RedDawg#8

I tried to warn ya'll, that fan vote carries a lot of weight against split votes from the media and players

Our team is extremely well constructed. There are no trades that are out there that don't damage the fit of the pieces on this roster. I agree that our chemistry is way too fickle for us to sustain through major disruption. And mid season trades almost never produce a winner if both sides are looking to improve immediately. It's not about playing it safe at this point. It's about seeing it through and finishing what we started. We have seen big time improvement the last 2 weeks, now is the time to ride this wave, not cut through it. Our next 6 games are against playoff teams. We just beat 4 playoff teams in a row before the lowly Kings. If we can get through this next stretch with a winning record, then I think we have to accept that this team has what it takes to make some noise again down the stretch. I'm definitely on hold as far as trades go, and the next 10 days will determine if I think we should hang up the phone for good until the offseason.

I hate trading with NY or LA teams. They always ignore our players when we have them, but as soon as they get to a big market, they become the best thing since sliced bread. Disgusting.

Timing is everything. Trae or his teams have always started the season slow since he has been in the league. We have spent the majority of the season playing underwhelmingly. He is the best player on this team. Our team performance is every bit a part of his brand as his sneaker deal or watch commercials. If Trae consistently is associated with losing teams, that ultimately hurts his brand. He went in to this season with all the momentum in the world. The narrative about him had changed, he was one of the most popular players during the playoffs. Our team was set up to win big this year. What did we do? We fell flat on our face for the 4th year in a row, and dug ourselves in to another hole. Blame whoever you want, but Trae is the best player on this team, and he will always get the most criticism. We were 8 games under .500 when most of these guys were figuring out who they wanted to vote for. We are still 3 games under .500 and in the 12th spot. We haven't given anyone outside of Atlanta ANY reason to believe in our team, let alone it's best player. It is what it is.

I liked Cam, but I genuinely hated that thread title. I am a huge NFL fan, and that Randy Moss comparison never made any sense to me at all. The fact we ran with it was the bane of my existence lol

Derrick White = 17.5 million per year Delon Wright = 8.5 for this year only I do not think White is worth that money to come off our bench when Wright has stepped up in a major way lately. Before Wright got here his numbers were very similar to White's on a per minute basis. White's role would be exactly what Wright's is now, as a combo guard who can defend. We are getting really good minutes in that role from Delon at half of the cost. We would also have to send out a good player or two role players to bring in his contract. White cannot do what Bogi did last night. He costs more than Wright and Lou combined. He is subtraction by addition.

With a healthy Trae, Giannis doesn't get injured in the 3rd quarter of game 4, because Lou would not have been playing to throw that low arching lob pass that took Clint's momentum in to Giannis. Just saying, there is a domino effect with all of these scenarios. Healthy Trae likely prevents an injured Giannis. We played out of our minds in game 4 as well because we had an extra motivation without Trae. Us being at home, I like our chances, but I just don't see the Buck being down 1-2 and takings us lightly the way that they did with Trae out

Delon gives us much of what we could expect from Derrick White. Similar size and very similar per minute production. He has finally seemed to settle in to his role for us, and is giving us great play as of late. He and Lou have both stepped up a lot since the Cam trade. I am ok holding on to him. Screw San Antonio

I mean let's break it down. Trae was cooking them in game 3 before he went down. No way we lose that game despite Middletons heroics in the 4th. Trae would have been able to answer. Series 2-1 Hawks Game 4 is where it gets tricky. If we win game 3, no way the Bucks come out the gates slow in game 4. No way we smother them defensively the way did without Trae. And, it's very likely Giannis doesnt get hurt without Lou to run that play. I see a similar scenario to Philly series where they get even with us out of sheer pride and desperation. 2-2 We go back to Mil for game 5 and no way are we getting blown out with Trae fully healthy. That's the key to this series. Win or lose, Trae would have had these guys playing on their heels and not bulldozing over us. I think it's reasonable to say that we could have snatched game 5 on the road. 3-2 Hawks I think here is where it gets more tricky. Milwaukee proved that they had another gear when they are on the brink of elimination. They were able to close us out easily without their best player, so imagine Giannis still in the lineup. Trae could have gone nuclear and put them out of their misery in 6 games, OR Mil could have pounded us on the boards and grinded out a tough win. Toss up. Hawks win series 4-2, or Bucks even it 3-3 If we don't win the series in 6, I believe that game 7 is a controversial, ref dominated win for Milwaukee with bad whistles all night against us. Nate gets ejected in the 3rd, Trae has a hard time keeping cool and starts to force some bad shots and passes. Giannis goes to the FT line a record number of times. The league office has their fingerprints all over this game. They took a chance against Philly thinking we would crumble on our own under the pressure, but against Mil they leave nothing to chance and make sure to get us down and keep us down. Trae makes it respectable on the scoreboard, but we lose and end our magical run there. Bucks 4-3 So much is hypothetical, but in reality, Im super confident that we win game 3 if Trae stayed healthy. 2-1 series at that point, we have the upper hand and homecourt. I like our odds in that scenario.

