2021-2022 College Park Skyhawks Thread

[NBASupes]

Hello Family and Friends, 

We already have an official member of the Skyhawks: Ibi Watson

 

Expected to play a lot of minutes in College Park this year is our 20th overall pick Jalen Johnson who has been compared to Boris Diaw and Ben Simmons. 

Our 48th overall pick who has been compared to Trae Young, Ish Smith, Chris Paul, and Tyler Ulis. 

Our 50th overall pick in 2020 who had an excellent year in deep reserve mins in Skylar Mays. Someone who could develop into a rotational player in the future. 

Our two way contract PF/C in 2020, who had some excellent moments in Nathan Knight who really impressed a lot of the Atlanta faithful. 

Highly likely Skylar Mays and Nathan Knight will get another two-way contract

Sharife Cooper will likely get a Kenyon Martin Jr. or Isaiah Joe type contract. 

 

Expected starting five: 

Sharife Cooper

Skylar Mays

Ibi Watson

Jalen Johnson

Nathan Knight

Right now, we do not have anyone on the bench. I expect to see at least 3-4 guys get Exhibit 10 contracts

 

Justin Jaworski, Juwan Durham, and Jeremiah Martin are on our summer league squad, let's see him they are also joining the Skyhawks. We are a long way from getting who's going to fill out the squad. 

I can see us offering Jaworski an E10 but he has offers from the articles I've read so he might be SL and done. 

College Park didn't field a SL team last year and they finished 19-23 the year before. 

Most of our success was when Brandon Goodwin played. He averaged 19/8/6 and 1.5 steals a game in 16 games. 2-way guy

Charlie Brown Jr., our other two way guy outside of Goodwin 17/3/7 with 1.6 steals a game in 28 games.

Our starting PG when Goodwin was in the NBA was Cat Barber who averaged 17/6/4 on 1.1 steals a game.

Our NBA players who played in the G-League was Tyrone Wallace and Bruno Fernando.

Bruno played 2 games and had 10/4/3.5 with 1 steal a game in 23.5 mins for 2 games and Tyrone Wallace played one game and had 15/4/3 plus a steal.

Our lack of G-league depth was massive and we only had 6 guys with either an E10 or 2-way deal.

The best teams tend to have at least 8 guys. The rest are from the gleague draft or tryout guys. I think we drafted Cat Barber.

Of that squad, Charlie Brown Jr., Brandon Goodwin, and Armoni Brooks are still in the NBA. Brooks and Brown Jr. got guarantees. Brooks got a QO which means he will either be back or someone has to top the deal and HOU can match and Brown Jr got a multi-year deal. Goodwin who impressed teams in the NBA will be a FA and will likely stick in the league although not in Atlanta. 

Bruno and Tyrone both played with CP and one is completely out of the league now and the other is on the brink. Wish them the best of luck ya'll with their pro careers. 

With the 2021-22 squad. I can say, I can see the Big 4 being Hawks for awhile, especially Mays, Johnson, and Knight. Cooper, I can see him being here for 4-6 years before moving on for his own starting gig. Mays might end up a Hawks lifer. In the 2019-20 squad, I knew most had no shot he long term outside of Goodwin. I didn't know much about Goodwin till he came and played in the NBA and was doing work like he was doing in the G-league. 

I hope Ibi Watson stays for the long term but that's easier said than done. 

It's nice to have Skylar and Nathan back for another year. Nice to add extreme talent like Johnson and Cooper to the mix. We might win the Gleague. We got a tremendous squad. 

Here are some highlights from that season:

 

 

Go Skyhawks! 

[gurpilo]

Good read Supes, thanks. I would like Hawks to add some big projects with legit size to develop on this team

[NBASupes]

16 minutes ago, gurpilo said:

Good read Supes, thanks. I would like Hawks to add some big projects with legit size to develop on this team

Thank you! That's really hard to do in the GLeague, as I mention in the other threads, bigs usually go straight to overseas because of the pay. 

 

 

Note: The Hawks did have success the year before our last season. We went to the Conference finals as the Erie Bayhawks before we moved the team to College Park. Erie existed for two more years under different ownership till they were finally ended in the Gleague bubble. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by NBASupes

[Gray Mule]

When, oh when is the NBA going to make the G League more like the MLB's minor leagues so that the major league has control of their minor league players for a limited time?

I know.  Not all NBA teams have a G League team.  Who is at fault in this?  They could have if they wanted it bad enough.  

