REHawksFan

Portland: 3 Playoff seasons => 2 lottery years (28 / 33 wins) => 4 Playoffs Memphis: 3 PO => 4 lotto (22 / 22 / 24 / 40) => 7 straight Playoffs Pacers: 9 straight Playoffs => 4 lotto (35 / 36 / 36 / 32 wins) => 6 of last 7 in playoffs Denver: 10 straight playoffs => 4 lotto (36 / 30 / 33 / 40 wins) => ready to make playoffs next year Boston: 4 playoffs => 2 lotto (24 / 33 wins) => 9 of 10 years in playoffs including 1 title\ Utah: 20 straight playoffs => 3 lotto (42 / 26 / 41 wins) => 4 playoffs => 5 of 6 lotto leading up to last year in the playoffs Sea/OKC: 11 of 12 years in playoffs => lotto 4 of 7 years (25 / 44 / 40 / 37 wins) => playoffs => 4 lotto (35 / 31 / 20 / 23) => 7 of 8 playoffs All of these examples had teams in the playoffs, slipped into the lottery to RETOOL (not tank or rebuild) and then went right back into the playoffs. The time in the lotto ranged from 1 year to 4 years. Going into the lottery IS NOT a horrible thing and it does not signify tanking or long periods of losing. Just stop with that nonsense. Bottom line: the last 3 NBA Championships were won by the GS Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Neither of those teams win those titles if they didn't go into the lottery to get their best players - LBJ, Kyrie, Triston, Steph, Klay, Dramond, and KD. Your logic that going into the lottery is a bad thing is foolish.

Again, you are talking from a premise that isn't accurate. You keep talking as if having a lottery pick = tanking. Do you realize that every team not in the playoffs gets a lottery pick? Missing the playoffs next year and getting a Top 10 pick does not equate to tanking. Truth be told, there's only been one team in recent history that has actually tanked as you are describing and that is Philly and the GM expressly stated that's not what he is doing here. I'm not sure why you are so hell bent on claiming this is a tank. To answer your question, the reason why half the teams in the lottery this year were in the lottery 5 years ago is because damn near half the league is in the lottery every year and the other half have LOTTERY players that take them to the playoffs. This isn't the NFL where teams go last to first in a year. It takes time and a good front office and most likely a little luck along the way. EDIT: And also, 5 years ago the Wizards, Cavs, Raptors, Pistons, and Jazz were all in the lottery. Four of those five have made the playoffs multiple times since then. It wasn't a death sentence for any of these teams.

Please show me multiple teams that have sustained success in the NBA without players that were drafted in the lottery. Your whole argument is completely nonsensical. The only one I can think of is San Antonio and they are clearly the outlier rather than the rule. Cleveland is great because they drafted LeBron in the lottery once upon a time AND because they drafted Kyrie in the lottery AND because they drafted Thompson in the lottery. The Warriors drafted Steph in the lottery, then Draymond, in the lottery then Thompson in the lottery. Durant was also a lottery pick. You are assuming the worst and then arguing from a position that your worst assumption is guaranteed. Your premise is all wrong. There's only 3 ways that I know of for the Hawks to get these type of lottery players - Draft them, Trade for them, or Sign them as FAs. We all know that none of them are coming via FA. So that leaves drafting them or trading for them. You really can't do either without assets such as draft picks and good contracts. That's what the GM is TRYING to accumulate now.

LOL. So "Pacers moving in on Olynyk" = "Schlenk is sitting on his ass not doing anything" That's an interesting perspective. I said it before when you and others were screaming about not getting anything for Sap and it bears repeating now.....please just wait until the dust settles to see what the GM does before you jump to unnecessary and mostly wrong conclusions. It also bears repeating what the GM himself has said over and over and over again...... this is not a tank. It is not a complete rebuild and he is not going to "bottom this roster out and fill the rest of the roster with DLeague players."

That's a lineup I'd get on board with. The sweet thing about Crowder is the C's can't take any salary back so all they are giving up is picks to get him. I'd do that depending on what the demand is. BUT.....Ainge doesn't have the luxury of holding out for the highest bidder because he has to clear space before he can sign Hayward. Rock....Hard Place and all that. Now let's hope our GM can take full advantage.

