Merged: Hawks sign Thabo Sefolosha to a 3 years $12 million contract

[DrReality]

Atlanta Hawks: Sefolosha Signing Grade

Posted: July 4, 2014 in Uncategorized

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Thabo Sefolosha 0

Atlanta Hawks: Sefolosha Signing Grade

By Tashan Reed: Staff Writer/Hoopstuff…

The Hawks were about as average as possible on each side of the floor this season, oddly ranking 15th in both points scored per game as well as points given up per game, so they could’ve gone either way with their first signing this summer. They chose defense as a priority clearly, by signing renown defensive stopper Thabo Sefolosha to a 3 year, $12 million deal. The market wasn’t high for Thabo, especially after his atrocious run in the playoffs, averaging only 4 ppg on 42% shooting, while being particularly worse on defense than in the regular season. The Hawks obviously valued his complete body of work more than just that playoff slump, as they should, but it’s undeniably hard to look away from, especially when you’re talking about 4 million dollars per season.

Thabo won’t have to do much for the Hawks offensively, as he probably won’t be the Hawks’ starting shooting guard this season, but he has to be himself defensively for this signing to be worth their 12 million dollar faith in him. It also wouldn’t hurt for him to go back to his 42% 3 point shooting percentage from the 2012-13 season instead of the 31% he shot during this season. Being a reliable open shooter to stretch the floor on offense while being a lockdown defender would make Sefolosha extremely valuable for the Hawks.

Thabo’s versatility on the defensive end is one of his biggest strengths as well, as he’s quick enough to stay in front of point guards while being long and strong enough to affect small forwards too. No longer will Atlanta have to rely on the likes of Lou Williams and Kyle Korver to defend the best shot creator on the opposing team. Jeff Teague’s offensive production will likely improve as a result as well, because he won’t have to tire himself out so much on the defensive end to make up for his lacking teammates. Signing Thabo isn’t a life changing move for the Atlanta Hawks, but it will surely help them maintain their winning culture for the next few seasons.

[HawkItus]

Winning Culture...I like that!

[mrhonline]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sefolth01/splits/2014/

 

Looking at his splits, there's room for optimism:

 

55% TS, 36% 3PT in 23 games vs. EC opponents

58% TS, 39% 3PT in 11 games in February

 

Perhaps his injury was making him more ineffective than the casual NBA fan realized?

[Nicholasp27]

Great move...gonna be another that makes people eat crow

Also,

He was a member of both of the top two pick and roll defense tandems in the league last year

[yungsta]

I am very CBA ignorant.

 

Does any capologist know for sure if we can use the exception to sign thabo and still have 15mil to sign someone?

[DJlaysitup]

Right now, he's bench fodder behind DMC and he's guaranteed money and not as good as Brand was last year.

 

C'mon D...nobody knows who will start and if DMC is the man and Shoosher is 2nd he will get big minutes in a rotational system.  He's 6-7 so he can move around as situations dictate.

[Plainview1981]

It appears that part of the agenda for signing Thabo is to try and lure Deng to the team. Like the /Lou Williams signing a few years ago.

[DJlaysitup]

It appears that part of the agenda for signing Thabo is to try and lure Deng to the team. Like the /Lou Williams signing a few years ago.

 

Could be (I hope)...but the guy is a decent signing anyway...reasonable money, can D-up...probably better for the first year (and maybe 2nd and 3rd) at least than any wing we could have gotten at #15 in the draft.

 

Sure we will be able to look back with hindsight in a couple years and pick a guy who we would rather have had...but who knows if we would have gotten lucky and picked him?

 

I'm beginning to think getting Payne will take some pressure off the whole AL thing.  Get a "best available" center late in free agency and SERIOUSLY limit AL's minutes playing the center spot.

 

.

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Edited July 4, 2014 by DJlaysitup

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

This thread is en fuego! lol

~psh #missingchat #bringontheseason

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Spurs]

The hawks have Millsap, Horford, and Teague as their big three. You have to build around those guys. You need to buy quality players so they can reach into that bench and their isn't a big drop off. Thabo is just a small part of that puzzle. Also, people need to understand Atlanta Hawks isn't sexy for marquee players, and it's a small market. You need to lower your expectations. Bud is the best coach in the east, trust me on this. He doesn't play his players into the ground like some other coaches. Fresh legs for playoffs is the best method for a long run. 

[Plainview1981]

The hawks have Millsap, Horford, and Teague as their big three. You have to build around those guys. You need to buy quality players so they can reach into that bench and their isn't a big drop off. Thabo is just a small part of that puzzle. Also, people need to understand Atlanta Hawks isn't sexy for marquee players, and it's a small market. You need to lower your expectations. Bud is the best coach in the east, trust me on this. He doesn't play his players into the ground like some other coaches. Fresh legs for playoffs is the best method for a long run. 

 

lol. That's no big three.

[Spurs]

lol. That's no big three.

 

The potential is there. Look what teague and millsap did in the playoffs. If Horford wasn't injured, they would have had homecourt in the first round as the 4th seed and would beat any lower seed. They would then potentially beat a weak Pacers team. Maybe lose to the heat in the ECF but Bud has experience vs the Heat. Yeah it's all in the realm of what if's, but that's why we're on this board. 

