thecampster

Both could be had in trade....but there's a catch. The Hawks are substantially over the cap. Both have a salary of less than 5 million. There isn't really a player of value to send back to us for that salary range. It isn't so much about "they are untouchable", but that there isn't anyone worth trading for with that low of a salary. Cam Reddish $ 4,458,000 John Collins $ 4,137,302 Kevin Huerter $ 2,761,920 You find me a player on the market near their value at a similar salary we can talk. This is why you've heard me say I don't speak on most rumors because they aren't possible are made up. There are salary considerations and if you hear of a rumor, you need to check the salary matchup. Take the Collins for Smart rumor out of Boston. Marcus Smart has a $13.5 million salary. In order for the Hawks to trade for Smart, they would have had to add about $5 million in salary to the deal. You knew that rumor was bogus because the salaries didn't line up at all. Same with the BB and Collins for Smart and assets. The Hawks have a full 17 on the roster. Collins + BB is $22 million in salary. Boston could use the traded player exception to fulfill theirs and we wouldn't need to do anything because our salary would go down. But there are other considerations like roster slots, trade kickers, etc. It was far too much talent going out for Smart and would have filled an extra roster slot for Boston making it pretty damn near impossible for them to make any moves.

Usually around 9 or so on trade deadline days, the phones pick back up and people call with their real offers. It will probably be quiet tonight with a flurry of rumors by noon.

One last thing on Collins. Collins rookie year his numbers were 2017 Hawks 74 24.1 10.5ppg 57.6 % 34.0% 7.3 rpg 1.3 0.6 1.1 That is with Head Down every 3rd play try to get a blow by layup Dennis Schröder at the point. His FG% has only improved a few points with Trae. Last thing on Dennis....The Lakers are shopping him. They've grown tired of his schtick already.

Aaron Gordon has been available (shopped once that I know of) at the deadline the last 3 years.

Sorry KG, you were pro BB....the internet is forever.

You mean something like this??? On record! I'll find KG's in a sec.

On another note, pretty much every call the Hawks are getting has "what would it take to include Huerter in the deal" mentioned at some point. Everyone is asking what it would take to get red velvet.

John's back to the basket game is better as well. John is one of a handful of power forwards in the game who can reliably post up his defender, score over and around him at a better efg than most 3pt shooters. John is a run stopper pure and simple. If you need a bucket, you dump it down to him. I could easily make the case we miss out on offensive opportunities every game by being so Trae centric. Collins and Gallo both can just get a bucket in the low post due to their size/skills. That's a dying breed.

Base defensive stats, Collins for his career 1.2 blocks vs Gordon .6. Collins rebounding 8.6 per game vs 6.4. I can admit there are facets to Gordon's game that close the gap but he isn't better. To me better means total points scored vs total points given up. His defensive liabilities do not equal his immense offensive domination vs Gordon.

Collins career 2 pt % is 61.2%, Gordon is 50.7%. Simple math, every 100 shots, Collins scores 20 more points. Typical NBA team takes 90 shots a night....Collins FG% vs Gordon = 18 more points scored per game.

No to Gordon > JC. I want boards and blocks out of my PF. He is better at neither. He scores a significantly lower FG% and is only functionally better in a few areas.

There are a few options discussed. All have us including a heavily protected pick. Snell + Rondo works but they feel that price is too high.

2 hours ago – via Chris Mannix @ Sports Illustrated Atlanta has discussed deals for Malcolm Brogdon, but Brogdon’s contract (he is owed $44 million over the next two seasons) and injury history make a deal unlikely. FYI this was a legit rumor and there is a framework where it will work. Both sides are hesitant.

You make a valid point. I'm not presenting new information here and the more savvy GMs around the league know this. But I'm not into us moving Huerter, Cam, Hunter, Trae, Collins, Capela, etc before the deadline because we don't know where their ceiling lies. As I mentioned earlier, Knight vs Bruno is a really good example of what being a year older and seasoning in college can do for a player. I would really like to use this deadline to capitalize on someone else's mistakes.

I've been formulating this post for days about how I feel about JC, Dunn, Cam or other Hawks and potential trade targets. As the Squawk matures, there are a lot of us who have been through the wars and remember a time when 19 year olds didn't burst into the league. So here are a few thoughts as the deadline nears. Many years ago, you didn't enter the league until at least 21 and you road the bench or developed your first 2 years. You weren't seen as league ready until 23-25. There is a reason for this. Shoulders spread, your base improves and you can handle half court sets much better. Your decision making improves after 25 and you are at your physical peak for 5 or so years. There has been a lot of talk about moving certain Hawks or about injury concerns or players having heart. I am not a fan of giving up on anyone before the age of 25. Because of the way the cap is structured, this forces teams to make decisions on players (like Bagley) before they hit that magical 25 year old marker. If I were the GM, I would go back to the old philosophy of trying to accumulate as many assets as I could in the 25-30 year old category. You don't know what you have until a player is at least 23-25. A good example of this is Clint Capela who is only now starting to play his best basketball at the age of 26. The game has changed, but the criteria for player peaks has not. If I'm the Hawks, I'm trying to get as much value in the 25-30 year old age bracket while getting back max value for my more mature or failing to develop talent. Just my two cents.

Quick, someone get me a Bill Russell eyeroll emoji.

Yah pretty much it.

Lemme research exactly how that works

Let me clarify that. The Celtics have a traded player exception that expires if not used the same year. Effectively, the deadline to trade is Thursday so they lose that. There is actually incentive on the Celtics to use it or lose it. If they use it, they gain a player to use in future trades to keep the salary elevated. Without it, they are just another team over the cap who can only sign a vet min.

You know, you say things then get me thinking. Rondo + Bruno for Lonzo http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yforjx2t works. We'd probably have to add something like a 3 year pick swap contingency (if Atlanta's pick is higher than New Orleans they'd have the right to swap but yah....there's room to begin negotiations there. No because the Celts are absorbing it into an exception that will effectively expire after Thursday.

There is truth to the GS wanting Bogi rumors but there just isn't a deal there without involving a 3rd team. GS doesn't have the assets we'd want.

I need to head to bed, but these guys are making it tough.

I floated dropping a player and signing Cousins a few weeks ago. Cousins is not one of the names mentioned but talk of moving Bruno for a 2nd rounder does have substance in order to open up a roster spot. I don't have anything substantial on the names.

Some time around this thread...I thought it was NY but it might have been this deal. It ended up in Boston media with them saying they could put together a better package. They reported his proposal as a legit rumor.

I think it was one of the Josh Smith to NY rumors if memory serves.....I could be wrong.