Wretch

Congratulations Trae! If you make it out alive... What could possibly go wrong? lol

These are some strong points dude and just makes me scratch my head. We just can't catch a break as Hawks fans man... Our franchise player can't make an ASG, even after being a fan vote leader. Our rookies can't stay healthy or get PT because.......reasons. We can never have front office stability - not without some kind of strange drama. Go ahead and sprinkle in a little trade request...that isn't really a trade request...for a player that has everything the league wants...but also seems to have no real value beyond token 1st round picks. Sorry ya'll. I'm just venting...lol

To be clear... I'm not in the habit of giving guys a pass arbitrarily. We need players, not bodies. That said, AJ is like any young prospect to me that shows potential. He hasn't been injured (that we know of) and before this offseason he seemed like a very humble and stable individual. So, for me, he's just as promising as he was in year 1. I'm not saying he will develop into an All-NBA caliber player, but rookies take time to develop and I'm willing to give him a bit longer than 1 1/2 seasons (with the half season being plagued with personal trouble). If we can package him for a major upgrade or a player with as much potential as he showed in year one...I'm all for moving him. I don't see the benefit in pawning a promising rookie (from only a season ago) for a serviceable asset that barely moves the needle for us (if at all) while we struggle to secure a play in seed. I'm not arguing that he will return to form. Only that he's worth holding onto and figuring out what has gone wrong vs allowing someone else to get him for cheap and do the same.

If there is a keep AJ camp, then put me there. I hate it that he's going through so much and I'm not ready to give up on him. Even if he ultimately decides to just walk away from basketball, I'd rather gamble on him putting his life and his game back together. He was too promising last year just to pawn him for peanuts. Especially when we are a long way from contender status.

"Not a lot of difference makers on the market so...[Lakers fans need to be prepared to lose Austin Reaves and several token 1st rounders for Dejounte Murray]"

Draft picks are important...when you are rebuilding. If we were going that route, the best thing to do would be trade everyone but JJ for a boatload of HIGH draft picks and promising, young, LOTTERY PICK CALIBER players. That's a complete reset...just to hope and pray that just one or two of those picks/players is as good as the two young, veteran, players that we just got rid of. I wouldn't do that even if Trae asked for a trade. I would try to swap him for another elite talent and keep it moving. People don't understand that we have done the hardest part of building a contender. You don't just find elite talent and it doesn't just walk in the door - unless your LA, NY, or you have elite talent and have expertly positioned your cap to entice someone. We need to make the most of this and move forward, not take steps backwards.

Man, this is just all kinds of interesting. lol

Oh the plot thickens. lol Man, this is just as interesting as what we do on the court. Moreso because we're losing RN. lol

Dude, this is MY JAM right here. Like...I felt this in my SOUL. I don't know if I wholly agree with the urgency of adding quality rotational players, but the primary goal of any FO that is not in contention should be to establish an elite core of players. Over the years, the Squawk has had a real tendency to overemphasize the importance of complimentary players. To the point that we were actually debating whether or not we could contend with a team full of JUST complimentary players. ...which, strangely enough, we did and I looked very foolish in the wake of it.

And this is why I maintain that I'm not going to put this all on Landry, Kyle, and Co. There's a lot of mess that has spilled over from a previous direction we were going in and decisions made before they came in. The unknown is what's troubling me. I understand quite well the strategic clickbait articles and wild rumormongering. I honestly just don't know how to gauge the influence that these agents/agencies have.

I'm not sure why we are always so quick to polarize everything. We have roster issues and we have chemistry issues. Both things are true and legitimate concerns. I don't think anyone believes bringing in one player is going to fix everything. I know that I don't believe that. There are some that think just improving the offense will turn it around and some who think we only need to tighten up the defense. Regardless, I think EVERYONE knows that we have issues all over the court, especially the front court given that we've only been discussing it for 3 years. This is derailing the thread though as a specific question was asked and people answered with their opinion. Commentary of the accuracy of the message is wholly irrelevant. The subject of the practice/in-game discrepancy made the comment, is a Hawks player, and also just happens to be the subject of the trade rumors. In doing this, Dejounte has literally taken public shots at his own coach. There's a reason why they don't let this stuff get out. There is no universe where you can convince me that player rifts don't affect the game...especially when things are not going well. No one is any more of an idiot for pointing out the obvious chemistry issues anymore than you would be for pointing out the obvious problems with our roster.

It's Quin. Like, I don't mean he's a bad coach or anything. It's just that if you're asking what the culprit is...then it's the shift in coaching schemes leading to chemistry issues. It's not JUST one thing or player and it never is. However, adjustments to the offense are affecting things from top to bottom, on and off the court.

