Free Agency Grades / Winners & Losers Media Analysis

[AHF]

Starting a thread to consolidate media views on our free agency activity:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/free-agency-winners-losers-gallinari-062251525.html

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Winners

 

Atlanta Hawks – The Hawks added PGs Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn, SFs Danilo Gallinari and Tony Snell, and have signed swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic to an offer sheet, that the Kings may or may not match. A potential starting lineup of Trae Young, Bogdanovic, Gallinari, John Collins and Clint Capela is pretty intriguing and the Hawks just might be the new Mavericks of the East. Trae is Dallas’ version of Luka and they’ll just have to hope that Gallo will be able to stay on the court more than Kristaps Porzingis has been able to (he'll miss the start of the season). The Gallo signing is slightly controversial, as the Hawks paid $61.5 million for three years – the most ever to a never-All Star over the age of 30, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. But if they somehow get Bogdanovic as well, along with their young stable of high-ceiling potential reserves (Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter and rookie Onyeka Okongwu), the Hawks might be ready to do something special sooner than later. It may all hinge on Gallo’s ability to stay healthy but despite his storied injury history, he only missed 10 games last season and 14 in 2018-19. As Lloyd Christmas once famously said to Mary Swanson – “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

Not sure his envisioned starting lineup is how things will play out but nice to see some positive press for our off-season activity for the first time in a long time.

Oh and this is always fun too:

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Losers

Boston Celtics 

 

[NBASupes]

I like

[macdaddy]

42 minutes ago, AHF said:

Hawks just might be the new Mavericks of the East. Trae is Dallas’ version of Luka

Terrible take and not even correctly phrased but i'll take the positive press.  

[NBASupes]

1 minute ago, macdaddy said:

Terrible take and not even correctly phrased but i'll take the positive press.  

John Hollinger words will forever live with me when in comes to non-Hawks fans and the 2019-2020 season: 

 

 

As someone who watched every game. Many multiple times. It was one of the worst seasons I've watched in Hawks Basketball in regards to my personal expectations. 

 

 

[macdaddy]

19 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

John Hollinger words will forever live with me when in comes to non-Hawks fans and the 2019-2020 season: 

 

 

As someone who watched every game. Many multiple times. It was one of the worst seasons I've watched in Hawks Basketball in regards to my personal expectations. 

 

 

Yeah it was a bad season but were it not for the JC suspension we would have been right at the prjected mid 30s wins so I'm fine with it.  Plus a #6 pick ain't a bad consolation.  

[aali34]

Thought this also applied to free agency as well.

[AHF]

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/11/23/which-nba-team-had-the-best-offseason-five-teams-who-improved-the-most/

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THE ATLANTA HAWKS

The order came down from ownership: It’s time to put a roster around Trae Young that isn’t just about rebuilding but can make the playoffs. Hawks GM Travis Schlenk has done that.

First, the Hawks drafted Onyeka Okongwu, the defense-first, high-energy big man out of USC who can back up Clint Capela at center (and you could argue Capela is a new addition because the strong pick-and-roll center never played a minute for Atlanta before the coronavirus shutdown last March). Then in free agency, the Hawks used their cap space to grab Danilo Gallinari, one of the league’s better stretch fours and another player who will space the floor. They likely added Bogdan Bogdanovic at the two guard, a perfect fit as a secondary playmaker with size next to Young (Sacramento can still match Atlanta’s four-year, $72 million offer, but likely will not).

Atlanta’s numbers fell off a cliff last season whenever Trae Young sat, now the team has Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn backing him up, providing better floor generals and, in Dunn’s case, a strong defender.

The Hawks may not be done (don’t be surprised if John Collins is on the move, those rumors are flying around the league), and defense is still going to be an issue, but this is a much better team. Atlanta is a playoff team in the East — and one that will be entertaining to watch.

 

[AHF]

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WINNER: Atlanta Hawks (tentatively)

The Hawks are still inside the 48-hour window in which the Sacramento Kings could match Bogdanovic’s four-year, $72 million offer sheet, but for now Atlanta has secured commitments from two of the 10 best free agents on the market. Danilo Gallinari is also headed to Atlanta on a three-year, $61.5 million contract.

Those are fair deals for a pair of playmakers in a market that featured few others, especially for a team that has long struggled to lure frontline free agents. Both Bogdanovic and Gallinari should ease All-Star point guard Trae Young’s workload. They should also take pressure off Atlanta’s still-developing wings and space the floor for John Collins, Clint Capela and first-round pick Onyeka Okungwu to operate around the rim.

Hawks GM Travis Schlenk made two more under-the-radar signings who should help a playoff push. Rajon Rondo signed a two-year deal worth $15 million to serve as a veteran mentor and backup to Young. Former lottery pick Kris Dunn is one of the league’s best on-ball defenders, despite his offensive shortcomings, and that is well worth $10 million over two years when Young makes your team inherently defense-challenged.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nba-free-agency-2020-winners-and-losers-starring-the-lakers-gordon-hayward-and-the-2017-draft-class-205002601.html

[JayBirdHawk]

Even if we don't get The Bogster, we still had a winning offseason. Next step winning on the floor.

[NBASupes]

11 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Even if we don't get The Bogster, we still had a winning offseason. Next step winning on the floor.

