The cobbled together, stuff we held on to during the playoffs mega super rumor and team direction thread.

[NBASupes]

7 minutes ago, Mikey said:

His contract is only 3 million guaranteed opposed to 4 million guaranteed for winslow. It would be pretty dumb for them not to take bledsoe and just cut him

Within this years cycle. He can't be traded under 2022-23 unless you give him his full contract. He's exactly the same like Gallo

Edited June 16, 2022 by NBASupes

[AHF]

Guys - I have started a new thread for discussion of the Miami series so please don't put posts on that topic in this thread and instead pick up there.

[AHF]

Did we reach a conclusion on whether the Suns, Bulls, etc. or other teams that sign and trade an impending free agent can package that player with other players in a trade or if they are limited to only shipping out that player?  (I'm not talking about the ability to do simultaneous separate trades.)  

Thanks, cap gurus!

[sturt]

Given that this is a "super rumor and team direction" thread per the OP and the title given to it...

 

1. This team is better off to the degree that it can preserve the Real Hawks roster that went to the '21 EC Finals and that posted a .621 over the course of 60 non-Gumbo-Hawks games in 2022.

 

2. That said, it won't be able to preserve the entire rotation, regardless.

In light of the tax threshold, this team has to either cut its #2 PF or trade him... there is no reasonable way to keep him in light of his $21.5m owed for 22-23... so that much revision of the roster is inevitable... though, fortunately we have an in-house solution to that in our 2021 first round pick who it would appear is more than capable of stepping into that role... at least, we need to let that play out and see.

 

3. There are two ways to improve this roster as it stands today that virtually all of us agree are valid:

Defense.

And health.

Mostly defense, because health is rarely something that one can count on improving, except in a very general way by getting younger--and among our rotation players, we're already pretty young (though you'd think it's all 28 year-olds to hear people talk as-if guys have hit their performance ceilings).

 

4. There is one way to improve the roster that stands out as more controversial. Some have taken up with the media-led narrative that the offense is too PG-centric, based on the MIA series, and another star is needed in the backcourt in order to give Trae an outlet that quashes defenses' strategy to double him, and effectively dare one of our wings to make them pay.

It's not baseless, but it is overblown.

Our wings simply didn't get it done vs. MIA, but... how much is that they're incapable, and how much is that MIA was playing with a week's worth of fresh legs while our guys... and important to this, our wings... had had 2 games in 4 nights, grinding, in the lead-up to that game 1 vs. Heat?

They are not incapable. Or, as @Spud2nique prefers it said... (hehe... ) they are capable...

The offense clearly by almost any measure was among the NBA's best, and certainly the backcourt was the bigger reason for that than the frontcourt. Instead of getting 5 good games from BogBog, Huerter and Hunter, we only got one from each, and I look at that and say, it's not a matter of talent, but a matter of the legs. The opposition had fresh ones, and our guys didn't.

Here's an "I told you so" to go along with that...

I told you, Travis, that you needed... needed... to replace Cam Reddish with another legitimate back-up to DeAndre at SF.

You did not. You had TLC. You had Kevin Knox. You made do. And it wasn't the reason but it was a reason why the wings went into the MIA series more tired than they would have / should have been. Of course, once JC got hurt, that mostly sabotaged any real hope of advancing very far in the 21-22 post season, but that's hindsight.

To the point here... let's not let that happen again. Let's get a legitimate SF option someway somehow. (I still think a Kenrich Williams kind of addition would be ideal... either that or add Visiije Micic from OKC, and expect to play BogBog and/or Huerter more at SF.)

 

OH. And. BogBog has to stay healthier. He's been available for 70%-ish of his games in ATL so far. That needs to get closer to 90%-ish.

 

 

 

[Mikey]

42 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Within this years cycle. He can't be traded under 2022-23 unless you give him his full contract. He's exactly the same like Gallo

yes and because of the stepien rule the hawks can't "acquire" the blazers pick until after the blazers make the pick anyways. Feels like one of those agreed on draft night but won't be processed till league year changes trades.

[sturt]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

I don't believe we have a conundrum.

 

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

He is but he isn't.

 

I was just giving a dictionary term to an assessment of the player (which btw, I agree with)... hehe.

[Bigjmw]

Nikola Jovic would be a perfect fit with Trae. I have a feeling he won't get past the lottery by draft day.

I would make a play for #12 and the rights to Vasilije Micic.

[warcore]

6 minutes ago, Bigjmw said:

Nikola Jovic would be a perfect fit with Trae. I have a feeling he won't get past the lottery by draft day.

I would make a play for #12 and the rights to Vasilije Micic.

I would be thrilled if he goes in the lottery..... better players available at #16 for us. 

He's not what we need (perimeter defense). 

[hylndr11]

8 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Our weakest link is acutally Hunter, but no one wants to legitimately have that conversation right now.

