Welcome home sweet Lou Williams........goodbye Rondo

[Cwell]

Just now, Atlantaholic said:

I swear to God I had no recollection whatsoever that Salmons was ever a Hawk. 

we waived him before he ever put a jersey on

[Dejay]

While we all know that Lou isn't what he was a couple of years ago, he immediately boosts the Hawks' bench scoring and shot-making capabilities. And with so little separating seeds 4-10 in the East as well as Miami and Chicago making upgrades, it was incumbent for them to strike, especially when another team appears to be desperate (see Clippers, Los Angeles).

For them to bring in a guy like Williams to guide the reserves, along with Bogdanovic and Hunter eventually rounding back into form, plus Reddish and Dunn on the way, oh man. And it only cost them regular season-Rondo? And they get back a pair of second rounders, too?

While it wasn't a kick down the front door home invasion like what took place with the Oladipo trade (take a bow, Pat Riley), someone else got their lunch $$$ taken yesterday as well. And it wasn't Travis Schlenk...

Edited March 26, 2021 by Dejay

[benhillboy]

Their career offensive/ defensive ratings are eerily similar in that they’re both a wash (Lou 111/ 111, Rondo 104/ 104).  Lou has a +10 advantage over whatever Rondo is this season so it’s a no-brainer.  I still marvel at how much better a team defender and playmaker Lou became so late in his career.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wasn’t totally focused back home though as one of them rapper and strip club “socialites.”

Playing Lemon Pepper Lou alongside Trae certainly isn’t ideal on the defensive end but it has to happen in spots for all the high percentage shots Trae will feed him; it’ll have to be Dre/ John/ Clint in the front court no subs.  I think the move was the last ditch effort to light a fire under Kevin. I’ve pretty much given up hope that he’ll get to the line as much as everyone wants him to.

Edited March 26, 2021 by benhillboy

[AHF]

I’m crossing my fingers that his shooting recovers some in Atlanta but I have a hard time seeing him pairing with Trae.  That would just be so epically bad on D.  Guess we’ll find out.

[Spud2nique]

11 minutes ago, AHF said:

I’m crossing my fingers that his shooting recovers some in Atlanta but I have a hard time seeing him pairing with Trae.  That would just be so epically bad on D.  Guess we’ll find out.

He’s been around so savvy that while defense is a concern, the Hawks can get away with playing him alongside Trae in stretches and he will hold his own. The league isn’t what it used to be as far as exploiting matchups. We can create mismatches of our own on the other end as well.

[Spud2nique]

39 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I’ve pretty much given up hope that he’ll get to the line as much as everyone wants him to.

How come? I mean he’s still inconsistent but some games he gets hot and that perimeter shot is still a thing of beauty.

[bleachkit]

16 minutes ago, AHF said:

I’m crossing my fingers that his shooting recovers some in Atlanta but I have a hard time seeing him pairing with Trae.  That would just be so epically bad on D.  Guess we’ll find out.

If the team is healthy, I don't think he will get a lot of minutes.

[Thomas]

Believe my favorite memory of Rondo with us is when he took Westbrook's bad intentions off of Trae and tangled with him for pretty much that whole game. A team guy move right there and some sports psychology to remember. It was entertainment Rondo style.

[Thomas]

13 hours ago, Watchman said:

I thought I remembered him complaining about how the Hawks treated him, and that he did not want to be a part of the Hawks in the future.

Mainly remember him wanting to continue starting when healthy and really wanted a ton of minutes at the point.

[Thomas]

Trae and Lou on the floor at the same time sounds much more like a LP move to me....not a Nate move. A particular desperate situation for immediate points may occur and require it but am doubting it actually happens. 

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, Thomas said:

Trae and Lou on the floor at the same time sounds much more like a LP move to me....not a Nate move. A particular desperate situation for immediate points may occur and require it but am doubting it actually happens. 

I can see it happening if we are up 10 or 12 points and have a lineup with the two gunners just to bury a team and put them to sleep and gettem down 18-20 to ice the game. (Pun intended)

[JayBirdHawk]

There's no reason to play Trae and Lou together.

[Spud2nique]

Thanks coach! 

[sturt]

This was somewhat reassuring to see, b/c I was one to believe that it was more perception than reality that LouWill was/is a credible option at the 1.

Appears, to the contrary, he has been logging considerable minutes there. Unfortunately, 82games considers all of his minutes as being at PG, so there's no way to even register an educated guess how his individual productivity was better or worse depending on whether he was being paired with a Beverly or Kennard or Jackson or Mann or Leonard.

[Atlantaholic]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

There's no reason to play Trae and Lou together.

Well it will have to happen at some point unless we plan to play Lou under 13 minutes a game. 

[AHF]

2 hours ago, bleachkit said:

If the team is healthy, I don't think he will get a lot of minutes.

I agree but can't count on Dunn being healthy and Cam/Bogi/Hunter have all already had significant injury issues.  I see him playing mostly minutes with another potential playmaker like Lou/Bogi, etc. more than Trae/Lou.

[RandomFan]

4 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

Well it will have to happen at some point unless we plan to play Lou under 13 minutes a game. 

18 minutes. If we want Trae around the 30 minute mark, which we should. 

There is no reason to play Lou alongside Trae, and no reason to think we will. He's gonna backup Trae and give us a little bit of what we miss when Trae is off the floor: someone that can bend a defense by attacking the rim.

[AHF]

1 minute ago, RandomFan said:

18 minutes. If we want Trae around the 30 minute mark, which we should. 

There is no reason to play Lou alongside Trae, and no reason to think we will. He's gonna backup Trae and give us a little bit of what we miss when Trae is off the floor: someone that can bend a defense by attacking the rim.

I don't think there is a chance of that happening.

[Atlantaholic]

Just now, RandomFan said:

18 minutes. If we want Trae around the 30 minute mark, which we should. 

There is no reason to play Lou alongside Trae, and no reason to think we will. He's gonna backup Trae and give us a little bit of what we miss when Trae is off the floor: someone that can bend a defense by attacking the rim.

Nah bro. Trae has never averaged less than 31 mpg, and that was his rookie season. He is averaging 34.4 mpg this year 35.3 last year, so you expecting us to play Trae 30 mpg from here on out, is possible but definitely not likely. On the flipside since 2006 the least amount of minutes Lou has ever played is 22 mpg which he is doing this season. All the injury shuffling will have an impact on minutes so it's very difficult to say for sure how the minutes splits will play out but it's likely that with the current rotation Lou and Trae will coexist in the backcourt at least for 3-6 minutes a game. 

[RandomFan]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't think there is a chance of that happening.

If the offense doesn't turn into  when Trae sits,  then hopefully.