TheNorthCydeRises

I mean . . . the nerve of these coaches not being completely serious in practice.

People would be surprised to see how actual coaches act in practice. It's not all dead serious, even from the great coaches.

If I were a player who in my first 4 seasons, I played in the playoffs . . and then the franchise decided to blow it all up and start over . . I'd voice my dissatisfaction as well. Especially when I've just become the "star" of the team.

Also, the likelihood of Trae holding up physically for all 82 games, is very slim. So I guess some of ya'll want Isaiah Taylor as Trae's backup, and run the team when Trae gets a minor injury?

If Dennis is moved, it would be the clearest indication to me that the Hawks intend on being a top 5 lottery team next season. Despite what people think, Dennis is a positive for the team, not a negative. There is no way I'm singling out Dennis for his bad defense, when the entire team sucked defensively. And the only thing offensively he didn't do well, was shoot the 3 ball. As high as people are on Taurean Prince these days, he was a FAR worse detriment to the squad last year, than Dennis. He just gets the benefit out the doubt because 1) he's a 2nd year player . . and 2) he balled out for a 2 week stretch toward the end of the season. People see "potential" in Taurean, while they don't think that Dennis can get any better ( which isn't true ). I for one hope the Hawks keep Dennis going into the season. With Trae being the overwhelmingly biggest boom or bust player in the draft, it would be silly to deal Dennis, and assume that Trae is ready from Day 1.

We need a "Bet Tracker" thread, so that an archive of bets can easily be viewed . . and remembered by all.

And an "old friend" misses the final shot.

Like I said . . . 1990 Denver Nuggets Take a look at their starting backcourt. Almost the mirror image of Trae and Dennis, as far as play.

Could the reason why Dennis supposedly can't be traded, is because the Hawks want too much for him? I doubt the Hawks are just trying to give him away for a few 2nd round picks and a bad contract.

For the record, if Trae gets the 20 - 25 minutes a game that I expect, his numbers should be 12 pts - 3 rebs - 6 asst . . . 43% FG . . 36% 3FG

Luka averaging 17 ppg means that he's going to immediately be the #1 or #2 option in Dallas, which I don't see happening. 12 ppg - 6 rebs - 4 asst . . . 45% FG . . . 34% 3FG

yea (( tossing 1 piece of confetti ))

Yes. Especially when the majority of the centers are 6 - 11 and taller.

Come on P. How many 6 - 9 centers do we have in this league? Spellman is the same size as Julius Randle.

This means that he can be a small ball center. And this is also the reason why people were comparing him "somewhat" to Draymond Green. The Hawks may trot out a lineup like this at some point during the season, to strengthen the 2nd unit PG - Young G - Dorsey F - Huerter PF - Prince C - Spellman This would enable the team to play a Golden State style "5 Out" offense, with 3 point shooting threats at every position.

I don't think that Schlenk has some long term vision of who will be the coach in 4 years. I do think LP can play his way into a 2nd contract, but he'll have to get this team to the playoffs in that span to get it. If he doesn't, it'll be easier for management to pull the trigger and replace him. If we become a playoff level team soon, he'll of course then be judged on how the team performs in the playoffs.

Spellman is only 6 - 9 though. His role will probably be similar to Marresse Speights. A guy who can come off the bench and knock down a coupe of 3s, while playing the 5 spot.

Very true. He won't have much issue playing off the ball.

It's a shame that the organization couldn't do the same for Dennis, especially coming off of that playoff performance vs Washington. Instead, they left him to be the fall guy for everything that was going to be wrong with the team. Having a vet PG in his ear during this down period could've been very beneficial for Dennis. Couldn't do that though. That would've been a detriment to their master tank plan.

You think a guy who can shoot like Trae, couldn't be effective off the ball? Just because Trae wasn't used in this capacity in college, doesn't mean that he can't play off the ball. The kid is a smart player and will be able to adapt his off the ball game quite easily to the pros. He'll have to learn to fight through screens ( on offense and defense ), but I seriously doubt he'll be "useless" without the ball.

Watch the offseason. Let's see who we add to the roster to improve the team. Most of Schlenk's moves have been set up to keep this team as young as possible this year, which means that a very bad season is much more likely, than a 35 win season . . . unless the young vets and Trae really ball out.

Are you going to buy season tickets to watch those 10 years of horrible basketball? How about 5 years? If this team isn't showing progress to at least reaching mediocre status by the end of the 2020 season, the coach AND the GM's job will be in jeopardy. This is a business that sells entertainment. Losing for years on end is NOT entertaining. Ask Minnesota and Sacramento. Those franchises will NEVER tank again, if their current crop of guys doesn't reach championship level. They'll be content being where Portland is right now . . a good regular season team that can at least challenge the big boys, but really have no shot to beat them.

Here's my take on this upcoming season. Say the Hawks are playing just below .500 ball, but have seen a tremendous spike in attendance in November and December. If this is the case, I do not believe that Ressler will let Schlenk trade off some of our young "veterans", in order to stick with the tank plan. If anything, he'll sign off to trade them for proven veteran players, not more draft capital, to make the team better, not worse. Most NBA owners may be on board with the tank, when winning is far fetched. But after a couple of seasons, the bottom line of the business starts to rule decision making, and the need to win, even if it means being mediocre, becomes priority #1. Selling "hope" to the fans will override "building a champion through the draft". If Trae proves to be a box office attraction, this may accelerate moving Dennis. But if the increased attendance is brought on by the "new look" arena, and by the fact that the Hawks are more competitive because the young vets are playing much better, they will less likely be traded off for future assets. Last season, when the Hawks won their 1st game, but proceeded to lose 12 of their next 13, it was easy to embrace the tank. Let's see if the tank is embraced, if the Hawks are 7 - 8 going into December, and say 14 - 18 by Christmas.