2019 Hawks Season Previews

[Jamaaliver]

It's that time again, y'all.

[Jamaaliver]

2018-19 Season Preview Extravaganza | The Hawks Signed Up For A Complete Rebuild

We’re going worst to first in order of last year’s standings and telling you everything you need to know. Today, we’ll preview a Hawks team that went 100 percent youth movement this offseason.

Key Players Acquired: G Trae Young (draft), G Kevin Huerter (draft), F Omari Spellman (draft), C Alex Len (free agency), G-F Vince Carter (free agency), G Jeremy Lin (free agency)

Key Players Lost: G Dennis Schroeder (trade), C Mike Muscala (trade)

Recapping 2017-18: Well, it wasn’t great. The Hawks finished the season 24-58, 15th in the East. Let’s look at the positives. It looks like the Hawks got a steal by drafting John Collins 19th overall in the 2017 draft. I’d expect him to be part of the team’s long-term blueprint, however, probably not a main pillar. Another positive was the continued development of Taurean Prince. Prince looks like a 2.0 version of former Hawk DeMarre Carroll.

After the season, coach Mike Budenholzer and the team parted ways. Atlanta will start fresh with coach Lloyd Pierce who comes over from Philadelphia.

The Big Question: Will Atlanta regret the Trae Young – Luka Doncic swap?

After originally drafting Doncic third overall, the Hawks flipped him to the Mavericks for the rights to Young and a future first-round pick.

Many considered Doncic the No. 1 prospect in the draft, while Young was considered to be a mid to late lottery pick. That’s not to say Doncic will be better than Young. We know the draft doesn’t work on pre-draft rankings, but physically, Young has some growing and progressing to do.

For what it’s worth, I think Huerter, who the team drafted 19th overall, is going to be a very good player who can score at all three levels. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a better rookie season than Young.

How Do The Wolves Beat Them?

The Hawks are a young team that will have plenty of learning moments throughout the season. Basically, be more physical than the Hawks. Young teams tend to play with finesse. Veteran teams play a bit more physical. [Opposing teams] should have no probably imposing their will on Atlanta.

Ratke’s Prediction:

There aren’t many teams with more puzzle pieces than the Hawks.

With Young, Huerter, Collins and Prince, this team has a solid core. I think Atlanta still has a long way to go and will probably be near the bottom of the East once again. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering that could mean two lottery picks in 2019 depending where the Mavericks end their season.

T-Wolves Team Site

[Jamaaliver]

Atlanta Hawks 2018-19 NBA Season Preview

The Hawks have embarked on a drastic rebuild, however, will tanking this aggressively yield a cornerstone star? Basketball Insiders digs into the Atlanta Hawks in this 2018-19 NBA Season Preview.

From 2008 to 2017 the Atlanta Hawks reached the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons. Through a variety of head coaches, through the team’s revolving door of key players -- the Hawks were able to become playoff fixtures amid a sea of constant change. But the 2017-18 campaign ushered in the beginning of a lengthy rebuild as general manager Travis Schlenk elected to take the franchise into a new direction.

Heading into the 2018-19 season, the Hawks have major question marks surrounding the team. The Hawks will look to break in first time head coach Lloyd Pierce and must somehow overcome the departure of last season’s leading scorer and primary floor general Dennis Schroder. The Hawks have a promising mix of youth and a solid mix of veteran contributors but unless the young guns grow up in a hurry, the road back to the land of playoff contention is likely years away.

Consensus Predictions: 5th Place – Southeast Division


TOP OF THE LIST

Best New Addition: Trae Young

Top Offensive Player: Trae Young

Top Playmaker: Jeremy Lin

Top Clutch Player: Jeremy Lin

Top Defensive Player: Dewayne Dedmon

The Unheralded Player: Dewayne Dedmon



STRENGTHS

Youth. These young Hawks are going to sneak up on plenty of older teams throughout the season, especially on back-to-backs or short road swings. The reason? Young legs and new head coach Lloyd Pierce’s commitment to defensive intensity. The Hawks are simply too young to know any better and will push teams up and down the court. Atlanta will have its fair share of upsets this season because of their youthful exuberance.


