thecampster

Go back and watch any video of him shooting. His eyes are on the rim from the start of the gather through release. Its like he's trying to beg it to fly straight. You don't need to pick up the rim until post gather, mid lift. Focus on getting square than aiming.

LOL not any more, I got fat. When young, I could jump out of the building. Breaking all the stereotypes. Never learned to shoot properly until I got older. But I love mechanics, things like this. I used to love to fade and hang like Mike. Gravity is a cruel mistress though, asserting itself as you get older. I am a classic "if I knew then what I know now" cliché.

I'm comparing more the energizer bunny, fire type. Not necessarily similar games.

Toppin = Bobby Portis like play. He's a fire guy, with incredible hops. He can play outside of skill but he has skill too, can shoot from the outside. He gets lost on defense but that's part coaching. I'd take him in a flash. No questions asked. I'm not starting him today but he's getting 15 minutes a game to develop.

Huge ego incoming in 3, 2, 1....I'd work for free to help Dunn with his shot. There are parts so broken that he needs serious Mr. Miagi training. I love the guy. He'd be easier to fix than Simmons but he'd be doing muscle memory exercises all day. Like when learning to serve in Tennis, you might spend a week just perfecting your ball toss. Another week grip training for angle on the racket before ever taking a swing. Dunn needs to stop shooting and just start working on toes/ankles during the gather. Yes, its broken all the way down to there. In baseball, I've coached numerous players to "see it" then "hit it". A routine that takes all the movement out pre-swing and forces you to focus on pitch recognition to give you more time to decide when/how to swing. Basketball is the exact opposite. Dunn is so focused on the back of the rim (watch any film of him shooting) that he forgets his entire body. His mechanics are broken from the ground up. There is muscle memory, the bad kind. He's so focused on "seeing it go through the rim" he's aiming. You don't aim when you shoot, you have to square up and "flow" at the basket. A simple, repetitive flow motion where the release is at the end of your explosion. You have to be 100% focused on your body, not the rim. He's bassackwards. I'd train him for free. Because he's a better athlete than 9 out of 10 guys he plays against and has an incredible heart.

He's just stiff, just not as stiff as Clint. Just like Reddish worked on core ligament strength while out, I'd have Kong working with a professional on flexibility. As I joked about with Clint, I'm more serious about OO....He should get a serious yoga instructor and commit. It would do him wonders. Taking up Salsa dancing wouldn't hurt either. Just needs flexibility training. Needs to loosen up.

??? Toppin, really. I'd trade this year's first straight up for Toppin. What did that kid do to be considered part of a package?

That's up in the air. I'd say its 2 to 1 he opts in but if he feels there's a starter opportunity for him out there, he'll go.

The most accurate predictor of a person being able to shoot from 15-25 feet is FT%. Again, I'm not saying he can't. I'm saying we would take a very serious step back if we let JC walk and declare Kong a starting 4. He needs to break 80% from the free throw line before he's a good enough mechanical shooter to be considered an outside shooter. You put him on the floor with Capela for long stretches and you're playing 4 on 5 on offense.

Depends on any moves they make but as currently constructed, no.

Projected cap room Accepting their options and waiving all free agents. Dallas - $20.7 million (note: This means not resigning: THjr or Boban etc). Miami - negative 4.5 million (note: This means not resigning: Olidipo). San Antonio - $63 million (note: This means not resigning: DeRozan, Gay, Mills etc). Minnesota - negative $26 million Of all 4 teams listed, only San Antonio can reasonably swing this without Dallas finding a way to move Porzingis.

This is why I typically don't argue with fanatics. They only hear what they want to hear. Saying OO needs a lot of work isn't saying he can't. Its saying he needs a lot of work and shouldn't be thrown in willy nilly and ditching Collins in just 3 months' time. I was clear just a few days ago that OO is considered a F/C. But that's a long way from stretch 4 and a long way from taking Collins job which is much more than just positional defense. It's very easy to look awesome coming in for 10 energy minutes. Sustaining that for 32 minutes while knocking down 15-25 footers is a whole different animal. Getting those rebounds, blocking those shots when being drug 25 feet away from the basket is a lot harder than energy minutes. Give the kid time to grow.

OO needs a lot of offensive improvement before I'm christening him the JC killer. Folks need to move on from that.

Both left town because they wanted to go somewhere they felt they had a better chance to win a ring. Well screw you too buddy!!! It would have done me a great deal of satisfaction if we would have ousted the Bucks and cost Bud his job! Teague I like but not at the rooting level. I have no interest in either and will show no gladness other than in watching Bud sigh heavily and gain another 10 lbs after the loss. Seriously, if I'm Slimfast, I'm getting with his agent to find out if he has any self control/esteem. The post that got me to Collaborator rank. Snark till 14/14 it is!

Okay that didn't take long Seems I can't claim it after all.

That is a Camp original (though I cannot guarantee its never been said before) and the description of choice for those my Sunday School teachers preferred I didn't use the more appropriate term on. And quit helping me to destroy the original intent of this thread. AHF worked very hard on the concept and is very proud of the title, format....he should get random stickers with stars on them.

