2020-21 The Current Ask Supes

[AHF]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

RoCo is one of the most coveted player listed in the could be available players that teams want and PHI has had interest in RoCo. It's not shock RoCo has been worth Jimmy Butler, two 1st rounders, etc because he's one of the most valuable players that teams look for in the modern NBA. Those high BBIQ swingman who can play the 3 and 4 and shoot the 3 ball at a high level. 

And he could be gone after 6 months with the team.  That would be ballsy to put yourself in the position to leave yourself with nothing but Powell when the next season starts.

[AHF]

23 minutes ago, sturt said:

For what it's worth... admittedly, not much...

 

A few years from now, I suspect the story will be told that the KD/Kyrie/Beard Nets ended up mirroring the D-Will/Pierce/Garnett Nets, ie, in terms of what they actually achieved compared to what too many had anticipated.

 

And the other part of that story will be how the Atlanta Hawks model of relative youth and greater depth was validated as superior to models emphasizing quick fixes.

 

Hollinger wrote that article about a week or two ago that more or less painted the same picture, so I'm not alone.

 

I don't think Deron ever played with KG and Pierce but I would contrast the KG era Nets with this group by pointing out that Harden, Durant and Kyrie are all still in their prime while the KG era Nets were past their prime in a significant way.  Health is the only major caveat I have for that team.  They should be very, very good.

[sturt]

7 minutes ago, AHF said:

Harden, Durant and Kyrie are all still in their prime while the KG era Nets were past their prime in a significant way.  Health is the only major caveat I have for that team.  They should be very, very good.

Yes to that part.

 

And the point still remains... particularly in light of the "major caveat"...

  

33 minutes ago, sturt said:

A few years from now, I suspect the story will be told that the KD/Kyrie/Beard Nets ended up mirroring the D-Will/Pierce/Garnett Nets, ie, in terms of what they actually achieved compared to what too many had anticipated.

 

[AHF]

10 minutes ago, sturt said:

Yes to that part.

 

And the point still remains... particularly in light of the "major caveat"...

  

 

Fair enough.  I'm not going to bet against that talent.  They almost made it last year and I don't think the health is likely to be any worse this  year.

 

Also, I was wrong on this:

20 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't think Deron ever played with KG and Pierce 

I think Garnett had faded so far from relevance by that time that I forgot they were together.  That 37 year old Garnett averaged 6.5 points and barely cracked 20 mpg.  Definitely past their prime but a formidable collection of big names that were previously formidable players.  

[sturt]

44 minutes ago, AHF said:

They almost made it last year and I don't think the health is likely to be any worse this  year.

Kyrie is the one yet to hit 30. His health has almost never been reliable.

 

KD's health has been more reliable, but when he's hit a wall, he's been out for chunks of time (as we all realize, I'm sure).

 

Harden is the iron man of those three, Mr. Reliable.

When does the iron man finally have that season, though? That he's been as durable as he has, statistically, would seem to beg for caution that he's going to regress to the mean eventually.

 

I'm anything but overconfident if I'm a Nets fan.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

And he could be gone after 6 months with the team.  That would be ballsy to put yourself in the position to leave yourself with nothing but Powell when the next season starts.

But he won't be gone. Extremely wishful thinking if you think he would be. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by NBASupes

[Spud2nique]

3 hours ago, sturt said:

Kyrie is the one yet to hit 30. His health has almost never been reliable.

 

KD's health has been more reliable, but when he's hit a wall, he's been out for chunks of time (as we all realize, I'm sure).

 

Harden is the iron man of those three, Mr. Reliable.

Agree with all this and would add..

Why can’t the Nats hold a lead anymore? They are useless! Help the Braves damnit! Beat the Phillies. Ok I’m done . But that lead.

[JTB]

So just my thoughts here….

I don’t consider Morey a smart GM when it comes to “fit” but if Philly can trade Simmons for Covington and Powell….I can’t explain how great of trade that would be for Philly!

Powell and Covington just is a better fit that can help stretch the floor for Embiid and both players can defend.