WEAKNESSES

Experience. The lack of experience will ultimately hinder the flight of these young Hawks. Jeremy Lin figures to play a prominent role in the starting backcourt, but he played in just one game last season due to a ruptured patella. The team traded away its leading scorer and primary ball handler, Dennis Schroder, in order to make room for rookie Trae Young. Vince Carter is a future Hall of Famer with loads of experience but can no longer be counted on to carry a heavy load nightly. Even rookie head coach Lloyd Pierce, despite plenty of stops around the league, is in his first role as the leading shot caller. The roster is loaded with promising (and unproven) young talent. The Hawks will show flashes of the future, but winning in the NBA comes down to veteran laden teams winning down the stretch. This is where the Hawks will struggle.

THE BURNING QUESTION

How long will the Atlanta Hawks’ rebuilding project last?

Rebuilding projects are ugly. Rebuilding projects are painful for the fans to endure. Rebuilding projects don’t help franchises land marquee free agents. Rebuilding projects don’t necessarily equate into securing a franchise player in the draft. So the question is, how long will the Hawks’ project last? It took Brett Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers four seasons to reach the playoffs. But the Sixers also have two generational type of talents at the top of its roster in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The Hawks don’t have a player close to that pedigree in the fold just yet. Rookie Trae Young is the wildcard. If Young is ready right out of the cereal box to perform and John Collins doesn’t suffer a sophomore slump the team will be on a positive trajectory. However, any slippage from these two pillars could derail some of the early positives gained from Schlenk’s short tenure at the helm.

Basketball Insiders

[Jamaaliver]

Every NBA Team's Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios for 2018-19

Atlanta Hawks



Best Case
New head coach Lloyd Pierce establishes a defense-first mentality that makes the Atlanta Hawks a pesky matchup—but not a team that wins too much and decreases the value of its 2019 first-rounder.

Trae Young resembles a Stephen Curry clone and runs away with the Rookie of the Year award. Kevin Huerter shoots his way onto the All-Rookie first team. John Collins flashes an expanded offensive arsenal (including a steady perimeter stroke) and garners some Most Improved Player votes. Finally, a couple of veterans prove potent enough to be flipped for draft assets at the Feb. 7 trade deadline.



Worst Case
The Hawks lack both an identity and star power, leaving the fanbase waiting on yet another prospect to serve as franchise savior down the line.

Much to Pierce's dismay, the defense takes a step back from last season's 21st-placed finish and the offense again sits in the bottom five. Young looks less like Curry than he does the Jimmer Fredette reboot no one is clamoring to see. Collins and Huerter are dunking and shooting specialists, respectively. Rookie Omari Spellman rarely sees the floor.

The draft lottery odds remain strong, but Atlanta can't grow its pick cache as the veterans fail to build any trade value.

Bleacher Report

[HMFFL]

I'm looking forward to season of growth and hoping for many positives.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

[ChokeFasncists]

It would really suck if Trae turns into Jimmer in terms of scoring. But luckily he definitely won't overall cuz he's a much better passer.

No way the Mavs make the playoffs.

[Jamaaliver]

A nice long read on our Hawks during a very dry period for the NBA.

Best Case, Worst Case: Atlanta Hawks

The no. 30 team in The Ringer’s Preseason Rankings will shoot a whole lot of 3s, and lose a whole lot of games



Ringer Preseason Ranking: 30

Last Season: 24-58

Notable Additions: Trae Young (draft), Jeremy Lin (trade), Alex Len (free agency)

Notable Subtractions: Dennis Schröder … Luka Doncic?

Vegas Over/Under: 23.5 wins

Team MVP: Taurean Prince



Best-Case Scenario: The Hawks actually manage to resemble a bootleg of a Warriors bootleg, but still put together one of the worst records in the league.

It could be an awfully painful season to be a fan of well-executed basketball in Atlanta, but as the Process Trusters in Philly have shown us, there are ways to embrace (and cope with) calamity.

All eyes will be on Young and sophomore John Collins, a stretchy, springy big who figures to lock in the starting 4-spot. But I’m most looking forward to tracking the continued advancement of Prince, who made a Jimmy Butler–esque leap in Year 2, showing off most of the requisite skills you’d hope for in a power wing: confident, high-volume 3-point shooting; secondary playmaking; and stout individual defense across multiple positions.