[NBASupes]

47 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

When, oh when is the NBA going to make the G League more like the MLB's minor leagues so that the major league has control of their minor league players for a limited time?

I know.  Not all NBA teams have a G League team.  Who is at fault in this?  They could have if they wanted it bad enough.  

There is still 30 gleague teams. Only 28 teams have gleague teams. Portland doesn't and Phoenix just sold their gleague team to Detroit. 

There is a team in Mexico City now and G League Ignite program. It would be nice for Portland to get one and for Sarver to stop being cheap and keep the damn team.

 

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020/7/29/21346858/phoenix-suns-sold-g-league-team-detroit-pistons

Edited August 1, 2021 by NBASupes

[Gray Mule]

Listening to the Atlanta Braves recently, their head coach said of one of the Braves, "He hit his way onto the club."  In other words, in spring training he got so many hits they just had to keep him.

I used this example to say this:  We know that it's possible that any one or maybe more than one of our current players, we expect to be sent down to the Skyhawks.  They may do so well in summer league and the pre season games that the Hawks just can't afford to send them down.

Right now we have no way of knowing - We can only guess.  But, count on it, someone will do it!  Just wait!

[NBASupes]

13 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Listening to the Atlanta Braves recently, their head coach said of one of the Braves, "He hit his way onto the club."  In other words, in spring training he got so many hits they just had to keep him.

I used this example to say this:  We know that it's possible that any one or maybe more than one of our current players, we expect to be sent down to the Skyhawks.  They may do so well in summer league and the pre season games that the Hawks just can't afford to send them down.

Right now we have no way of knowing - We can only guess.  But, count on it, someone will do it!  Just wait!

That's not gonna happen. 

[Gray Mule]

3 hours ago, NBASupes said:

That's not gonna happen. 

Full of optimism today aren't we!

[NBASupes]

 Here's what we currently have:

Superstar: Jalen Johnson. Brandon Goodwin was our superstar a couple years ago, JJ will be our superstar in 2021-22.

Two-way contracts: Sharife Cooper - Our 2nd superstar. 

Pending - Skylar Mays who has yet to accept his 2-way deal looking for a full roster deal from another team. Because of this deal, Mays options are Europe or a roster spot with another team. He cannot sign a 2-way deal with another team. 

E-10:

We signed Johnny Hamilton and Ibi Watson thus far. Watson has been unimpressive in SL and looking like a rotational piece. Hamilton is a center, a position we need watching SL where there isn't one on the roster that will be joining CP. 

We have four open E-10 spots. Based on SL, Admiral Schofield and Akoon-Purcell seem like no brainers. A case could be made for A.J. Lawson. A slight case for Jaworski and Heidegger. Moreland and the kid from Notre Dame didn't make the cut in my opinion as E10 guys. 

What I would like is: 

College Park Roster: 

Hamilton

Watson

Schofield

Akoon-Purcell

Jaworski

I would like sign T. Queen from the Lakers to a E10 contract as well. I would also like to look at Liangelo Ball as a E10 guy. 

 

As far as the draft, I would like to see us draft shooters with size. 

As for the tryouts, I would like to see us target great teamwork guys with high energy who can fill out the practice squad. 

I hope we can resign Mays to a 2-way deal. 

I would like to see the starting five of: 

Cooper

Mays

Akoon-Purcell

Johnson

Hamilton

[NBASupes]

Basketball hierarchy

Quote

Best thing for Rief is the the quality of PGs on average in the Gleague in just a tier above China outside of the Americans who sign there who are generally Euroleague or 3rd string NBA level. I remember we had Jaylen Morris. He was super trash as a NBA backup, and just trash as a 3rd string NBA PG but he was a beast in the Gleague. The quality of PGs in the Gleague is extremely low outside of the two-way guys and the guys who are signed but have to play in the GL for mins. 

Position Quality: 

Everything above avg 2nd string NBA player is elite in terms of the general Basketball player. These guys will destroy pros. 

Position: 

PG - 

Average 2nd string NBA player - Top tier

Elite Euroleague types - 1/2 tier

3rd stringer - 2nd tier

two-way contract - 3rd tier

EuroLeague - 4th tier

Aussie League - 4th tier

EuroCup - 5th tier

Top Euro Leagues other teams - 6th tier

G-League - 7th tier

China - 8th tier

Non Basketball countries leagues - 9th tier

Semi-pro Ball (CBA) - 10th tier

 

SG - 

Average 2nd string NBA player - Top tier

Elite Euroleague types - 1/2 tier

3rd stringer - 2nd tier

two-way contract - 3rd tier

EuroLeague - 4th tier

G-League - 4th tier

Aussie League - 4th tier

EuroCup - 5th tier

Top Euro Leagues other teams - 6th tier

....

