JTB

Gotcha.... that’s understandable! It really is but the approach is odd to me. You don’t have to make trades to build a great bench when you have the amount of cap space the hawks care going to have this summer! there may not be many stars in this free agency coming up but there’s enough good talent to build a outstanding bench in free agency. it’s very telling of Schlenk abilities as a gm if he would rather build a bench off of trades rather than possibly fighting for bench talent in the off season and I don’t mean that as an insult to him as it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you get what you want but I thought the hawks could get a vanvleet or someone of that talent via free agency simply by giving a few extra millions...with them trying to do a mid season overhaul (trying)...it somewhat sends out a signal that they aren’t confident that even a good bench player would look the Hawks way via free agency...did I take it too far? ...someone probably agrees with me whateve in Schlenk we trust

Maybe you’re right ...I think Giannis and embiid forces East teams to have quality big men however ...or your not beating those teams when it comes the post season (well not Giannis...embiid should be on that kind of level but that’s another story)...that is my opinion of course Then there’s also more good East centers coming up in bam and sabonis starting to make their names! so i just think (again my opinion) when you’re building a team to really compete in the EAST you have to consider that the center position is pretty damn good...very good on the top 4-6 teams outside of the Celtics while most being young not even in the so called prime ages (27-32) and I don’t think you can just toss any ol center out there in the east like the warriors did in the west during their championship years . I fear Schlenk coming from golden state just don’t truly value the 5 position very much. .........as far as the east perimeter stars go...Tatum, brown, Butler...yeah I’m not so much worried about those guys lol. I mean we got trae and he’s a handful alone ! When reddish or hunter get it going and hopefully live up to the hype we are going to be able to battle evenly or have an advantage on the perimeter one day. Hopefully anyways .

Alright I got another one @NBASupes...maybe you will know the answer to this , maybe not. I will try to explain it best I can! Is Travis and the front office considering the elites already established in the east while considering these moves to build out the team? ....Asking since the current young elites in the east will still be elites even when our young guys grow up and are in years 4-5. If I can clarify a bit more.... Giannis for example is only 24 or 25 and he’s possibly getting ready to be a back to back mvp on a very good team. It may sound crazy as F**k to even bring a player like Giannis caliber up since we are no where near to even being a average team but since a guy like Giannis is still so young, him and embiid and other young East superstars are going to be around the east for a loooonnngggg time and they’ll still be there when our guys are ready to take big steps.... ......so with the above said is Travis and company keeping in mind (during these possible trade negotiations) of the current elites in the east we will likely run into once we are ready to really compete? (it’s a interesting question because I see a team like the Celtics who probably could get to the championship but there’s just no way in hell they are equipped to even slow down a big like Giannis or even embiid...Ainge is good but he completely ignored the big man position in my opinion....I am hoping Schlenk has full intentions to be as complete as possible at all positions)

Gotcha I would say he if he’s acquired it’s just to see how he looks with trae and Collins but even if he Does fit and plays well with them..I get a sense That Schlenk would still have a worry about giving him max money to keep him. On the flip side I was thinking about such a deal to get Drummond here and if we kept him I’m sure he’d be on a very strict diet not to lose weight necessarily but just to be better conditioned. looks like to me Drummond can be a hell of a problem if gets in a bit better shape similar to embiid situation (not that Drummond is embiid but I think you get what I’m saying)...better conditioning would make Drummond an absolute beast on all phases.

Hmmmm well that writes off Drummond in free agency then shall they are able to make all the moves they want before the deadline

Please stop! i hate the reference “empty stats”...they say that about trae but unless you watch every game you can’t give a real opinion on that. we all watch every hawks game here at the squawk and we KNOW traes offensive impact is mega real and when he’s not on the court we are absolutely pathetic on offense and they can’t buy a bucket to save their lives! Sure defense steps up without trae but not well enough to stay in games. Same could be said about KAT...I wouldn’t make such an assumption he puts up empty stats . I highly doubt it.

Soooo what about the cap space for the summer?...are they at all worried about that during negotiations? Or just more so worried about getting 6-7 new vets possibly to keep for 2-3 years?