The next 82 games will be a painful journey to figure out whether the Hawks’ new core can replicate even a sliver of what the Warriors accomplish on a possession-by-possession basis.



Worst-Case Scenario: Doncic is the unanimous Rookie of the Year winner, while none of the Hawks’ three first-round talents (Young, Huerter, and Omari Spellman) come remotely close to meeting expectations.

Rookies foisted into marquee roles from the jump rarely change their team’s fortunes immediately. That goes triple for a player like Young, whose stylistic pedigree is full of players who not only toiled in the NBA wilderness for years before finding themselves, but also spent four years in college. Young has been ahead of the curve, but he’ll soon be in danger of getting crushed by it.

TL;DR: The Hawks will be driven by 3-pointers and either Doncic envy or schadenfreude. It’ll be a rough season.

The Ringer

[ChokeFasncists]

A nice long read on our Hawks during a very dry period for the NBA.

Best Case, Worst Case: Atlanta Hawks

The no. 30 team in The Ringer’s Preseason Rankings will shoot a whole lot of 3s, and lose a whole lot of games



Ringer Preseason Ranking: 30

Last Season: 24-58

Notable Additions: Trae Young (draft), Jeremy Lin (trade), Alex Len (free agency)

Notable Subtractions: Dennis Schröder … Luka Doncic?

Vegas Over/Under: 23.5 wins

Team MVP: Taurean Prince



Best-Case Scenario: The Hawks actually manage to resemble a bootleg of a Warriors bootleg, but still put together one of the worst records in the league.

It could be an awfully painful season to be a fan of well-executed basketball in Atlanta, but as the Process Trusters in Philly have shown us, there are ways to embrace (and cope with) calamity.

All eyes will be on Young and sophomore John Collins, a stretchy, springy big who figures to lock in the starting 4-spot. But I’m most looking forward to tracking the continued advancement of Prince, who made a Jimmy Butler–esque leap in Year 2, showing off most of the requisite skills you’d hope for in a power wing: confident, high-volume 3-point shooting; secondary playmaking; and stout individual defense across multiple positions.

The next 82 games will be a painful journey to figure out whether the Hawks’ new core can replicate even a sliver of what the Warriors accomplish on a possession-by-possession basis.



Worst-Case Scenario: Doncic is the unanimous Rookie of the Year winner, while none of the Hawks’ three first-round talents (Young, Huerter, and Omari Spellman) come remotely close to meeting expectations.

Rookies foisted into marquee roles from the jump rarely change their team’s fortunes immediately. That goes triple for a player like Young, whose stylistic pedigree is full of players who not only toiled in the NBA wilderness for years before finding themselves, but also spent four years in college. Young has been ahead of the curve, but he’ll soon be in danger of getting crushed by it.

TL;DR: The Hawks will be driven by 3-pointers and either Doncic envy or schadenfreude. It’ll be a rough season.

The Ringer

Agreed, real nice article.

Interesting comparison between Prince and Jimmy Butler. Prince is bigger and basically plays a different position but there are indeed some similarities.

Hope what he said about Huerter is true.

[Jamaaliver]

While these are always fun...this one is kinda brutal.

I love it!!!

Grizz Fan’s Hater’s Guide to: The Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young is dime store Steph Curry and will be out of the league in three years

2017-18 Record: 24-58. The Hawks ended their 10-year playoff streak and also became the second team in NBA history to go 60 seasons without winning a title. So, congrats! The only way Atlanta sets sports records are for futility. Sherman could come back to life, burn the city down again, and they’d still never wash away the stench of 28-3.


Their Superstar: To play the role of Steph Curry in their new version of the Warriors, the Hawks drafted disposed lollipop Trae Young. Young lit the world on fire for the first half of the college season, then immediately disappeared when people actually decided to guard him. Prepare yourself for Trae Young chucking up ridiculous shots half of the game and playing himself out of the league by the end of his first contract.

