How serious of a playoff threat are we this season?

[hazer]

6 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

This. 8th seed. Maybe 6 or 7. It’s our turn. No more lottery bs. We hit the lottery twice, owned it and are leaving it with crazy talent now. 

 

We got next!

 

4 minutes ago, hazer said:

Don’t forget all the expirings and cap space too 

When the Hawks have a 2 All-Star playoff team made up of barely legal drinkers at the end of ‘19-‘20 season, those 2 available max contracts gone done had ALL dem superstars up in our yard

[Spud2nique]

8 minutes ago, hazer said:

Don’t forget all the expirings and cap space too 

Yes sir! Embiid and Giannis, get really uncomfy there in Philly and Bucktown respectively!  

 

Come let Trae spoon feed you!

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, hazer said:

ALL dem superstars up in our yard

Yard or the Waffle House! it!

[hazer]

5 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Yes sir! Embiid and Giannis, get really uncomfy there in Philly and Bucktown respectively!  

 

Come let Trae spoon feed you!

I called the Embiid move last month, we’ll be labeled rose-colored homers for dreaming it. Until we’re known as gurus for calling it a year in advance  

Edited August 27, 2019 by hazer

[Spud2nique]

18 minutes ago, hazer said:

I called the Embiid move last month,

Oh no doubt I remember. You’ve been driving the big man bus for a while.  I am more of a “let our kids turn into our stars and F the other players” but hey...if we got cap and they wanna come, by all means. Come and stay a while!  

[EazyRoc]

Other than Philly and Milwaukee, there are no locks for playoffs. We can definitely earn a spot this season. We’ve got a solid team.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

4 hours ago, hazer said:

This team is not 3 seasons from making some noise, the noise begins this year when they’re a VERY young 8th seed. Sneaking into the bottom of the playoffs with a roster full of mid-to-late 20 year olds with no future picks and little cap space would be treadmilling. This is far from that and just the beginning.

6th man candidates: Bembry, Crabbe, Cam

Backup PGs: Turner, Bembry, Cam

Backup PFs: Parker, Carter, Bruno

This team is still just Trae and JC: Huerter on line 3

If Schlenk is following the GSW path, I don't think 2-3 years is out of the question.  The player that Trae keeps getting compared to is Steph Curry... Curry was drafted in 2009 and didn't make the playoffs until 2013 and didn't win a championship until 2015.  This team has to learn how to win and I believe we are still 1-2 guys away from being a legit playoff team... We have some chips but I don't believe it's enough.

[Spud2nique]

34 minutes ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

If Schlenk is following the GSW path, I don't think 2-3 years is out of the question.  The player that Trae keeps getting compared to is Steph Curry... Curry was drafted in 2009 and didn't make the playoffs until 2013 and didn't win a championship until 2015.  This team has to learn how to win and I believe we are still 1-2 guys away from being a legit playoff team... We have some chips but I don't believe it's enough.

Curry is not comparable to Trae. Dig deeper this is a lazy comparison because both shoot long 3’s. Curry can’t pass guy! Trae is already amongst the best passers the game has seen. Comon mod, get it together !

Ps F*ck the Warriors. We are us!

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

5 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Curry is not comparable to Trae. Dig deeper this is a lazy comparison because both shoot long 3’s. Curry can’t pass guy! Trae is already amongst the best passers the game has seen. Comon mod, get it together !

Ps F*ck the Warriors. We are us!

This is the comparison that every sport writer gave for Trae when he was drafted, so it's not a lazy comparison. Also, I was only stating the time it took between when Curry was drafted to the point he made the playoffs and to finally winning a title. I was not comparing skill sets. And comparing the Warriors to us is not that far-fetched considering who our GM is. Even if you compared him to the Nash or Iverson, those guys still didn't make the playoffs as starters for 2-3 seasons and they had loads more veteran talent around them. We are a very young team and it will take time for this team to learn how to win.  2-3 seasons for playoffs and 6-7 for title is reasonable.

[Spud2nique]

30 minutes ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

win.  2-3 seasons for playoffs and 6-7 for title is reasonable.

