Jungle Jack

What the holy hell was that heave of Trae? As a heat check? Sure. Considering I think Spellman is the only Hawk to actually hit a 3 and there was tons of time on the shot clock, madness.

Your Atlanta Hawks! Kinda hope we continue this pace and lose by 80 as at least we will get some national press interest.

Man this is ugly. Following current form, our reserve unit will actually bring it closer. 24-7 is a heckuva hole and the game just started. Pistons are probably on track to score 195....

While I am still decidedly bummed both by us losing Bud and worse getting nothing for him and the protections on the Mavs pick, I cannot honestly believe in Trae and Smoove are remotely being compared. And I say this as a Smoove fan. Of all the things that concern me with Trae, shooting ain't remotely one of them. Ultimately, he needs to shoot less off the dribble and golly am I missing Collins who should really open up the pick and roll. Trae is a great shooter and the season is quite (sorry) young. His defense is what I always will remain concerned with and even in the best possible multiverse version of the Hawks, it well might be a disaster once we are in the playoffs. Come 2026 or whenevs.

Nah. That said, I do wonder what Bud could do with Young, Huerter, and Spellman. That said, I do kinda wonder it MB would allow Trae such a long leash as Pierce does.

I gotta give massive props to Trae. This game was especially impressive to me as Miami is a very well coached team with a solid defense. While I definitely did not like the Doncic-Young trade due to the draft protection, I was not opposed to us drafting Trae. Really and truly excited for Collins to come back as he will be a huge addition.

Mighty early to even contemplate the playoffs. That said, considering we are without Collins, I certainly cannot complain about us being 2-3. Our best chance for the Cavs pick conveying is if (when) Lue gets shown the door. Would not be surprised if we actually look better against Philly than we did against the Bulls. Thinking this will be one of those seasons where our record will be better against playoff contenders than fellow tank adjacent. Lin has looked like hot garbage, but hopefully he will reacclimatize to playing again after the myriad injuries.

Somewhat stunned that some seem to be taking Ressler's comments as not having a bias. Bud is a great HC, but it would be somewhat surprising to see him having front office duties again. I also agree it looks terrible to be airing this out to Schultz and that had the perception not cut so deep I doubt he would have felt the need to deny with expletives. We talked about Ressler making the decisions leading up to and during the draft and I took and still take the position that as he is the principal owner (forgive me) the buck stops with him. Would think this is not an uncommon thing around the league. That said, considering just how impactful Trae was last year, I will only say his popularity did not hurt considering how early into the tank we are. I reckon Doncic falling to 3 was the last thing Ressler/Schlenk wanted in terms of how highly rated Luka was leading up to the draft by much of the national media and blogotopia. While getting the player they wanted and in theory a 1st round pick seems perfect, but Luka will always be the one that got away should be excel and Trae struggle. Had Bagley been there at 3 would have been a far less polarizing decision. Especially with us having Collins.

While stoked for Trae, Huerter, and especially Spellman, in regards to thinking anyone who does not love the 3-5 swap was massively wrong feels premature. Even if Trae is ROY, still not loving the protections on the Mavs pick. Furthermore, Doncic did put up 26 against Minny and it is hard not to think they might be a bit stouter defense. This need not be a zero sum gain. In addition, regardless of whom we hoped for in the draft, seeing our 5th overall pick put up one of the finest rookie games in NBA history that more importantly led to a win is fantastic news.

The horror of horrors would be the Mavs ending up keeping their 1st. Quite vexing that we had to agree to protections on their first. And indeed Trae might have gone 6th. Again, I really think Trae can be a very good player. It is just I really struggled with the manner in which we acquired him considering just how lousy with draft picks we were and how the first two picks of the draft went. That said, Huerter really can be special and hopefully likewise Omari.

I remain optimistic about Trae. What I struggle with is that most likely we could have had both Doncic and Trae after Sac and PHX passed on Doncic. I really do not think Young would have gone until around 8 or 9 and with our 19th, 30th and 34th picks, I don't see how we could have not packaged them to do so. That said, I would have wanted Doncic and Sexson ideally.

