Are good enough to not care about the lottery?

[Wurider05]

Between our money and talent we shouldn't be concerned about a lottery pick right? i have watched every game this season and didn't even realize that we are 5-17. Only the Knicks and Warriors are worst than us. 

[Dnice]

Not really or especially  not yet,  after seeing  the Lakers jump from 7 or 8 spots last lottery, I'm not too concerned. 

[NBASupes]

Like I said, we don't suck or that bad. We just had bad luck with injuries, playing two rookies, one is raw and of course John. We aren't a bad team. 

[JayBirdHawk]

Depends on our record - if we are still a bottom feeder after JC returns and by the trade deadline - that should be our focus.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Another question to be asked is are we good enough to start being contenders... Do we have enough talent to start being great? The answer to that is no. In the NBA, you either gotta be worst or first.  Everything else in between is trend mill. I would take no pride in seeing this team make a push for a 7th or 8th seed and get knocked out in the first round.  I'd rather see us get a top-10 draft pick and keep building. We could end up being one of the deepest teams in the league if we play it smart. If we end up on the tread mill, we will lose Trae and be right back where we were 3 seasons ago... except all of us fans will be 10 years older.  Could you imagine Trae leaving to team up with Luka? What a slap in the face that would be.

Scenario: It's the last game of the 2019-2020 season... if the Hawks win, they're in the playoffs as the 8th seed and Brooklyn is eliminated. If they lose, Brooklyn gets in as the 8th seed which means their pick in the draft conveys to the Hawks. The Hawks are back in the lottery, have Brooklyn's pick, and have cap space to burn. What are you rooting for?

[NBASupes]

This was going to be a 44 win season minimum if we didn't have the John issues or Kevin injuries 

[hawkman]

11 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

This was going to be a 44 win season minimum if we didn't have the John issues or Kevin injuries 

I was thinking upper 30's before the season started. After seeing how the team looked together even without Huerter at the start of the season, I was right there with you on winning over 40 games and making the Playoffs. I honestly believe there's still a chance the Hawks flirt with the 8th seed once Collins comes back. 

[REHawksFan]

47 minutes ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

Another question to be asked is are we good enough to start being contenders... Do we have enough talent to start being great? The answer to that is no. In the NBA, you either gotta be worst or first.  Everything else in between is trend mill. I would take no pride in seeing this team make a push for a 7th or 8th seed and get knocked out in the first round.  I'd rather see us get a top-10 draft pick and keep building. We could end up being one of the deepest teams in the league if we play it smart. If we end up on the tread mill, we will lose Trae and be right back where we were 3 seasons ago... except all of us fans will be 10 years older.  Could you imagine Trae leaving to team up with Luka? What a slap in the face that would be.

Scenario: It's the last game of the 2019-2020 season... if the Hawks win, they're in the playoffs as the 8th seed and Brooklyn is eliminated. If they lose, Brooklyn gets in as the 8th seed which means their pick in the draft conveys to the Hawks. The Hawks are back in the lottery, have Brooklyn's pick, and have cap space to burn. What are you rooting for?

Personally, I would be rooting for the team to make the playoffs. The odds say the Hawks would have a minimal chance at top 3 so the only thing they are losing is Bkn's pick this year and it would convey later. More importantly, however, IF the Hawks faced a Game 82 that mattered, it would very likely mean that the rookies had become more consistent and the young core developed to the point of making the team substantially better in the 2nd half of the season. 

I actually believe the core of Trae, Bonehead, Kev, Cam, and Hunter is solid enough to build around without needed additional lottery picks. Especially when they have tons of cap space to spend. They would get playoff experience AND go into the off season with a ton of flexibility for FA, Draft, and Trades. 

Give me the 8 seed!  

[kg01]

17 hours ago, Wurider05 said:

Between our money and talent we shouldn't be concerned about a lottery pick right? i have watched every game this season and didn't even realize that we are 5-17. Only the Knicks and Warriors are worst than us. 

Are you asking if we should tank or not?  My answer would be an emphatic 'no'.  Our tanking period is over.  Only reason we're bad is because of injury and suspension.  I think, once we're whole, we're gonna give teams fits and rightfully so.