Absolutely NO!  7 years????? You might as well be the Orlando Magic owner and guarantee us a title by 2030!! 

Every sports writer made a lazy comparison then. In stature they may be about the same but there is no way Curry is close to Trae at that stage or even now in passing. Forget Iverson and Nash and the years it took to get them there. It’s a different day and age. Teams are getting there quicker due to massive rebuilds and college players are coming in waaaayyy more ready to plug n play than in the 80’s and 90’s. 

When you talk about Trae, I think you need to look to a Magic or Isiah who impacted their teams right away. In Magic’s case of course the Lakers went on to win the finals and even Isiah got to 49 wins by season 3. Trae is a high impact player and our entire team will benefit from it sooner than later imo.

I’m drinking the Trae koolaid. This kid’s got IT! 

[AHF]

I think Schlenk is coming into this season expecting another lottery run but if we make the playoffs it likely won't be because our pending FAs like Len, Turner and Crabbe destroyed it this season.  It will be because our young core is coming along faster than expected and that is not something that signals "treadmill" to me.  To the contrary, many superstars bloom pretty quickly so if we have our "big 5" young guns pushing us into the playoffs then that is a good result from a player development angle and a good sign for our future.

[AHF]

14 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Absolutely NO!  7 years????? You might as well be the Orlando Magic owner and guarantee us a title by 2030!! 

Every sports writer made a lazy comparison then. In stature they may be about the same but there is no way Curry is close to Trae at that stage or even now in passing. Forget Iverson and Nash and the years it took to get them there. It’s a different day and age. Teams are getting there quicker due to massive rebuilds and college players are coming in waaaayyy more ready to plug n play than in the 80’s and 90’s. 

When you talk about Trae, I think you need to look to a Magic or Isiah who impacted their teams right away. In Magic’s case of course the Lakers went on to win the finals and even Isiah got to 49 wins by season 3. Trae is a high impact player and our entire team will benefit from it sooner than later imo.

I’m drinking the Trae koolaid. This kid’s got IT! 

Curry is a much better shooter at the same stage.  Trae is a much better passer.  Hopefully, Trae can keep developing every area of his game and be mentioned in the same breath as Curry, Magic and Isiah when his career is over.  He's got a long way to go but couldn't be more excited to watch him work.

[enrique]

6 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

 Come let Trae spoon feed you!

Favorite line of the thread!!! Just made me laugh out loud in the office!

thanks!!!

[enrique]

43 minutes ago, AHF said:

Curry is a much better shooter at the same stage.  Trae is a much better passer.  Hopefully, Trae can keep developing every area of his game and be mentioned in the same breath as Curry, Magic and Isiah when his career is over.  He's got a long way to go but couldn't be more excited to watch him work.

At same stage (obviously Trae is a year younger at the stage) Curry was a much better 3 shooter. Not a better deep-3 shooter however. Trae was curry’s Equal on 2pt shots. Trae definitely gets to the line more often and distributes the ball far more efficiently and effectively than Curry did. They both rebound about the same. Overall, it is the normal 3-ball comparison where Curry stands above Trae without question. So I didn’t want to agree that Curry was way better at shooting than Trae in general. But on standard (non-deep) 3 Curry certainly was a stud his rookie year!

 

As far as hoping Trae gets to the same arena as the players you mentioned, I totally agree!!! I really think Trae’s Work ethic (if it continues) will allow him to ascend to great heights! He is a special player part because of his personality and skills and partly because of the work ethic which infuses everything he does!

Trae, stay humble! Stay hungry! Go Hawks!

[High5]

2 hours ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

This is the comparison that every sport writer gave for Trae when he was drafted, so it's not a lazy comparison. Also, I was only stating the time it took between when Curry was drafted to the point he made the playoffs and to finally winning a title. I was not comparing skill sets. And comparing the Warriors to us is not that far-fetched considering who our GM is. Even if you compared him to the Nash or Iverson, those guys still didn't make the playoffs as starters for 2-3 seasons and they had loads more veteran talent around them. We are a very young team and it will take time for this team to learn how to win.  2-3 seasons for playoffs and 6-7 for title is reasonable.