76ers lineup will be….

pg-Maxey (I guess)

sg-Powell

sf-Covington or Harris 

pf-Covington or Harris 

c-Embiid 

 

Embiid may be the only legit all star unless Harris has another great regular season but this team to me without Simmons is more deadly. The biggest issue is figuring out the point guard position but since they like maxey I’m sure that’s the plan cause Powell isn’t a play maker and I’m not sure if maxey truly is either 

[niremetal]

43 minutes ago, JTB said:

So just my thoughts here….

I don’t consider Morey a smart GM when it comes to “fit” but if Philly can trade Simmons for Covington and Powell….I can’t explain how great of trade that would be for Philly!

Powell and Covington just is a better fit that can help stretch the floor for Embiid and both players can defend.

76ers lineup will be….

pg-Maxey (I guess)

sg-Powell

sf-Covington or Harris 

pf-Covington or Harris 

c-Embiid 

 

Embiid may be the only legit all star unless Harris has another great regular season but this team to me without Simmons is more deadly. The biggest issue is figuring out the point guard position but since they like maxey I’m sure that’s the plan cause Powell isn’t a play maker and I’m not sure if maxey truly is either 

I think McCollum is a way better fit for Philly precisely because he is a playmaker, whereas Powell (like Maxey and Curry) is exclusively a scorer. McCollum chose to develop himself as a 2-guard because the PG spot was spoken-for in Portland, but he's basically become Portland's backup PG over the past two seasons, and has excelled in that role (he's like in the 98th percentile in ast/to ratio). You can pair McCollum with Maxey or Curry and have a balanced backcourt offensively. Powell has a better value contract but the fit just isn't as good.

Of course, Morey consistently undervalues fit (and team concepts more generally), so he'll never see that.

Edited September 3, 2021 by niremetal

[AHF]

13 hours ago, NBASupes said:

But he won't be gone. Extremely wishful thinking if you think he would be. 

Not wishing for anything.  You are just putting yourself in a vulnerable position.  Even if the player promises to resign, he can always Carlos Boozer you.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

Not wishing for anything.  You are just putting yourself in a vulnerable position.  Even if the player promises to resign, he can always Carlos Boozer you.

He can ext as they have his BR

 

[macdaddy]

4 hours ago, JTB said:

So just my thoughts here….

I don’t consider Morey a smart GM when it comes to “fit” but if Philly can trade Simmons for Covington and Powell….I can’t explain how great of trade that would be for Philly!

Powell and Covington just is a better fit that can help stretch the floor for Embiid and both players can defend.

76ers lineup will be….

pg-Maxey (I guess)

sg-Powell

sf-Covington or Harris 

pf-Covington or Harris 

c-Embiid 

 

Embiid may be the only legit all star unless Harris has another great regular season but this team to me without Simmons is more deadly. The biggest issue is figuring out the point guard position but since they like maxey I’m sure that’s the plan cause Powell isn’t a play maker and I’m not sure if maxey truly is either 

Yeah the playoffs showed that they just need Embiid and scorers/defenders.   Seth is nice for them but his D is terrible.   And if he's the only consistent deep threat then you can neutralize him.  

[AHF]

59 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

He can ext as they have his BR

 

Bird Rights don't do much in this context.  They allow you to exceed the cap to resign him so that let's you be a competitive bidder on the FA market but don't stop any team with cap space (or that can create cap space) from signing him away from you outright.  

Covington is only making $13M right now which is a big part of his appeal.  Next contract will come with a big raise and there are plenty of teams projected to have the necesssary cap room to go above that.

 

[macdaddy]

Wait.  Not to get in the middle of  your discussion but is 31 (really 32) year old Robert Covington really going to get a big contract next year?   

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

Wait.  Not to get in the middle of  your discussion but is 31 (really 32) year old Robert Covington really going to get a big contract next year?   

Exactly, we aren't talking about Kawhi Leonard. We are already talking about a fan favorite of the Sixers who's in his early 30s.