[capstone21]

35 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Are you asking if we should tank or not?  My answer would be an emphatic 'no'.  Our tanking period is over.  Only reason we're bad is because of injury and suspension.  I think, once we're whole, we're gonna give teams fits and rightfully so.

and we don't defend

[Sothron]

We should care about the lottery. We desperately need a real center. If we can get a top three pick in this lottery we need to get that. 

[kg01]

37 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

and we don't defend

I presume that will change once we're whole.  After all, it didn't start until after the injuries/suspension.  How soon you blokes forget.

(Yeah, I'm using 'bloke' now.  Jealous?)

[hawkman]

13 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I presume that will change once we're whole.  After all, it didn't start until after the injuries/suspension.  How soon you blokes forget.

(Yeah, I'm using 'bloke' now.  Jealous?)

Agreed. The wings (Hunter and Cam mostly) were locking down the perimeter and Collins was protecting the rim the first few games of the season before the bottom fell out. The team defense was legit. 

[AHF]

17 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I presume that will change once we're whole.  After all, it didn't start until after the injuries/suspension.  How soon you blokes forget.

(Yeah, I'm using 'bloke' now.  Jealous?)

It happened last year too.  I don't trust us as being defensively there yet given the small sample size we've had this season healthy.  We started off promising and I think we should be better than last season but I don't see us as being a real stud defense by any means just yet.  (Which the SSS early season numbers would suggest we were.)

I definitely think Schlenk came into this season expecting another lottery pick and that we are absolutely not too good to worry about it.  That doesn't mean we need to sell out and tank but we need to make intelligent decisions about what we do this year in monitoring our draft position.  There may come a time when tanking makes sense but for now development should be our focus and we should just look to end up in the lottery and hope the balls bounce our way.

[Spud2nique]

14 minutes ago, AHF said:

There may come a time when tanking makes sense but for now development should be our focus and we should just look to end up in the lottery and hope the balls bounce our way.

Hehehe This! But still  

[Spud2nique]

33 minutes ago, kg01 said:

blokes

We’re English gentleman callers  this week are we? 

On that note... keep calm and Hawk on! 

[Buzzard]

This really is the big question. I think everyone is pretty assured Trae is a bona fide super star, Collins is at least 3rd team all star material, and Huerter is a solid starter. The questions around Hunter, Reddish, and Fernando are big; and whether Huerter is more than just a starter.

This little blurb caught my attention this morning. Its from then Athlectic:/RealGM.

Quote

Following a recent home loss to the Brooklyn Nets, a high ranking official of the Atlanta Hawks was seen telling Trae Young that they would be getting him some help on the roster soon.

The Hawks have lost 11 of their past 13 games.

Atlanta has been without John Collins and Kevin Huerter, who are two key pieces in their rotation.

Makes for some interesting speculation as to who and how much quality help they are talking about.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/256404/Hawks-Tell-Trae-Young-Roster-Changes-Coming-Soon

[kg01]

8 minutes ago, Buzzard said:

This really is the big question. I think everyone is pretty assured Trae is a bona fide super star, Collins is at least 3rd team all star material, and Huerter is a solid starter. The questions around Hunter, Reddish, and Fernando are big; and whether Huerter is more than just a starter.

This little blurb caught my attention this morning. Its from then Athlectic:/RealGM.

Makes for some interesting speculation as to who and how much quality help they are talking about.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/256404/Hawks-Tell-Trae-Young-Roster-Changes-Coming-Soon

I don't trust Sham on stuff like this.  Likely getting Heurt/Collins back is what the "high ranking exec" meant by "getting Trae some help soon".

[Buzzard]

4 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I don't trust Sham on stuff like this.  Likely getting Heurt/Collins back is what the "high ranking exec" meant by "getting Trae some help soon".

We will see. Schlenk will be going into his 4th draft. I am curious if he thinks he has done enough in that regard already. It really depends on if he thinks Hunter and Cam are future home runs who just need to develop; or if they could possibly be misses.

I see that article was posted in the News and Notes Thread:

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by Buzzard

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, Buzzard said:

We will see. Schlenk will be going into his 4th draft. I am curious if he thinks he has done enough in that regard already. It really depends on if he thinks Hunter and Cam are future home runs who just need to develop; or if they could possibly be misses.

I hear you.  I sure hope we're not giving up on 2 1st rounders after less than half a season though.  Actually, I'd lean towards doubting he'd be that reactive.  Then again, he already gave up on one 1st rounder after just one season so ...