Tanking is the best option for the Hawks right now.

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Our results have been slightly above average in my opinion.  Unfortunately, you need well above average results in the draft if you want to contend. 

• Hunter was the right pick, even  in a re-draft, so calling him "not top 4 lottery level" is unfair.  It was a very weak draft.
• Cam was a bust but I liked that pick, considering the other options on the board at the time.  It was an unfortunate draft to have two lotto picks.
• Heurter was a nice pick and we got an equal pick back for him so that's just a wash
• JC was a very solid pick but we fumbled his contract extension
• Okongwu is absolutely producing at a top 10 pick level -- no idea what kind of expectations you have for 6-10
• Jalen was a very nice pick
• Griffin is still TBD, shouldn't expect a ton for a 16th pick yet anyways, but his personal issues are certainly concerning
• Bufkin is still TBD, but early signs are relatively promising.

The entire premise of "turning into breakout stars" for the positions were picking is pretty wild.  A healthier opinion is that we're very lucky to have JJ on the roster with potential to be just that, given where we've been picking in these drafts.  

I think it's more in reference to Trae at pick #5 relative to our other top 10 picks. By the end of year 1 we knew we had something special with Trae.

The rest are 'solid' picks for the range but Hawks need more than solid. JJ is the exception at the moment who may have a chance to exceed his draft pick status.

[JeffS17]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I think it's more in reference to Trae at pick #5 relative to our other top 10 picks. By the end of year 1 we knew we had something special with Trae.

The rest are 'solid' picks for the range but Hawks need more than solid. JJ is the exception at the moment who may have a chance to exceed his draft pick status.

Yeah, all this just gives credit to people who said we left the tank early.  It's tough to argue against that.  It sucks the '19 draft class was so weak.  Even the '20 draft class...who could we have taken other than OO?  Feels like he was the right choice.  I think the biggest "miss" which is still TBD, is in 2022.  I would have liked to have Kessler or Braun in hindsight.  But no one could see these personal issues coming for AJ and he certainly looked like the right pick in his rookie year.

[givemesome1ce1]

2 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

2019

• Hunter ( trade ) - solid starter/6th man . . not producing at top 4 lottery pick level
• Reddish - bust
• Bruno ( trade ) - 3rd team center with 2nd team backup center potential

2020

• Okongwu - solid role player . . . not producing at top 10 lottery level and unable to remove Clint from starting lineup
• Mays - G-league level guard

2021

• J. Johnson - solid young prospect with high potential, starter level combo forward
• Cooper - G-league level guard

2022

• Griffin - showed early promise as a prospect, in complete limbo now
• Rollins - traded for Tyrese Martin . . G-league level player

2023

• Bufkin - G-league level guard with good potential to be a solid starter
• Lundy - G-league level guard

 

 

We have 3 rotation players that we've drafted since 2019, with none of them turning into breakout type stars yet.  JJ is the closest we have to that.  All of our 2nd round picks have failed to become rotation players, and are struggling to even stay in the league.  Even Bruno can't crack the lineup when everyone is healthy.

Our drafting has been so bad, that we're hoping that an UNDRAFTED kid turns into a nice player ( Mo G ).

-Okongwu literally hasn’t gotten the chance to start a FULL season yet.

-Griffin is literally 20 years who literally just had a bunch of tragedy in his life and is trying to figure it out again and that’s okay! 
 

-Bufkin isn’t even CLOSE to a G-league level guard. He’s the best guard defender on this team so far and once he gets better on offense, he could be extremely impactful. 
 

-Lundy plays with a lot of hustle and grit and I love that about him. Mo Gueye literally just came back from a back injury and has to learn the system. 
 

Yall have to give to get these players to develop. This is not McDonalds where food comes out instantly. This is gonna take time. Trae is in it for the long haul. He literally said this is a young team. Let this team develop and watch this team get better.  Months ago, people were loving Jalen Johnson. Now he’s this mid role player? What the hell happened??? All that potential didn’t die of all sudden. 

