ATLien_

You post made me think about his free throw rate. He's absolutely one of the best bigs in this draft at getting to the line. His free throw rate is off the charts. This team needs someone they can go to when jumpers aren't falling. Tired off having bigs that don't get to the line.

Yea Al used to be a good rebounder in the NBA too before the pec tears. I think it's a fair comparable. Al was much better and tougher defensively, but Al was a Junior too, and played on a defensive team. I think John is the better offensive player. Al didn't extend to the three until late in his nba career and Al's release was slower.

John Collins has a nice stroke and he's all ready really good in the mid range. Even if he never extend to 3 he would be really valuable. I see no reason why he can't extend to three; he's already a 75 percent free throw shooter. I don't know many guys that can't shoot that shoot that well from the free throw line. Traditional bigs aren't dying because they can't play; it's dying because AAU and and every big wanting to be a guard. David Robinson, Shaq, Olujawan would all still dominate because they were skilled and could move. Post isn't being taught, so if you can't shoot what else can you do? You don't think Al Horford would have been a better player if he had learned to post up efficiently? He might have been a real superstar. He was too limited offensively only being able to shoot. The key is versatility and being able to attack at all levels. The best players can be a threat to score anywhere on the court.

Kirk Lazarus and I agree. Now convincing the Simple Jacks around here, that's another issue all together.

@Dolfan23 you're on a roll today. Two Lol moments from your post. You must be fun to work with, but a walking talking HR violation. I'm not sure how your HR team sleeps at night; ah the cost of having top talent.

I can't tell if @Dolfan23 is serious or not, but either way this is a LOL moment for me.

You're right this is exactly why you can't get zero back for Horford, Millsap, and Dwight. Those players were supposed to jump start your rebuild, so you could get lottery talent without bottoming out. We held the assets too long until they had no value because they were free agents. You could throw Carol in the mix too on that front, but that's more forgivable because his break out year was his contrat year. We did the same thing with Josh Smith too. Teague is literally the only player we got what we should have gotten for him. Bud is too good of a coach to be bad enough to get a top 10 pick IMO. Not only because he's too good, but because there are so many other teams tanking too with worse coaches.

Happy trails Dwight. Wish you the best of luck in Charlotte. I thought you played hard for the city this year and were one of the few Hawks that played better than expected last year if ever so slightly. You guys might actually be good enough to be the 3rd seed next year if healthy. Toronto is falling apart and Washington scares no one.

I'm sorry man I can't just quit and say it's hopeless for the next 5 years. I believe in ingenuity and finding a way to get it done. I guess when things get hard we shouldn't try. There's none of that in my DNA, and I pray it's not in this Hawks leaderships DNA or we are doomed before we start. With this kind of thinking the US would have never attempted the Revolutionary War. We would all be having Tea now because those odds were much worse, and the Britts had no salary cap LOL. Great Britain the original super team. Get it done Schlenk this is a no excuse zone.

Last time I checked Cleveland had Tristan Thompson at center and Golden State had Bogut, Zaza and Javelle McGee at center. Nothing says jump shooter like those guys. I have no idea why everyone is trying to out pace and space Golden state. You're not going to out pace and space Golden State, and anyone trying to will fail. They have 3 once in a generation type shooters on their team in Curry, Durant and K. Thompson. What are the chances of you beating those guys in a shoot out? The way to beat Golden State is to play ugly and muck the game up defensively. Bad Boy Piston's style slow down the game. You need plus defenders at a minimum of 4 positions that can guard a minimum of 2 positions equally well, so you're not effected by the switches they cause. That won't guarantee you will win, but I just watched the best player in the world trying to out pace and space them and they lost 4-1. We need to be Grimey and we need to attack constantly to get their best players in foul trouble.

I'm all for selling high on Dennis. Let him take 25 shots a game this year and sell high on him next year. You know how the NBA likes volume shooters. Don't think Schlenk isn't thinking about it. His first comment about Dennis was I was surprised he was hear working in the summer. Maybe I'm reading too much into his comment, but it sounds like his perception of Dennis was he's not a worker. Would anyone say they were surprised to see Lebron, KD or Curry working in the summer?

