The offseason...how do you see/want things going down?

[thescout5]

Don't forget the Pacers get their star player back, the Bulls will reload, Washington will be tougher with Wall this time, Miami if they are healthy could make a run ,Milwaukee will have their star player back, and Toronto gave the Hawks a difficult time in the regular season. Then you have the Cavs just in another league with Lebron. The Hawks handled the Cavs in the regular season mainly due to the Cavs adding so many new players at the trade deadline it took awhile for them to jell. We saw what the Cavs did to the Hawks in the playoffs and they weren't at full strength like the Hawks.

 

The Hawks probably come in 2nd place and will have a difficult time in the playoffs once again next year. This is if they keep the same team and then you have the injury factor. Hard to say if the Hawks will be healthy with their 5 starters next year.The Hawks if they some how manage to go far in the playoffs and meet the Cavs again will probably win 1 game with a healthy team.

Edited June 11, 2015 by thescout5

[sturt]

Sorry. I just don't see it that way.

[atlhawks1]

Don't forget the Pacers get their star player back, the Bulls will reload, Washington will be tougher with Wall this time, Miami if they are healthy could make a run ,Milwaukee will have their star player back, and Toronto gave the Hawks a difficult time in the regular season. Then you have the Cavs just in another league with Lebron. The Hawks handled the Cavs in the regular season mainly due to the Cavs adding so many new players at the trade deadline it took awhile for them to jell. We saw what the Cavs did to the Hawks in the playoffs and they weren't at full strength like the Hawks.

 

The Hawks probably come in 2nd place and will have a difficult time in the playoffs once again next year. This is if they keep the same team and then you have the injury factor. Hard to say if the Hawks will be healthy with their 5 starters next year.The Hawks if they some how manage to go far in the playoffs and meet the Cavs again will probably win 1 game with a healthy team.

 

And teams are not gonna let the Hawks sneak up on them again either. If the Hawks dont correct that front court, they might fall down to between a 6 and 8 seed, no joking. In fact, if they were in the Western Conference, they wouldnt have made it out of the FIRST round this year. New Orleans wouldve beat them.

Edited June 11, 2015 by atlhawks1

[MaceCase]

I'm not letting you crush my dream, Supes.

Still though, him staying in NO is tantamount to career suicide IMHO.

1) New owners will move the team to Seattle.

2)After having the 2nd highest amount of viewers of the Finals the NBA immediately rewards Atlanta with a new franchise.

3) Tom Benson being both drunk off of sazeracs and attacked by his wife forgets to protect Davis in the expansion draft.

4) profit.

[JETSET]

And teams are not gonna let the Hawks sneak up on them again either. If the Hawks dont correct that front court, they might fall down to between a 6 and 8 seed, no joking. In fact, if they were in the Western Conference, they wouldnt have made it out of the FIRST round this year. New Orleans wouldve beat them.

Put the drink and smoke down. 

 

A laundry list of injuries are the only thing that could cause the Hawks to fall that low next season.

[JETSET]

Don't forget the Pacers get their star player back, the Bulls will reload, Washington will be tougher with Wall this time, Miami if they are healthy could make a run ,Milwaukee will have their star player back, and Toronto gave the Hawks a difficult time in the regular season. Then you have the Cavs just in another league with Lebron. The Hawks handled the Cavs in the regular season mainly due to the Cavs adding so many new players at the trade deadline it took awhile for them to jell. We saw what the Cavs did to the Hawks in the playoffs and they weren't at full strength like the Hawks.

 

The Hawks probably come in 2nd place and will have a difficult time in the playoffs once again next year. This is if they keep the same team and then you have the injury factor. Hard to say if the Hawks will be healthy with their 5 starters next year.The Hawks if they some how manage to go far in the playoffs and meet the Cavs again will probably win 1 game with a healthy team.

Full strength?  Our entire wing rotation was injured.

[Guest]

Don't forget the Pacers get their star player back, the Bulls will reload, Washington will be tougher with Wall this time, Miami if they are healthy could make a run ,Milwaukee will have their star player back, and Toronto gave the Hawks a difficult time in the regular season. Then you have the Cavs just in another league with Lebron. The Hawks handled the Cavs in the regular season mainly due to the Cavs adding so many new players at the trade deadline it took awhile for them to jell. We saw what the Cavs did to the Hawks in the playoffs and they weren't at full strength like the Hawks.

 

The Hawks probably come in 2nd place and will have a difficult time in the playoffs once again next year. This is if they keep the same team and then you have the injury factor. Hard to say if the Hawks will be healthy with their 5 starters next year.The Hawks if they some how manage to go far in the playoffs and meet the Cavs again will probably win 1 game with a healthy team.

 

Pacers will not be much better.  It's not like Hibbert/West are getting better.  They're getting worse.

 

I'm not banking on the Bulls being anything new coach or not.  I'm not falling for that fool's gold anymore.

 

Why would Washington be any tougher?

 

Toronto will come back to earth.

 

Miami will be better IMHO.

