AtLaS

8 minutes ago, Bonkers said:

The only players that should be traded are Hunter and Capela

 

Y'all need to stop trying to trade theyoung guys (AJ & JJ) That's actually asinine  and shows that some of y'all have absolutely no foresight

I'm higher on JJ than any of our young guys.  He is a freak and can do pretty much everything.  We finally gave him some consistent playing time and he produced.  Quin seems to love him also. 

40 minutes ago, shakes said:

Isn't it technically a 33% increase in salary when you go from 120 to 160?

 

Don't know too many jobs where you can get a 33% raise.   I'm not DJM who already has millions in the bank, is in his prime and believes in himself so what I would do is irrelevant.    

Bad math on my part.  

But the point remains.  Some guys would roll the dice until next year, some would secure the maximum they can get right now.  I am obviously glad he signed now as opposed to waiting.  This also stresses how valuable player opt out options are, had he had one this season it would've made a huge difference.  

1 hour ago, shakes said:

 

sports message boards might be the only place in the world where laypeople refer to $40 million as a small amount of money.  

I should have used the word relative.  On a relative basis that would be a small increase, going from 120 to 160 is only a 25% gain. 

Shake if someone was offering you 120 million dollars, would you risk it ALL to get 160 if the 160 is only 90% guaranteed?  I sure as hell wouldn't.

11 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

It's more than a $40 mil difference. 

If he got to FAcy and was looking for a 30% max deal of the projected $149 million cap for 5 years...that's a deal starting at ~$44 mil with the 8% raises.....that's +$200 million.

Considering that FVV signed a 3yr max deal for $128 million with a lower cap figure.

Sure if he got the max it's more than a 40 mil difference.  I'm not convinced he would surely get the max next offseason.  He may, but he also may not.

He would have to swim naked for the entire season, with injury risk or having a bad season risk that could cost him a lot of money.  So it's not guaranteed.  He weighed the potential risk reward and decided it wasn't worth the risk.  Some guys would have waited, all a matter of personal opinion.

8 minutes ago, Sothron said:

There's nothing but positives in this. We gave up a lot to get DJM and now he's repaid that by taking less money to be here for at least five seasons. Extension kicks in after this season for those not sure how that works.

This really speaks volumes about the changing landscape in the NBA. All Star players taking less money to resign in Atlanta has literally never happened before. DJM did this to help this team get another guy. He did this to help them keep guys as well. 

If you had doubts about the front office I hope those doubts are going away. They had a great draft and have made good trades to bolster this team's depth. They just kept an All Star for less money if he had played it out and hit free agency. 

Wins all the way around. For once we don't have to be skeptical to be a Hawks fan. Just ENJOY it.

This isn't how I see it at all.  DJM made a business decision.  I don't blame him at all and I probably would have done the same.  He could have made more if he waited until next offseason, but risks blowing out his knee/achilles or having a bad year or something else major.  He wasn't willing to bet $120 million guaranteed for a potential ~160M.  That's a HUGE risk for a small additional reward.  He hasn't secured a huge contract before now and this sets him for life.  

This wasn't about taking less for the Hawks, he took the maximum he could get.  If he had a player option for 2023 he would've signed for a lot more.  This locks him for 120 guaranteed and he has a player option at age 30 so he can secure another large bag in the future.

I love DJM and we are very fortunate to have benefitted from this.  And I don't blame him for taking the contract.  He isn't a LeBron/KD type who can still secure a max deal even if they get injured.  

2 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

There is no way that AJ - JJ - OO is a better trio from a potential standpoint than Horford - Smith - Marvin were.  Heck, we watched AJ struggle mightily in the 2nd half of the season where he hit the rookie wall.  JJ played better as the year went on, and still couldn't get legit rotation minutes.  OO has improved, but no one can definitely say that he's better than Capela at this moment.

These kids are not generational talents. Because of that, they can easily be replaced.  It's not a coincidence that in 2021 when we made our playoff run, we made it basically without "Wingstop" ( Hunter and Reddish ). 