G-league is pretty strong for SGs. A lot of quality SGs in the G-league. 

 

SF - 

Average 2nd string NBA player - Top tier

Elite Euroleague types - 1/2 tier

3rd stringer - 2nd tier

two-way contract - 3rd tier

EuroLeague - 4th tier

G-League - 4th tier

Aussie League - 4th tier

EuroCup - 5th tier

Top Euro Leagues other teams - 6th tier

China - 8th tier

Non Basketball countries leagues - 9th tier

Semi-pro Ball (CBA) - 10th tier

 

G-league is pretty strong for SFs. A lot of quality SFs in the G-league. 

 

PF - 

Average 2nd string NBA player - Top tier

Elite Euroleague types - 1/2 tier

3rd stringer - 2nd tier

two-way contract - 3rd tier

EuroLeague - 4th tier

G-League - 4th tier

Aussie League - 4th tier

EuroCup - 5th tier

Top Euro Leagues other teams - 6th tier

China - 8th tier

Non Basketball countries leagues - 9th tier

Semi-pro Ball (CBA) - 10th tier

 

G-league is pretty strong for PFs. A lot of quality PFs in the G-league. 

 

SF - 

Average 2nd string NBA player - Top tier

Elite Euroleague types - 1/2 tier

3rd stringer - 2nd tier

two-way contract - 3rd tier

EuroLeague - 4th tier

Aussie League - 4th tier

EuroCup - 5th tier

Top Euro Leagues other teams - 6th tier

China - 8th tier

G-League - 9th tier

Non Basketball countries leagues - 9th tier

Semi-pro Ball (CBA) - 10th tier

 

G-league is pretty weak for Cs. Hardly any quality Cs in the G-league. 

 

The NCAA is tough, depending on your level of play, the level changes but it's amateur so I do not rate it. 

 

That said, NCAA SEC Basketball is a lot harder than the the G-league for PG's and centers. 

The best PGs who don't make it to the NBA almost always go to Europe as there is an extremely high demand for American PGs as they translate to the international game extremely well. Same for centers but moreso because of the abundance we have and the threshold at that position is too high in the NBA but much lower overseas for great pay. Going to the G-league won't really get them into the NBA so many don't bother with it. That's why it's terrible for centers. The best centers in the G-league are almost always guys signed to NBA clubs already. 

At 2-4, it's a lot easier to get called up and make it in the NBA. That's why the quality at those positions in the G-league is so high. 

For those who want simple Baseball terms on average

The NBA - The Show

Summer League - AAA

EuroLeague - AA

EuroCup - High-A

GLeague - Low-A

China - Rookie-Ball which is why it's so hard to make it for Americans. For Americans, it's AAA because the pay is extremely good and the comp is extremely low. 

Non-Basketball countries leagues - Dominican/Mexican League

Semi-Pro - Independent Baseball Leagues. 

[niremetal]

28 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Basketball hierarchy

For those who want simple Baseball terms on average

The NBA - The Show

Summer League - AAA

EuroLeague - AA

EuroCup - High-A

GLeague - Low-A

China - Rookie-Ball which is why it's so hard to make it for Americans. For Americans, it's AAA because the pay is extremely good and the comp is extremely low. 

Non-Basketball countries leagues - Dominican/Mexican League

Semi-Pro - Independent Baseball 

Whoooooa. Summer League above EuroLeague? I can see putting SL above the national leagues that feed into EuroLeague. But do you think any SL team would be able to beat Efes, CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, or Olympiacos? There are a few better individual players every year in SL than the EuroLeague elite. But don't the bulk of guys playing rotation minutes head internationally to teams that are a cut below EL?

And that's not even accounting for the fact that EuroLeague teams have usually played a lot of games together...

Edited August 16, 2021 by niremetal

[NBASupes]

57 minutes ago, niremetal said:

Whoooooa. Summer League above EuroLeague? I can see putting SL above the national leagues that feed into EuroLeague. But do you think any SL team would be able to beat Efes, CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, or Olympiacos? There are a few better individual players every year in SL than the EuroLeague elite. But don't the bulk of guys playing rotation minutes head internationally to teams that are a cut below EL?