Edited March 5 by givemesome1ce1

[AHF]

I would debate a few of these points but think you are overall giving a fair assessment to our drafts, @JeffS17.  For outside perspective, here a couple of published redrafts:

2017

2017 NBA re-draft: The way it should have been (hoopshype.com)

John Collins #8

2018

2018 NBA re-draft: The way it should have been (hoopshype.com)

Trae Young #2

Kevin Huerter #15

2019

2019 NBA Re-Draft: The way it should have been (hoopshype.com)

DeAndre Hunter #14

Cam Reddish #21

2020

Redrafting the 2020 NBA Draft: Warriors land Tyrese Haliburton; Hornets select Tyrese Maxey over LaMelo Ball | Sporting News

Onyeke Okongwu #9

2021

Redrafting 2021 NBA Draft: Early do-over of the 2021 NBA Draft class (clutchpoints.com)

Jalen Johnson #11

 

(Note:  hoopshype appears to wait several years before posting their redrafts so nothing was available for 2020 or 2021).

[JayBirdHawk]

16 minutes ago, givemesome1ce1 said:

-Okongwu literally hasn’t gotten the chance to start a FULL season yet.

Thing is I've been wanting OO to grab the starting position from CC for the past 2 seasons, not be given it, but make it difficult for coaches to not start him. If not that, play more minutes than CC, be on the floor at the end of games instead of CC. He just hasn't risen enough to make it an easy coaching decision.

[AHF]

23 minutes ago, givemesome1ce1 said:

-Okongwu literally hasn’t gotten the chance to start a FULL season yet.

That is a combination of not beating out CC in the minds of his coaches and his health keeping him off the court so not really a positive for him in this context.

Quote

-Griffin is literally 20 years who literally just had a bunch of tragedy in his life and is trying to figure it out again and that’s okay! 

Griffin was a home run his rookie season.  The offcourt stuff raises real question marks for him going forward.  Definitely rooting for him to get things back on track regardless of whether he returns to basketball [edit:  that sounds more extreme than I mean it but guys have struggled to get their careers back on track after suffering tragedies before and I think that is at least a question mark] but I selfishly really want to see him playing in Atlanta again.  I do think you have to take the fact that Quin completely benched him last year and then he got overwhelmed from a mental health perspective into account if you are doing a 20/20 hindsight draft grade just because things looked so good this time last year but not as much now.  I'm just rooting for him as a fan right now both personally and professionally.

Quote

-Bufkin isn’t even CLOSE to a G-league level guard. He’s the best guard defender on this team so far and once he gets better on offense, he could be extremely impactful. 

Quin has treated him as a G-league guard by only getting 89 minutes this season (granting part of that is injuries but not all of it as he was back and healthy for quite a while relatively speaking before getting any playing time in Atlanta).  I do think he is more than that.  He needs run for development and to show us what we really have.  So far, so good.

Quote

-Lundy plays with a lot of hustle and grit and I love that about him. Mo Gueye literally just came back from a back injury and has to learn the system. 

I have almost zero expectations for second round picks so I'm never going to be that critical of them.  My hopes for these two rest mostly with Gueye although I'm rooting for Lundy to earn rotation minutes at some point with us.

[Diesel]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Thing is I've been wanting OO to grab the starting position from CC for the past 2 seasons, not be given it, but make it difficult for coaches to not start him. If not that, play more minutes than CC, be on the floor at the end of games instead of CC. He just hasn't risen enough to make it an easy coaching decision.

The question that I have to ask is... 

Has he reached his ceiling?

We're waiting.  My thinking was always that the minutes would exchange the roles would exchange and OO would be the starter and CC would be coming off the bench with the high motor.   However, there have been several times when OO has looked like straight buttcheeks.  In those times, it shows the picture that he is an undersized C.  It also gives the thought that one day, his athleticism is going to wane and when that happens, what skillset will he have?  He doesn't have a strong go to move.  He doesn't have an overpowering presence.  Aside from shot blocking, he doesn't have great defensive technique.  It's sad but I have seen some late round Centers in the upcoming draft (like Missi) that I think would come in and take his spot if drafted.  And Missi is not that good yet. 