Would this be a good time to mention that ATLien_ said we should have drafted him the year we took Adreian Payne? Once again if the Hawks had drafted the players I wanted over the last 5 years they would be much better. Which is laughable because I don't watch college basketball and do all my scouting on draft express videos. Imagine what I could do with all the film and access the ass hats that run the Hawks have. Holler at me Steve Koonin, my pristine talent evaluation skills are documented in the annals of the Squawk.

I think the key is Porzingis is still on a rookie deal, so this allows them to still pursue Gordon Hayward or another max player in free agency. IT/ Avery/ Gordon/Horford/Porzingis is a strong challenge to the Cav's and they still have the Brooklyn's pick next year. If you're are going to give up the farm why not give it up for a 21 year old? Paul George is headed to the Lakers. Jimmy Butler could be good for the next 4-5 years, but Porzingis could be good the next 10-14 years.

Is Dennis a well liked player around the league? I guess we should trade him for fish heads and rice too by that rationale. If you don't think trading a guy 1 year into a 3 year deal will give free agents and agents pause I disagree. If you had a colleague that went to work at another company and they fired him 1 year into the job because they changed direction, then would you be lining up to work there? There's a certain soda company and home improvement company that's headquarter in the Atlanta area that are known for hiring and laying off all the time. They are always hiring yet; I never look at their positions for this simple fact. I'm sure they overpay to get talent, but they don't have a salary cap and we do. Basketball players are humans too with families just like you and I. This is a bad look.

Exactly, shortest career highlights video I've ever seen, and 95% of it was dunks or lobs. LMAO. I think Greg Oden's highlight video is longer.

I was listening to the Sirius XM Basketball station, and they were thinking Boston would have to offer this years 3rd, the pick they just got from the Sixers and both Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown to get Porzingas. Again that would be really hard to turn down, and get's New York out of the draft hell they put themselves in. It also makes the bad deal they gave Noah less of a problem, because they have a bunch of guys on rookie deals around it. The host Brian Scalabrine I believe, thinks Porzingas can be a top 5 player in the NBA. I'm not sure his ceiling is that high, but I think it's a good trade for both teams. The Knicks would be able to surround Carmelo with 5 lottery level talents in a years time.

That would definitely be more sensible. I'd you're under the cap there's no need in the new CBA. Except maybe getting full bird rights. Don't think that will matter when he's 38 though.

Boston didn't tank they let bad organizations tank for them. Or in the words of General Patton This is chess not checkers.

This story is non sense. Won't happen in a million years. Only team with enough ammo to get him is the Celtics. If Boston gives the Knicks this years pick and the pick they just traded for, plus a player of New York's choice, then that would be very hard to turn down. New York can't maximize Porzingis' value because of the lack of draft assets and bad salaries. This would be a get out of jail free card for them.

I kind of think Moose is the same player he always was. Most of his improvements are from getting functionally stronger. This coaching staff seems to be able to consistently improve shooting over time. Maybe they will take a flyer on the OG kid. Unfortunately they would need to improve his dribbling too, and Baze shows me they have not mastered that.

I want to attack this from a different angle, will Dennis ever be good enough to attract a star player in free agency? If the answer is no make the deal. We can debate Dennis' impact all day, but his biggest impact has to be attracting another star otherwise what's the point of staying flexible as Schlenk says. We can be competitive and have cap space, but it's all vanity if we can't attract another star. Dennis doesn't strike me as a guy that's well liked by his peers, and for better or worse he'll likely be perceived as our best player once Millsap leaves.

He's raw but he's raw but has worked his ass off his whole career. 1 D1 scholarship offer out of high school. Went from red shirting his fresman year to winning starting job in year 2. He won big east freshmen of the year and 2nd team all big east. Alot of being great is work ethic; I don't think he'll stop working now. Made himself into a first round pick, but now I fear he'll go ahead of us. Honestly Im afraid to take any big because imo this coaching staff has yet to develop a big.

Yes I think in general guys that can score and shoot are rising because so many teams lack scoring and shooting. Should sound familiar to Hawks fans. Guys that project as defensive rebounders with less polished offense are falling. Donovan Mitchell is sky rocketing because he projects to do both.

I think all 3 could be gone especially if people want more certainty than all the potential bigs in this draft. Allen, Giles, Bam etc...Up until a week ago Kennard and Jackson were projected in our range. That is were I expect players off that ilk to go maybe slightly higher, but when Jordan and the Kings have 3 picks combined in the top 11 I expect to see stupid happen. Could all be smoke screen though; what did teams find out about Kennard in the last week that makes him top 12 pick now? He's was a slightly below average athlete that can really shoot 2 weeks ago and he still is now.