And that's not even accounting for the fact that EuroLeague teams have usually played a lot of games together...

I am talking average talent, not individual players. The best average talent outside of the NBA is always going to be in the Summer League. It's the showcase. It's the triple A as Fran Fraschilla said. The Summer League teams have like a week to get to know each other, of course it's not beating teams with chemistry. It's a showcase. Put it this way, is Jalen Green, Cade Cunningham, and a lot of star kids playing in the Euroleague? We are talking purely talent, once again, the SL is just a showcase. 

[NBASupes]

Since E10 are now what teams are using for player invites. I am expecting 21 players to be at TC since Okongwu is currently out till JAN/FEB. Normally, it's 20 players for us. 

This means: 

14 players from the roster unless we add another to make 15. 

2 - two-way guys (Cooper). Mays has an offer we are waiting for him to accept

5 - E10 guys. (Watson and Hamilton are signed). I do think Akoon-Purcell and Schofield could be added from their SL performance leaving one open spot since Okongwu is out. 

[niremetal]

49 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

I am talking average talent, not individual players. The best average talent outside of the NBA is always going to be in the Summer League. It's the showcase. It's the triple A as Fran Fraschilla said. The Summer League teams have like a week to get to know each other, of course it's not beating teams with chemistry. It's a showcase. Put it this way, is Jalen Green, Cade Cunningham, and a lot of star kids playing in the Euroleague? We are talking purely talent, once again, the SL is just a showcase. 

Oooo goody, I get to do a intro-level-stats-geekout

I guess the difference is what type of average you're talking about. If you're talking the mean and you place heavy weight on the very best players in each league, I don't disagree, because the extreme talent of guys like Cade Cunningham is something you very, very rarely see in EuroLeague (main recent exception being Luka Doncic). That pulls up the mean level of talent in SL. That's why I was saying that there are a few players playing every year who are better than the EuroLeague elite.

But if you're talking the median, I really think the talent level in the EuroLeague (at least among the guys who are actually playing minutes) is higher. Out of curiosity, looking back at the Hawks' 2018 Summer League team, ranking the players from roughly best to worst in terms of where they are at today (and bearing in mind that because TS is way above average in terms of eye for talent, this is probably better than usual in terms of top-to-bottom talent on a SL roster):

• Trae Young
• John Collins
• Kevin Huerter
• Omari Spellman (still in NBA, but barely and probably not for long)
• Jaylen Adams (same)
• Tyler Dorsey (rotation player for EuroLeague team)
• Zach LeDay (rotation player for EuroLeague team)
• Jock Landale (just moved to Australian league, where he has been dominant, from being a EuroLeague rotation player)
• Alpha Kaba (starter for EuroCup team)
• Antonius Cleveland (rotation player for Australian league team)
• Jaylen Morris (rotation player for Orleans Loiret, which failed to qualify for EuroCup)
• Robert Johnson (sub-EuroCup Turkish team)
• Zach Smith (sub-EuroCup German team)
• Brandon Sampson (washed out of G-League)
• Junior Robinson (on second-tier Finnish team)

So the median player on that team was probably Jock Landale or maybe Zach LeDay, who are both basically solid EuroLeague-level players today. And that's where they are now; back then, they were almost certainly a couple cuts below that. And I have no way of knowing for certain, but I'm guessing if I did the same exercise for a couple other teams' 2018 SL squads, the median would more likely land in a EuroCup player at best.

Anyway, it's probably a bit apples and oranges, especially since the number of games is dramatically different and a fair number of EuroLeague players have been on the same teams for several years in a row, while SL players only have a few days together. All told, I would think success in EuroLeague is a more reliable indicator of NBA readiness than success in Summer League, but I guess smarter people than me think otherwise.

[NBASupes]

26 minutes ago, niremetal said:

Oooo goody, I get to do a intro-level-stats-geekout

I guess the difference is what type of average you're talking about. If you're talking the mean and you place heavy weight on the very best players in each league, I don't disagree, because the extreme talent of guys like Cade Cunningham is something you very, very rarely see in EuroLeague (main recent exception being Luka Doncic). That pulls up the mean level of talent in SL. That's why I was saying that there are a few players playing every year who are better than the EuroLeague elite.