 

 

 

 

[Final_quest]

Don't think the draft is our main problem.  Signing mediocre draft picks to bad contracts instead of trading them or letting them walk is the problem. 

[KB21]

36 minutes ago, Diesel said:

The question that I have to ask is... 

Has he reached his ceiling?

We're waiting.  My thinking was always that the minutes would exchange the roles would exchange and OO would be the starter and CC would be coming off the bench with the high motor.   However, there have been several times when OO has looked like straight buttcheeks.  In those times, it shows the picture that he is an undersized C.  It also gives the thought that one day, his athleticism is going to wane and when that happens, what skillset will he have?  He doesn't have a strong go to move.  He doesn't have an overpowering presence.  Aside from shot blocking, he doesn't have great defensive technique.  It's sad but I have seen some late round Centers in the upcoming draft (like Missi) that I think would come in and take his spot if drafted.  And Missi is not that good yet. 

 

 

 

 

LOL!  This isn't even remotely close to the truth.  There's a reason Atlanta is better both offensively and defensively when OO is on the floor in lieu of Capela.  They can do more on both ends with him.  

[Wretch]

6 hours ago, Final_quest said:

Don't think the draft is our main problem.  Signing mediocre draft picks to bad contracts instead of trading them or letting them walk is the problem. 

This is a good great time to repeat some things that I say year in and year out and have people looking at me sideways lol

Everything is negotiable^©
Potential has an expiration date^©
Sell high^©

I'm not blaming management for not making deals because I have no idea what was and wasn't discussed behind closed doors.  I'm just saying that I hope they don't cling to sacred cows the way we do on the Squawk.  I have my favorites like everyone else, but I take no issue with dangling them out there to see what we can catch.

[Final_quest]

9 hours ago, Wretch said:

This is a good great time to repeat some things that I say year in and year out and have people looking at me sideways lol

Everything is negotiable^©
Potential has an expiration date^©
Sell high^©

I'm not blaming management for not making deals because I have no idea what was and wasn't discussed behind closed doors.  I'm just saying that I hope they don't cling to sacred cows the way we do on the Squawk.  I have my favorites like everyone else, but I take no issue with dangling them out there to see what we can catch.

I literally called Cam and Dre sacred cows during Jalen’s summer league.  

Everyone was at Super Weenie Hut Jr. saying Cam, JC, Okongwu, and Dre are untouchable.  

[kg01]

1 hour ago, Final_quest said:

I literally called Cam and Dre sacred cows during Jalen’s summer league.  

Everyone was at Super Weenie Hut Jr. saying Cam, JC, Okongwu, and Dre are untouchable.  

Slander! Lies!

I was at Willie's Weenie Wagon!

You'll be hearing from my attorney!

(yes, WWW is a real place.) 

[Spud2nique]

5 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Weenie Wagon!

Omg Supes finally got his own restaurant?

 

 

 

(kidding don’t tell the mods AHF will prolly spank us both..) 

[Final_quest]

8 hours ago, kg01 said:

Slander! Lies!

I was at Willie's Weenie Wagon!

You'll be hearing from my attorney!

(yes, WWW is a real place.) 

Super Weenie Hut Jr is also a real place:

[kg01]

39 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Super Weenie Hut Jr is also a real place:

I just don't know what to do about you. FQ.

I'm just shaking my head. 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

I just don't know what to do about you. FQ.

I'm just shaking my head. 

No u need him when I come to Atlanta to show me around! Well him and waffles Boy that would be a trippy a$$ trip pun intended  

[givemesome1ce1]

Season is over. They have only three forwards that are 6’8. Losing Jalen for literally any amount of time is absolutely devastating for this team. We don’t have the size to compete with other teams. Time to play AJ, Mo, and Seth minutes.