RedDawg#8

I would be so surprised. You can look at the kid and how he naturally approaches the game. He likes to mix it up on offense and is a gifted offensive rebounder. He is not natural at finding enough space to even be able to get a clean jumpshot off. For him to become any kind of shooter, he would have to change his entire mental approach to basketball. I just don’t see it. Especially not to anyone’s benefit.

I know that the game has changed and all, but I truly don’t understand how you cant make it work with 2 bigs in the paint. The court is the same size, the players are basically the same size as 30 yrs ago, there are still 24 secs on the shot clock. I mean in the 90’s, you’d have almost all 5 guys inside the arc, or at least 4, and they found ways to score 100+ points. I really am curious if you had the right mix of skillset, why couldn’t a coach make it work? Why not pound on teams inside and punish them for being too small? Pay attention to Minny and how they scheme KAT and Gobert. They may figure something out that we can use here. In the meantime thank goodness JC can shoot from outside and make it work.

Every pro player worth their salt is playing in pick up games during the offseason, whether it is publicized or not. They are all at gyms at their homes or around the cities they live in getting up and down the court in runs. Also, it is my belief that there is language in any pro athlete’s contract that they must obtain team approval to participate in these things. I do not deny the risks involved, and I pray nothing happens to anyone. Hoopers are going to hoop though, on or off camera. In the news or not.

He just has to stay healthy. This is make or break for the kid. He has flashed, it’s time to shine.

Or, they could loosen up like the NFL where players take pay cuts and restructures all the time mostly to help their team’s cap situation. I’m sure a lot of those are wink wink agreements too. The NBA is too confusing from a cap/CBA perspective anyways. More stars stay put in the NFL, honor their contracts, and there is more parity/interest. I love the NBA product more overall, but I wonder why their business model comes with so much baggage in comparison.

I was 1st on his bandwagon and even I wouldn’t say that. He won’t get enough action on the court to build up a resume.

Bruh are y’all tryna piss off all the JC haters?! We have to keep this positive energy down. He’s lucky to still even be a Hawk remember? Simps smh

Some of “”us” live off of negativity. I searched the web for highlights yesterday and every video was hyping up JC and Trae. I come on here and see Hawks fans that managed to fish out only the posts that hate on our guys. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10043078-trae-young-john-collins-combine-for-38-in-black-pearl-elites-drew-league-upset-loss.amp.html

Might be permanent deformity now. Especially if he was playing through it at any point in the season. There is a short window of time if you don’t keep it splinted it can never be completely normal even after surgery. The pain can be gone and still look like hell

youtube link PS, I love how we all love basketball enough to watch a Pro-Am just to get our fix

I don’t know, but he had every tool except for outside shooting. I’ve seen less talented guys become household names. DeMarre Carrol comes to mind.

Let’s not imply any narrative based on some hurt Spurs fan’s breakup video. It comes across as petty on the guy who made the vid and I really would not read anything in to it. DJM wants to be here in Atlanta, he wants to play with Trae, he wants to hoop and win games. Nothing else matters especially when you never heard a single negative peep about the guy in SA until after he asked to leave. In other words. You love a girl, yal are together and things going pretty good. You’re happy. Out of nowhere she asks to break up and she moves on quickly to another guy. Suddenly you have all this behind the scenes info that you bring up to make her look bad. It’s like, cut your losses and move on man. It didn’t work out. DJM has been nothing but classy in the short amount of time he has been on my radar. His maturity/character is not a concern until he proves otherwise as a Hawk.

There’s a level of player development that we haven’t really ever had, especially compared to organizations like the Spurs and Raptors that thrive on that. My point: They wouldn’t have become who they are today as Hawks.

I understand exactly what you are saying and I agree that having a tough shot maker is extremely valuable (especially down low). I do think that we are underestimating what having a bonafide 2nd star-level player will do for us. Murray's ability to make and create shots is unlike anything we have had on the roster since the arrival of Trae. He isn't apples to apples as far as position and scoring style, but he will make a huge impact where we will no longer be forced in to taking those tough shots just because Trae is trapped or on the bench. Gallo was a bail out guy for us, but hopefully with better playmaking next to Trae we won't need to be bailed out quite as often. Dre is the guy that I expect will have to account for the (hopefully fewer) tough shots that we will have going forward. He has that ability to square up and get a good look off. That will need to be a part of his growth.

You just vent posted and contradicted yourself: 1. You said we aren’t physical, but complained about losing 2 of the softest players from last season’s lineup. So we are now softer even after replacing softies (Kev, Gallo) with non-softies (Murray, JJ, and more minutes from OO)? 2. Have we replaced the shooting of Kev and Gallo? Kev shot about 39% Gallo shot 38% last year. This year we added: A. Holiday: 38% last season, 373% career J. Holiday: 36.7% last season, 365% career Griffin: 45% as a college freshman Martin: 43% as a college senior You tell me? Is this not more than serviceable compared to what we lost? 3. Murray, Dre, OO, Clint and Harkless are not finesse players by any means. JC, AHoliday, JHoliday, and JJ, are not as physical but I wouldn’t call them finesse or label them as just being “skill guys”. Kaminsky is a legit 7 footer with solid weight on him, he is no pushover either. Overall, We got tougher, especially on defense, and we only lost about 0.1 % on 3pt shooting from the projected role players. I think we are ok all things considered.

