RedDawg#8

Almost, except Bogi shoots better and scores more.

He is stronger and a better ball handler. Also, his aggressiveness/confidence never fades like Kev.

I would want both. I want it all. Part of my argument is hypothetical because Trae is in fact injured this year. So coming off his first run is less consequential to me than his actual injury. For this years Olympics, I want him to have been invited and decline due to injury. Any other year if healthy, I'd want him to play if he wanted to. Those same names I listed that played in the Olympics and won the finals, ALL of them (except Dwight)were in the Finals the same summer of the Olympics. That's even more basketball played than what Trae just did. It's not an automatic disqualification if you play the Olympics. There is nothing that supports that. The biggest argument against this year would be because of the already compact season that we just played and shortened offseason. Those are definitely cause for pause. I don't disagree in isolation that Trae shouldn't play this year. But in normal circumstances it's not something I would be afraid of.

I want all the accolades, attention and spotlight available. If it weren't for his injury I would want Trae to play. His health comes first. But playing doesn't mean the next season is automatically compromised. 2016, Durant, Klay and Dray played and won the finals the next season 2012 Lebron Played and won the championship the next year 2008 Kobe played and won the finals, Dwight played and led the Magic to the Finals. Some say that playing on the National team actually raises one's talent to the next level. Trae broke out and became an All Star after his 1 summer with the select team. Competition is beneficial for athletes. There is so much good to be had from being in a room of the best in the game. Learning how they see the game and prepare themselves to compete. Its good marketing. Great recruiting. And it changes a player's reputation throughout the league. The title of Olympian carries a lot of weight even if the rosters are a bit watered down these days. It's an honor to represent one's country. Winning a Gold medal would be impactful for Trae and his legacy.

I want our guys to make that choice. I want them to receive the honor and decide whether or not they want to play. The fact they continuously get overlooked is a problem for me. Trae, with his bone bruise would have probably decided to rest and rehab. But the rosters were set way before that. They put out the list out of the names that were invited and declined. Trae wasn't one of them.

Holiday, Middleton and Booker are on the team but unavailable. CP3 declined his invitation outright along with Lebron, Curry, AD, etc... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.com/olympics/basketball/story/_/id/31687790/chris-paul-declines-team-usa-invitation-tokyo-olympics-sources-say%3fplatform=amp

I know people prefer our guys don't play in the Olympics and just get rest and stuff, but I rather them make that decision and turn down the invitation. The fact guys like Beal and Lavine keep getting selected over Trae, despite their lack own lack of defense, lets you know it's BS standards. Trae is the best playmaker available after Bron and CP3 dropped out. That used to mean something to the National team. They always had a Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, or CP3 type guard on the roster. When jumpers don't fall and teams are on to your sets, it's good to have a floor general out there to control the pace and get some rhythm going. Our go to option when it's tight is for KD and Dame to bail us out with three's. I really think Pop and LP are afraid that Trae will come in and shine next to the best players in the world. His game translates to the international level. They have to get out of their feelings.

Team USA been so trash since Pop took over. They should be able to win with that roster.

Is this real? Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama sound like spoof characters in a Will Ferrell movie lol

Right now, everyone under contract is a keeper (except for Bruno), and I see no need to get rid of them any time soon. For the one's not under contract: JC is keeper, whether or not we come to a deal, he is a keeper and will be loss if we cant agree to a contract. Lou Will, He deserves to get whatever contract he wants from whoever wants to pay him, but for us, he has to accept a vet min. deal or we will have to move on. His voice is the 2nd most important after Solo. But our resources have to go elsewhere. Solo, I want him in the locker room. Don't want to have to play him, but I need his voice back. Snell, love what he did when we were decimated with injury. We don't win 41 games without him. His contract is the biggest one we get to clear off the books. Thanks for your service. Dunn, if he opts in, we could use him as that "Dawg" Solo said we were missing. Won't miss him if he decides to opt out.

Considering the amount of youth already on the roster and lack of minutes for them as is, do y'all think maybe we package #20 and a couple of 2nd rd picks to move up a couple spots? We know Schlenk likes to make moves on draft day. So long as we aren't giving up a core piece I can see him make a modest trade to get in to the mid teens

Cam is the key. The narrative now has become that it's a win-win for both. If/when Cam breaks out is when you can start to pile on top of the critics even more But do realize, now that the playoffs are over, the hype around Trae and the Hawks will die down again. People will go back to Lebron hugging. They will even prop Zion up above Trae again. And don't let Ayton get a ring. They will put his name back in the convo from the 2018 draft and say he was the best pick after all. Narratives and the media cycle take lives of their own. Logic is not important. Just hype, relevance, and what can drive reactions. We know what we have going on, and that's enough for me.

I can agree with this. You replace Giannis, a non shooter, with Portis and all of a sudden you have to defend the entire halfcourt. No more sagging off and helping in the lane, everyone becomes a threat if left open.

How about this, this years Hawks team just played 18 playoff games. 10-8 record overall, in one single run. It took the Woody era Hawks 3 trips and 4 series before they won that many playoff games. It took Buds Hawks 2 trips to get to that number . Our young Hawks just got more playoff experience and success than some players had in their entire Hawks career. That is huge for this group. They are way ahead of schedule.

Great read. Those HS clips show Trae has really been this guy since day 1. His natural ability to play make is a gift from God.

