Wretch

4 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I love it. Teams playing hard to make top 6 and avoid falling into 7.

7 fighting to get to 6.

8 to 10 fighting for positioning.

Teams like the Rockets and Nets trying to make the 10 spot. 

Makes for more interesting competitive games IMHO.

I love it too.  It absolutely gives incentives to play hard.  It's one game and ANYTHING can happen on any given night.  Nobody wants to fool around with the play in and risk missing the playoffs.  This combined with the league officially pushing back on "load management" is good for the game.

Side note:
I dislike the rigged lottery system.  I think there should be a similar tournament for the lottery.  Separated into tiers where borderline playoff teams aren't destroying absolute bottom feeders obviously with certain players being ineligible to play depending upon the number of regular season games they missed.

Considering that we're going into the "no pick zone," I'm not interested in the draft as much as I am in fielding the most competitive roster possible.  I've also been lazier than usual scouting prospects, so I don't have any kind of list yet.  Right now I'm taking notes on who everybody likes and waiting to see how the standings/play-in shake out.

There are a few guys whose names keep popping up that I've taken a cursory look at, but I haven't studied anyone in depth to give a solid opinion.

I've been talking about Hunter for a long time and I think I've been clear on my opinion.  I'm going to say this for the record again though...

I like Hunter and I do not think he's is JUST a bench player.  I think the construction of our team limits how effective he can be in the starting lineup.  Unless he develops instincts for finding open guys and our system features him that way...then he will always be 3rd isolation option behind Trae and DJ - and further down the totem pole with Jalen Johnson starting.

Coming off the bench, he's a primary and not surprisingly everything is definitively improved:

5 minutes ago, AHF said:

There are people who are invested in the success or failure of certain players.  I don't think discussion around whether Hunter is better served coming off the bench is necessarily linked to that, though.  The numbers are better as a reserve in a similar number of games.  I personally have him mentally penciled in back as our starting SF next season but I can at least see why some people feel he has flourished off the bench and should remain in that role.

...along with his usage and he's doing this in FEWER minutes.  It's not so much how good/bad he is.  It's the fit with the starting unit.  Unless he really separates from the pack, or we have major injuries or roster moves, I don't see where he's going back to starting.  

1 hour ago, AHF said:

If I'm the Hawks GM, while I'd listen to trade offers for anyone on the team I would be somewhat skeptical about Hunter offers given the complete lack of wing defense behind him.  Seems like any team that would trade for him would be doing it because they needed help there not because they had some good big wing defender they were looking to trade.  That might work fine if we dealt DJM or someone else for his replacement but I can't envision too many trades of Hunter that don't create big roster issues for us.  We sure can't be resorting to Garrison Mathews next year like we were when he was injured this season.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't necessarily mean a 1:1 upgrade of Hunter...or even the wing position for that matter.  I'm also ok with sacrificing depth.  It's the least of my concerns while the core of the team has struggles to secure a play in.  .

*edit - I'm also taking into consideration that we don't own our own draft picks.  So I'm in no way advocating gutting the team and rolling the dice with whatever we put on the court.  I just don't believe that trading/packaging Hunter is going to break us as a team.

So my opinion on Hunter hasn't changed since we got Murray.  Health issues aside, I think his biggest limitation has been playing in the shadow of Trae and DJ.  It was more apparent in Nate's "take turns/no 3's" offense, but there's really not a situation where I'd want the ball in Hunter's hands when Trae, Murray, and now JJ are on the floor with him.  I'm happy seeing him finding his groove off the bench.  Offensively at least, he's more useful and has more freedom playing with the 2nd unit.

It's also a win/win as we get to showcase him for potential upgrades.

6 hours ago, Final_quest said:

Don't think the draft is our main problem.  Signing mediocre draft picks to bad contracts instead of trading them or letting them walk is the problem. 

This is a good great time to repeat some things that I say year in and year out and have people looking at me sideways lol

Everything is negotiable^©
Potential has an expiration date^©
Sell high^©

I'm not blaming management for not making deals because I have no idea what was and wasn't discussed behind closed doors.  I'm just saying that I hope they don't cling to sacred cows the way we do on the Squawk.  I have my favorites like everyone else, but I take no issue with dangling them out there to see what we can catch.

11 hours ago, TheBigETrain said:

How much more time to we give Quin? We have gone backwards since Nate was fired.

More than half of a season seems fair.

44 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae is also bionic, mind you. He has returned early from injury/Covid every single time.

Dude loves to play, and that doesn’t get praised enough.

I dunno man...getting hit by a tank is pretty serious.  Don't know how quick he can bounce back from that.

3 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Late to the party, huh...oh wretched one! 

Yup. It has been an....exciting weekend. Not in a good way and work is BUH-nannas. I finally got 2 seconds to breathe, catch up, and then...

