Reply With Quote
if the Hawks weren't taking the NOLA deal, the Spurs would've. Can't be mad at that.
Good for ATL if NOLA sucks, which I don't exactly see them being one of the worst teams in the league unless Zion gets fat and injury-prone again, which is possible.
I hope the Hawks are eventually really good after the 2027 season, regardless of an unpredictable outcome in the lottery, which it might be again if they actually get a lottery pick.
if the Hawks weren't taking the NOLA deal, the Spurs would've. Can't be mad at that.
The whole deal is if you have a team that you're pretty sure will win 55+ games and get past the first round you can just play for getting lucky with injuries, a hot streak, or favorable match ups to have an outside shot of winning it all.
I take your points, but I’m in the camp that their projected starting 5, with Okungwu moving to the bench and ZR gaining experience, is a really frisky team in a down East.
All that to say, I am much more open to including their swap and 27pick in deals than I was even a month ago. And to your NOP point, yes I’m calling about TM3 or even Herb and offering them a chance to “control” Atlanta’s draft for the next few years.
That would be interesting, since ATL has NOP's 26 pick (the best of NOP/MIL) and the worst of NOP/MIL in 2027. Even if NOP got control of ATL's draft... ATL still may have the better end of that deal.
I think Joe Dumars might not be thinking quite this strategically though...
I've been open to moving those picks if the right value is there, so my position hasn't changed. I do think the idea of talking with nola about the 26 or 27 pick has merit. I don't think the Stepien Rule lets us trade both though, unless we are getting back a first for one of those years somehow.
NAW and Kennard. Great moves by Atlanta. Hate to see it, but got to respect it. Probably a top 4 team in the east next year with all the injuries?
Short of an injury plague, Hawks are the outright 5th/6th seed in the East after this FA. That swap isn't conveying unless Wemby levels up to a Top3 MVP contender and lifts us up the West standings- Hired a great Coach who is good at squeezing regular season wins out of middling/mediocre rosters
- Turned The Pelicans franchise into a farm team (sent them a plateauing, soon-to-be Achilles-ed Murray and robbed them of a DPOY-candidate and a valuable unprotected '26 FRP)
- Didn't panic and kept Trae who is still an underrated floor-raising PG especially in the regular season.
- Got lucky and won the 2024 lottery from 10th spot adding a wing with All-star potential.
- The East is collapsing around them with injuries.
- They are preparing ammo for a potential Giannis trade.
Dem picks won't be good
Last edited by spursistan; 06-30-2025 at 09:40 PM.
Guess I’m the only one but I think losing Levert hurts them more than getting NAW helps, because they really needed his on ball creation from the backcourt.
Kennard is a good signing.
Hawks are bouncing back flawlessly honestly. How much more can we get out of a team lmao? Wemby, Bryant, like 35 picks for DJ lmao.
Who could we snatch from them if we give them their picks back, tbh?
They’re currently roster building in a way where having their picks doesn’t matter lol. It’s unclear the hawks 2026 pick will even be better than the spurs pick
Umm you're not making sense. The Spurs didn't get Victor out of the Hawks. They only got 2 picks and a pick swap from what I recall. The first pick was used on Bryant, but the swap probably won't convey next season as the Spurs will likely have a worse record than them, and the 2027 pick could be high 20s if they have a good season in 2027.
The hawks are having a great offseason but I’m skeptical…. There definitely a playoff team but it’s not like they added some superstar, they just have a done of depth which is great but sometimes that can hinder development.
Personally I think all the additions are going to slow the progress of their young guys like Johnson, Risacher, and Onyeka all for porzingis, NAW, and Kennard
theyre also going to have some internal improvement. daniels should build on a breakout year. risacher started slow but came along strong in the second half of the year, should be better. jalen johnson missed more than half of last year.
what if kobe bufkin becomes a nice bench scorer too?
Let's not get carried away here, they are still the Trae Young led Hawks, they will forever be mediocre. The only reason they are being talked up for next season is because of all the injuries to the few contenders that awful conference had.
And even if they do become good, it is never a bad thing to be in command of your own picks. If suddenly MATFO decided to send them all of their picks back, they would be dumb not to accept, regardless of how good of a job they did to build themselves back up. Because the awful truth for them is that, at the end of the day, their franchise player is Trae Young, and that will get them nowhere ever.
theyve also gone from Capela to Porzingis, LeVert to NAW, added Kennard, and still have the full MLE available (and drafted Asa Newell who just as a rim runner/defender should be fine)
Yeah, I know. They still depend on Trae Young to create all their shots. They just doubled down on mediocrity because they had no other option, luckily for them they got a huge break with all these injuries to key opossing players in their conference.
There's always a bigger idiot - We sold high on DeJounte relying on luck in picks (and, were one lottery ball away from getting Flagg with Hawks pick - didn't quite hit relied on luck), they sold high on DeJounte and got Dyson+..., and then leveraged the relationship in the #13 pick trade.
They've greatly increased their depth after a very nice season of installing a lengthy aggressive defense, things that really help around and hide Trae, but you're right, it's still a team entirely dependent on him offensively. He's like a mini-Luca in how things just can't work otherwise. They've done well overall and of course the EC losing players helps a lot. They'll be below, say, Detroit, and above, say, Milwaukee.
the #2 pick was the Spurs pick. The Hawks pick was #14
I know. Not the point I'm making, and not how the lottery works.
There were numerous reports that the as the draw of the first pick got 3 balls deep, then there were 2 combinations available that would have led to the pick from the Hawks jumping up to #1 overall - literally one lottery ball away. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...look_up_table/
So, a 2/11 chance at that point of the Hawks pick moving up to #1 - at which point, who gives a if you get nothing from the 26 swap and 27 pick. That was unlikely, didn't happen, but the chance of that is why you take unprotected picks - The upside of the chance of moving up.
Hindsight is 20/20 obv, but the reality is that Atlanta is a team in the east trying to win. That's literally all it takes to make the playoffs over there, the imbalance of talented teams in the conferences is gonna be nuts next year. Picks should still be in the teens though.
Could've should've would've, but keeping those picks made sense at the times we did so. They still have some value, and packaging them along with Devin or Keldon for an upgraded piece somewhere is still absolutely viable.
Also can't be too mad about how things have shaken out lately lol
It's not hindsight, it's what I've been saying since last year.
Having no incentive to tank is instant +10 in W column, especially in the East.
Hawks have a good team now and considering how good Trae and Synder are in the regular season, I can see them being similar to this season's Rockets.
I don't think they'll be legit in the playoffs, but definitely a good team to watch.
Although I think their roster is still fundamentally flawed because they don't have a single natural point guard or shot creator other than Trae.
They'll lose all the momentum as soon as he sits. Bogdanovic was good for them in that role before his injury.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
