REHawksFan

13 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I feel it's more likely they'll look to keep Jrue and trade Lonzo.  Either way, you're off on Jrue.  His calling card is defense.  Remember him and Rondo shutting down the Blazers' guards a year ago?  Being a true 2-way defender is part of why he's so valuable.

If they trade him, it'll be in a deal separate from the 4 pick.  He has his own value, no need to pkg with that pick.  jmho

32 minutes ago, MaceCase said:

I always thought that Jrue's calling card was that he was a versatile defender that could score some.  Checking ESPN's RPM he's ranked 10th amongst PGs in DRPM but then again I also thought he was used as a 2 over the past 2 seasons.

You are both right.  I should have trusted my eyes.  I went and looked up his numbers on bb ref prior to posting and saw his 112 Def Rating and neg DBPM and just went with that.  My bad.  Should have known better as defensive stats are more team centric, imo, anyway.  

I'll take my time out now.  LOL

1 hour ago, thecampster said:

New Orleans, by trading Davis, effectively made a 4 for 1 trade this year that only saves them 2 million in salary cap space.  If they renounce all their free agents and waive all of their non-guaranteed contracts, they will have 11 players on the roster after the draft including their 2nd round pick and will be almost 7 million over the cap with 4 players to sign.  They need cap relief. Their 2 first picks alone will take up 15% of the cap. The could really use the 2 draft picks and they could use someone taking 1 or 2 contracts off their hands. Having Lonzo Ball now puts them in a difficult position with Jrue Holiday who is very good but overpaid. They either need someone to take Jrue Holiday off their hands and start the rebuild in earnest or someone to take on the Balls.  I'm not sure I want the headaches they are offering.

 

Because Holiday is signed for 3 more years, he handicaps their options going forward.  A situation where its 4 for 8 and a swap of Holiday for either Baze or Plumlee with the Hawks adding 2nds as sweetner is possible.  Baze or Plumlee offer cap relief after this year whereas keeping Holiday is 3 years of $26.1 million tied up.  Holiday + Zion + #4 = 40% of the cap going forward.  Its a bad formula.

ie...don't overpay the Pelicans. They have needs and issues to consider.

Sign me up for Jrue Holiday.  I've always been a fan.  He may be a defensive liability, but he's also a guy that can score and can take some pressure off of Trae as a ball handler.  

I don't think NO is looking to trade him, but if he was available, I'd give up 8+Baze +2nds to get Jrue +4.  Done.  

1 minute ago, Spud2nique said:

I hear ya. Even if we walked away with:

#4/#8

Cam/Hunter 

Culver/Hunter

Cam/Clarke

Culver/Clarke

?

 

Love it.  Although I'm still high on Sekou so for me it's 2 of Cam/Sekou/Hunter while also keeping 17 for Goga / Bruno / Claxton.  Although I keep hearing Bruno is dropping so maybe he makes it to 35.  That would be a steal, imo.

10 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

E-Z pass. If Chicago wants Garland, that's better for us. 

I would do another deal tho.

NO #7, Solo Hill for #10 

We can take Cam or Hunter and Sekou or Clarke with no resistance.

Maybe Hunter and Cam

Like the idea of 2 picks in top 8.  Getting 2 of Cam/Sekou/Hunter is appealing to me.  Keeping 17 is a priority as well unless they already know they can jump back into the late 1st.  Maybe take Goga or Nic with that pick.  

2 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

What about 10+17 for #4 and Solomon Hill?

I wouldn't HATE it, but I don't really see the need for it either unless TS just really believes none of the wings will be there at 8.  If we are doing NO a favor taking Hill's bad contract, I'd offer 10 + 2nd for Hill + 4.  Otherwise, I'd just keep the 3 I have take the BPA.  My opposition is there's ZERO reason to trade 8 with any combination of players or picks to get up to 4.  I just wouldn't do it. 

3 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

ya it’s bs.

 

According to Yahoo's Keith Smith, Atlanta is one of the teams expressing interest in the No. 4 pick as it tried to package together two or three of its first-round selections. 

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie reported that Chicago is the team brought up the most across the league in discussions about the No. 4 pick. 

