sillent

I like your optimism for those teams and I get it they clearly are in the mix. I personally have even higher optimism for ours and the team I'm most concerned about is Boston. The rest of those teams we either owe, still owe or have there number in my opinion. I am slightly questioning what we will look like against Cleveland since we don't have JC to dunk on Jarrett Allen anymore. Maybe Onyeka and Jalen take on that role. I know it sounds crazy but I think that really gave us an edge over Cleveland. Milwaukee we've had their number for awhile now. We keep a stiff arm for Philly and Ny and we won't/shouldn't be sleeping on Brooklyn anymore which means they shouldn't be a worry if we bring our A game. As long as Miami has Jimmy they will be marked on our calendar because Trae shouldn't ever forget what they did to us/him in the playoffs 2yrs ago.

@shakes you're itching to bet against us hungh?? I don't mind taking fans like that money. If you really believe or don't believe for that matter we can arrange a bet on the side.

Ok yeah it looks like @Spud2nique "Stand Pat" for the win!!! @Diesel even responded to this multiple times Reminds me of many fans memories so I understand.

If we're talking victory blunts or cigars to be more kosher than

Me either Not because there won't undoubtedly be any but because I like focusing more on the positives.

For all those putting players stock in summer league listen to what a proven player went thru in his about 10mins in.

I already thought we were pretty good as is and I know for a fact that last years record doesn't reflect our true talent. After looking at the Power Rankings for this up and coming season (of course we were disrespected/underestimated), I can almost say without a doubt we will be top 3 in the East. For once I'm going to keep my post shorter by sparring the details but I'm willing to bet at the very least my avatar that we have the top 3 seed going into the playoffs next season. Even keeping the team as is currently. ps. watch it be top 4 (just to play with my emotions Smokey) but I can bet by than we'd all agree we should be top 3.

And funnier I was about (still am) to make a post like this but slightly more bolder. @Dieselopinions have become different than what I remember them being from the past but for now dare I say great minds think alike

I agree which is why I did. If you're saying this though maybe I didn't explain properly but negative 5 for wrong guesses of stars or bust. Same as positive 5 for right guesses in that category for players drafted in the lottery. Minus 3pts for wrong guesses of allstar drafted in the lottery. Plus 3 for correct guesses Minus 1pt for fringe allstars/ plus one for fringe allstars drafted in the lottery. And to add for outside the lottery -2 for wrong all star guesses and -4 for wrong star guesses. If someone can come up with a numbering system based on draft position tiers that's good or better I'm up for that too. Not necessarily like a 17th pick gets more than a 15th because GM's get it wrong too but if y'all tiered it 15th - 20th pick with a point system and so on I'd be up for that. Of course the further picked in the draft the more points. Like a Jokic or Bol Bol pick for instance.

I could use some mortgage money. Would hate to take it from a fellow Hawks fan. I hope it's clear I didn't say they all would reach these levels at the same time or in the next yr. Just said in their careers. Teams have had that before (OKC) is the best example with KD, Russ, Harden, Ibaka, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony Kevin Martin at the time was fringing which is why they traded him for Harden. Dennis Schröder, Victor Oladipo And they now host the likes of guys like SGA, Josh Giddey, Chet Holgrem. Like us they've drafted well and/or have had plenty stars on the team. Problem with them is they've struggled to keep them. We have an opportunity to keep a lot of ours and they are all on good timelines to develop together so yes I do believe we have a greater team than most can imagine coming into this season. Will they make young mistakes, of course but they are more heady than most players their age which I think this yr will prove. ps I would mark Josh Giddey and Chet as 2 more players on my list but it would be too easy. I guess I'll add Jabari Smith jr (all star), Mark Williams (fringe all star) and wait to include a few more names for now.

To keep it completely fair pick as many players as you like but that number will be divided by your overall score. I will pull this out from the archives as time passes.

Anfernee Simons (star) Tyrese Maxey (all star)

To start it off I think Amen Thompson (star) Auser Thompson (all star) Jalen Johnson (star) Onyeka Okongwu (star) AJ Griffin (all star) Trey Murphy III (borderline all star) Kobe Bufkin (star) Mohammed Gueye (star) Scoot Henderson (star) I'll add more later...