I'm rooting for our current crop of kids more than anyone.  I said back in January when we were struggling, that Nate's only chance was to start playing the kids more.  He didn't do it ( with JJ ) and it got him fired.

Quin seems to love JJ, but the jury may still be out on AJ in his eyes.  So it will be interesting to see what his role is.

 

Fans are fooling themselves if they think that all 4 of those guys are going to be impact players.  We might even have to get rid of Bogi, just to free up playing time for AJ.  Bufkin isn't a true PG, more like a combo guard, so we might even have an issue at that spot.

Here are the NBADraft.net comparisons for each player

• Kobe Bufkin ....................... Jordan Poole
• AJ Griffin ............................ Jamal Mashburn/Robert Covington
• Jalen Johnson .................... Stephen Jackson/TJ Warren
• Oneyka Okongwu .............. John Collins/Montrezl Harrell

Agree or disagree?

If you disagree, name the NBA comparisons for each player as you see them.

Jalen Johnson's comparison is Stephen Jackson and TJ Warren seem way off to me.  Jackson was more like a G/F to me and TJ Warren doesn't pass at all.   I think Jalen is more like a Lamar Odom type.

In what universe is OO like Harrell?  I think Bam is a much better comparison.  Not saying OO will get THAT good but he has the potential.  

Incredible write up Supes, just wanted to drop in and give you kudos for that because of the effort.  

I don't know a ton about Gueye other than watching highlight videos but I love his potential, and love that we took a flyer on him in the 2nd round.  Very much is going to depend on his work ethic and how much he wants to be a great player.  Let's hope he has that fire.

13 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

I doubt these cost cutting mandates will sit well with Trae. Already lost us Huerter and seems likely it'll cost us someone of value this offseason.

Just something to keep an eye on.

 

Agreed, it's kind of a slap in the face.  Trae (and other stars) want to compete for championships.  When a peer of yours has bolder ownership that is willing to spend extra money, going over the cap while your team is cutting costs it has to sting.  

Like when you play against that team, and that team is deeper BECAUSE of their willingness to spend.  You see those guys on the other team and it's like you are lucky your owners are willing to spend.  Many dudes won championships b/c they happened to play for a team willing to spend. 

Would the Warriors have won all those chips without spending?  They just got lucky with the first Curry contract, but no way they would now.

I like this guy a lot for a 2nd rounder.  Potential is off the charts.  Hard for me to imagine he won't at least be a contributor with his size, athleticism and ability to shoot.  

23 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Cason wallace is the guy the hawks are targeting

What am I missing here?  He's undersized, not a great shooter, not super athletic.  Is he THAT good a defender?  Are we going to want to play him over AJ or Bogi?  

I just don't see the fit unless we are making major trades.  

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

I love to hear this. Not just about KAT and Brown, but also about big game hunting.

We have to get out of this poor man’s mindset of holding out hope that we have all these hidden superstars on our roster that we can’t afford to lose. We need to send these healthy sized contracts out and bring back some big time talent.

You start making big time moves and FAs will start taking us seriously when it’s time to fill out the roster with vets on cheap deals. 

Right now, we see ourselves as strapped. But that just means its time to flip medium sized assets together for big ones.

Now is the time to prove we are not just satisfied with making the playoffs and going home early. 

Even if we strike out it still shows we are trying to build a contender. That’s the message we have to send to the league. We are not a farm system team.

Agreed 100%.  Every team's fans overvalue their young players, including myself.  We see flashes from these guys and it gets us excited.  But the reality is that the vast majority of these guys will never become top 25 players.  And by the time they do, our other players would have started declining.  Get the stars when you can.  We have 2 all-star level players already and lots of tradeable talent around them, we need to capitalize on this with a sure thing. It's much easier to find a 7th or 8th man for depth than it is to get another star player.  