 

Not sure what Milwaukee will be.  Was this year a fluke?  Probably.  If they lose Middleton that'll be a big loss.

 

IOW, no one in the East should scare us other than CLE.

 

Lastly, when were the Hawks at full strength against CLE?

[atlhawks1]

Put the drink and smoke down. 

 

A laundry list of injuries are the only thing that could cause the Hawks to fall that low next season.

 

Nah. See, that line of thinking is what got the Hawks in trouble in the first place. The Hawks werent the same team after the allstar break and everybody knows it. Go into next season with Pero Antić being heavy in the rotation again, with a loaded up East, and see how far the Hawks fall back in the pack. Go into the playoffs next year, with Korver as your option at two guard, and see what happens AGAIN. No, the Hawks got to upgrade some positions, no way around it.

Edited June 11, 2015 by atlhawks1

[Guest]

Every year the Hawks are not expected to be much, I see it's still no different. Joe leaves, Josh leaves, only sign Millsap, only sign Thabo and Baze - it's the same cry every off season.

All teams are expected to improve but not the Hawks.

We have no idea who will be back, at least wait until after the draft and free agency to start crying about what we don't have.

Edited June 11, 2015 by JayBirdHawk

[JETSET]

Nah. See, that line of thinking is what got the Hawks in trouble in the first place. The Hawks werent the same team after the allstar break and everybody knows it. Go into next season with Pero Antić being heavy in the rotation again, with a loaded up East, and see how far the Hawks fall back in the pack. Go into the playoffs next year, with Korver as your option at two guard, and see what happens AGAIN. No, the Hawks got to upgrade some positions, no way around it.

The Hawks won 60 games while resting starters in like 8 games and coasting for the last 5 weeks.  You are out of your mind if you think they are going to fall that far next season. 

 

They will be a 1-3 seed if they bring back the same team, hit on the 15 pick and add a useful rotational bench player.

 

That's a promise.

[sturt]

Have to say this past season was a big surprise to me. I don't think I'm alone. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. I kept thinking they can't possibly be as good as their record is saying they are. Night after night, though, they kept winning. The opponent usually wasn't blown out, but the good guys owned the last 5 minutes of the game. Night after night after night. Regardless of the opponent.

 

Now, yes, the shoe dropped. But it wasn't after the break. The team went 10-3, a .770 performance after the break. Some if not many of the late season losses were attributable to Bud's philosophy to rest players.

 

So, pardon me if I'm also slow to agree with the contention that they weren't really all that good when, in fact, the shoe only dropped when injuries finally became an issue leading up to the playoffs (Sefolosha, Carroll, Korver, Scott, Teague and Milsap) and during the playoffs (Sefolosha, Milsap, Carroll, and Horford). (I don't include Korver b/c the series was nearly over when his injury occurred.)

 

No. The old line is true...

 

They are who we thought they were.

[cam1218]

For all of you cap experts out there, tell me if this is possible? Can we first sign Gasol to a max-ish deal, then go over the cap to sign Millsap (assuming he is on board with this) and then trade Horford to upgrade the SF/SG position?

Horford is my favorite player and I don't want to see him gone, I'm just thinking of ways to improve the team. Gasol/Sap is still a good front court, and it seems DMC is probably a goner.

[atlhawks1]

The Hawks won 60 games while resting starters in like 8 games and coasting for the last 5 weeks.  You are out of your mind if you think they are going to fall that far next season. 

 

They will be a 1-3 seed if they bring back the same team, hit on the 15 pick and add a useful rotational bench player.

 

That's a promise.

 

Is that not what im saying??? lol When i said Pero, thats a UNuseful bench player. Hitting on the 15 pick is obvious. Whatever they do, draft, free agency, they need a big that can defend/rebound and another shooting guard in front of Korver. If they stay put and hope on ANY combination of Pero/Antić, thats not gonna work.

 

 This is about CHAMPIONSHIPS. If Pero is on the roster next season, the Hawks are not serious about a championship. Ask Chipper Jones.........

 

 

 

Chipper Jones

Antić???

 

Edited June 11, 2015 by atlhawks1

[TheFuzz]

For all of you cap experts out there, tell me if this is possible? Can we first sign Gasol to a max-ish deal, then go over the cap to sign Millsap (assuming he is on board with this) and then trade Horford to upgrade the SF/SG position?

Horford is my favorite player and I don't want to see him gone, I'm just thinking of ways to improve the team. Gasol/Sap is still a good front court, and it seems DMC is probably a goner.

 

We'd have to trade Horford first for basically zero cap in return, so not really. Definitely not worth it, IMO.

[atlhawks1]

Im not jumping on the Tristan Thompson bandwagon, BECAUSE, i said it waaaaay back when the Hawks were blowing the Cavaliers out during the regular season, that Thompson IS the key to that team AND the Eastern Conference. I like Mosgov's game too, but Thompson is the one that makes that team go. The Hawks HAVE to counter Thompson. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about that.

 

Rolling out Pero Antić or a Millsap/Horford front court isnt gonna get it. The ONLY way i would roll another small front court out there like that is if the Hawks can find a monster coming off the bench to rebound and play spot situations in the starting lineup for that very purpose, to counter Thompson.

