Offseason Grades

[AHF]

Looking to consolidate these here after seeing another one today:

Dan Feldman

NBC Sports

Grade: C-

Short Version:

• Hawks gave up too much to move from 8 to 4
• Hawks made a great addition with Cam
• Prince trade was good value
• Bazemore trade was a downgrade in talent but no long-term impact
• Center is very shallow with Fernando being a developmental center
• Hawks have a good foundation in building for the long term with a clear vision (contrasted to the Bulls who traded off Elton Brand and Ron Artest)

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hawks-show-even-more-commitment-180343138.html

[capstone21]

9 minutes ago, AHF said:

Looking to consolidate these here after seeing another one today:

Dan Feldman

NBC Sports

Grade: C-

Short Version:

• Hawks gave up too much to move from 8 to 4
• Hawks made a great addition with Cam
• Prince trade was good value
• Bazemore trade was a downgrade in talent but no long-term impact
• Center is very shallow with Fernando being a developmental center
• Hawks have a good foundation in building for the long term with a clear vision (contrasted to the Bulls who traded off Elton Brand and Ron Artest)

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hawks-show-even-more-commitment-180343138.html

I think we had a solid draft and I like the trades we made.  Parker deal might be a steal (although he will leave if he has a good year) but I do agree that we are extremely thin at center.  

[Eddielives]

I swear these draft "grades" or offseason "grades" are so arbitrary and meaningless in most cases.  Unless there's a situation where a completely lopsided trade happens or a guy in the draft like Zion were to fall to 3 or 4 for no apparent reason, there's just too much unknown to assign a "grade" to these circumstances.

[NBASupes]

He give us an C-, I give us an A+

We did everything we needed to do in my eyes now that VC is back

[Gray Mule]

Not knowing how our three draft picks will work out and fit in, we must look at our prior drafts of our GM has worked.  The two prior year drafts were great.  Can we expect anything else out of this one?  A+

What about our weak center?  Hawks traded for a young center who is over 7' tall and has been a starter for his former team.  Drafted another horse.  Depends on how fast he can learn to play NBA ball without fouling out.  Last year's early starting center is back.  He is still young and learning.  Then, Hawks have Collins to step in when they wish to play small ball.  Yep.  Could appear kinda weak.  As we mature this season, we will get stronger at center. 

Our coach on the floor is back!  A+  So much help for our young studs!  He was great for us last season.  We need him even more this season..

About those players we traded for.  Who knows?  They are our new bench.  On paper, they look OK.  For the most part, our "other" additions are on expiring contracts.  They all should be playing for new, better contracts for next season.  If this is true, expect some good play from all of them.

Health is always a major concern.  If, and that's a big if, the Hawks stay healthy, they win a playoff slot.  If our PG has to miss a lot, we have a two way PG to step up.  This would kill our playoff chances, I believe.  He's good but he's not Trae.

Any and all off season grades usually have all our eastern teams improved over last season.  Ever optimistic, these "talking head experts" seem to always want to put down Atlanta's Hawks.  Look at our grades.  Chip on our shoulder could be huge.  Lloyd says this year we play better defense.  He knows how.  We will.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

The only reason for me not giving us an A+ is the players we traded for.  If they work out, yes.  Otherwise a B+..

 

[Peoriabird]

Our front court is very weak and I agree with the author. This off season has been very underwhelming.

[enrique]

15 hours ago, AHF said:

Looking to consolidate these here after seeing another one today:

Dan Feldman

NBC Sports

Grade: C-

Short Version:

• Hawks gave up too much to move from 8 to 4
• Hawks made a great addition with Cam
• Prince trade was good value
• Bazemore trade was a downgrade in talent but no long-term impact
• Center is very shallow with Fernando being a developmental center
• Hawks have a good foundation in building for the long term with a clear vision (contrasted to the Bulls who traded off Elton Brand and Ron Artest)

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hawks-show-even-more-commitment-180343138.html

I believe the author mentioned that his grading would begin with a C for all teams which means that the team is basically comparable to last year's team. I might have misinterpreted his statement, so here is the actual quote from the article putting a little context around the "C-" grade for our offseason (not merely our draft).

"NBC Sports’ Dan Feldman is grading every team’s offseason based on where the team stands now relative to its position entering the offseason. A ‘C’ means a team is in similar standing, with notches up or down from there."

In other words...he sees our overall team performing slightly worse than last season according to the stated metric. Unfortunately, at the end of the article he makes this justification for the drop from a C to a C-...NOTE: it has NOTHING to do with our performance. Here is the quote where he gives the rationale for the grade...

"Meandering around the edges was fine and forgettable. Reddish and Hunter were the important pickups. The big bet this summer was on Hunter, and I just found the cost too steep. Grade C-"

So instead of Feldman saying we would be worse than last year and grading us down, it seems he switched his metric and felt we gave too much away to get Hunter. That "too steep" of a cost had NOTHING to do with our team performance this year however 

So while the grade was supposed to reflect our relative standing in competitiveness from last year to this year, it has morphed into whether or not Hunter was worth all the picks from this year along with Solomon's 13.2 million dollar brick.