Making the playoffs in 2020-21 after missing in 2019-20 is reasonable. I think we have a chance next season, but at best it's probably a 50/50. If we don't make the playoffs in 2020-21 then we've fallen behind for some reason. That's no bueno.

Putting a date on our title window is pointless, though. That depends way too much on things we don't know yet. 

[AHF]

1 hour ago, enrique said:

At same stage (obviously Trae is a year younger at the stage) Curry was a much better 3 shooter. Not a better deep-3 shooter however. Trae was curry’s Equal on 2pt shots. Trae definitely gets to the line more often and distributes the ball far more efficiently and effectively than Curry did. They both rebound about the same. Overall, it is the normal 3-ball comparison where Curry stands above Trae without question. So I didn’t want to agree that Curry was way better at shooting than Trae in general. But on standard (non-deep) 3 Curry certainly was a stud his rookie year!

 

As far as hoping Trae gets to the same arena as the players you mentioned, I totally agree!!! I really think Trae’s Work ethic (if it continues) will allow him to ascend to great heights! He is a special player part because of his personality and skills and partly because of the work ethic which infuses everything he does!

Trae, stay humble! Stay hungry! Go Hawks!

The breakout is pretty simple.  Inside of 16 feet Trae was better (although Steph was actually better at the rim Trae generated more looks there so I give that to him as well). Outside of 16 feet, i.e., long 2's and all 3's Steph >>> Trae.  Overall Steph was better.

The total shot distribution adds up to significant edge for Curry for their rookie seasons:  .568% TS% to .539% TS%.  (This includes Trae's very sizable edge in FTA).  Trae will need to shoot ~.600% TS% to surpass Curry's .595% TS% shooting efficiency his second season which is probably not realistic but I'd sure love to see it.

[Peoriabird]

46 minutes ago, AHF said:

The breakout is pretty simple.  Inside of 16 feet Trae was better (although Steph was actually better at the rim Trae generated more looks there so I give that to him as well). Outside of 16 feet, i.e., long 2's and all 3's Steph >>> Trae.  Overall Steph was better.

The total shot distribution adds up to significant edge for Curry for their rookie seasons:  .568% TS% to .539% TS%.  (This includes Trae's very sizable edge in FTA).  Trae will need to shoot ~.600% TS% to surpass Curry's .595% TS% shooting efficiency his second season which is probably not realistic but I'd sure love to see it.

Steph was an older rookie so are we comparing apples to apples?

[bleachkit]

I would consider it a disappointing season if we do not make the playoffs. East is wide open, I mean totally wide open. Most of the top talent is out west. I don't see any reason to be back in the lottery anyways. Trae, John Collins, Kevin H, Hunter, Reddish. How many minutes really are there for another lottery pick next year? 

[Gray Mule]

@bleachkit Agreed!  Our GM is either very good or very lucky.  Look at where Collins and Huerter were drafted.  Also, if the Hawks do make the playoffs, they have expiring contracts, meaning they would have a wee bit of $$$ available to sign a free agent, should there be one who would like to come here and play with our young lads.

[Gray Mule]

IF  ---- IF----IF

Big if's.

1- If the Hawks can remain healthy.  Cam is coming off surgery.  We were told at the draft that he was about 6 weeks away from being 100%.  Remember, last summer Huerter was coming off injury.  Hunter played only one summer league game.  Some of our vets we signed, either thru trade or free agency, was injured last season.

2- If our three draft picks live up to expectations, Hawks will take a major step up from last season's 29 victories.  Remember, at the close of last season, Hawks were secure in their standing in the east.  They really wanted that 30th win but couldn't get it.

3- If our returning youth can continue on their improvement from last season and grab the opportunity to lead our three rookies, things will improve.  And, if our other veteran players, young as they are, can do their part, we will improve.  Finally, if Vince Carter can have his final year be as great and successful as we all hope that it is, Hawks make the playoffs !!