 

Because he has to develop he really does, u really need to draft 2 stars and we aren't tanking anymore so we're done, it's extremely hard.to get better trading for better players that are established without losing the same in return. OR trade for them early enough in their career etc a la Middleton etc.  All these good wings we want that are in the vein of what we want hunter to be look how long they developed

[sturt]

I'm with those who are beside themselves if there truly is a chance that Schlenk would deal JC, or for that matter any of our young core assets for a top 10 pick. I just don't know how you soberly presume that that player is going to contribute to 22-23 success in a meaningful way, and few of us want to go two steps backward on the chance that it could propel us three steps forward somewhere down the line.

Having said that.

If Schlenk is going to trade for anything, history suggests we prefer him trade for draft pick... that's the surer thing, that if he has a field of talented young players to select from, he won't get cheated.

It's occurred to me that maybe the smartest route, though, is to trade for some player who TS had a high grade on, and whose rookie or sophomore season hasn't made him untouchable.

In that vein... indeed, if reports here and elsewhere were accurate, a draft night trade involving Cam would have been made targeting Josh Primo... who began the season at 18 (!) years old, and didn't do a whole lot for SAS in his first season, but I'm reading has grown another inch or two since he was drafted... which raises an eyebrow.

[hylndr11]

I would hold JC till next year's draft at this point. See how this year goes 

[nathan2331]

8 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Our weakest link is acutally Hunter, but no one wants to legitimately have that conversation right now.

 

I couldn't disagree more with that. I don't think he's suited for the defensive role we've given him, but that's more on coaching decisions than anything else. We treat him like he's a defensive stopper, and that's not the player we drafted. Virginia's Pack Line defense is closer to what teams like Miami or Toronto use where their defenses priotitze stopping playmakers from getting into the paint and rotating to contest the ball to prevent easy shots on the perimeter.

Instead of challenging our younger players to become better off-ball defenders we effectively put our defenders on an island and are reluctant to send help or pressure ball handlers. I get why we went this route, but it's not helping us now. Teams that can force switches for their best playmakers have a faily simple time scoring on us. We don't run many zone defenses frequently because we haven't been comfortable doing it. It's not all on coaching, but if we want to see improvement, both the players on the roster have to get more engaged and active defensively and we need to vary how set up defenses. Teams will throw the kitchen sink at us to try and neutralize Trae, then on the other end their star player doesn't have to worry about any kind of pressure, it's asinine.

[JayBirdHawk]

Wizards have inquired about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon?

But, sticking to the theme of Sheppard’s comments from April, Washington has also cast a wide net in hopes of pairing a more established floor general beside Beal. League sources say they’ve checked in with Oklahoma City regarding Shai Gilgeous Alexander, San Antonio regarding Dejounte Murray, and Indiana regarding Malcom Brogdon.

Beal is believed to welcome the acquisition of either three, I’m told.

 

– via Quinton Mayo @ May-Oh? Washington Wizards Newsletter

 

 

DeJounte Murray is the guy I want.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Rockets still want a first-rounder for Eric Gordon

Jake Fischer: After trading Christian Wood for its steady asking price of a first-round pick, Houston is still seeking a first-rounder for Eric Gordon, per sources.

 

– via Twitter JakeLFischer

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Rockets still want a first-rounder for Eric Gordon

Jake Fischer: After trading Christian Wood for its steady asking price of a first-round pick, Houston is still seeking a first-rounder for Eric Gordon, per sources.

 

– via Twitter JakeLFischer

That seems very ambitious given his age, contract, declining performance, and red flag health concerns.

[JayBirdHawk]

6 minutes ago, AHF said:

That seems very ambitious given his age, contract, declining performance, and red flag health concerns.

They wanted a late lottery pick for Wood too, they got #26 so 

[thecampster]

Dallas getting Wood shortens the market for Ayton/Gobert. Might make trading for them cheaper now.

[ShooterSays]

If the NBA was a Marvel movie lol

[Dean Walker]

1 minute ago, ShooterSays said:

If the NBA was a Marvel movie lol

• Ayton's most realistic landing spots outside of Phoenix appear to be Atlanta, Detroit and Toronto, which all would present intriguing sign-and-trade opportunities for the Suns. League personnel have also whispered in recent days about a potential sign-and-trade of Ayton to Indiana for Myles Turner. Turner and Ayton share the same representation. 

[capstone21]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Wizards have inquired about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon?

But, sticking to the theme of Sheppard’s comments from April, Washington has also cast a wide net in hopes of pairing a more established floor general beside Beal. League sources say they’ve checked in with Oklahoma City regarding Shai Gilgeous Alexander, San Antonio regarding Dejounte Murray, and Indiana regarding Malcom Brogdon.

Beal is believed to welcome the acquisition of either three, I’m told.

 

– via Quinton Mayo @ May-Oh? Washington Wizards Newsletter

 

 

DeJounte Murray is the guy I want.

 

I would love SGA here