[AHF]

2 hours ago, macdaddy said:

Wait.  Not to get in the middle of  your discussion but is 31 (really 32) year old Robert Covington really going to get a big contract next year?   

Again, this is why having Bird Rights on him isn't much protection at all against him leaving.  I expect he will get a significant raise from the $13M he is getting this year but he could jump to any team he feels like and leave the Sixers hanging with little to show for having unloaded Simmons.  Probably they will keep him (although to your point you can question the return on that deal if he is a big part of the justification), but the fact that he can walk makes this pretty risky in my mind.

[sturt]

On 8/31/2021 at 9:50 PM, sturt said:

Working theory from here is that the General is holding down the fort for now, waiting for the fall out from the Simmons deal and the possibility that some opportunity emerges from that to fill his last roster seat. Hard to predict what "fall out" is reasonable, but at least one somewhat reasonable expectation is that PHI will end up with one too many players to be able to continue to keep summer league superhero "B-ball Paul" Reed.

He might never amount to much on the big stage, but that's really all he has left to prove... he dominates when the opposition is G-league level. Against our SL guys, he and Maxey were more than we could handle.

If you were able to custom design what you want for that 15th slot, he probably checks every box, except that it seems likely he'd be able to find a guaranteed contract out there. Meanwhile, TS makes a lot of sense in wanting to keep that slot non-guaranteed in case a mid-season adjustment... in the case of injury internally, or surprising buyout externally, or both... becomes advantageous if not necessary.

Teams whose current rosters (as of 9/4) are going to need to make some decisions sooner or later regarding their bigs... barring some fallout from the ostensibly impending Simmons trade (as imagined above), best bet is that one of the bigs on the third or fourth line gets the 15th seat in ATL to start the season.

*Yellow = not a fully guaranteed contract

*Purple = two-way contract

 

 

[Spud2nique]

53 minutes ago, sturt said:

Teams whose current rosters (as of 9/4) are going to need to make some decisions sooner or later regarding their bigs... barring some fallout from the ostensibly impending Simmons trade (as imagined above), best bet is that one of the bigs on the third or fourth line gets the 15th seat in ATL to start the season.

*Yellow = not a fully guaranteed contract

*Purple = two-way contract

 

 

Gafford? Wow, he was kind of really good last year. Collins still has game but way to fragile. I like his volleyball hops though. 
 

Last but not least my boy and Deke’s nephew Mfiondu Kabengele. Look I’m not sure if something is going on with him or what, but the kid can ball.

[sturt]

8 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Gafford? Wow, he was kind of really good last year.

Not going anywhere.

 

8 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Collins still has game but way to fragile.

Spurs traded for him. He's not going anywhere either.

But either Eubanks or Aminu likely are out, barring another trade--and Thad Young keeps showing up in bloggers' theories.

 

11 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Mfiondu Kabengele. Look I’m not sure if something is going on with him or what, but the kid can ball.

LAC gave up on him. And his summer league performance, or lack thereof, has some thinking CLE will as well.

 

Aminu and Tristan Thompson are veterans who some believe are destined for buyout. A buyout situation is ideal for what Schlenk wants to do since the player is already getting paid what he expected to be paid, and a non-guaranteed minimum deal would seem to be acceptable.

[Gray Mule]

Dear Ask Supes:

With so many teams making deals and so many rumors bouncing around, is it possible that the Atlanta Hawks are as good coming into this next season as we here on the Squawk believe?  Or, are we as poor as some "experts" say?

We believe that we were good and advanced to "tied for 3rd" in last season's playoffs.  We believe we are even better right now.  Others believe we were simply lucky. 

All the eastern teams yelling. "We're better!  We've improved a lot!"  Hawks are quietly going about their business.  Out west, The King is building a team of veterans, hoping for another ring.  Players hoping for just one more chance.  Their big question, "Can we keep everyone healthy?"

Are we good enough to go for the gold?  Are we so bad we will be lucky to make the playoffs?  Side note:  Those rumors keep appearing - - Reddish in the mix to get Ben Simmons a new home.  Why us?