Wretch

Just now, REHawksFan said:

There seems to be this attitude permeating the interwebs that selecting 1st in the draft precludes making win now moves. The team can do both. They can draft Sarr AND make trades to improve the team in the short term. 

100% agree.

I haven't really weighed in on the trade talk, but If we're talking moving one of our PGs

Just send DJ back to San Antonio, send those picks + whatever it takes to a rebuilding team that has a difference-maker talent we want, send the difference maker to us.

win/win/win

5 hours ago, txsting said:

I think the bigger question for me now is what type of player do we want to pair with Sarr at the 5, and what do we do with Jalen?  I don't really think OO is the guy.  And I'm open to moving Jalen because his value should be peak right now.  

I'm trying RRRRREALLY hard not to look too far into the future, but in an ideal world where Sarr is everything (or most of) what we think he can be, I honestly like him next to OO on both ends of the floor.  So much so, that now I'm kinda pumping the breaks on any trade talk for him.

19 hours ago, Jody23 said:

For a guy who's 7'1, that handle and fluidity look like a solid foundation to work for his offense imo.

The quickness has me drooling.  Also, I've scrutinized A TON of him in transition. He's definitely comfortable handling the ball in traffic.

I'll say it again, I'm losing my mind with excitement over where we are.  I have done absolutely nothing at work today.  This reminds me of the days when I would run my mouth sun up to sun down on the Squawk.  I'm ridiculously excited.  I've also said that I hope the front office is moving forward with a purpose and not buying into any of the distractions - even the very real eventuality that Trae will be a UFA in short order.

I'm not panicked.  I'm excited and eager to hear how our star feels heading into one of the biggest off seasons that I can remember.  I understand that it's a chess game he has to play and I don't blame him.  For me, and people who keep up with him on social media, it's still odd that he hasn't weighed in.  

2 hours ago, REHawksFan said:

Why does it have to mean anything?  Why does he have to say anything?  No one else has.  JJ hasn't said anything.  Bogi hasn't.  DJ commented that it was going to be a crazy offseason but said nothing of the Hawks and the lottery.  Why is it only an issue that Trae hasn't said anything?  And why are we drawing conclusions from such?  

Listen dude... I need to be very clear and very explicit here because we love our polarizing conversations on the Squawk.

There are people reading into this because they WANT Trae to unhappy/unsupportive.  There are people who are assuming Trae doesn't want to rebuild and doesn't care about the pick. There are people who are linking this to all of the BS trade rumors and media hype. 

None of these things has me curious.  On a scale of 1 - 10, my interest in any of that is -100.  I know it's a crazy idea, but there can be more than just the binary school of thought that Trae does/doesn't want to be here.  

That said...

There are a lot of logical reasons why Trae needs to make some kind of comment/reaction.  We've never had the #1 pick before, it's a big deal, and his franchise is celebrating it like crazy over social media.  We might also be looking at the very thing we've been pining for for years.  It also sets up a ton of intrigue because we can also trade that pick and get him the help he desperately desires - that he has been vocal about for many years now.

I don't think I've drawn a definitive conclusion.  I think I've said repeatedly that I don't know what it means - if it means anything at all.  I certainly have made absolutely no mention of any named prospect in relation to Trae and how he feels.  It's a big moment for Atlanta sports, beyond that for the franchise.  The organization is selling it all over social media and the face of the franchise, who always has something to say, got nothing?

There is something to this. It could be something as small as Trae doesn't want to send the wrong message or the Hawks and Trae talking it out. It could be as big as the front office asking the team not to give the rumor mill any fuel prior to the draft.  I can think of a billion reasons why he hasn't said anything.  None of those reasons are, "It's not necessary for him to comment/react."

I find it interesting that he hasn't.  Nothing more. Nothing less.

5 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Nola is going to get desperate to trade BI and they really need Murray.  even a straight up trade where we get a pick i think is worth it even if we don't re-sign him. 

I think it's a good gamble. I think we would be able to re-sign him and I also think that if for some reason we want to move on, there will be takers for his salary. I'd like to get Dyson Daniels (and a FRP if they'd come off it).  I don't want to include OO now that we are looking at adding a player like Sarr.

2 minutes ago, akay said:

Just caught up on this thread and SO MUCH MORE BLEAK THAN YOU'D EXPECT FROM A TEAM THAT JUST WON THE LOTTERY.

It's like we've been conditioned for decades to be divided and split and have no hope in this team, but we finally won the lottery.

