Welcome to Atlanta Delon Wright

[JayBirdHawk]

Finally.

 

 

“One of our priorities entering the offseason was to solidify the backup point guard spot. Delon is a consistent two-way guard who has been a part of several successful teams. We think he’s a great fit here.” said Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Travis Schlenk. “I’d also like to thank Bruno and Kris for their contributions to the Hawks, and I want to wish them well as they continue their careers.”

[RedDawg#8]

4 hours ago, sturt said:

Me, I'm slow to expect the #20 pick in any draft is going to make such an impact his rookie season that he can be legitimately penciled-in as probably contributing as a rotation player in his sophomore season. I mean, that is, once you've been to the conference finals, and your #1-#10 are fairly well established. And ours is.

I'd be much more inclined to see that as maybe/possibly a third year legitimate scenario for planning purposes.

And at the same time, by comparison, I wouldn't be slow at all to sign-up a 29 yr-old on a single-digits deal that extends to his age 30 season who's in the prime of his career and has proved especially in the last 2-3 to offer some considerable and reliable production befitting a rotation player. I'm getting ready to make my most promising assault on an NBA title in all of the franchise's ATL years. This is it. I'm pushing all to the center of the table for this season and next. Every decision focuses on optimizing the outcome for 21-22 and 22-23.

 

But. That's again, #20.

I can't even fathom expecting the #48 pick for some reason should interrupt my plans for the next two seasons. Hell, even if he went around #30 as the pre-draft mocks suggested... same, at least so long as the #30 slot < the #20 slot.

 

And not wanting to be a nails on a chalkboard about it, that's the last anyone will hear any more from me on that topic.

I agree based on how our roster is constructed, that its not very likely for them to be contributors early.

But, there are examples of guys drafted later (or undrafted) who contribute to contenders early. Duncan Robinson, Alex Caruso, Tyreese Maxey, Divencenzo... are just a few off top. None were lotto picks and 2 went undrafted.

Add to that, we picked 20th and 48th, but we didn't draft the 20th and 48th best players, we drafted guys who had lottery level grades that just happened to fall. Looking at their talent alone, and not the factors that caused them to fall (character questions and height) there is no reason to think they are long term projects that can't get on the court in a year if the depth wasn't in front of them.

[niremetal]

6 hours ago, sturt said:

Pretty sure of two things that discourage this.

First, we have until October, I believe, to extend whoever... after that, it's...

 

Second, he's 29. He's pretty much been who he's going to be for 2-3 years now. And while I get the otherwise-healthy hesitation, given the first part, put together with this part, put together with whatever value one assigns to continuity... $9m is a reasonable number, but that's just my opinion.

FWIW, I *think* the rule against mid-season contract extensions applies only to players on their rookie scale contracts who are headed for RFA status. Could be wrong. But I swear I remember some veterans signing extensions in the middle of a season, esp after a trade.

Sorry if that dampens the sex appeal of that particular type of transaction.

[sturt]

Would love for that to be correct @niremetal. But last season, they were the same date for both rookie and vet extensions (12/21, due to the later season start). Can't seem to find anything official for this season, but maybe that's just my inept google skills.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/11/202021-nba-contract-extension-tracker.html

[StonedDogs]

On 7/31/2021 at 9:31 AM, GameTime said:

Wright can shoot too

 

Too be fair, all nba players can shoot in practice. Even the ones who never see playtime. Ben Simmons empty gym jumpers look great as well 

[bleachkit]

26 minutes ago, StonedDogs said:

Too be fair, all nba players can shoot in practice. Even the ones who never see playtime. Ben Simmons empty gym jumpers look great as well 

Shooting in a game is like x1000 harder. 

[RedDawg#8]

49 minutes ago, StonedDogs said:

Too be fair, all nba players can shoot in practice. Even the ones who never see playtime. Ben Simmons empty gym jumpers look great as well 

 

22 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Shooting in a game is like x1000 harder. 

Wright is a career 45/35/79% shooter.

Last season he finished overall at 46/37/80 %

So I'd say he is a pretty solid shooter overall.

[JTB]

5 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

 

Wright is a career 45/35/79% shooter.

Last season he finished overall at 46/37/80 %

So I'd say he is a pretty solid shooter overall.

Dude is just an all around good role player. He’s not elite at anything but truly is solid across the board. This is a super undervalued pickup by Schlenk in my opinion! To add Wright and get back Lou is just amazing to me.

Wright is also big enough to where if ever need be we can have him play next to Trae at the 2. The versatility on this team is truly insane!

[hazer]

https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2021/8/24/22617333/atlanta-hawks-delon-wright-backup-point-guard-fit-anaylsis-video-breakdown

Lon is the most “solid” backup in years, agreed. Coop coming for ya though

[JayBirdHawk]

Snippet of a Q&A with Delon Wright:

Love to here this

Quote

ZH: What have been your first impressions of Sharife Cooper and Jalen Johnson?

DW: Yeah, so I’ve seen Jalen Johnson, we were working out together with Chris Johnson. So I pretty much saw him all summer long. So I already know what he brings. He’s a crazy athlete. And Sharife, obviously we we’ve known about him since high school and college. I was really impressed that he started to make it tough on me defensively just picking me up, being physical. That was something that I needed him to do to get me better. I’ve been impressed with that so far.

ZH: Before we get out of here, I do have to ask you about Trae Young. What was your opinion on Trae before you got here compared to now after being around him first hand for a month or so?

DW: Yeah, he was more humble than I thought he would be honestly. Because when you’re playing against him, he’s doing all the shimmies and all that stuff. I never had talked to him before in my life, so I’m just going based off of how he was on the court.

ZH: Yeah, like nutmegging people and stuff.

DW: Yeah, like doing all those things. So I thought he was cocky. But he’s been super humble since day one. We started to build a relationship, was just with him at the baseball game. He’s super chill, super super humble. So that was definitely something that I would say was surprising.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

What did you guys think about Wright's first game, besides him.going 0-4 for zero points.

[AHF]

25 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

What did you guys think about Wright's first game, besides him.going 0-4 for zero points.

Grabbed a few boards, seemed pretty solid on D, seemed solid on ball protection, and the offense ran much better than we've seen a lot of the time that Trae was off the floor in recent seasons.  Can't make much of a single game but I saw nothing that made me feel insecure about his ability to be our best backup PG in years given that I'm pretty confident he should finish the season much closer to his career 45.2% FG%.

[sturt]

Delon will be a fantabulous asset in post season, imo. Love his playoff resume', love it that we've got him in what generally should be considered a given player's prime years, not too old, not too young.

I know there's a lot of Cooper optimism, and to some degree I share that, but I would have been eager to work out a year or two of extension with Wright--since Cooper will be dirt cheap anyhow, and LouWill is knocking on the AARP door.

[Gray Mule]

Comment last night, "Compared to the other Hawk PGs, he's a big old boy!"

He's listed as 4 inches taller than Coop or Trae.  Mention was made of his defensive ability.  It will take some time for all of our new guys to fit in.  I believe he will be fine.

Rebound, handle the ball well, get the second unit into their plays and, finally, score some points.  In game one, Hawks second unit looked really good.