Our team was not going to perform better with 8, 17, and 35 from this season's draft vs. Hunter IMO. We were also not going to carry 6 rookies. That's why this off-season made sense to me on the draft side. We got the man we wanted. The cost was steep. But the cost wouldn't effect our team this year much at all and should help us in the next few seasons.

So grading the grader...F for shifting his metric and not addressing how he thinks we will perform this season.

Edited August 8, 2019 by enrique
bold facing a NOTE

[enrique]

21 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Our front court is very weak and I agree with the author. This off season has been very underwhelming.

I agree on the weak front court...losing Dedmon hurts and I don't see Fernando as a ready plug-and-play NBA center right now. 

[Gray Mule]

23 minutes ago, enrique said:

I agree on the weak front court...losing Dedmon hurts and I don't see Fernando as a ready plug-and-play NBA center right now. 

Lest we forget:  We do have another center.  No one ever mentions him.  We don't really know about him and have no idea how good he may be as a Hawk.  He seems to fit our current young team idea.

Center.  Damain Jones.  Age 24.  7' tall.

Since the taller players seem to mature later, he could still have a bright future ahead.  He was a starter with his former team some of last season.  To be determined:  How good he will be with Atlanta.

Let's not forget or ignore his existence.  He's our "Other" center.

[AHF]

 I’m not optimistic on Mr. Jones.  Hope he balls out like @Spud2nique has promised.

[enrique]

21 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Lest we forget:  We do have another center.  No one ever mentions him.  We don't really know about him and have no idea how good he may be as a Hawk.  He seems to fit our current young team idea.

Center.  Damain Jones.  Age 24.  7' tall.

Since the taller players seem to mature later, he could still have a bright future ahead.  He was a starter with his former team some of last season.  To be determined:  How good he will be with Atlanta.

Let's not forget or ignore his existence.  He's our "Other" center.

Okay, I get the idiot award for today!!!! I can't believe I didn't remember we picked him up

[Peoriabird]

12 minutes ago, AHF said:

 I’m not optimistic on Mr. Jones.  Hope he balls out like @Spud2nique has promised.

I hope we aren't going down that Bud road of not valuing Centers during his time in Atlanta. The crazy thing is now Bud has a huge team in Milwaukee but wanted midgets in Atlanta!  Schlenks needs to fix this problem next year!

[hazer]

Our thin, weak, midget front court:

Alex Len: 7’1

Damian Jones: 7’

Bruno Fernando: 6’10 BUT a 7’3+ wingspan and hops for days.

John Collins: 6’10 and ditto on the hops

As I keep repeating, Hawks are just fine at C...

[Peoriabird]

6 minutes ago, hazer said:

Our thin, weak, midget front court:

Alex Len: 7’1

Damian Jones: 7’

Bruno Fernando: 6’10 BUT a 7’3+ wingspan and hops for days.

John Collins: 6’10 and ditto on the hops

As I keep repeating, Hawks are just fine at C...

Plumlee was a 7 footer too.  Did you count him last year too?

[hazer]

3 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Plumlee was a 7 footer too.  Did you count him last year too?

No, I count his being gone an upgrade 

Edited August 8, 2019 by hazer

[Peoriabird]

The Bucks have

Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez at 7'0 apiece

Dragan Bender at 7'1"

Giannis At 6'11"

Illiasova, Luer, and DJ Wilson at 6'10"

That's 7 players 6'10" or taller!

2 minutes ago, hazer said:

No, I count his being gone an upgrade 

How is Jones an upgrade?

[hazer]

4 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

The Bucks have

Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez at 7'0 apiece

Dragan Bender at 7'1"

Giannis At 6'11"

Illiasova, Luer, and DJ Wilson at 6'10"

That's 7 players 6'10" or taller!

How is Jones an upgrade?

He’s younger, hungrier, more athletic and suited to Hawks’ system, and will actually PLAY instead of collecting splinters. Upgrade over Bumlee, check

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

Our front court is very weak and I agree with the author. This off season has been very underwhelming.

This sounds eerily similar to when we signed Alex Len last offseason. Your first 2 posts in the Len thread!

Quote

Peoriabird     4,601

Posted July 21, 2018 

This guy has almost no offensive skill!  Truly an emergency player.  Can't believe he was a drafted player let alone the 5th pick in the draft.

 Peoriabird     4,601 

Posted July 21, 2018

Bebe probably is better than Len!

 

 

I have no idea what Damian Jones is/can be. All I know he was scheduled to start for GSW last season and got injured.

I'll take the wait and see approach like I did with Len.

[Peoriabird]

4 minutes ago, hazer said:

will actually PLAY instead of collecting splinters. Upgrade over Bumlee, check

You sure about that?  Has he played more than 24 games in a season?

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

This sounds eerily similar to when we signed Alex Len last offseason. Your first 2 posts in the Len thread!

 

 

I have no idea what Damian Jones is/can be. All I know he was scheduled to start for GSW last season and got injured.

I'll take the wait and see approach like I did with Len.

You act like Len lit it up offensively last year...49% from the field 64% from the free throw line...  11ppg 5.5 rpg