Our team currently has

- 1 All NBA PG

- 1 All-star-ish PG

- 1 #1 pick DEFENSIVE MINDED BIG MAN

- 1 JALEN JOHNSON

- Solid other players

Yall really wanna start tanking again? Yall really like being in the lottery this much? 

We just won the lottery and 90% of what I've read is complaining about the pick, complaining about Trae.

Fickle af fans here lol

 

Bottom line here is we are in a much MUCH better position now than we were 2 days ago, us getting this #1 pick is an inflection point for this franchises trajectory and can help us win our first chip finally.

We have some key ingredients in the championship recipe WITH Trae being here already, us getting an opportunity to draft EXACTLY the type of player that can cover Trae's weaknesses while Trae can cover his.

If Trae is able to make Damian Jones a serviceable big, IDC about the 19 year old freak athletes offensive prowess - we are the Hawks w/ Trae as our PG, getting big men easy looks is the first thing that happens on our floor.

Exciting times here having the potential to draft a guy that fits perfectly into our team in areas we desperately needed someone.

Finally for the first time in Trae's tenure since ECF do we have an opportunity to field a proper team with length and girth around our guy and I hope we do it and not just trade Trae for picks cause of mistakes we made in our past.

Really tired of us being in the lottery and watching a combo of Trae/Jalen/Sarr in the playoffs would bring a huge smile on my face.

Trading our top 15 player for picks is not winning mentality IMO, and Hawks will continue to churn in this dumb mid purgatory as we have been, which I would love to avoid.

Sarr is showing off all his goods at the combine right now, awesome time to be a Hawks fan fr!!

Can imagine how much it has sucked being one for the past 30-40 years if that's been the case with some of you, but we on the come up here - Let's enjoy 

I want to go on record as saying I am absolutely not team "trade Trae."  I am excited AF because we're going to draft the only player that I have evaluated in this draft and thought that we had zero chance of getting him.  While at the same time, we're at least having conversations about THE one player who has been at the top of my wish list for years now.

I'm just a little, more than a little, confused that we've made some Hawks history and our franchise player - who make no mistake has something to say about a lot of things - has said nothing about our lottery luck.  This is the same guy who literally just offered unsolicited opinions about a previous #1 pick who will likely never suit up for ATL.  I don't know what it means, but it is very curious to say the least.

He also just tweeted late yesterday, well after the lottery results came in...so it's not like he's AFK.  Just saying...it's kinda weird for me.

9 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Team morale might be down in general. They might also know the winds of change are coming.

My thoughts as well regarding everyone else.  Especially looking at the addition of Sarr.

5 minutes ago, AHF said:

Have any of the current Hawks commented on the lottery?  I don't think I've seen anything from anyone whether it is Trae, DJM, or Seth Lundry.

...yeah but, they don't have the same scrutiny on them.  Not even DJ who was on everybody's mind over the year.  Any time there is a hint that a star (and Trae is that IMO) might be even remotely available due to discontent/new team direction...people start hanging on their every word.

If anything, this is historic for the franchise...  The biggest face this franchise has had in decades HAS to say or do something.  If for nothing but optics alone, he should be showing support for the team.  It's not the same for the rest of the guys.

Which is also weird now that I think about it.  IMO, the possibility of adding a 4/5 with high expectations, and the fact that changes are likely imminent regardless, has got guys nervous about their future.  Also, I just think they don't Tweet as regularly as Trae and DJ do.

1 minute ago, AHF said:

Will just say this once.  I enjoy watching big men shoot undefended jumpers in a gym but I've seen too many clips of Shaq, etc. draining jumpers to buy into that.  I expect our front office has better data to use to determine if guys are projectable to develop viable jumpers in the NBA.  (Heck, I'd just look at ft% over summer gym clips).

Agreed 1000%.  I've at least seen Sarr attempting 3's and midrange shots in game and getting some decent looking ones to go down.  Some contested...as opposed to say OO who looks good in practice and is hitting a few wide open 3's (and nothing in the mid range).  They were optimistic OO could shoot based on his FT form.  So I'm a bit more optimistic there with Sarr given that he's at least done it in game.

1 minute ago, REHawksFan said:

That just seems obvious. He should have just quoted Trae on his Pod where he said he wants to win now and he understands that sometimes teams aren't about that right now.  He also said he wants to be a Hawk and hasn't mentioned forcing a trade anywhere. It's obvious Trae wants to win now and as long as the Hawks are working in that direction, he'll be on board. 

I actually think a lot of the public supposition about Trade being traded is just educated guesses that with the 1st pick, the hawks may desire to rebuild instead of continuing on and if they do, trading Trae is going to get them the most assets in return PLUS he's not going to want to play through a rebuild. 