Of those two teams, Atlanta has the better collection of assets, as it possesses the No. 8, No. 10 and No. 17 selections. The Hawks acquired the No. 10 pick from Dallas in last year's Luka Doncic trade and picked up No. 17 from Brooklyn in a recent deal. 

If Atlanta packages all three picks to move up and take one of Darius Garland, Jarrett Culver or De'Andre Hunter, New Orleans would have three selections to work with in addition to the No. 1 pick. 

The one I saw came from a Pels site so it was either a complete fabrication or just wishful thinking, or both.  IF TS did something that stupid (trading all 3 1sts OR including a core piece in a trade for 4) all of my trust in him would be eroded.  Thankfully he's a lot smarter than that.  

21 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

More lies from BR...Hawks trying to move up using multiple firsts???  

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2841424-nba-trade-rumors-updates-on-potential-blockbuster-deals-entering-2019-draft

Saw one (idiotic) rumor this morning where Hawks trade 8, 10, and Kev for 4 to take Culver...

9 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

I’m banking they don’t until the draft. You focus on you studies and stay in school young man! 

LOL.....who you callin young?  

7 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Good mock 

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

Would absolutely LOVE if it came true. Cam Sekou and Claxton are all on my wish list.

3 hours ago, GameTime said:

Dream scenario for the Lakers is Kawhi or Kyrie. Realistically I see either Kemba or Jimmy Bulter signing with them. Minimum veteran players will flock to the Lakers now that AD is there. 

Current reports are that Lakers won't have maz space for a FA so I doubt Kyrie or Kemba take less to go play with LBJ. Kemba has said he wants to stay in Cha and Kyrie is all but locked into Bkn.

2 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Claxton (assuming you mean Georgia) is going late 1st early 2nd and will be a 6 fouls hit the weight room guy but will be on a roster as of right now.

Yeah I don't think he gets out of the 1st round (may not get past SAS at 19) but i just think he needs time to develop. Not ready for NBA physically.  

2 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

We shouldn’t get rid of picks until the draft. As the draft approaches the picks become more valuable. GM’s get caught up in the hype as we do so the stock only goes up.

Yeah I'd just as soon they not do anything until the draft too. I got work to do this week and ain't gettin anything done checking NBA rumors all day every day. 

Just now, thecampster said:

The one everyone knows is Tacko Fall....nobody wants to draft him and put them on their opening night roster. Everyone would like to try and develop him.

I think Claxton is also a G league guy. Or needs to be. 

7 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Zero chance. 

Which goes into new information

CHI is shopping #7 to A. Move up to #4 or B. move back. The teams who have interest are interested in a wing (Reddish or Little). Hunter is not generating the attention and should be available at #8 and later. 

ATL doesn't seem to have tremendous interest in Hunter. 

Which also is why ATL is aggressively trying to move up for a wing. 

The bad news I got is if Culver is gone at #4, CLE will take Reddish. 

ATL is in prime position to move up to #4 as I am hearing NO wants a center and are looking at Hunter. 

ATL is also in talks with CHI for #7. 

ATL is also trying to move back into the 1st with 2nd rounders and the ability to take on some 2019 salary. Teams are aware of this but teams want to see how the draft plays out first before trading down... I.E. (OKC).

As I said, LA moving out of the top 4 will change the draft and likely against us as they were taking Garland #4 but now, that pick is clearly not a PG. 

 

Expect the Hawks to be extremely and wisely aggressive. Drop the ideas of if we go up to #4, it's just for Culver because right now, Cam is a top 5 pick and Little is rapidly moving up the boards. 

This also means Coby White has dropped down the board, don't be surprised if he's drafted outside of the top 10. 

 

My hopes is we leave with 4, 10, and a 20 something pick with 3-4 players with one 2nd rounder if any at all.

 

Do you think they HAVE to give up 8 to get to 4 or could 10 and 17 plus 2nds get it done? 

41 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

A lock to where?

Nets imo. His new agent is the twin brother of Nets President I think. All signs point to Brooklyn.

10 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

That's why I think he could still go top 5, everyone is saying he is a bust risk but his value is higher than people are making it seem. 

Sure feels like Hunter is a guy that could slide a bit. If Bol went top 5 that would be even moreso. 

