the bench, that'd be great.

If I had my way, i'd be looking at a 2nd star/creator and defense overall. Ben Simmons fits that bill to a T if he ever can get over his mental stuff. I'd take a shot on a Cleveland esque frontline with Porzingis/Capela if KP is healthy and playing like he did this year. A moonshot for a Zion/Trae pairing would bring a lot of excitement.

One way or another, a shakeup is needed in Atlanta.

[Warriors Analyst]

It's quite damning of Nate McMillan that this team was significantly worse, particularly on offense, upon getting a full season to implement his preferred style as compared to his stint as an interim coach.