I haven't even added Bogi yet to our offseason and it's currently the best ever. While I don't think Bogi is worth that many wins, he likely moves Kevin to the bench and he's a better fit with Trae and Cam on defense than Kevin is with them 

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

I haven't even added Bogi yet to our offseason and it's currently the best ever. While I don't think Bogi is worth that many wins, he likely moves Kevin to the bench and he's a better fit with Trae and Cam on defense than Kevin is with them 

To me, it's about having superior depth and options gane to game and within games. Where we can make a substitution and not think we have no chance.

[kg01]

Not enough talk about free agency losers ITT. 

Really I just wanna talk about the Loston Smeltics again? 

[AHF]

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Winner: Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks are going for it. They’re doing the best job they can to surround Trae Young with a team talented enough to make the playoffs. Last season, they were a trendy preseason pick to make a run at one of the final playoff spots in the East. Obviously, that didn’t work out. This year, it should be viewed as a failure if the Hawks don’t get into the playoffs. A team with guys like Young, John Collins, Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, and Bogdan Bogdanovic (if the Kings don’t match his offer sheet) should see the postseason. And that’s especially true if the draft pick of Onyeka Okongwu last week turns out to be a good one. The future looks pretty bright in Atlanta.

https://www.complex.com/sports/2020/11/nba-free-agency-winners-losers/atlanta-hawks

 

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Not enough talk about free agency losers ITT. 

Really I just wanna talk about the Loston Smeltics again? 

They're still trolling The Squawk.

They thought they had a real shot at Bogi, said 'when we get him, we should go to their site and flood them with comments' the other guy said, I tried you have to sign up....lolololol.

[AHF]

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Winner: The Hawks’ Playoff Chances

No non-playoff team, aside from maybe Phoenix, seems more hellbent on making the 2021 postseason than the Hawks. The perk of being in the East is that the bar is already low, but with such an exorbitant amount of cap space to work with, Atlanta doesn’t want to leave any room for doubt. In the span of a few days, the Hawks signed Rajon Rondo, Danilo Gallinari (three years, $61.5 million) and Kris Dunn (two years, $10 million), while also putting together a tricky four-year, $72 million offer sheet for Bogdan Bogdanovic.

It’s a pretty holistic haul for a team that badly needed help in multiple facets of the game. Rondo adds a veteran backcourt presence that will help take some of the load off Trae Young, while Dunn fills the role of defensive ball hawk. Gallinari, meanwhile, likely won’t get the ring he said he desperately desires, but he will bring the efficient wing scoring that could take the Hawks’ offense to another level. Gallo’s addition raises questions about what Atlanta will do with John Collins, since the team drafted Onyeka Okongwu. But regardless, if the Hawks don’t get into the playoff field this season, it won’t be for lack of trying.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/11/23/21590956/winners-and-losers-nba-free-agency-lakers-clippers-fred-vanvleet

 

[AHF]

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Winner: The Atlanta Hawks

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Hawks don’t look so…well…Hawks anymore. They look like a solid basketball team? It’s wild.

They may have snagged the belle of the free agency ball in Danilo Gallinari, who will undoubtedly be a great offensive piece next to Trae Young. They picked up Kris Dunn on a $10 million deal to bolster that back-up point guard spot that has been weak for so many years.

They’re not done yet, either. They’re also plotting on Bogdan Bogdanovic

 

The playoffs are not only a possibility in Atlanta next year, but look extremely likely at this point.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/nba-free-agency-2020-the-biggest-winners-and-losers-of-free-agency-so-far

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/11/23/21590956/winners-and-losers-nba-free-agency-lakers-clippers-fred-vanvleet

 

They actually had the gall to not list The Green, as a loser? Or did I miss it?

[AHF]

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Winners:  Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks, armed with an abundance of cap space, made clear that they want to make the playoffs this coming season, and good on them for going for it.

With one of the league’s most dynamic scoring point guards at the helm in Trae Young, Atlanta brought in Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn to help serve as the team’s backup to Young and to improve defensively in the backcourt.

Additionally, the team signed Danilo Gallinari, who should help off-load the scoring burden on Young a great deal, and even sent an offer sheet worth $72 million over four years to Bogdan Bogdanovic -- something that if the Sacramento Kings don’t match would not only give the Hawks another next-level shooter alongside Young, but optically would be a major thorn in Eastern Conference power Milwaukee’s side.

Atlanta hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017 and have been downright putrid since that time, purposefully trying to lose, it seems. That’s all changed now.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/nba-free-agency-winners-losers-vanvleet-hayward-cash/

[AHF]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

They actually had the gall to not list The Green, as a loser? Or did I miss it?

A bunch of them make a passing reference to them but don't actually list the Celtics.  Here is an example from that Ringer article:

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Loser: The Pacers’ Need for Change

Much like the Celtics, the Pacers were linked to plenty of players over the last few days.

 

[kg01]

13 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

They're still trolling The Squawk.

They thought they had a real shot at Bogi, said 'when we get him, we should go to their site and flood them with comments' the other guy said, I tried you have to sign up....lolololol.

I'm surprised they're not onto the whole 'oh Dan E's gonna trade for Adebayo.  That's why he's waiting to sign.   Uh and then he's in the mix for Giannis and Anthony Davis too ... b-b-but we're not trading Tatum or Brown .... or Smart either!"