Read on Twitter

What’s New to Hate: Welcome, newest TNT member Vince Carter! The Hawks signed the 20-year vet to a contract ostensibly to mentor their three actual good young players, but it’s already generally accepted that he’ll spend every other game being the yin to Charles Barkley’s yang.

In other news, the Hawks brought in GM Travis Schlenk from Golden State because hiring execs from successful teams always makes you successful. I am sure that Schlenk will perfectly replicate the incredibly fortunate success of the Warriors in no time. Brought in to coach Warriors East is first-time coach Lloyd Pierce. Pierce did sit on the staff that presided over #TheProcess in Philadelphia, which should disabuse you of any notion that the Hawks are actually going to try to be competitive any time this decade.

What We’ve Always Hated: As mentioned before, the Hawks ended their playoff streak this season, which would be impressive for pretty much every other team in the league outside of Georgia. For the Hawks, though? That’s just a random piece of bar trivia that no one will know by the time we hit 2021.

The Hawks won 60 games once during this run, but did anyone ever consider them ACTUAL contenders for a title? Of course not!

A Hawk You may have forgotten: Alex Len! Let’s be honest, the biggest contribution Len has made during his brief career was allowing me to get off “Steal My Sunshine” tweets, which are a lot less fun now that he is no longer in Phoenix.

Grizzlies

[Jamaaliver]

Atlanta Hawks dig in for another long slog

There is almost certainly pain coming for the Hawks, or at least their fans, yet first-time NBA head coach Lloyd Pierce and second-year general manager Travis Schlenk refuse to notarize that word while in charge of Atlanta's only woebegone pro team.

Training camp begins Tuesday for the team that last season lost more games than any other in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks were 24-58, and their offseason moves are not likely to move them closer to playoff contention.

"Just a reminder: I won 10 games in Philadelphia about four seasons ago," said Pierce. "It's not painful if you know you're doing the right things. It's not painful if you know guys are getting better every day. It's not painful if you know that when you're in the gym . . . doing what's needed for growth that guys understand that."

Yet the Hawks' brass is projecting excitement about assembling one of the NBA's youngest rosters - they've added three first-round draft choices - while making it clear than their plans tilt toward the long term.

"It's a lot easier to win 70 games than it is 24 like we did last year, certainly, but it really isn't painful," [GM Travis Schlenk] said. "I mean, listen, we work in the toy department of life. I get to go to basketball gyms for a living; it can't be that painful.

"I think Lloyd and I agree whole-heartedly, our job is to come in here and keep people's spirits up . . . "

Associated Press

[ATL Boy]

It'll be another rough one but I can't wait for it

[hawkmanreturns]

It'll be another rough one but I can't wait for it

Agreed. I can't wait to see how things shake out this season. I honestly think it's going to be fun if nothing else.

[sprost]

No one seems to count on this possibility: If Lin is back to where he was in talent before his injury October last year (seems all indications say this is a very reasonable possibility), he can be a top half NBA starting PG talent with Trae having a good year meaning this is a top 10 PG and with the azimuth of young Prince/Collins improvement and solid Bazemore a top 100 NBA player and addition of bigs who can PNR and possibly shoot beyond the arc, this is a squeeze into the playoffs team: my prediction. Lin will continue to shoot near .400 3P% as in 2017 and shone in a much worse Nets team and is going to surprise many with his "comeback" this year and continue incredibly underrated passing and defense and leadership skills on the floor with a raw rookie needing Lin to play at least as many minutes on the floor by December and showing a clearly evidenced better talent on the floor, disappointing many of the "this is only about rebuilding" people as the Hawks shock playing near .500 ball early on.

[Roy Tarpley]

No one seems to count on this possibility: If Lin is back to where he was in talent before his injury October last year (seems all indications say this is a very reasonable possibility)

There is no compelling empirical evidence to suggest that Lin can get back to where he was pre-injury. All we've seen or heard is video snippets of Lin playing minor contact 5 on 5, and Lin saying that he feels confident that he'll be back. I'll even throw in having Chelsea Lane as a fitness guru, and Lin's time at Fortius in Vancouver as reinforcing data.

The actual evidence of NBA players experiencing a patellar tendon rupture is a limited sample size.