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

The insurance is irrelevant to him, though.  That purely affects the teams.  If a team is offering him big money on a long-term deal, he would be dumb to turn that down, IMO.  This is a long rehab and it takes time to get back to speed after returning with the risk that a player never fully recovers.  If he turns down long-term deals, he is taking a big risk.

He has to opt out before any team can "legally" talk to him, so theoretically he is taking a risk by opting out without knowing the options from the market.  I'm not naive enough to believe his people won't already have deals / offers prior to the option decision though.  It would be interesting if he opts out and then teams don't treat him as the priority (ala Kimbrel / Keuchel in baseball) and wait to sign him until next season.  That would cost him $31.5M.  Never happen though.

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

Reddish or Little but they could be available at #8. 

That's what I mean.  Why give up a future pick (or give Cavs their pick back) just to take a player you could get at your current spot. Not good sense so I'd guess the Hawks aren't interested in that deal unless there's a player they don't think will be there (ie unless phx or chi trade out and they fear someone trades up to get Cam). 

6 minutes ago, pimp said:

Just to make some of y’all nervous 

Looks like Travis had a front row seat at Bol Bol’s pro day.  To the right , under the basket.

 

I've cooled on him a bit since the end of the season as other prospects have risen in my mind.  But I'm intrigued to see how his career turns our, regardless of whether it's with the Hawks or some other team.  

5 minutes ago, JTB said:

Agreed I think we should keep 5,8,10 if we are able to get that 

At this point, I just think if they want 3 picks, they should keep 8/10/17 and take two wings and a big at 17.  Unless they can trade up to get a specific target they love, I don't see the need to give the Cavs their 1st next year back just to get to 5.  Since this scenario assumes Culver is off the board at 4, who is worth trading up to 5 for?  

1 minute ago, bleachkit said:

Unless we are are cutting the baby in half, biblical style.

I like the concept of having 5, 8, 10 this year but I guess I don't see the need.  If we assume Culver is off the board, then there's really no one, imo, to trade up for that wouldn't likely be available at 8.  Only other option I can come up with is then trading 5 and 10 for 3 to take Barrett.  

Yeah @NBASupes I don't get it.  IF Cavs want Culver and only trade if he's gone, why would Hawks trade up?  For who?  

5 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Which are the one or two players that you absolutely don’t want who are projected to go in the lottery?

 

Mine would be:

 

Nassir Little- A pure athlete who came off the bench at UNC who does not have a good basketball IQ and doesn’t have a great natural feel for the game. Sound familiar? Yup, that’s Marv reincarnated. Don’t do it Schlenk, and I know he won’t. Nas won’t b a Hawk imo.

Jaxson Hayes- A value pick in the middle or late first but I’m not spending a lotto pick on a guy that is only a rim protector and can probably only finish directly at the rim in the form of a dunk. These guys are becoming extinct. If you can’t shoot, I don’t care what position you play, it’s gonna be tough to be effective in this league.

 

What say you?

Spot On, imo.

For me:

Hayes is first.  Just don't see the appeal in the guy or the fit for the Hawks. I mean, if he fell to 17 I guess I wouldn't hate it, but he just doesn't get me excited at all.

Little is next.  For me, it's probably residual Marvin-itis but I don't see him as a potential quality player for the hawks.  The thinks Supes has been saying has lessened my disregard for him though.  I still would prefer they go a different direction.

All of the above said, I still trust Travis so if he decides to draft either or both, I'll live with it and support them.  Neither will get me super excited on draft night though.  

Sorry....meant to include the link to the site.  

The Athletic

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Can you post the cliff notes version?

Here's the last few questions... There was a bunch more and Part 2 is later today.

What have you seen this offseason from Trae, Kevin (Huerter) and Omari (Spellman) so far, and what are your reasonable expectations for them next season? 

When we walk out of this interview right now, you’re going to see them, Jaylen Adams, De’Andre Bembry, John Collins, Alex Len and Alex Poythress on the court, and what they’re doing doesn’t matter to me because the training staff is following their plan, and I trust what they’re doing. Players who trust our training staff and our coaches show up. All I can ask is for them to show up. We’re good. They’re getting better when they’re here. Our approach this offseason is different. Last year, we’re drafting some, I inherit some — there’s not really a full out plan at that point. I am trying to put schedules together and map out plans. I didn’t have a staff until June. At this stage, we’re so ahead of where we were last year. We have the same guys, but we already know our plan. We’ll be better, and we’ll progress just because we’re putting in the work. We’ll the results dictate that? No. Would we like to see the results dictate that? Yes. But the mindset shouldn’t change. We have to come in here and say, “How do we get better? How do we progress?” I love coming in every day now because I know that’s what they are doing.

