TheNorthCydeRises

GM . . . I frequently use the NBA Efficiency stat ( which is a stat mainly measuring production ). to see where our Hawks players match up around the league, from a production standpoint. I see what they are ranked, according to the position they play, to see if we have any players remotely in the top 10 in the league at their position. Now of course, I can't use this to rank the rookies right now. But I can see how last year's team looked, when I rank each player by position. Here's the criteria is use: Top 3 at their position: Superstar/High level All-Star Top 5: Legit All-Star 6 - 10: All-Star caliber 11 - 15: Solid starter/6th man 16 - 30: Starter 31 - 45: Rotation player 46 - 60: Fringe Rotation player Below 60: Benchwarmer PG - Schröder ( 12 ) - Delaney ( 66 ) - Taylor ( 72 ) G - Bazemore ( 19 ) - Belinelli ( 39 ) . . . although he was probably higher than that here in ATL - Dorsey ( 61 ) F - Prince ( 19 ) PF - Collins ( 18 ) - Ilyasova ( 35 ) . . . possibly a little higher while in ATL - Muscala ( 47 ) C - Dedmon ( 21 ) - Plumlee ( 65 ) This year's new additions, and their rank G - Lin ( 20 ) . . 2016/17 C - Len ( 25 ) F - Carter ( 59 ) So the questions are: - Can Collins, Prince, and Baze all move up to be at least top 15 in production at their position? - Can Trae Young play well enough to at least be top 20 at his position? - What player out of Dorsey, Bembry, Spellman, and Huerter, can step up to be decent bench players? - Can Len be a big surprise, and play anywhere close to his top 5 lottery status? As of right now, we only have 2 players this team who may make the jump to be at least top 15 at their respective position.

You'll also can expect a bounce in turnovers, if he's trying be a poor man's Joe Johnson. He and Dennis had the same turnover rate last season. Give him more responsibility, that turnover rate goes up. On a team like this, I have no problem if he's the 3rd option in the offense, so that he can try to be effective in a complimentary role.

Kent Bazemore last season 12.3 ppg - 3.8 rebs - 3.5 asst - 1.5 stls - 2.4 TOs 42% FG - 39% 3FG - 80% FG ADVANCED STATS 14.5 PER 55% TS% .059 WS/48 0.4 ( Box +/- ) 1.1 ( VORP ) 101 Offensive Rtg ( basketball-reference ) 108 Defensive Rtg ( basketball-reference ) If this is our best player, Lord help us. Because if he tries to play like he's our best player, these numbers will go further down.

We can go to the very top of the lottery with Baze as the best player. If he's our best player, there's literally no team in the league with a worst best player.

I would love to see him just get 25 points, because he hasn't done that since 2013

No. It's just that people don't make the Dream a priority to attend games.

You can't really "like" the ATL, until you turn 21. I take that back. They can swing by Clark-Atlanta, Spelman, or Georgia State and find something they "like".

Happy Birthday GM.

And guess where Robinson was picked in the 2012 NBA draft . . .

I know that Joe was a free agent signing. The difference is that we were 20 mill under the cap back then, and we used that to add JJ. This season, we used our cap space to add Alex Len and to re-sign Dedmon. And we downgraded by trading Schröder for Jeremy Lin. So how did we get better? Also, in two years, we've lost: Schröder Millsap Howard Hardaway Jr We're obviously rebuilding. But I don't see any reason to try to make it seem like we want to rapidly rebuild, because that's obviously not the case. The true test of this will be if Baze or Prince gets traded between now and the trade deadline. If the Hawks start playing above their heads, and are challenging for an 8th spot, it'll be interesting to see what the GM does. I personally have very low expectations for this team, because I don't see how they're going to survive on defense, or who is going to step up to become our lead scorer. If Trae is asked to do too much right out the gate, that will probably mean a bad year for him, from an efficiency standpoint.

It's not that they want to lose. It just that they're aren't constructed to win. Heck, just go back to 2004. Hawks win 13 games. Then we add a young star in JJ and double our win total. But even after that, we only win 30 games. It took us having to trade for Mike Bibby, a vet who was still a starting caliber player, to get us to the playoffs. So unless Jeremy Lin = Mike Bibby . . . .