Probably a better use of resources then having to search for posts through threads to rebutt something someone says. LOL! You see that's how the nonsense starts. Some crayon chewer is gonna think you're serious.

I'm leaning toward he might. $5 million is much more than the minimum and based on his A) shooting B) rust when he came back C) length of his layoff D) the low cap this year, he might decide taking a surefire $5 million is better than trying his luck. If I was him, in this market, I'd take the $5 million, take my bench time to work on my shooting and capitalize next year. I think it depends on his 1 on 1 meetings with Nate.

Smidge of clarity here: The bolded are no longer under contract and therefore cannot be traded minus some idiotic sign and trade scenario. I know you know this, I just don't want some enthusiastic alcoholic newbie to run with the idea.

Dude this just broke me. Now I'll never be able to see your posts without hearing your voice.

People have asked me privately how I figure the cap pre season, make my predictions, negate rumors, etc. So I figured I'd do this before silly season begins as a Squawk primer. Had a hard time figuring out where to stick this article. This seemed as good a place as any. Campster brain dump incoming in 3, 2, 1..... https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/12/nba-maximum-salary-projections-for-202122.html In this article, you'll find this chart: Which is the max contract for a player signing with his own team. Then you'll see this similar chart: Which is the max contract for a player signing with another team. These are estimates based on a $112 million dollar cap. There is confusion out there when discussing what a John Collins contract would look like. Use these 6 year or less columns as a starting point. Assume that whatever Collins gets, that's about what a healthy Hunter would command in 2 years (barring an increase/decrease in production). Current state of the Hawks, 5 rookie contracts edition. Collins RFA Trae, Huerter - 4 year extension eligible today. RFA at the end of 2021/22 season. Hunter, Reddish - 4 year extension eligible next year. RFA at the end of 2022/23 season. Hawks other committed salaries through 2022. (RFA Trae, Huerter) $71.67 million (Gallinari, Bogdanovic, Capela, Okongwu, Bruno, 1st round pick, 6 min roster charges). Hawks other committed salaries through 2023 (RFA Reddish/Hunter) $61.4 million (BB, Cap, OO, 1st (2021), 2 x 1sts (2022), $5 mil guaranteed Gallo, 5 min roster charges). Hawks other 2024 - Capela and Gallo's 5 million fall off. 1 new draft pick). Okay so this is how I see it when looking at it. I don't assume any other salaries because people can be waived/traded signed to 1 year deals. Assuming an average yearly salary for all 5 of our main rookie salaries right now of $20 mil (Trae more, Huerter less but 20 mil each average). That's $100 million that will need to be fit under the LT by end of summer 2023. 5 of the minimum roster charges will fall off and into that $100 million. There are 3 glaring problems here: 1 Bogie's cap number of $18 MIL is reasonable but lasts throughout this cycle. You are going to have to choose between him and 1 of Huerter/Reddish/Hunter to make this all work (eventually). 2. That non-guaranteed year with a $5 million cap hit for Gallo is going to be a problem. It comes in Trae/Huerter's RFA season. Keeping him costs $21 million against the cap. Waiving him costs $5 million in the Trae/Huerter RFA contract year. Gallo is a luxury we can afford this year, but not next. I expect the Hawks to move him (intuition, deduction and rumor) while they can get back value. He is the biggest cap red flag on the team right now. 3. Capela's 2 remaining years are at a very reasonable salary. They could easily keep or trade him. Looking at our cap structure, he was obviously valued because of his salary structure remaining. Moving him in a package deal for a legit all-star seems to be the best bet if you can sign one of the other value centers. Other considerations - Snell is gone unless he comes back at a big discount. Dunn's salary is a player option. We have no input. Given he's been mostly unplayable for 17 months, expect him to opt in and work his tale off on shooting to earn his next deal. This season is make or break for Dunn. Also, you can't trade Dunn until he opts in making any deal for him unlikely. Expect him to be a Hawk next season (gut feeling and experience). Lou is only back on a 2 years or less deal at a big discount. I do not expect Goodwin back. He was LP's pet project. I expect Mays back. A strong showing in summer league could cement his roster spot and even rotation minutes. I don't know about Knight. He played awful down the stretch when given time.

Burning off excess playoff energy.

Is it a character flaw, maybe but I'm kind of in ride or die mode with most of our team right now. I'm not a Solo fan, I'm realistic that Gallo only has at most a few productive years left and I'm disappointed in Bruno but the rest of the roster I'm pretty high on. I'd really like to see Skylar get more development. I love that kid's fire.

OO was always considered a F/C. Not a pure center.

So I'm talking to an old friend this weekend and this came up, "Man how nice would it have been to have Lorenzen Wright in his prime coming off the bench in these playoffs?" Everyone take a second and pour one out for LoWright....one of the better human beings to ever put on a Hawks uniform. It legit made me sad. Was just an out of the blue conversation insertion while talking Hawks.