Packfill

So weird how off Trae's shot is this year.

I 100% agree with this. I want to say Murray and Trae are a bad fit but I honestly can't be sure given how badly the offense is orchestrated. Hawks are playing 4 on 5 most of the time which completely removes the advantage of having two facilitators on the floor at the same time.

Hawks should never have gotten rid of Bud.

The Mavs do not have the resources (players, picks or cap space) in the near term to acquire a star to play alongside Luka, so any rumors about them acquiring such a player are dead in the water. That is not to say they could not get lucky and have someone come out of nowhere to become that second star but we all know that is a low probability outcome.

The question you should be asking, is why has his shooting improved so much versus his career averages? I don't know the answer but clearly something has been unlocked to get more out of a vet who historically has not been even a league average shooter. Maybe Dallas has some shooting coaches that have helped him improve, maybe Luka's gravity has resulted in better looks for Dinwiddie, maybe something else or a combination of factors.

Dinwiddie was a sub 33% 3 point shooter before joining Dallas. With Dallas he is hitting better than 40%.

There is so much here to comment on. But, the fact that essentially you are saying this is team is close to championship caliber while also saying Murray is the team's best player (which no one that has ever received a paycheck from the NBA or an NBA franchise would ever agree with) and that he is not more than a #3 on a championship squad to me is the most noteworthy. Hard to be close to a championship squad if you still need those proverbial two best players!!!!

At best 4th, after Trae, CC and Murray.

I would put Wood at third for them as he is a Bogi level defender.

Sadly for them, Dinwiddie.

I don't think anyone inside or outside of that organization views Hardaway as their second best player, or even fourth best.

I don't see this re effort. Trae looks like he is loafing more than half the time. The fact that he can hit deep shots while floating well beyond the three-line does not, in my mind, speak to effort, but skill. In my opinion, Luka's supporting cast is so much worse than Trae's. The fact that the Mavs front office can't put people around him is a strong indictment of their abilities.

In his eight prior seasons Clint has only played 70 games 3 times Murray only once in 5 prior seasons Collins only once in 5 prior seasons Hunter never in three prior seasons Bogi, surprisingly, twice in 5 prior seasons Trae, twice in 4 prior seasons So Trae is the only one batting 500. I doubt the Hawks are outliers in this. NBA season is long and people are going to miss games. Happens to every team.

With respect to Luk, that Mavs team is absolute trash outside of him. Murray is better than Dinwiddie, Cap is better than Woods, Hunter is better than Finney-Smith, etc. Put it this way, if Atlanta wanted to trade its entire roster excluding Trae to the Mavs in exchange for the Mavs entire roster other than Luka, how many first round picks would Dallas need to throw in for Atlanta to do the deal? A lot, and even then Atlanta does not do the deal.

Hawks bubble performance starting to seem more like an outlier performance rather than the norm. Someone prove me wrong please!

Ugh.

Losing at home to a struggling Miami squad without its best player is not a good look. No way around that.

The Huerter trade was a pure business move, and not surprisingly a bad move from an on court basketball perspective. Hawks will need Bogi to get healthy or one of the young guys to step up to give the bench some more teeth. The good news is that Murray and Cap are balling. If Trae gets himself right all will be good, even if Hunter is very meh and Collins has been bad outside of the first two games of the year.

100%

Definitely seems like everyone beyond Trae and DJM are in passenger mode right now. I thought the whole point of getting DJM was to (i) allow the team to have more movement on offense - facilitated by having multiple ball handlers on the court and (ii) allow the offense to function when Trae was off the floor.

Hawks goal should be a top 3 seed in the east and being healthy come playoff time. Won't be easy.

In my view, except in some very unique situations, for a team to succeed in the NBA today you need at least one big who is a good defender and one who can shoot. The Hawks have that. A shooting big will be even more important this year since Murray is not a good outside shooter. Yes Giannis and Embiid are problems in the east but beyond those two there is no big in the east that currently poses a true match-up problem for the Hawks. Maybe Durant also his skillset is so much more heavily skewed to the perimeter that he present a different challenge altogether. Complaining about Collins makes no sense particularly since the team does not have any natural replacements and obtaining a better player at PF is no easy matter without subtracting other assets. We can dream on OO or JJ but both are still question marks as far as their ability to be effective playing starters minutes at PF. Would be great if one or both erase those question marks this season but it is no given that they will. The Hawks biggest problem in the playoffs last year was the lack of a second shot creator and they have attempted to remedy that with Murray this year. How well he plays in that role, and meshes with Trae, will likely be the biggest factor in whether the team take another step forward. Added maturation from the 25 and under players will also be key.

Agree. I have to believe th Hawks view him as an injury fill-in who only finds a larger role if OO or JJ can't step into the back-up PF role. Personally I think most of the back-up PF minutes go to OO and Hunter. JJ will get a chance if injuries happen though, but I think it will take an injury to get him an extended look this year.

I guess I am going to need to get an avatar before the end of the season!

Murray had the ultimate green light last year being far and away his teams best player/playmaker. His game will need to evolve just like Collins due to Trae's gravity. Getting 20 a night on a bad team is very different than doing it on a good team. Does not mean Murray is not a good player. If Trae gets hurt then of course the landscape changes.