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

[terrell]

7 hours ago, thecampster said:

This will probably be my last post as "an insider". Do not shoot the elected messenger. So a huge disclaimer before this gets posted.  A few weeks before the play in, I lost 2 of my 3 sources. The 3^rd guy has been spot on the last year or so with info but its hard for me to say “stuff I’ve heard” when its only coming from 1 guy.

I had a talk with the both of the other 2 before their tenures where they were came to a final close (nothing bad, moving out and up in the world), and they downloaded the chatter they’d heard as a final goodbye. A short time after that, Sothron, Supes and I revived our rumor chat and many of the things I was told they had been hearing. Some of it was shared on the board.  What follows is greater than speculation, not yet rumor, some hotter than other. Lastly, a decision was made not to discuss some of it openly as the playoffs has changed more players’ futures than Gatorade. What follows is the summation of conversations held early in April. I'll talk less about incoming players. Expect the other 2 guys to chime in later with their targeted players getting buzz.

 

The trade deadline – ownership and other stakeholders were very unhappy about the dealing around the trade deadline. They wanted consolidation trades and couldn’t swing anything. There was a feeling around the league the Hawks were dangerous and no one wanted to help. But, there was also a feeling that everything the Hawks wanted to do was a swindle. Our players were valued greater as a whole than as individuals. Ownership is eager to shake things up. Specifically, to get bigger around Trae.

 

Clint – Management likes Clint but they do not see him as defensively dominant enough to put around Trae.  They see him as good and serviceable but a better fit on a team bigger at the 2/3/4. They feel he is not getting the help he needs. We either move Clint for a dominant center or will upgrade all 3 positions between him and Trae for size.

 

Collins – Management loves John the person. Management also thinks John is a better fit next to a dominant center or elsewhere. John is not strong enough, big enough and is hurt too much to put next to Trae and Clint. They know his athleticism will fade.

 

Bogi – Management is very frustrated with his injury situation. Mad at their medical staff for clearing him. Bogi’s knee issues are suspected to be degenerative and will need to be managed. Bogi’s defense is opportunistic but a net negative in its own right. He is a terrible fit next to Trae. Huerter is not the long term answer and will eventually be on the bench but his defensive fit next to Trae was a necessity. If Bogi plays hard defense 1 night, his knee makes him useless the next….This is why Huerter is starting and why Bogi is the number 1 person on the trading block.

 

Gallo – The team loves everything Gallo brings. They do not love it $21 million worth. Gallo is a financial decision they tried to make at the trade deadline and got mediocre interest at best. A decision was made to waive or trade him in the coming offseason and the team isn’t happy about it. They love him but he just isn’t worth $20 million + a year at this stage of his career.

 

Cooper – Cooper openly complained about his role and opportunities. He may not be back and could be packaged.

 

Wright – The Hawks love everything about him. For a player the team thought they made a mistake on 10 games in, he is now solidly a Hawk. They can’t overpay him and he may take the money elsewhere (he’s played himself onto a number of rosters now), but the Hawks want to bring him back.

 

TLC – If the price is right.

 

Hunter – Hunter complained openly about touches and the end of the season was all about him proving he could hold on to the ball and be effective. The jury is out. He improved but is not efficient. The offseason will be big for Hunter and he could be included in a trade deal to get a true star 2 to put next to Trae.

 

The team wants 3 things in the offseason.  1) To get bigger, more physical. This starts at both Center and PF. The Hawks will be shopping.  2) The team wants a solid #2 scorer/ball handler. 3) To utilize their draft capital and multiple assets to consolidate bringing in 2 stars. Either 2 elite bigs or 1 elite big and 1 elite 2.

 

The team is very interested in trading out of this year’s draft and using their pick to upgrade. This entire offseason is about getting players who will help them punish teams that double/trap Trae.

 

Nate isn’t going anywhere this season. He doesn’t like his team’s personal identity and has worked with management to address it this offseason.  Expect moves. Everyone is on board.

 

If you see the Hawks make a move for either Ayton, Gobert (or even A.Davis), then that is just the first domino to fall. Clint, John, Dre, Bogi, Gallo, Cooper could all have a new address next season and we could easily not have a draft pick.  5 out, 3 in is very likely.

So Hunter and JC have complained about touches on a Trae Young led team? Yeah they gotta go...lol....Either that or find a CP3 type PG.. Which isnt happening.... 

6 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

He'd be a good fit, much better than Huerter as a fit next to Trae 

 

Who wouldnt?

[Spud2nique]

4 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Bigger = better imo.  We're building around one of the smallest guys to ever play the game, so we need to compensate.  Trae plus all-star level bigs, especially if one of them is elite, is a contending team imo.  We do need another ball handler, but that problem is partially solved if we have bigs that can take advantage of mismatches on switches.  This whole series we've had a bum foot/finger JC and Capela who cannot shoot outside of 6 inches, and he even misses those sometimes.  You cannot switch Bam onto Trae in that series if it means someone like Ayton is going to cook your small guard.  A healthy JC would have even made a world of difference in that series.  He's been killer posting up smalls this year but could not shoot well due to his finger.  I'd rather spend our money upgrading our front court from good to elite than bringing in a max level guard.  I'd be happy if the guard is an elite perimeter defender but those are very rare.

I wanted a Trez back a couple years, now I’d kill for a Jonas Val.

[terrell]

"This starts with BOTH center and PF"

[Final_quest]

I hear Ayton and Gobert as targets.  Who else are we targeting?

[Hawkmoor]

It would take a complete overhaul of the roster to get two stars in return.  Then, even if they do, AD shouldn't be one of them.  The dude can't stay on the court.  I do agree though that as currently constituted, this team is going nowhere.