I'd like to think I would be a pretty good NBA Scout especially from my past vision/picks as far as who would thrive in the nba. I guessed right in guys like Giannis early when he was only 6'7 and I knew he was a Larry Drew guy but we lost Larry and Giannis to the Bucks. Of course a few yrs in the league and Giannis growing 4 inches has catapulted him. I saw a lot of McGrady in Paul George before anybody was giving him a look since his rookie yr as well. I would've/did sleep on Jokic and Kawhi. I didn't think they would be bust based on their picks but I didn't think they would become who they became. I slept on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as well. Guys like RJ Barrett are just who I thought they would be. For the Squawk though I'm interested to know/test our scouting game. For players in the league 4yrs or less who would you consider to be stars, allstars or bust? 5 pts for correct guess of stars bust/ minus 5 for incorrect guess. 3pts for correct all star guesses drafted within the lottery/ minus 3 if they don't make it. 1pt for borderline all star/minus 1 if they aren't close. 5pt extra bonus if you pick an allstar outside of the lottery. 10pt bonus if you pick a star outside the lottery. We can exclude the 1st picks in the draft because they are the assumed consensus stars (unless you consider them as a bust). Pick as many players as you like but remember they count with or against you based on the total number of correct and incorrect picks.

PG Trae Young/Mookie Blaylock SG Joe Johnson/Steve Smith SF Dominique Wilkins/Josh Smith PF Paul Millsap/ Shareef Abdul Rahim C Dikembe Mutombo/ Onyeka Okongwu (premature but high hopes) Coach Lenny Wilkins but Snyder is coming Considerations Jeff Teague (Mookie was more impactful during his time period), Pistol Pete/Moses Malone/LouHudson/Bob Petit (didn't get to see for real), Al Horford (last 2 yrs left a sour taste in my mouth), Cam Reddish/DeMar Johnson/Boris Diaw (didn't get enough time to be impactful for us). Korver was impactful for us but mainly on one side of the floor (still one of our best shooters).

That would be nice but honestly that floater isn't easy to master. I've said it since he got drafted and I will reiterate now he's a lot like DJ so if I was him I'd study his game 1st while picking up some of Trae's game as he develops a little more. I think Kobe being a student of the game can eventually be a combo of both. DJ's mid range/defense and Trae's court vision/hopefully floaters. He definitely got drafted to the right team.

Maybe I misread.

This right after the bust comments. For some reason I thought your talent evaluation was a little better than that. Tell me more Maybe I'm sleeping but time will tell.

I wouldn't bet on the "student" driver to be my getaway driver so yeah I agree Patty should play the Bulk of the back up role. Still it's a long season and Bufkin should be ready by at least half the season to play some spot minutes and possibly a backup role.

Another great pick up especially as a two way player is Miles Norris I see. A sleeper at that spot.

Those are the two I've argued about. Tracy Mc Grady, Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas. I've spotted a lot of talent young. I'm not talking about guys analyst had hope for I'm talking about guys that I personally saw with that it factor at their rookie stages. If Cam Reddish and Bol Bol end up being busy than ok I flopped on them but honestly it's not because of their skillset but more because of their mental factors and understanding the politics of the game. Same with Josh Smith. Jeff Teague didn't go as far as I expected him to but he was a little more passive than the rest and atleast got a ring. I guess my newest examples will be AJ, JJ, OO, Kobe, Mo G and Lundy because I see greatness in all of them even if it's just being great in their roles (Lundy).

True. I was trying to sum it up but figured most of us saw Trae's bad showing so didn't need to detail it. Dimes were pretty good though.

Quick backstory. In 96 I was going back and forth with my dad watching this 18yr old. He was shooting air balls, ball hogging, missing shots left and right but he had a certain aggressiveness, confidence and basic skillset to him that I saw and made me argue with my dad that he's going to be great. The future later showed what I saw. His name was Kobe Bryant. I saw another kid in 2018 same age same type of horrible showing. His name was Trae Young. Point is greatness takes time. Patience

We have Trae and DJ for the foreseeable future. Bufkin will be a fill in combo guard that mainly plays off the ball.

Not for sure if that was completely less bias but good analysis overall.