The youtube version for those with a preference. What I liked, I didn't know (or I forgot) that he coached with Coach K on the National Team. He was there from 06-12, which were some of the most important performances of the modern day Program. I like Pop, I think he is a HoF'er and all that. But there seems to be a rigidness to his style and system that has started to show up in even his assistants like Bud and Bruce Brown in Philly. Pop hasn't shown what he can do without Tim Duncan. He was a part of Kawhi's discord with the organization, etc...( not to mention his loyalty to LP) Coach K however, he is an amazing coach. Guys like Lebron and Kobe, who never played for him in college, give coach K a ton of credit. Nate credited the whole fist analogy to K. How having talent didn't matter if it didn't work together as unit. It's all cliche but Nate was able to pull that out of our players. No matter who was injured, he would get the 5 guys on the court to work as one. That's going to be huge for us when it comes to utilizing all of the talent on the roster.

100 % they do. Good catch/ correction

Good job man, You have to have me on as a guest sometime!

I think John has shown us through his 1st 4 years the kind of talent and skillset he has. How Nate uses him and all of our pieces when healthy is another story. He got a lot more post touches under Nate with Dre out for example. Was it because of Nate or because of Dre? Who knows. To your point about him not stepping up without Trae in the lineup, well, 90% of what John does well involves having a reliable playmaker on the court to get him shots in the right places because he cannot get his own. Elite Pick and Roll, Pick and Pop- Needs someone who excels running the pick and roll and can find John consistently Can hit the open 3 from every spot- Key word is open. Needs the defense to collapse on another threat Can post up mismatches and win, Mid range face up jumper is money- Needs reliable entry passes to get him the rock, which we have more of with Bogi and Kev now. Wins on the offensive glass- All hustle, all him Can give you 2-3 live dribbles in the half court to get to his spots. This part is on him to be more aggressive and demand the ball. He may not be able to break down an entire defense, but he can do a little work when he gets the ball. Also, improving his vision would allow him to punish teams that are aggressively guarding him by finding cutters.

Sometime around the beginning of the playoffs, Bomani Jones thought he needed to remind everyone that he hates the Hawks and loathes Hawks fans. That he expected Knicks fans to take over State Farm because Atlanta fans suck. And that even though he is from Atlanta, he swore off the Hawks after they traded away Dominique, has never looked backed, and there is nothing anyone could say to make him look back because of that decision. His reason for hating the Hawks franchise was because of a decision that was made 3 owners ago. 6 GMs ago, 10 head coaches, and at least 4 full rebuilds of the roster since then. It is not only lazy, it's extremely biased. And this ignorance is contagious amongst media. "Hey Bomani, you're from Atlanta, tell us whats up with the city and the team from your point of view" Bomani -"They're never going to win, their organization is a joke. Nobody really likes the Hawks down there anyways" "Wow, Atlanta is a really bad fanbase, I should repeat this over and over so other people know" This effects us getting national games, which affects our ability to market players and the team , which affects jersey sales and other revenue, and not mention, players and their agents listen to this crap and believe it too, which makes attracting relevant free agents difficult. So glad we were able to annihilate these narratives and all the negativity surrounding us.

Love the fact that we have TOO much talent on our hands. Have to think that Schlenk accounted for that when building the roster. Look no further than the years left on contracts and extension deadlines at each position. These things will work themselves out.

Capela's impact numbers were incredible. His postseason left a bad taste in people's mouths but in the regular season (the thing that gets you to the playoffs) he was the most consistent player for us all season. Bogi was by far our second best player after the break. He came on like wildfire. His first half was so bad that it drove his overall impact down, but when he was healthy under Nate, there is no question that he was the X factor that was going to put us over the top. Getting hurt again in the playoffs impacted his play and left some with short term memory. As far as Dre is concerned, he was clearly on the rise and our 2nd best player before he went down. Problem with that is, that didn't result in wins. Again, blame LP, but the best version of Dre waa during the worst version of the team for what its worth. Maybe his role under Nate changes. Maybe he is asked to sacrifice much like JC was asked to sacrifice. We don't know. His ceiling is definitely number 2 or 3 based on where Cam lands. But as it relates to our winning formula maybe he ends up 4th or 5th. The great thing about JC, is that he can be whatever you need him to be. If you feed him touches he can produce with efficiency. If you need him to be a floor spacer he can. Roll man, got it. He allows you to play whatever style you want no matter who is out there with him. When we sucked, he sucked. When we were rocking, so was he. That correlated over to the playoffs as well. That should tell you something about his impact.

Cam has the highest potential of anyone not named Trae on this team. But dude shot .365 from the field and .262 from 3P. Blame LP, injury, whatever you want. He has to show that he can be consistent before he is given a starting spot. If we didn't have the depth that we did, it would be a no brainer to just let him play through his slumps. But Bogi has proven that he can be both reliable and sometimes explosive offensively. Good news is we have options. Cam will earn minutes with great play. He will play starters minutes if he is on. You saw Nate pull Kev in game 7 and leave Cam out there. If it's his night it's his night. But right now, Cam has to earn a starting spot. Bogi's sample size is way more impressive than Cam's as a starter. No love lost. He will be a star sooner or later. But let him earn it.

With greatness come great criticism. I think that's the next aspect of Trae's stardom that we will need to adjust to. It's not all roses. It's the expectation that you can and should perform at all times and if you don't, the outside world will hold you accountable. Trae woke up a lot of people with his performance in the playoffs. But he has now opened himself up to even more criticism as well. Do not expect any of the hate to ever go away. You don't bow and shimmy in another man's gym and expect their fans to sing your praises. He made just as many new fans as he did new enemies lol But that's the price of fame.

Team USA Select Roster, surprise surprise, no young Hawks included here either. They went and grabbed our old friend John Jenkins from Europe over offering a player like Cam or OO a spot to train. This roster is so trash https://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2021/07/m-select-team.aspx