I don't want to trade AJ or JJ, they are both very promising but if we can grab a star with one of them in a package it's probably worth it.

10 hours ago, hawkman said:

I want to see him used more in pick and roll and pick and pop action. Of course, I want him to shoot better from deep next season, but him shooting threes was an adaptation to Cap clogging up the middle on offense. I'm not sure what moves will be made this offseason, but I think Collins can be so much more if he isn't strictly utilized as a shooter on offense. Hopefully, Quin will have him playing the way he was a few seasons ago.

Agreed, I kind of want to see us without CC.  OO isn't a great shooter but he can shoot enough from midrange to at least force the D to respect him.  He can also make free throws.  I'm not worried about him going against the Jokic/Embiids of the world since CC gets dominated by those guys anyway.  We can grab a huge stiff off the bench for when we need an extra body, but I think CC's 20+ mil could be better used elsewhere.  Or maybe we can bring him off the bench?  

Replacing CC with OO or anyone with any sort of jumper would just open up our offense tremendously.  I don't see how anyone could guard us.  

Sure, we will lose some interior help D and rebounding, but I think the pros outweigh the cons here.  OO isn't a bad rebounder, and he's a good defender.  Just needs to get better at staying out of foul trouble, which I think he will be forced to learn if he's playing extended minutes.

11 hours ago, h4wkfan said:

Wonder if the doors are open to some type of JC + deal for Lauri M. Wasn’t that a rumor early on last year?
 

It’s dealing with Ainge - so i doubt it is a reasonable price, but he’d be a nice fit.

No way in hell they are doing this deal unless we throw in a lot of extras.  

When Boston hit's their 3's they are the best team in the NBA.

It was a good run.  I feel a lot better about next season.

Brogdon just doesn't miss.  I never knew how good he was he's just always hurt in his career.

Jaylen is such a beast.

Celtics just don't miss.  Everything goes in.  They pass on good 2's to kick for 3's and keep making them.  So annoying.  

Whichever team goes cold first is going to lose this game.

So damn hard to get stops against this team.  If we could string together a few stops we'd be up 10 in a second.

Just now, hawkman said:

I need to see a few more threes go down first, but he looks crisp early.

It's just his movement and quick decision making.  It's not about a few shots falling.  This is the Trae we got used to knowing before last year.

Boston is the hardest team we've ever had to defend. This should be their title to lose.

They have elite shooters at every position, and they can all drive to the basket as well.  It's stupid.  No matter what you are going to give up a pretty good shot to them, you really just have to hope they miss.

Trae finally looks to be back.  He looks like his pre-Miami series from last year self.  Let's goooo!!!

I like the idea of KAT but i just question his winning impact.  He's put up monster numbers for so long and has had plenty of talented teammates and still just can't win anything.  If we can get him without giving up a ton I would do it.

If KAT's price is too high I think we should target Miles Turner.  He plays D, can space the floor and make FT's.  Not a great rebounder but i just think he would space the floor immensely.  Replacing Capela with Turner completely opens up the offense.  Like noone could collapse in the lane.  We could then start OO at the 4 and JJ could play 30 mpg.  

On the bright side, it seems Trae has finally gotten the playoff bug out of his system.  Regardless of how he plays on Tuesday, he looks like himself out there and is making much faster decisions.  He's not hesitating.  This is huge for our future, we really need him to be himself.

It's sad seeing how far Collins has fallen.  Really hard to believe.  At this point i want to trade him but we ain't getting squat in return.  Still might be worth it though.

So frustrating.  Why can't we make open 3's?  I feel like we are outplaying the Celtics.  We just can't make shots and the Celtics have made some bullshit

1 minute ago, REHawksFan said:

Pretty simple game really. Hawks don't have guys that make shots consistently. Boston does. That's the difference in the series. Hawks have gotten a ton of quality looks. Can't make anything. 

Super cliche to say but this is a make or miss league.

Boston is better than us at shooting.  Period.