Sounds like we hired him to be a team mentor. Looks like we created a new position as well. https://www.nba.com/hawks/staff-directory

Im a little late on this, but didn't we just hear that they began talks on Sunday, and less than 48 hrs later we are hearing that they haven't made progress? Like, no duh. Negotiations just started, they are supposed to be far apart. Who starts a negotiation process by taking the first number from either side. Not saying this won't possibly develop in to something, but its literally phase one of contract talks, 2 days in. I doubt this is a sign that it will become a thing. Talk to me in a couple of months.

I don’t think we can offer another player a 5 year deal because of Trae and JC. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong

I wonder if rotation wise we continue keep Trae out there for the entire 1st quarter and bring him back in halfway through the 2nd. With Murray we could theoretically do the same in reverse, sub him out half way through the 1st and bring him in for the entire 2nd quarter. Repeat for the 2nd half. That allows us to start and finish every half with both of them on the court.

I feel you on 1 and 4. 1. I get that Murray will be the back up PG, but that just means there will be more minutes where Trae and Bogi are now on the court together and we will be dealing with the same defensive issues we always have. Delon did not cost a ton and his presence towards the end of the season really opened my eyes. Murray is a better version of Delon, but Im greedy, I wanted both. The only thing that will make me feel better is if we do end up making another move and bring in a Clarkson or another difference maker off the bench. 4. Skylar is tough and reliable, and could play the 1 and 2. I would rather have him as the emergency option than Cooper. #2&3. I love both guys, but I understand the business behind both trades. Im moving Gallo 100/100 times if it gets me Murray and I keep all my best players. Kev, I knew he or Bogi were getting moved at some point. Bogi is better, makes a more consistent impact on games, just can’t seem to stay healthy. Kev won us game 7 in Philly, but he also single handedly buried us in game 5 vs the Heat with that inbounding meltdown. He is high character, but is a bit symbolic of how soft and frantic we have been under pressure. We now have a much more mature roster with a higher competitive edge than before. I wish him well.

Yes, and the Knicks, and other franchises. We specifically heard that Trae wanted this to happen though. Not taking credit away from the GM, but Trae was the driver and reason we were as aggressive as we were to do it. Also, Murray wanting to come to Atlanta and play with Trae specifically.

That’s fine, but what about actively doing what you can to get guys to come to your team, because that’s what they are saying. He has no desire to convince anyone else to play with him in Dallas. That is admirable as well, especially back in the 80’s/90’s. But this day and age that will leave you behind the pack when there is activity going on all around you and your team is staying put and/or losing guys to other teams like they just did. Trae has the same mindset per his Dad, that he is not the type to just leave and join another man somewhere else. But Trae also has the ego and charisma that he will try to guys to come roll with him in Atlanta. There is an interview with Michael Porter Jr where he talks about his HS days with Trae, and almost seems as if he looks up to him, despite MPJ having been the #1 HS player in the country and Trae being way down on the list as his teammate. He joked that Trae would tell him all the time “this is my team”. Trae may get snubbed by the masses, and ignored by Bron, Curry and the old legion of superstars. But just wait, these young stars look at Trae and know what time it is. And Trae is pitching the Hawks to his peers as shown by Murray’s arrival. Relationships 101, people go where they feel wanted. Trae is doing his part to make us a destination. Luka will have to rely on Cuban to do his recruiting I guess.

I am similar. When you say 3&D that means only that in my eyes. You are a role player that defends and will space the floor on offense. We aren’t running iso plays for you, asking you to be in PNR action, or play make for others. You get out of the way and shoot when you are open. I think Dre and other youngsters should try to master this before opening up the other parts of their games. However, he already gave us a glimpse of what he could do with the ball in his hands, so in my eyes he is no longer a 3 and D candidate because he can already do much more than that.

We also spent like 10 straight days once the rumors leaked that we were interested in DM checking the Squawk around the clock and pushing 20 pages a day in the rumor thread of debating his fit, the price tag, how bad we wanted it to happen, anxiously waiting for any news, posting videos on him, etc… The excitement for Murray was definitely there. By the time it actually happened most of us had already established a position on him. That’s just kind of what it is. The rumor thread has at least 50 pages dedicated to Murray.

It’s funny you mention JJ because I feel like the last time we had 2 guys on our roster that could flat out go get their own offense were JJ and Jamal Crawford. But neither were that good at creating for others. That potential is what intrigues me most about Trae and DM because most star pairings or trios are guys that get theirs and need those touches. You don’t really see 2 elite playmakers land on the same roster. It really opens up a ton of possibility for an already elite offense.