With John specifically, he averaged nearly 20 and 10 this season, expanded his shot profile and became a better defender toward the end of the season. What’s the next step of his evolution? 

The challenge for John is balance. He shot 3s last year and ended up around 36 percent. The challenge is how many is too many? How many is not enough? How many 3s can we get John and still keep that dynamic roller and athletic presence at the rim? It’s tough because guys fall in love with one side and take away the other. We don’t want to take away from who John Collins is, but we want to grow John Collins. We have to find ways to get him more involved. If they are going to take away the roll, then we have to punish them elsewhere. If they are going to switch the pick-and-roll, then that’s when we are going to post John Collins. The flip side, I always tell our players that they tell on themselves. John told on himself late in the year. You recognized that he was a better defender late in the year than what he was at the start of it. Now he told on himself. Now we need the end of the year defender at the beginning and for the remainder of next season. We don’t need him to show up late. We don’t need him to show up at the middle. We need him to show up at the start because he already showed us he’s capable of being a good defender.

Speaking of defense, you were known for your defense when you were with Philadelphia. Atlanta was one of the worst defending teams in the league. Justin (Anderson) mentioned you didn’t implement your defensive system this season. What is the process of implementing your defense? 

It’s about finding out who’s on your roster. Everything on your game plan is based and predicated on who you have. I won’t mention any names, but if you get me some free agents, we’re going to run some different shit based on who they are. I have to first look at who’s going to be on our roster. What’s the roster they call Golden State? The Death Lineup? The Hamptons 5? That lineup has five guys who can switch. They have length. There’s a reason they go to that lineup, and it’s because they can switch and do whatever it is they want to do with that group. If you put (Andrew) Bogut in, you’re no longer the Hamptons 5. You now have coverage and concepts and schemes. Every case is like that with defense. You give me Trae and Alex Len, and we’re not switching. It’s unfair for Alex to switch on to an elite point guard, and it’s unfair for Trae to switch on to the best offensive rebounder in the league. We’ve got to figure out the best coverage we can with those two guys. You give me Taurean and Kevin, and we can switch. De’Andre and Baze switch. When we draft who we draft, I’ll think to myself, “What can he and John do in pick-and-roll?” That’s what will tell us what our defense can do. Then we’ll have to get better at it with our language, communication and effort. We’re still in the same boat. We have six picks with three young guys.

When I came into Atlanta last year, we would push on the side and send everything to the left in the middle pick-and-roll. We don’t do that anymore. That’s what I did somewhere else. It didn’t work for these guys because it was too confusing. We were shitty at the beginning of the season. We got somewhat better as the year progressed on all facets, but at least we got on the same page, so we were competitive. We weren’t great. We weren’t elite. We weren’t even good defensively, but we were competitive. We have to do that all over again. I have to figure out what we have and what’s the simplest and what it’ll take away the thinking and how we integrate that quicker than we did last year. It’s hard, and the challenge always comes back to, well, when you’re Golden State, your core has been there. San Antonio showed that for years. The core was there for years. It didn’t matter who they plugged in because they were going to learn the San Antonio system. It’s simple when the system is in place and the core is in place. You either get in, and you learn it, or you’re not going to make it. We’re a ball movement team, so you need to f***ing learn how to move it. We’re not a hold team. You’re not making it if you can’t do that here. So, what I’m saying is we do have a core, but they are still learning the communication aspects of defense and the effort aspects of defense. I have a core who is still learning and then a new group who will have to be taught. In a lot of ways, it’s f***ing frightening to think that we can be worse in that area next year just because the guys who weren’t very good at it last year will be better, but they are now going to be working with a younger and newer group.

You and other people in the organization have mentioned how you guys can’t skip steps. The steps haven’t been explicitly defined by anyone. What are they, and what is the next step?