Speaking of Trae, NBA.com just released the GM Survey and he did not get a single mention. Huerter and Spellman did. ROOKIES & INTERNATIONAL Luka Doncic is a popular choice among GMs to walk away with top rookie honors. Who will win the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year? 1. Luka Doncic, Dallas – 43% 2. Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento – 17% Wendell Carter Jr., Chicago – 17% 4. DeAndre Ayton, Phoenix – 13% Also receiving votes: Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis; Kevin Knox, New York; Collin Sexton, Cleveland Last year: Lonzo Ball – 62% Which rookie will be the best player in five years? 1. DeAndre Ayton, Phoenix – 27% Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis – 27% 3. Luka Doncic, Dallas – 17% 4. Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento – 13% Kevin Knox, New York – 13% 6. Wendell Carter Jr., Chicago – 3% Last year: Josh Jackson – 24% Which rookie was the biggest steal at where he was selected in the Draft? 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11), LA Clippers – 27% 2. Svi Mykhailiuk (47), L.A. Lakers – 13% 2. Wendell Carter Jr. (7), Chicago – 10% Michael Porter Jr. (14), Denver – 10% Gary Trent Jr. (37), Portland – 10% 6. Luka Doncic (3), Dallas – 7% Kevin Knox (9), New York – 7% Also receiving votes: DeAndre Ayton (1), Phoenix; Kevin Huerter (19), Atlanta; Omari Spellman (30), Atlanta; Moritz Wagner (25), L.A. Lakers; Lonnie Walker IV (18), San Antonio Last year: Dennis Smith Jr. – 37%

In regards to tanking, one thing that I do think will make a difference is the number of teams likewise going down the "player development" path. Considering the number, I do think the turnaround will be quicker for some teams if for no other reason than the law of averages. I am personally hoping that this is our last year in the gutter. Tough to see us ranked 30th (out of of course 30) in ESPN's Power Rankings. More so that we are rated lower than that paragon of stability the Kings. We have a sporting chance of conveying the Cavs pick now that Love has been resigned and Sexson looks like a keeper thus far. Ditto for the Mavs pick. With this many picks, even if we are not in a position after the lottery to draft Barrett, we certainly should have the ammunition to get there. Should also mean that if we somehow are competitive there will be less impetus to not do everything possible to compete.

I genuinely both sympathize and agree with KB on the whole. Problem is we are already well down the road of tanking. Schlenk's reputation as a GM will primarily be made by whom he drafts. So far, Collins has been fantastic. While I very much wanted Sexson (to the point of starting my only thread here on draft day), I do think our rooks can be quite good. I do seriously wonder what happened in respect to Doncic and whether or not the choice to trade him and get Trae was passed down from up high (Ressler). Regardless, it has been stunning just how much national attention Trae has engendered. Hard not to think our current strategy of team construction is going to be addressed come the next CBA. Just not sure what the answer is considering the advantages of the large market franchises. Perhaps a start would be to withhold revenue sharing for the teams that blatantly tank.

The Eastern Conference really should be interesting this season beyond Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Indy. As I am not a betting man, I am unsure what Vegas is forecasting for whomever is considered a 7th or 8th seed in regards to wins, but I would not be surprised to see it comfortably under 40 wins. To boot, I would reckon short of Trae playing at ROY level combined with Huerter playing lights out to get us to the 8th. In tandem with Collins continuing is upward trajectory and likewise Prince. While possible, not sure it is plausible. That said, I do think one of the lower ranked teams (Hawks were ranked 30th in yesterday's ESPN Power Rankings) will get in.

Pretty good news that the Cavs just resigned Love for our draft pick chances. Love in tandem with Sexson, et al should at least be an 8 seed considering there's us, the Nets, Magic, Knicks, Bulls and so on.

Shoulda been third wave roasters and Charbucks is utterly cruel.

Probably truth in that statement as Brown is somewhat of an anomaly in steering through the tank while remaining there. Also, tried Counter Culture Coffee? Utterly amazing stuff and is truly one of the top third tier roasters out there. Even have a tasting center in Atlanta.