I personally think this logic is flawed and ridiculous because trying to rebuild with the Spurs seems perilous and dumb.   

I think we can build a team that makes the playoffs and competes.  Trae just needs length around him and shooters.  If we can keep it competitive 4-5 seed, pushing for the 2-3, I think he'll be ok.  We can't miss the playoffs though or keep getting dusted in the 1st round.

We have to eventually put a contender around him, but we've got a couple of years to figure that out.

5 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

What's the point?   Oh i guess you expect me just to sit at this computer and ...what?... work, or something? 

Dude.... I LOL'd in front of my computer.  I can't get nothing done right now.  Too much excitement and too many people on the Squawk talking.  

...and Trae NOT talking.  I need this dude to say something.

...and DAMMIT for all the "calm down" people, let me say this here for YOU wierdos....! lol

HE. KNOWS. MAN.

For the love of chitlins and hog maws, there ain't NO DANG WAY Trae doesn't know we out here waiting on him to say SOMETHING. He's either messing with us or he's figuring out "how" to react.  Hawks Twitter is going nuts and his dad 100% called him 10 seconds after we made top 4.

I mean...he was tweeting 12 hours ago so there's that for the "he's on vacation" thing.  There's people on this very post calling him out, "Aye bro bro. We won the lottery. Not sure you saw"

3 minutes ago, Afro said:

Oh come on lol. He's wealthier than any of us can imagine. It's the offseason. And y'all are really going with "he has nothing better to do than tweet within 24 hours so something HAS to be up". 

It has merit.  I usually skip right on by @JeffS17's notable Trae hate lol.  This is our first ever #1.  We beat the odds.  It has an impact on our summer.  It could open the door to trades.  We might be adding a future star...  Like, there's a lot of optics around this.

Maybe he doesn't react within 24 hours, but like...it's super weird for the face of the franchise to say nothing.  He was just posting 12 hours ago too so, there's that
(obligatory emojis added for comedic value only lol)

1 minute ago, JeffS17 said:

Trae isn't the type to send out a bunch of PR fluff.  He either says what he feels or he stays silent, which is one of the things I respect about him.  So him being silent does sort of message something in that way -- he might have opinions on whether we should keep the pick or trade it for win now players, for instance.  And miss me with the vacation stuff, this guy has a phone and twitter lol he could tweet something in 10 seconds.  It's a meaningful data point in context with the other things we've been hearing.  I'm not saying we will trade him, but there's likely something interesting there.

I'll say this much, he can't NOT post some kind of reaction to this.  Trae is a very active social media personality.  VERY active and he's good about his reactions as is his dad.  It's all good that Ray is reacting, but the lack of a message Trae is going to send a message eventually.  A bad one.

Like I said...I'd be lying if I wasn't hitting the ole F5 on his Twitter account. lol

2 hours ago, Duff_Man said:

Lot of paranoid weirdos in here.

13 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Based on what we've seen, it feels like trading Trae has been a very real option they were considering even before we landed the number one pick.  This is why landing the number one pick might make them feel more confident in pulling that trigger, to the confusion of some people here.  If you guys recall, when Quin was asked to come coach this team and evaluate, Trae was always a part of that evaluation.  If we decide to move on from him, it will very likely be, to some degree, because the front office and coaching staff do not believe he has "Hawks DNA", in addition to them thinking we have no path to being a contender in the next season or two, and any path to a championship is better suited with a young core developing under Quin's staff.

Not really advocating for that scenario to happen but if you read the tea leaves a bit, that's what I see.  Quin seems to really love DJ, they clearly are redundant, Trae has started messaging how he doesn't feel like he needs to be the best player on a team (he wouldn't be in any trade scenario), Trae started messaging on how he wants to win now, Trae did not comment on us winning the lottery, WOJ (our front office outlet) is posting about how we're seriously considering putting Trae on the market, which is always step 1 of "preparing the fan base for a potential star player trade" playbook.  

I actually don't entirely disagree. Mainly because it's SUPER WIERD that Trae has made no comment regarding us getting the #1 pick.  He is on social media on the regular...commenting on just about everything going down in the league.  Here his OWN team won the top pick in the draft (which is as good as it gets for a non-playoff team before FAcy) and...not an LOL emoji, not a retweet of the bazillions official Hawks Tweets, nada?

I would be lying if I said I wasn't waiting to hear from our star.  At least give us a "hopefully we can get someone to come in here and help us right away" standard answer.  His dad has retweeted though, so that's encouraging at least lol...