This kid is nice. Highly skilled. When he is on like he was again tonight, I never want to see him leave the court. He consistently makes spectacular plays and provides confidence and energy to the whole entire team.

Im trying to get back to .500 by the All Star break. I don't want to hear media slighting Trae all weekend because his team has a losing record. Hovering at .500 or above, within range of playoff spot is much better energy when people have all the attention on you for 3 days.

I think our 7 game win streak still represents our best stretch on both sides of the court. 103 ppg defensively without OO or Dre playing is impressive. We finally have our horses back which makes this run exciting, but we haven't even broken even yet. There is a lot left to do just to be a winning team in the standings.

Great win tonight, let's keep it going. Can you imagine that we have been so bad this season that we could be on a 5 game winning streak and still sit comfortably under .500 Love the good vibes, but we have some serious makeup work to do. We are not even close to out of this mess yet. Heads down, got to keep chopping away.

Doesn't matter as long as Nate is willing to be flexible with the in game rotations and who finishes. I say Bogi only because Kev is a better fit with the 2nd unit. But whoever has the hot hand that night needs to be on the floor to finish the game.

I hate playing teams after they just got embarrassed. They will be looking to bounce back against us. We can't come in lackadaisical tomorrow.

Once Bogi comes back, and assuming there are no more trades, Knox will no longer be in the 10 man rotation unless we decide he is more valuable than LouWill.

To be completely fair, him losing his spot to Knox should in fact piss him off. I would be mad too lol

I noticed it too. I did not know why he looked so pissed but he was definitely cussing and demonstrative like you said. I was at home like, is he mad that he has to inbounds the ball? lol What's really going on here

There should never be a game that OO only gets 16 mins going forward. He should consistently be getting at least 20 minutes a night. There is no reason for Nate roll out the JC-Gallo frontcourt if he is preaching defense and us establishing a defensive identity. Let the kid play Coach!

I kind of like our chemistry we have right now, especially with Delon's play and activity on defense. Bogi's return probably means Kev eventually ends up back on the bench, I'm guessing taking Knox's minutes and potentially some of Lou's as well Our 10 man rotation would then be: Trae-Bogi-Dre- JC-CC Lou-Wright-Kev-Gallo-OO

100%, that is exactly what they are doing. But that doesn't mean that we have to go for it ya know. What I do like about the deal is that they are willing to go for John only and not adding Hunter or other key players. So I guess the PIMA fee for taking on 60+ million in salary is that we get two players, 1 a top flight starter, and an all-star level guy, and we only have to give up one top flight starter in exchange. I would hate this only because we would have zero financial flexibility and a TON of money tied up in to the frontcourt wit Dre and OO paydays right around the corner.

I barely want to take Ben's salary at his current level of play let alone Tobias Harris. That's a lot of money added to the books. Tobias is owed 36, 37.6 , and 39 million going forward. That is a toxic contract for a guy who produces the same stat line as John Collins on less efficiency.

I am satisfied with our team results since Know got here. However, the kid shoots worse than TLC. Much worse. I'm glad he has the balls to keep firing, but right now his misses are for real bricks. It goes without saying that he has to get better from the outside or he could be in jeopardy to lose his spot down the road. Hard worker and all

Just more proof that executing the pick and roll is more than just Trae throwing dimes to our bigs. The ability to create space to get open, have great hands and the skill to finish either in flight or down low in traffic, is an actual skillset. Not every big man can do their part of the pick and roll as well as JC and Clint. And I'm talking about against a multitude of defensive schemes designed specifically to eliminate the PNR from our gameplan. Anybody can do it and catch teams slipping. Teams are gameplanning against it and we still find good looks, all because Trae and the Bigs are sharing a brain on the court. They are able to read space and time in unison.

Can we give Lou Will some props too? He has also been playing much better these last few games.