But if you're talking the median, I really think the talent level in the EuroLeague (at least among the guys who are actually playing minutes) is higher. Out of curiosity, looking back at the Hawks' 2018 Summer League team, ranking the players from roughly best to worst in terms of where they are at today (and bearing in mind that because TS is way above average in terms of eye for talent, this is probably better than usual in terms of top-to-bottom talent on a SL roster):

• Trae Young
• John Collins
• Kevin Huerter
• Omari Spellman (still in NBA, but barely and probably not for long)
• Jaylen Adams (same)
• Tyler Dorsey (rotation player for EuroLeague team)
• Zach LeDay (rotation player for EuroLeague team)
• Jock Landale (just moved to Australian league, where he has been dominant, from being a EuroLeague rotation player)
• Alpha Kaba (starter for EuroCup team)
• Antonius Cleveland (rotation player for Australian league team)
• Jaylen Morris (rotation player for Orleans Loiret, which failed to qualify for EuroCup)
• Robert Johnson (sub-EuroCup Turkish team)
• Zach Smith (sub-EuroCup German team)
• Brandon Sampson (washed out of G-League)
• Junior Robinson (on second-tier Finnish team)

So the median player on that team was probably Jock Landale or maybe Zach LeDay, who are both basically solid EuroLeague-level players today. And that's where they are now; back then, they were almost certainly a couple cuts below that. And I have no way of knowing for certain, but I'm guessing if I did the same exercise for a couple other teams' 2018 SL squads, the median would more likely land in a EuroCup player at best.

Anyway, it's probably a bit apples and oranges, especially since the number of games is dramatically different and a fair number of EuroLeague players have been on the same teams for several years in a row, while SL players only have a few days together. All told, I would think success in EuroLeague is a more reliable indicator of NBA readiness than success in Summer League, but I guess smarter people than me think otherwise.

There is a tremendous dropoff between the best players on a Euroleague team and the worst players if we are talking average EL team. Not the contenders who outspend everyone by a mile. Every team in the EL is not Anadolu Efes or Real Madrid. Look at Valencia which is your average EL team: https://www.google.com/search?q=efes+euroleague&sxsrf=ALeKk01xVO1f5hPd_gIa-YhPAI5PSZY1NA%3A1629095309922&ei=jQUaYZPkN4-GtQbh-IX4CQ&oq=afes+euroleague&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYADIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIECAAQDTIGCAAQDRAeMgYIABANEB4yBggAEA0QHjIGCAAQDRAeMgYIABANEB46CAgAEAcQChAeOgYIABAIEB5KBAhBGABQ6htY_jFgpERoAHACeACAAYoBiAGhBJIBAzEuNJgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz#sie=t;/m/0bklw1;3;/m/0b740cl;pl;fp;1;;

Once again, we are talking about the most talented players in the world who's objective is to fit into the NBA with the best benefits, salary, structure, retirement package, and development plan in the entire world. 

FYI: Jock signed with the Spurs. 

 

Back to the GLeague, 

We have 10 roster spots: Two-way contracts or someone like Jalen doesn't count but we can only send 3 players down at any given time. (Johnson, Mays, Cooper)

We already have Ibi Watson and Johnny Hamilton under Exhibit 10 deals. 

We have 8 more available slots. The Gleague draft is three rounds. We also have tryouts for usually 2-3 roster spots. 9th and 10th men which are really 12th and 13th men. 

How I see it: 

Watson

Hamilton

E10 3rd

E10 4th

GL draft 1st

GL draft 2nd

GL draft 3rd

GL draft 4th

Tryout

Tryout

Edited August 16, 2021 by NBASupes

[Gray Mule]

Please pay attention.  The Ski Hawks are being built this summer.  Keep an eye out for who we have that will be there.  Big Hawk team has so much talent that some of it will end up here for now.

Appears to me that we can expect a very exciting G League team coming soon !!

[NBASupes]

The draft starts in 12 minutes. Skyhawks have the #2 overall pick. Heavy favorite to be drafted at 2 is Skai Labrissie who is a former Hawk. He could also go #1 overall. 

[Gray Mule]

Please keep us informed.  Skai Labrissie was one of my two favorite players recently who did not become a Hawk.  The other?  Tyrese Haliburton of the Kings.  Note: Please do not trade him to the 76ers for their PG that they want rid of, but at a very high price.

[NBASupes]

Tyler Hagedorn is the pick at #2 overall.

 

LiAngelo Ball just got picked at 14th overall by the Greenboro Swarm 

[NBASupes]

Zaire Wade drafted 10th overall to the Jazz

Edited October 23, 2021 by NBASupes