Alrighty then....

I'm out to dinner with the wife and the game is on. I only logged in to tag @TheNorthCydeRises re: that Bruno dunk

I honestly don't know what to expect or what I want.  On one hand, I believe in the core talent of this team.  On the other hand, we've not shown that we can be consistently good.  I don't want to give up and put my hopes in a rigged lottery, but I am also not interested in the play in.  All signs point to a play in 2-step and at best, an entertaining 1st round.

On 2/21/2024 at 10:35 AM, JayBirdHawk said:

Some Additional questions:

1. Does OO continue to start?

2. Does Kobe consistently crack to rotation?  How many minutes for Kobe?

3. How many games does AJ play in the GL? They have 14 games left.

4. Does AJ get back into the NBA rotation after his GL stint?

5. Will we release any of the vets to create a roster spot?

6. What will the Hawks do with Trent Forrest? he has used his alloted 50 games.

 

All of these questions have been answered or are easy answers I think...

7 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Foreseeable Future????? Well SHIT .

Un-frikkin-believeable!!!

 

 

21 hours ago, macdaddy said:

They aren't extending Conley and then trading KAT for Murray.  We need to find a new dream.  Or maybe get down with building a team. 

KAT is a loser that doesn't play defense and doesn't know how to win.  I hope the TWolves get to The Finals and win it all.  Then maybe Hawks fans would stop talking about trading for him and we can focus on defense.

I didn't realize my guy was at the end of his deal.  Even though Ingram has been at the top of my wish list for a very long time, his FAcy is too much of a gamble even for me.  If we're trading Murray, we need to maximize on the return.  A rental ain't it without knowing for sure we're going to contend.

2 minutes ago, terrell said:

Pistons are waiving KIllian Hayes..

Ok who was it that loved him pre-draft? lol

Holy sh!t really...?  Wow...  Yeah, Hayes was I guy that I liked, but he wasn't my overall pick in 2020.  Lamelo is who I wanted and was hoping we'd trade up for.  My second option was trading out of the draft or down for Nesmith.

13 minutes ago, BangHolman said:

We were all arguing pre-season about who is the best star potential player between AJ and JJ and how the other should be moved to acquire talent. That question has been answered with authority. AJ can get packaged any which way if he brings back something of value.

I wholeheartedly disagree.  For one, I don't think we really had a debate as much as the Squawk loved both players and maybe favored one over the other.  Secondly, I can say with absolute authority that player development takes longer than a year and a half. 

There simply is not a good enough sampling to judge AJ's ceiling or floor right now - made more complicated by whatever is going on with him this year.  I would err on the side of caution and try to develop him.  I can't imagine anything he returns right now making a real difference for us.

4 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Let's be honest.  AJ isn't going to blow up.   The fear of him blowing up shouldn't be a reason not to trade him.  Could he be a good player and great shooter in the league.  Definitely.  But he most likely isn't going to be a star.   How many good shooting 6'6" wings are in this league?  A lot.  They have to do something else to get to a star level player.  

Nothing against AJ.  I'd love to have him back out there.  But we shouldn't hold on to him for no reason. 

At least for me, him breaking out is only part of the equation.  The other consideration is...what do you even get for him?  If it's just a token late first or a couple of 2nds, what did you even trade him for? 

Obviously we should make the deal if the assets returned are a precursor to a larger deal, if he's included in a larger deal, or if you can get a player with the same level of potential back.  But trading him to experiment with some lateral moves/rentals makes no sense to me.  That's sounds like trading a player just to be trading - which is an absolutely terrible idea for a player with as much potential as he showed just last season.

The better route is to develop him.  Fix whatever the hell went wrong with him and Quinn or ship him to the G-League.  If for no other reason than increasing his value...  It makes zero sense to let him rot on the bench or just give him away.

16 minutes ago, REHawksFan said:

 

I'm assuming the point is that it takes a willing partner to make a deal?  I agree, but that's making the assumption that there's nothing out there.  I'm not expecting a blockbuster.  There's available players that could help stabilize the team even if we don't hit a home run.  I'm looking at these smaller deals and wondering if we tried to get in on the action or if we've just taken our "Murray ball" and gone home. 

Obviously things could change in the long run, so I'm fully prepared to wait and see (and I think we all have enough experience with that).

4 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

“We like our guys. We feel good about this group. There were some ideas out there but at the end we’re gonna do the best job we can.”

I fully expect Landry to say those literal words at 15:00:01 EST

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

It's been used in FIBA.

https://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19women/2023/news/fiba-unveils-innovative-world-premiere-led-glass-floor-court-in-madrid

 

Oh I've heard about those damn courts they play on over there.  Coincidence....?

I THINK NOT JAYBIRD!
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