Antonio McDyess
Cedric Ceballos
Damon Stoudamire
Glen Rice
Alonzo Mourning
Caron Butler
Joel Pryzbilla
Kelenna Azubuike

- All of them came back to continue their careers except Azubuike, who apparently had a botched operation that ended his career.

- Four of them (Stoudamire, Rice, Mourning, and Pryzbilla) were basically at the end of their careers anyways so they played maybe another season or two, but then hung it up. Perhaps they didn't want to put in the time for rehab this late in their career.

- Ceballos, McDyess, and Butler all played several more years, enjoying a good career, but not at pre-injury level. If you look at their career stats, you can probably guess when they had their injury because the drop off in stats is that distinct and pronounced.

- If you throw in NFL players, most who had the PTR injury also didn't come back 100%. There are two -- Jimmy Graham and Morris Claiborne -- who appear fairly close to pre-injury status. This is the best relevant evidence I can think of in support of Lin's recovery.

- Given this supporting evidence, and Lin's work ethic and drive, I have no doubt that - barring some other mishap like say a hamstring pull - Lin will play a relatively full season (say minimum 65 games).

- But there's nothing to suggest that there's a "very reasonable possibility" that Lin comes back 100%. I'm taking off my Lin fan hat here and looking just straight at the facts.

[jayu70]

No one seems to count on this possibility: If Lin is back to where he was in talent before his injury October last year (seems all indications say this is a very reasonable possibility), he can be a top half NBA starting PG talent with Trae having a good year meaning this is a top 10 PG and with the azimuth of young Prince/Collins improvement and solid Bazemore a top 100 NBA player and addition of bigs who can PNR and possibly shoot beyond the arc, this is a squeeze into the playoffs team: my prediction. Lin will continue to shoot near .400 3P% as in 2017 and shone in a much worse Nets team and is going to surprise many with his "comeback" this year and continue incredibly underrated passing and defense and leadership skills on the floor with a raw rookie needing Lin to play at least as many minutes on the floor by December and showing a clearly evidenced better talent on the floor, disappointing many of the "this is only about rebuilding" people as the Hawks shock playing near .500 ball early on.

Hawks don't need to get Bobby Sura'd by Lin, Baze and Dedmon. If the Hawks are winning by playing their young future core Trae, Collins, Prince, Huerter etc. I'm ok with the winning results. Winning with the vets will put us back on yhe treadmi faster than we got off. No Thanks.

[94Nuggets]

Hawks don't need to get Bobby Sura'd by Lin, Baze and Dedmon.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-the-legend-of-bobby-sura/

[jayu70]

Hawks don't need to get Bobby Sura'd by Lin, Baze and Dedmon.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-the-legend-of-bobby-sura/

yep. The Hawks won too many games that year and missed out on the chance of drafting hometown kid Dwight Howard, smh.
Ended up with pick #6 and selected Josh Childress, sigh.

[ChokeFasncists]

Hawks don't need to get Bobby Sura'd by Lin, Baze and Dedmon.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-the-legend-of-bobby-sura/

yep. The Hawks won too many games that year and missed out on the chance of drafting hometown kid Dwight Howard, smh.
Ended up with pick #6 and selected Josh Childress, sigh.

Ironically D12 landed in his hometown but was already broke. What might have been?

Man, that Marvin Williams pick......

No worries with Lin being Sura 2.0, he could be traded or waived whenever/if he plays well.

[jayu70]

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-the-legend-of-bobby-sura/

yep. The Hawks won too many games that year and missed out on the chance of drafting hometown kid Dwight Howard, smh.
Ended up with pick #6 and selected Josh Childress, sigh.

Ironically D12 landed in his hometown but was already broke. What might have been?

Man, that Marvin Williams pick......

No worries with Lin being Sura 2.0, he could be traded or waived whenever/if he plays well.

If the Hawks didn't need a PG and if they hadn't drafted Josh Childress and Josh Smith the previous year - Marvin in a vacuum wasn't a horrible pick.

I actually thing taking Sheldon Williams at #5 the next year was downright horrible.

[BigTimeFA2LA]

I'm excited to watch the Hawks, this is the new 76ers of East