I really want to the Hawks to trade up for Lauri Markkanen, Donovan Mitchell or John Collins in that order, but I don't think we will. Markkanen looks like he's going top 10 now, but I believe to get Donovan Mitchell we would need to trade up to the Pistons spot as I think they will take him. We can probably get John Collins with Denver's pick. If the Hawks do trade up they'll probably take Frank Ntilikina who has European Iman Shumpert written all over him. What I think they'll do 19,) Draft Justin Jackson, Luke Kennard, or TJ Leaf in that order. I'm not going to be upset with any of these players, but they are all high floor low ceiling players, and all of them will be solid bench guys at worst and at best can be your 4th or 5th best starter on a quality team. Alot of people are really high on Justin Jackson, but I see his ceiling as a cross between Tayshaun Prince and Tobias Harris. He won't be as good defensively as Prince and he won't be as good offensively as Harris. He already struggles to break down college defenders with his dribble and he won't fair any better in the NBA at basically 200 pounds. His combine measures look good, but the ball really slows him down. He actually tested faster than Jawun Evans in drills, but one watch of real basketball footage clearly shows that Jawun is much faster. Be weary of combine warriors. He's a tweener that's not quick enough to guard or beat SG's and not heavy or strong enough to guard NBA SF's. If I had to choose between the 3, then I would lean towards Kennard as atleast he can stretch the floor at an elite level. 31.) Kyle Kuzma / Jordan Bell/ Caleb Swanigan in that order. Again I have no problem with these guys; it's just not what I would do. Can Kuzma or Jordan Bell really shoot? If not is Bud going to pull them off the court? Then why draft them. Caleb is skilled and can shoot, but has some of the worst feet and lift I've ever seen on a NBA player. His closeout videos on DraftExpress' weaknesses video are cringe worthy. If you can't defend Bud won't play you, so again why draft him. I don't know what Caleb can defend in the NBA. Best bet would be stretch 5, but he struggles versus real length. What I want them to do: All Late Bloomer Draft 19) Justin Patton - IMO has a chance to be the best center in this draft. Legit 7 footer with physical tools you just can't teach, tremendous feet both offensively and defensively. Has the feet to spin in the post and can handle well enough to get to the basket on closeouts. Tremendous motor first big down the court which is important because we need to play with pace. This team plays entirely too slow IMO. How many 7 footers you see pull up on the break from 3? Well more and more lately . Defensively has the feet to switch on 4's and is not a liability against guards. Guy has some of the best big video I seen in this years draft for hedging then recovering to the stretch big or shooter(Dwight is really struggles with this). Really good passer out of the high post which is important in Bud's system. Got his weight up to 230lbs with less than 8% body fat. The bad is he really needs to get stronger, and I think that contributes to his really poor rebounding. He has poor rebounding instincts too, so he needs a lot of coaching in this area. Has below average hand size too which may make it harder to rebound outside of his area. The rest of his weaknesses are all young guy weaknesses, losing focus, trying to do to much etc. . I think his ceiling is a more athletic better defensive version of Rik Smits and his floor is rich mans Samuel Dalembert. Oh I forgot most importantly no injury history. I'm weary of bigs with lower leg issues. 31) Derek White - I think he can have the same kind of impact as Justin Jackson, but I'm getting him at 31. He can backup both guard positions and could develop into a starter at SG potentially. The combine metrics as far as speed an quickness check out, but again plays much slower with the ball than his numbers would say. He struggles a bit to break down defenses, but is very crafty and can finish with floaters etc and both hands. Came up from division II and shot 57% from the field and 40% from 3 in the Big 12. Would be the one guard on our team competent enough to feed the post player(big need). We are in dire need of a secondary ball handler to play with Dennis and he can play with THJ too when Dennis sits and runs the point. I never want to see Bazemore running point again. He's a very solid defender and can move his feet well, but lacks explosion to contest. This is the real Malcom Brogdon of this draft. If he's gone I would take Jordan Bell or Jawun Evans. Jordan complements the weaknesses of Justin Patton well and I could see them playing together. As for Jawun, like I said I never want to see Bazemore at point again. Sorry for the novel. This is hard to do without knowing who will be available at 19 and 31.