Really nice article on the Rogaine Kid err..Trae: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/7/24/17605788/trae-young-rookie-curve To skip the link: "The summer is a time to dream big with newly drafted rookies. But paths to stardom in the NBA are never linear, and every rookie has a unique set of roadblocks to overcome before they can capitalize on their potential. Over the next few weeks, Jonathan Tjarks will be examining some of the 2018 draft’s top talents and how the reality of their team’s situation will affect their freshman season. Welcome to the Rookie Curve. No player at summer league was under a bigger microscope than no. 5 overall pick Trae Young. Young became a household name in his freshman season at Oklahoma, when he shattered NCAA records and played like a younger version of Steph Curry. He eventually regressed to the mean, tailing off in Big 12 play before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. His roller-coaster season continued in seven games in Utah and Las Vegas, where he averaged 15.1 points on 30.3 percent shooting and 5.7 assists a game. Young had the ultimate green light, with the freedom to shoot from any part of the floor at any point in the clock. He has not had a teammate who will push him off the ball the way that Jeremy Lin will this season in Atlanta. The Hawks added Lin in a three-team trade with Denver and Brooklyn a week before they traded Dennis Schröder to Oklahoma City, ensuring they would still have a veteran point guard with starting experience. Young had an incredibly high usage rate of 37.1, which would have led the NBA last season; what he didn’t have was another playmaker on his team. Oklahoma gave its freshman point guard complete control of the offense, a role which allowed him to lead the nation in scoring (27.4 points per game) and assists (8.7). Young’s responsibility will have to decrease at least somewhat at the next level, if only to keep him healthy. A 20-year-old who weighed 177 pounds at the combine would have a hard time handling the same offensive workload as guys like James Harden and Russell Westbrook. A lot will depend on Lin’s health. The 29-year-old played only 34 games over his past two seasons in Brooklyn, sitting out almost the entirety of last year after suffering a ruptured patella tendon on opening night last season. He has one season left on his contract, and playing for a rebuilding team like Atlanta could give him the opportunity to rebuild his value. Lin, when healthy, has shown the ability to run an NBA offense. He has career per-36-minute averages of 16.2 points on 43.3 percent shooting and 6.0 assists per game in eight seasons in the league. While Linsanity has come and gone, he could make Young’s life easier next season by getting into the lane and kicking the ball out to him for open shots. A huge part of Curry’s game in the NBA is playing off the ball, something Young rarely did in college. According to the tracking numbers at Synergy Sports, 23.1 percent of Curry’s offensive possessions in Golden State last season came when he ran around screens off the ball or got to the rim on a cut. Young, in contrast, used only 3.7 percent of his possessions on those plays in college and 4.9 percent in summer league. He took a lot of difficult shots at Oklahoma, which is one reason he shot only 36 percent from 3, despite his reputation as a knockdown shooter. Just compare his shot distribution to Steph’s: One story line to track in Atlanta next season is how much Young and Lin play together. New Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce will have several different options for his starting lineup. He could start Lin and Young in a small backcourt or start a more traditional lineup and bring one of them off the bench. Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince, and John Collins are near locks to start, but they could play at the 3 through 5 positions with both point guards or at the 2 through 4 with another big man—either Dewayne Dedmon or free-agent signee Alex Len—at the 5. No matter who starts, the two point guards will likely stagger minutes so that one is always in, the same way Houston does with James Harden and Chris Paul. Young will get the opportunity to dominate the ball when he’s playing without Lin. His performance in those minutes could end up looking similar to what happened in summer league, when he struggled at times to create good looks off the dribble and settled for almost impossible shots against longer and more athletic defenders with a hand in his face. The biggest positive Young showed over the past month was his passing, which has always been the most underrated part of his game. He told the media in Las Vegas that he was more Steve Nash than Steph Curry, and he displayed the ability to pick apart a double-team, make passes with either hand and find cutters on the move. No matter how well Young plays as a rookie, though, he’s likely to take a backseat to Lin when the two are in together, if for no other reason than that he needs experience in that type of role. It’s not as simple as just spotting up and waiting for the ball. Moving without the ball in the NBA, where bigger and stronger defenders grab and hold as much as they can get away with, isn’t easy. When Young didn’t have the ball this summer, he mostly stood in one spot and caught his breath. When he did try to move, he had trouble getting open. That learning process is what Dennis Smith Jr., the no. 9 overall pick in last year’s draft, went through as a rookie in Dallas. J.J. Barea, a 12-year NBA veteran, had the same role next to Smith that Lin could have next to Young. Smith started all 69 games he played in last season, but fewer than 450 minutes separated his minutes total from Barea’s. Each player ran the offense when the other wasn’t in. Dallas was more effective with Barea in charge (net rating of minus-1.3 in 1,603 minutes) than Smith (net rating of minus-8.1 in 2,049 minutes), which shouldn’t be surprising considering Barea’s experience. Smith, not Barea, moved off the ball in the 395 minutes when they were both on the floor. The rookie’s usage ratewent from 30.3 without Barea to 22.2 with him. Smith dominated the ball in his only season at NC State, and Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle spent a lot of his rookie season trying to eliminate bad habits. “Playing off the ball with Barea really helps Dennis understand another position on the floor, too, kind of the thinking part of the [shooting guard] position,” Carlisle told Mavs.com. “Those kinds of things are always a big bonus because the reality is, over time, he’s gonna have the ball an awful lot. He’s gonna have to be on the same wavelength as every single guy that he’s playing with because he has the ball so much. That just helps him understand better.” Smith went from getting 3.9 percent of his offensive possessions from coming off screens and cuts in college to 6.5 percent in the NBA. Young’s elite shooting ability should make him a better secondary option than Smith, who shot only 31.3 percent from 3 on 4.9 attempts per game as a rookie. He would also be deadly when attacking closeouts, since opposing defenses won’t want to leave him open beyond the 3-point line. They clearly respected his shooting ability in summer league, often doubling him when he came off ball screens and forcing him to give up the ball. Young, like Curry, generates a lot of defensive attention, and setting back screens and cutting off the ball could open things up for his teammates. He will need to get stronger and spend a lot of time in the weight room over the next few seasons to be successful in that role, but the Hawks can start that process by teaching him the right habits now. Atlanta can afford to take the long view next season, emphasizing player development at the cost of wins and losses. General manager Travis Schlenk, in his second season with the franchise since coming from Golden State, is trying to build a team from the ground up. There’s not much experience on their roster. Collins and Prince are two of their best players, and they are in their second and third seasons, respectively. The Hawks may not have a single rotation player in their 30s. Young likely won’t be the only rookie who receives a lot of playing time. Schlenk took Kevin Huerter, a shooting guard from Maryland, with the no. 19 pick in this year’s draft, and Omari Spellman, a stretch big man from Villanova, with the no. 30 overall pick. The youth movement is just beginning in Atlanta. They could have as many as three lottery picks next season: their own, one from Dallas (protected 1–5), and one from Cleveland (protected 1–10). If the team ends up taking someone like Duke freshman R.J. Barrett, a 6-foot-7 point forward, Young won’t be able to dominate the ball the same way he did in either college or summer league. Playing with a guy like Barrett, who can initiate the offense and guard a wing on defense, could be the best thing to happen to Young. They would have all the offensive benefits of a two-point-guard lineup without the normal defensive downsides. All the attention next season will be on what Trae Young does with the ball, but the more important question is how much he grows off of it. " I too remain a fan of Bud and wish we could have kept him. Matters not now and all that matters is the coach we have now.