Long before any of the trade stuff got out, I caught wind of some of this drama from Twitter. Murray's dad was going in hard about his son playing out of position. Trae's dad was offering support on some of those Tweets. Thing about Trae's dad though is he's very careful with this words and it's clear he's taught his son the same thing. These dudes know we hang on every word, so it struck me as odd but I didn't put much thought into it. Everything is coming out in the wash though. Yeah... Honestly Soth, I have enough to draw my own conclusions. There's work to be done to shape this team up and Quin is putting in his opinion, as he should. I am laughably out of my depth trying to understand what an NBA coach sees in a player and I wouldn't even dream of trying. That said, all indications from the outside looking in though are that Dejounte isn't interested in Quin's vision/schemes and from a surface level glance, he isn't fitting in with it.

Perfectly said.

I assumed as much, but I always leave room for a little doubt. TBH, this explains the entire season to me. It's a team game and the whole team is responsible, but what we're going through right now is a whole chemistry meltdown. To be clear because the Squawk loves polarizing conversations: I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT DEJOUNTE IS A CANCER NOR AM I TRYING TO IMPLY THAT. I think what's going on is simply bad chemistry between the coach and a player. DJ is playing out of position and I don't disagree with him. It sort of worked under Nate but it's not working under Quinn. It is however, discouraging to see Murray going in with fans like that. Way too many of us, and other NBA fans, like and respect that dude for him to be bothered by the noise AND let it be known publicly. That's some KD level "f#cks given" and is a horrible look for the team. What happened to that whole code or whatever that players honored to keep the locker room stuff out of the public eye? Y'know, the whole between brothers/family matters/"it's internal" mantra... DJ basically just took a on that. If it's tactical and put out there to pressure the FO, then I'm pretty much done with dude. Regardless, now more than ever we have to draw a line in the sand. Side note, for all the hate Trae gets...here again, we see an example of what kind of person/player he is and not getting credit for it. Compare his drama to this craziness. He ain't perfect, but at least Trae kept his dirt out of the public and refused to comment.

A few local articles picked it up. They note that he had social interactions like that with fans in San Antonio and he's deactivated his Twitter(?) account. It would makes sense for DJM and the team to publicly address it with a denial and it is curious that it's out there still. I can't say that I believe it's 100% genuine, but it does line up 100% with our performance, Dejounte's father posting things, and all the trade back chatter. Lastly, the message was in response to an exchange between that user and DJ's dad who has since deleted his tweet. Lots of smoke there, if not a whole fire.

I'm in agreement. DJM is unhappy that he's not playing his natural position - what he's been doing his whole life. He wants the ball in his hands and he wants to facilitate. Dude has been playing that role his whole life. Judging by that tweet, it looks like there's some inconsistency between practice and what happens in game - and some coach/player tension. That's not a talent problem. That's a chemistry problem and I don't doubt that it's affecting the whole team. Murray doesn't want to be just a spot up shooter and he shouldn't be. I don't know what the solution is other than throwing out the obligatory "more player and ball movement." I will say that we're not winning with whatever it is we're doing now though so it couldn't hurt to experiment. I'd much prefer that and shut down this trade circus. I might be swayed if we could get a player at a different position that is equally young and impactful as that would work for everyone.

LOL...no this totally makes YOU sound like the burner! I am a piece of furniture on the Squawk. Albiet lamp sitting in a less trafficked corner of the house, I'm still a vetted long-time fixture. Literally @Sothron and I know each other in IRL. I'm ~70% certain that I know @Diesel too, but he's good at keeping his shields up lol

What @JayBirdHawk said. I won't put it all on Landry, Kyle & Co. Certainly they can make things worse and by no means am I absolving them from that. I'm just saying we're here because of decisions made prior to their arrival. I want to believe what you believe - that we hold the cards with a young, very good player, not in his prime, and locked in on a team-friendly deal. At the same time, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes with agents and the politics of GM/player negotiations...and we are consistently being cautioned by all of the insiders to temper our expectations on returns. In short, I will be LIVID if all we get are some token 1st rounders and a "solid" rotational and/or expiring player...but the larger portion of blame I would place on ownership meddling.

I do want to say for the record AGAIN...that if we're disappointed with the returns or the direction the team is headed, that I personally am not holding it all against the current FO. They walked into this and have their own challenges making it work. I'll judge them exclusively on that.

I should probably disconnect from the Squawk over the weekend...maybe until the trade deadline passes. I am prone to overthinking and I have a RIDICULOUS imagination See above! lol

On the surface it makes absolutely no sense. The pessimist in me is running wild with the idea that DJ is unhappy, Klutch is strong-arming the FO, and our reputation is hurting our bargaining posture. ...and I can't lie. I'm trying really hard not to buy into the "perceived value" circus going on. It wouldn't be the first time we've seen less than optimal returns in a deal where players are unhappy.

Sorry... She's in disbelief

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39383254/mavs-luka-doncic-asks-security-eject-heckling-fan-loss-suns