Daaammmmnnn if that happens that is insane ! I would guess VC is not apart of that ...that would be disrespectful to trade that old man

True...I just normally leave hunter out cause he has the whole package in terms of legit SF size and length. If we put huerter and cam at SG/SF I would think that is creating another issue on the perimeter as far as size goes. Not for huerter but cam more so playing SF full time....then again cam could gain a fair amount of weight in the coming years. weight wise cam is not a SF though he has the height and length though

Supes can’t say it but I will folks...it’s clear as day Bertans is one of em! i don’t have any connections BUT got dammit let’s just call it a great educational guest. I know Schlenk loves this guy

Supes!....I have a few Qs..... number 1: can you confirm what Schlenk and LP wants from his center position offensively? Does the scheme call for the center to be able to hit the 3 ball or not? .... this will help me come to my own conclusion for traditional centers like Drummond and if these type of centers can really be a fit long term or not. number two: what’s the value in Goodwin? Do they believe Goodwin is a keeper long term to be traes back up? number three: Who’s seen as the starting SG long term next to Trae? ....Cam or Huerter?

Lol well .... look I mean you’re right no one can deny that! What LP wants to run he can’t run with this grouping of players. They don’t have enough shooters for the offense they want to be. this is why I know for a fact this summer Schlenk will go after above average shooters as a priority

Then if you’ve acknowledged it...your expectations shouldn’t be very high

Well we knew LP wasn’t a offensive guru when he came here . I’ve been wondering for weeks if the offensive scheme would change to better fit our players but there’s no indication of that happening so you’re right but I’m just saying LP clearly hasn’t made any kind of offensive change to how we want or they want to play . we are going to keep seeing Len drift out to the perimeter just like philly see Embiid out on the perimeter...it’s just gon happen in this era

Nope I’m just smart enough to know the gm assembled bullshit...I’m not going to blame LP before acknowledging that the gm filled the roster out with BS

It won’t happen ....I will tell you why... yiu can’t be a gm that publicly says “hey we only predicted 30 wins”...then turnaround and fire your coach like you had REAL expectations! thats Bogus...if we are going to be mad at someone it’s Schlenk first then maybe LP and his staff depending on what it is

He made them last year no problem....that’s not on pierce normally your criticism is fair but not this one. LP is working with what Schlenk gave him . Also the center stretching the floor is just what the scheme calls for right now....perhaps they should think about changing it this off season once they see what personnel is on this team

Key...damn...word “unwatchable” I can barely stand it ....at least compete!

I’m a stat head on a lot of stuff I really am but this is a great example why numbers don’t always tell it all. Trae is a bad defender no doubt but even on a losing season like this year there’s just no way in hell his offense isn’t making up for his bad defense the majority of the time! I mean maybe we will see these numbers by the eye test more once the team can actually play defense and score on close to avg without his presence on the court. this team is so bad at scoring without Trae its NOT laughable 12pts in the first quarter !...really ?

Definitely!....Defense around Trae is a huge huge priority but like supes said those guys have to be able to be efficient offensively as well. We pretty much know Schlenk is aware of this and the drafting of Cam and Hunter are clear indications that it’s being addressed or effort is at least going into it. i can’t get completely behind the make up of all these numbers though defensively....not to suggest trae is better than the actual numbers but he’s so heavily relied on offensively that if he goes cold it wouldn’t matter if we are playing defense or not in many of these games as these guys simply can’t score when he’s off the court .....in other words I just think it all works hand in hand together.

When I watched Wiseman I too saw all the possible great potential BUT this kid is so raw right now he’s a good 3-4 seasons away from making actual on court impact in my opinion. Anthony Edwards on the other hand could have some immediate scoring impact from day 1! Especially paired along with trae sometimes on the floor. i do like Wiseman but then there’s some things I don’t like RIGHT NOW about him that we need. One major thing that would be a concern is his willingness to get physical in the paint , he tends to shy away from it right now on whet I’ve seen.

It will be interesting to see if Detroit lowers their demands by trade deadline or are they going to be like Charlotte and just not get anything possibly and hope Drummond agrees to a SNT shall he go to another team this summer

Schlenk is not giving up that pick! I’ve lost faith in that happening and have just look towards other things . I was saying the same things you were but I never believed the pick was on the table in the offer before that last report came out .

Very true !

We need more fans like you Gray! ....love that