The steps — I’ll always go to the individual. Each guy is on a different step. Trae started this past season as a starter. Kevin didn’t. Trae’s first step was game experience. We couldn’t bypass that. There were games where I wanted to take him out, but the value of game experience was more important. We’re going to make him our starter and live with the growing pains. Jeremy Lin helped with the decision to start Trae because he was hurt at the start of the season, so there really wasn’t a competition. The plan was, “I have two new guys, and I have no idea who’s going to start.” Jeremy just wasn’t healthy, and Trae was, and he was pretty good. It wasn’t a competition. I wasn’t given the opportunity for it to be a competition. My plan was, “We have a veteran on our roster who I know is going to be ready to play in an NBA game in the event that this rookie just isn’t ready.” Kevin’s situation was that. I don’t think the plan was to start Kevin knowing that he wasn’t ready at the beginning of the year and not knowing when he would be ready. But we had Baze and Taurean and even De’Andre that had NBA experience. Kevin just showed he was ready and was able to do more. When the opportunity came, we weren’t playing well, and it was an opportunity to shake things up and get him game experience because he earned it. So skipping steps is still individually based, but just in general, the easiest analogy I have to break this down is it’s hard to play in late June.

There are two teams playing right now. Not everyone is built for this moment. Not everyone is built to go into Toronto down 3-1 and win that game. The reason why that team can is they have played in June for a bunch of years, and they’re not going to be rattled. They don’t panic when there’s an illegal screen called with under two minutes left that could have cost them the game. They don’t panic when there’s a backcourt violation that could have cost them the game. They came down on the other end and f***ing defended. You have to learn how to win in May to play in June. You have to learn how to win 82 games to play in May. May is a big month. You have to learn how to win a game in the NBA. We’ll still be learning how to win a game this year. What does that mean? It means giving John 42 minutes would be unfair to him. He averaged almost 20-10, well, giving him 40 minutes per game isn’t going to make him get 30 points per game. What it does is it might expose him, and you might put him in a bad spot thinking he has to carry a team. Now he’s not practicing much because he’s playing too many minutes. You’re going down this negative slope trying to do much. It’s great that he averaged 19 and 9. How do we do it again? And then how do we do it better? That’s the efficiency part that we talked about. When he overcomes that and can do it in his sleep, then it’s, “OK, well we need to play him 36 minutes and bump him up from 30 minutes.” That’s the next step.

I’m probably skipping steps here myself, but what do you feel like this team needs to improve upon or add to make it back to the playoffs?

I don’t know about the playoffs. I say that because I don’t know the six guys we’re going to get. It’s the same situation as last year. It’s hard to ask someone who has never played in the NBA to place an expectation of the playoffs and then ask three guys who have never been there to carry you. I think you can ask that guy in L.A. (LeBron James) to carry anybody because he’s been there and done that. It’s hard to ask Trae or John to do something they’ve never done and do it at that type of level with guys who have no clue what they’re doing. For what we need to improve upon, we need to find consistency every night of how we play. We’re pretty good offensively. We have some unique characters at their positions. Trae is a wizard at point guard. John is as dynamic of a big in the pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll as we’ll have in the league. Those two guys together are an unbelievable tandem in the pick-and-roll. Kevin is coming into his own because his skill set is extremely high. We can put him on the floor, and he can create for his own self, and he can pass. We need to add to that. We need to add to that core of young guys. We need to add skill players to complement what they do. Alex Len shooting 36 percent as a five-man helps. Finding De’Andre better shooting numbers helps. If you have Trae and John in pick-and-roll, who’s another guy who can create offensive rebounding opportunities. When we sub, do we have a guy can do what John does? He probably won’t be able to do it at the level he does it, but can he play in the pick-and-roll and can we still be effective?

The ultimate answer is how competitive are we going to be next season? I just had a conversation with Trae about leadership and what his maturity level is going to be like next year. He’s ready for it. He wants it. It’s different when you have to do it, though. You’re the leader on the floor, but now you have to be the leader in the locker room, the leader in the film room, the leader in the practice sessions. Maturity, competitiveness is how we get better, and that’s going to help us more than anything. I don’t know if it’s a position thing. We want more talent, and we want high-character guys and highly competitive guys and want guys who have a skill set that complements what we do.