Mentioned the possibility of Melo coming here somewhat spuriously a while back. Still makes sense both for Melo and bringing a major name to ATL for ticket sales.

Amen. KB has often made the Amare comparo and it does seem apt. Also feeling good about Taurean as well. Would have been fun to see what Huerter might have provided us in Summer league, but such is life. Trae showed flashes and I have little doubt his shooting will improve.

Well, perhaps in a dadaist absurdist reality, with only PHI, BOS, DC, and Indy actually seemingly playoff bound in the East, the competition for tanking will overwhelm the Cavs. Then again, we well might sneak into the 8th with a 26 win record as well.

I like the idea and as has been pointed out Melo might too as he would be the man and could shoot it to his heart's content. Ressler would love it as it would bring a certain excitement to Phillips while still keeping the tank on. While many think Anthony would never consider it, Atlanta is not the worst place to ply ones trade. Just not sure why OKC would do it, but Dennis and Russ would make for an interesting mix.

With Cleveland pretty well fubared by having the Klutch Sports traveling all stars, perhaps they will find it better to not tank in the near term. Furthermore, I really am not sure how they can move Thompson, JR, and the like without giving up draft picks. Stands to reason they will aim to get below 123 million (luxury tax) and hope for the best. Better still, it keeps the pick from the Korver trade that much more valuable. Still would trade it however as a hedge.

We need to trade this pick as the chances it ever becomes a first are beyond remote. Nevertheless, the 2nd rounders should be worth something beyond the chances of LBJ staying there (about as likely as hitting the Powerball) or somehow the Cavs massively overachieving.