C's have to make a deal to make room for Hayward so they can't take on any salary. Looks like it would just be picks. The question is how many? Would Minny's 1 next year be enough? Would the GM add a 2nd? I wouldn't give more than that.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/basketball/hawks-get-something-for-millsap-part-three-team-trade/842eMp8ia3Ymc2gR2JkkTK/

CViv posted a story that says the deal includes the pick. I guess he could be wrong but it appears the complaining is premature and unnecessary.

I can easily see that as well. My thoughts on Minny are more like 20-25. I figure they will be competing with 3-4 teams for the 4/5 seed and will be better than all but 2 East teams. That puts them clearly behind about 5 teams in my mind which would be 25th pick. Hard for me to see 10 teams that will be clearly better than the Wolves next year, barring injury of course. I figure GSW, SAS, HOU, CLEV, and BOS will have better records. OKC, MIN, TOR, LAC, and DEN will then be competing for the next best records.

Probably safe to say one top 10 and 2 in the 20s.

If the trade goes through we'd have 3 1sts next year. Hawks, Wolves, and Rockets

Correct me if I'm wrong but can't be finalized til Thursday at the earliest, right?

Then blame BudCox for not trading him. The GM inherited this situation and Paul, as much as I like him, is not on the right timeline for the Hawks. They need to tank rather than keep being good but not great.

I think some if you aren't happy unless you are miserable about everything. Good grief. 24 hours ago y'all were complaining the GM didn't get anything for Sap and now he gets a first, a young center, and whatever he flips Jam for and y'all are still whining. Ridiculous.

So they are playing with an 8-man roster now? Otherwise, asking this question is simply feeding the doomsday trolls. Here's an idea, let's see what the GM actually does to fill out the roster and then evaluate. I'm not expecting a lot, but it's impossible to make any judgments at this point because we literally have half a roster.

Regarding Noel, does anyone know what Dallas' cap situation looks like? Can they just match any offer the Hawks could make or is there a certain amount that they can't match given their cap? I know they intend to resign Noel and Dirk as these are their two priorities so the only way Noel leaves Dallas is if a team sign him for more than Dallas can afford. I'm not familiar with their situation so I don't know if that's even possible or if they will just match whatever any other team offers. Does anyone know?

No idea. I just want them to either commit to tanking or commit to winning. The status quo of being a 1st or 2nd rd playoff team is not working. Go all in and spend or make trades to get a star or commit to tanking. Pick a strategy and go for it. That's all I'm saying.

I really hope you are correct. It would be the most Atlanta thing ever to TRY to suck in order to get a lottery pick and still end up 7/8 in the East and miss the lottery. I'm not so sure Charlotte, NYK, and Phi are clearly better than the Hawks. So, imo, they could still be a reasonable bet to make the playoffs as an 8 seed.

Here's the obvious problem with the system....as it looks right now, you could have Western teams miss the playoff that win 10-15 more games than some East playoff teams. Which means that they will be in the Lottery while the unlucky east playoff teams - the ones that NEED the lottery - won't be. A team like the Hawks absolutely COULD win 32-33and make the East playoffs and then draft behind a team like Denver that wins 45-46 games. Completely possible with this idiotic draft system and the extreme imbalance between the two conferences.

I think the bigger question is what's the value of four mid-to-late 1st round draft picks in the NBA? At least Butler is a known commodity. There seems to be a lot of disagreement in this conversation about the value of those (or any) late picks.

THIS. It's impossible to take @Alex seriously about any of this. Not only is he generally negative about nearly everything that has to do with the Hawks, he's especially negative about THJ given the Mich connection.

I agree. I just think if the Hawks are going to win a game on the road they will need a big performance from him.

Let's see... D8 > Gortat Sap > Crybaby Prince = Otter And D17 is holding own vs Wall. So..... That just leaves one starter. Hmm... Sure would be nice to see Timmy Shimmy his way to 25+ Wednesday.

I agree with others that have said he doesn't really fit, but it's hard to argue with 60% TS. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. If there's a better option available, I'm open. I wouldn't mind KCP but he'd cost a fortune and the return isn't nearly as good.

If they deal THJ, that leaves Dunleavy as the only 2 on the roster. I know others can play there, but I can't see Bud wanting to roll with an aging vet and spare parts at SG. Ideally, they would find a way to turn Baze into a couple pieces, including a 2 for depth. That or send a 2nd to LAL for Young Swaggy P.