Edited June 11, 2015 by atlhawks1

[sturt]

Thompson has raised his game as the year progressed. I'll give you that much. Is he the difference-maker in a series between the two teams? Well, for the moment, maybe. But just like he was a "meh" player until fairly recently, I can imagine... being the Moose fan that I am... our best rebounder raising his game (ie, as his minutes increase) in a noticeable way, too, next time the two teams meet.

 

Going back to your larger point, I don't think anyone here would disagree that we can't stand pat and assume we'll be just as successful in 2015-16 as this season. The NBA... and team sports in general... just doesn't work like that normally. Players get a little better and other players get a little worse, and you can't sit on your hands if you're a GM unless you have an NBA legend on the roster. We don't, obviously, so there is no off-season that isn't "critical."

 

But I think it's overstating it to talk as-if there's this significant divide between CLE and ATL. They have to have 1 player to be successful, and without him, few would disagree that they would be just another East playoff contender. We don't have that problem. We can rely on multiple guys. But that said, there is a point where too many guys having their games handicapped by some degree of injury takes its toll. A pinky finger on a shooting hand here, and a shooting-arm shoulder boo-boo there, and a gimpy knee problem over there... and on top of that, a broken leg that completely removes a 6th man... ? Yeah, not too hard to make the case, CLE, endowed with its primary weapon, swept a fairly handicapped team in comparison to the one that won the season series.

[AHF]

For all of you cap experts out there, tell me if this is possible? Can we first sign Gasol to a max-ish deal, then go over the cap to sign Millsap (assuming he is on board with this) and then trade Horford to upgrade the SF/SG position?

Horford is my favorite player and I don't want to see him gone, I'm just thinking of ways to improve the team. Gasol/Sap is still a good front court, and it seems DMC is probably a goner.

 

To get the space to sign Gasol to a max-ish deal we would have to create cap space.  We could do that by renouncing our free agents (most notably Millsap who carries a roughly $16.5M cap charge) or by unloading existing contracts.  If we renounce our rights to Sap, we can't go above the cap or an exception to sign him which makes it completely unrealistic to retain him if we sign Gasol unless we unload existing contracts.  We would then have to clear some serious room by doing something like dumping one or more of Horford, Thabo, Teague, Korver, etc. who make significant money to create the space necessary to sign both Sap and Gasol.  

 

My working assumption is that if we signed Gasol then we wouldn't be bringing Sap or DMC back given where the market seems to be pointing for them.

[JETSET]

To get the space to sign Gasol to a max-ish deal we would have to create cap space.  We could do that by renouncing our free agents (most notably Millsap who carries a roughly $16.5M cap charge) or by unloading existing contracts.  If we renounce our rights to Sap, we can't go above the cap or an exception to sign him which makes it completely unrealistic to retain him if we sign Gasol unless we unload existing contracts.  We would then have to clear some serious room by doing something like dumping one or more of Horford, Thabo, Teague, Korver, etc. who make significant money to create the space necessary to sign both Sap and Gasol.  

 

My working assumption is that if we signed Gasol then we wouldn't be bringing Sap or DMC back given where the market seems to be pointing for them.

Could this scenario work.  I'm not 100% sure about the rules for salaries on trades and TPEs.

 

Trade Horford to a team with plenty of cap for a pick or picks.  Sign Gasol and whoever else up to the cap.  We never renounced Millsap so we can still use his early bird rights to go over the cap to sign him if he agrees to the 16 million.  I believe we would also gain a nice TPE from the Horford trade which could be used to bring in an additional player.  I believe you are allowed to use a TPE to trade for a player while being over the cap.

 

Losing Horford would suck, the talent that we would acquire would not.  It would all depend on how much the new owners are willing to spend.

 

 

Not saying I would want to do this.  Just throwing out ideas. 

[AHF]

Could this scenario work.  I'm not 100% sure about the rules for salaries on trades and TPEs.

 

Trade Horford to a team with plenty of cap for a pick or picks.  Sign Gasol and whoever else up to the cap.  We never renounced Millsap so we can still use his early bird rights to go over the cap to sign him if he agrees to the 16 million.  I believe we would also gain a nice TPE from the Horford trade which could be used to bring in an additional player.  I believe you are allowed to use a TPE to trade for a player while being over the cap.

 

Losing Horford would suck, the talent that we would acquire would not.  It would all depend on how much the new owners are willing to spend.

 

 

Not saying I would want to do this.  Just throwing out ideas. 

@hawksfanatic could give you the best analysis but I think the answer is that you couldn't hold onto a TPE while signing people up to the cap.  The TPE would take up cap space until you renounced it.

[Guest]

@hawksfanatic could give you the best analysis but I think the answer is that you couldn't hold onto a TPE while signing people up to the cap.  The TPE would take up cap space until you renounced it.

Yup. A TPE has a cap hold. So if you trade away Horford, you'd have to renounce the TPE to gain the cap space. So, not really a viable option here.