Edited July 5, 2014 by Spurs

[Plainview1981]

The potential is there. Look what teague and millsap did in the playoffs. If Horford wasn't injured, they would have had homecourt in the first round as the 4th seed and would beat any lower seed. They would then potentially beat a weak Pacers team. Maybe lose to the heat in the ECF but Bud has experience vs the Heat. Yeah it's all in the realm of what if's, but that's why we're on this board. 

 

Teague had a big series against Chicago a few years ago and it meant nothing in the long run. Millsap was decent in the playoffs, but he shot poorly. None of the three are even sure thing all stars every year. How does that add up to a big three? Good players? Of course. Big three? Nah.

 

Nobody called Mookie, Smitty and Deke a big three.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Hotlanta1981

[Spurs]

Teague had a big series against Chicago a few years ago and it meant nothing in the long run. Millsap was decent in the playoffs, but he shot poorly. None of the three are even sure thing all stars every year. How does that add up to a big three? Good players? Of course. Big three? Nah.

 

Nobody called Mookie, Smitty and Deke a big three.

 

You have an actual coach now. And you don't have the Lebron. wade, bosh big three. They cost 60mil even at a discount on lebron. Your big three cost 30mil. More money to build around them. I see this as a plus. 

[asdogg]

Ball Don't Lie

The Atlanta Hawks are set to take a calculated gamble on Thabo Sefolosha

By Kelly Dwyer

 

Yes, this is a player’s market. There are too few impactful free agents readily available, and too many teams with cap space to influence anything but a setting that tilts in the players’ favor.Chris Kaman nearly doubled his salary from last season after sitting for over half the year. Jodie Meeks will now make more than Anthony Davis next season. Gordon Hayward may sign for the max, and LeBron James will play for about a third of what he’s worth next season. Things have gone pear-shaped.

In steps Thabo Sefolosha, the man who was only on the court for five seconds in his team’s final (overtime) playoff game of the season, a fella who was chased out of the Oklahoma City Thunderstarting lineup with two games to go in the Western Conference finals despite starting 434 consecutive healthy games for the Thunder following a bench stint (his first appearance in an OKC uniform ) late in 2009.

Sefolosha has agreed to a three-year, $12 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks. RealGM’s Shams Charania was the first to report the deal, which seems to straddle the line between innocuous and bewildering. The Hawks have heaps of cap space, that was in place even before the squad decided to dump Lou Williams and a prospect on John Salmons’ barely-guaranteed contract, but this does seem like a slight stretch.

A slight one. Nothing that would seem to bite the Hawks in the rear, as time moves along.

Thabo turned 30 in May, and he just could not provide the sort of spacing that had done the Thunder so well in the previous two seasons, seasons that saw him hit well over 40 percent from behind the three-point line. Because Sefolosha hasn’t developed as a slasher, his defensive gifts failed to outweigh his mitigating offensive contributions at a time when the Thunder were playing for their playoff lives, which is why he was relegated to an afterthought in those final two games against the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.

Caveats abound, though. The Thunder offense is a simple one, and though its star-heavy approach often cannot be stopped even when the opposition knows what is coming, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s heavy usage denies everyone looks. That’s for a good reason, but it isn’t to be discounted.

Secondly, it’s important to remember that Thabo was drafted as a proto-Scottie Pippen, an all-around type meant to stir the drink. This was lost in Scott Skiles, Vinny Del Negro, and Scott Brooks’, um, somewhat rudimentary offenses. If Sefolosha can turn into the guy behind the guy, someone to set up the player that’s about to make that extra skip pass, he can turn into a sort of no-stats All-Star even if he only shoots the league average from behind the arc.

He’ll have to approach that number, though. The Hawks would be beside themselves if he manages to top 40 percent from behind the arc again, and more than frustrated if Sefolosha dips down to 31 percent from long range – as he did in 2013-14. Thabo sandwiched two great shooting years (nearly 44 and 42 percent from deep) with last season’s poor performance and a 30 percent run in his first two full years with the team between 2009 and 2011, so it’s a coin flip as to how he’ll turn out with Atlanta, a team that prides itself on spacing and encouraging three-point shooting.

At less than the league’s average salary, on a tradeable contract, Thabo should work out. Even if this dive in production is real and he is unable to find the all-around touch that made him a lottery pick back in 2006, Thabo Sefolosha making $4 million a year at the end of the bench isn’t exactly a millstone. And the upside is too real to ignore – the guy has the potential to be more than a limited three-point shooter and defender. If he and the Hawks remember that, it will come in handy once the plays break down.

Sometimes a change of scenery is all one needs. Is this the right change for Thabo Sefolosha? At the very least, the compensation suits him.

[frosgrim]

Well, I get on a plane for Africa and we trade Lou/Bebe. I go out into the field to do some work with no internet and we sign Thabo. I get on a plane Monday evening (local time, should be ~9 AM ATL time) so look for another big move then. 

 

As far as the signing goes, it is a move. It should help, but it isn't earth shattering. The price I think is around market value. Wings are getting paid and there were multiple teams interested. Thus, there is no way one can say the Hawks overpaid when the market is clearly saying differently. Second, with multiple teams involved, the price will go up.

 

I will wait to see what this offseason brings before judging. I do think Monroe is the next signing and he'll be [tentative] Hawk come Monday evening. 

[hazer]

Vet min???? That's just ludicrous.  Or ludacrisp, if you're a Tyson fan.

I take my hand off to you for the Tyson quote.

[Admin]

[HawkItus]

Bookmarking this thread. Will love to see who is eating crow next year.

Mmmmhmmmmmmmmm........

[Guest]

Fun times.