[macdaddy]

When have this team ever done well without Collins at full strength?  His contribution is underrated.   That's just to say if we trade him then we have to replace him with someone very good.  We can't just slot JJ or OO in there and expect it to work next season.  Maybe down the line. 

 

[BangHolman]

29 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

I hear Ayton and Gobert as targets.  Who else are we targeting?

Yeah, the front court targets make sense. They're both seemingly available to some degree. I'm interested to hear about the potential back court running mate targets.

[JeffS17]

30 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

I hear Ayton and Gobert as targets.  Who else are we targeting?

Something tells me Ben Simmons is still on the table for us.  The basketball fit is pretty good and if Nate/Trae want Trae to be off-ball more....... obvious red flags there but if we don't land elite bigs, I could see us entertaining him again.

[Spud2nique]

2 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Something tells me Ben Simmons is still on the table for us.  The basketball fit is pretty good and if Nate/Trae want Trae to be off-ball more....... obvious red flags there but if we don't land elite bigs, I could see us entertaining him again.

Ya and it kinda scares me. 

[Blunt91]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

What did Supes do to you? Isn’t he the turd insider here. 

My bad, forget about Supes.

[BangHolman]

I really wish this season would have gone differently and we were still playing, but there's something special about Off-Season/Trade Deadline Rumor threads.

[Spud2nique]

My FA target for us

[terrell]

4 hours ago, Sothron said:

The only thing from when the timeline @thecampster mentioned that I have heard from my source is that TS really wants to bring Delon back. I don't think that is groundbreaking news for anyone to hear.

Now that the season is over, I can speak more freely. Bogi is gone. 100% gone. They aren't going to give him away because he absolutely thrived as a sixth man and teams are always thirsty for a reliable outside shooter. Bogi wants to start and sees himself as a starter. He is the only person on the roster outside the bigs that actually works well with Trae. He can get his own shot and can attack the basket. 

His knee is a concern but the hope is he avoided serious injury in the Heat series. 

Everything campstar said about Capela can be repeated. We either get bigger/better at other positions and run it back with Clint OR he's moved to upgrade at center. Ayton and Gobert are the targets. 

The coaching staff for the G league team and a good number of FO people are strongly behind Jalen Johnson. There is a legit feeling he has such ability to make Collins or Hunter expendable. Jalen can play either SF or PF and he will have a chance to get minutes next season.

Cooper feels Nate wasted his rookie season and he could be included in a deal. There's interest in Cooper as a lot of teams were surprised that Nate refused to play either JJ or Cooper despite how well they both played in G league.

I don't think Nate will be fired. I know that will disappoint most people here. Nate has major issues with Trae ball and everything be around Trae. Nate was dead serious about getting another guard to handle the ball to let Trae come off ball and off screens. That is something Trae himself has asked the FO to go get in the offseason.

I do not expect us to keep our pick this year. This summer is the one where the big trades will happen if they ever do. Expect our pick and the Hornets pick and future first potentially being traded. 

"Nate has major issuse with Trae ball".

And people wondered why he balked at the job... smh

 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by terrell

[Sothron]

36 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Something tells me Ben Simmons is still on the table for us.  The basketball fit is pretty good and if Nate/Trae want Trae to be off-ball more....... obvious red flags there but if we don't land elite bigs, I could see us entertaining him again.

Trae still wants to play with him FWIW. 

[Spud2nique]

44 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Something tells me Ben Simmons is still on the table for us.  The basketball fit is pretty good and if Nate/Trae want Trae to be off-ball more....... obvious red flags there but if we don't land elite bigs, I could see us entertaining him again.

More and more I think about this I feel like it’s true. First off the fit like you mentioned but nother point being the NBA LOVES HEADLINES: 

 

BEN IS TRADED TO THE TEAM THAT BROKE HIM!

Tell me that doesn’t write itself?

[ShooterSays]

18 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Trae still wants to play with him FWIW. 

What potentially “available” Center would be able to play with Ben, who’d presumably be at the 4?

[Sothron]

2 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

What potentially “available” Center would be able to play with Ben, who’d presumably be at the 4?

Ben would play PG on offense, Trae would be SG on offense and on defense Ben would take the best guard/wing with Hunter on the 2nd best. Ben and Trae would trade off PG minutes/roles and at all times the Hawks would have an elite playmaker on the court for 48 minutes.

[Blunt91]

19 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

More and more I think about this I feel like it’s true. First off the fit like you mentioned but nother point being the NBA LOVES HEADLINES: 

 

BEN IS TRADED TO THE TEAM THAT BROKE HIM!

Tell me that doesn’t write itself?

     The Hawks would have even more "haters"  if we got Ben.  Shaq would probably stop supporting us if we got Ben. (not that I really care)

[JeffS17]

14 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

What potentially “available” Center would be able to play with Ben, who’d presumably be at the 4?

Ben would fit in a number of roles, depending on the matchups defensively.  We could run him with a stretch 5, stretch 4 (JC), OO if he develops a midrange game, etc.  Him and Hunter would be a nice perimeter duo and allow us to more easily hide Trae. 

All of this with the giant caveat that he needs to actually be working out this summer and conditioning and actually playing basketball.  I have no idea what his mental health situation is like right now and if this would be a massive gamble or if it could work out.

[Hawkmoor]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

When have this team ever done well without Collins at full strength?  His contribution is underrated.   That's just to say if we trade him then we have to replace him with someone very good.  We can't just slot JJ or OO in there and expect it to work next season.  Maybe down the line. 

 

A full strength Collins isn't helping the Hawks win a championship.  THATS THE POINT.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Hawkmoor