To me, this is a realistic and fair analysis.

PG - Young G - Baze F - Prince PF - Collins C - Dedmon I think we can all agree that this will be our starting lineup, right? ( Unlless people think that Jeremy Lin will be the opening day starter ). If that's the case, do any of you see that lineup as being a group that can be decent on defense? Hawks were 21st in defense last year - 26th on offense.

You move Taurean to a 6th man role . . or you trade him. This is if Zion is instantly a better talent than Taurean, during his rookie year.

O . . . . . K

Me: "Alex, let me get ( Things I'd Never Thought I'd Ever See ) . . for 800." Alex: "60% of Atlanta Hawks fans now think he's the best player on the team." Me: "Who is KENT BAZEMORE?" Alex: "Correct"

The problem with this squad is going to be on the defensive side of the ball. Those guys could reach all of those offensive targets, and still be a bad team. I'm more anxious to see the arena renovations than I am to see this team play. This year should be interesting nonetheless.

Survey looks to be skewed to how well guys played in Summer League.

So the TRUE BALLER, Jordan Crawford, can't get an evaluation on CARMELO? This is madness!!!

A few of those guys are former usernames turned "experts". While I don't have an issue with Brad and his analysis, we honestly go far more in-depth about the intricacies of the game, and the players, than they do over at Peachtree.

When you consider that 1 out of every 5 Top 5 player in almost every draft turns out to be a complete bust, it's hard to put complete faith in the "scouts". They bring their own prejudices into what they think makes a good player, than what they actually see with their own eyes. When I look at NBAdraft.net's rating of Zion, it's really laughable. They measure players on 12 metrics, then come up with a total score. Max score is obviously 120. The top guys are normally around 100, but never much higher than 105. Zion scored a 93. NBA Comparison - Rodney Rogers Athleticism - 9 . . . ( lol . . a 9? This dude is as big as a defensive end, jumping and running like he's Lebron James . . but he's a "9" athlete? ) Size - 7 . . . ( because most project him as a PF, but he's only 6 -6 . . despite being heavier, more athletic, and quicker than most NBA PFs right now ) Defense - 7 . . . ( I guess his man defense is weak. His help defense from a blocks and steals standpoint stand out ) Strength - 9 . . . ( again, I guess they don't want to rate him as a 10 in strength, as to not prop him up so much. But this guy is obviously stronger and bigger than most guys who will be guarding him Quickness - 8 . . . ( That's fair, although the way he can get off the floor very quickly probably isn't factored into this number ) Leadership - 8 . . . ( 3 straight state titles . . but, uh, he played against weak competition, so we don't know what kind of leader he is ) Jumpshot - 7 . . . ( Totally fair. He's shown that he can make jumpers, but that's not his game ) NBA Ready - 7 . . . ( Why? Because he can't shoot? Or hasn't shown that he can shoot? ) Rebounding - 8 . . . ( LMAO . . . really? ) Potential - 8 . . . ( I guess they believe that because he's "undersized" that he'll struggle on the next level . . . Trae got a 9 on potential, by the way ) Post Skills - 7 . . . ( another LMAO . . . really? ) Intangibles - 8 . . . ( most people don't think he can do anything but dunk and bully people. We'll see ) IMO, his athleticism, strength, and rebounding should all be 10s. His post skill should be a 9. And his NBA ready should be an 8. So by their criteria, I believe he's at least a 98 score player right now. Can't score him that high though, because that would tie him with his teammate RJ Barrett.

Honestly, he doesn't have to do anything with that right hand, until people prove that they can stop or even slow down his left hand. The only thing I haven't seen from him yet, is a pull up jumper. But if people aren't stopping you going to the rim, there's really no need for that right now either. It's like criticizing Shaq for not having a 12 - 15 foot jumper like Tim Duncan.

PG - Trae G - ? F - Taurean F - Zion F/C - John hmmmm. Even if they didn't win, that lineup is interesting.