Terrible summer?

[JTB]

Anybody think this was a terrible summer for the hawks or do you have a feeling some big deal is coming our way?

Personally I like the moves we made but I'm not in love with them until I see them play...but I am excited to see them play and see what talents they have. Also I'm not disappointed in ferry, of course I don't know the guy personally but I really felt like he tried to get the hawks talent this summer just like he did last year, it just didn't pan out...unfortunately I can't help but to wonder how ferry is going to approach the trade deadline as well as next off season. I thought trading sap was a smart thing to do but looking at the way good players view the hawks we might want to hold on tight to sap and probably just overpay horford to stay.

Real Talk:

Being GM for the hawks is really tough! Star Players don't listen to you and the ones that do don't really take you serious. Smh...just a tough ass job man. Ferry reputation is bad from Cleveland days but I just can't be mad at ferry, it's not his fault this franchise has been handled poorly before he got here.....the writing is on the wall, it's going to take the hawks a loooong time to overcome the poor mistakes in the past. As of right now we aren't even respected in the league.

[JTB]

I'm wondering why the hawks don't have respect. We make the playoffs every year but that doesn't seen to grant us any league respect no matter how long or consistently we get to the playoffs.

That's an odd one I must say....

I'm thinking the next step is getting atleast a high seed every year, even if we get knocked out in the first being a high seed may bring more attention to the franchise.

[GrimeyKidd]

Not terrible just lackluster. Gotta trust our new staff and direction

[capstone21]

I think the right word is disappointing

[BrazilianHawk]

Not terrible. Flipping Lou and an unproven player for two good defenders was not bad. Just not awesome.

[Dejay]

I'm wondering why the hawks don't have respect. We make the playoffs every year but that doesn't seem to grant us any league respect because we haven't won anything of worth since the '50s.

Fixed it for ya...

[TJR4536]

we have made the playoffs the most in a row then anyother current team. I am not saying its that good but we DO have a title in the 50's even though it wasnt in atl. Does it still mean we are gonna get then new gold tags on our jersey even tough it was in the 1950;s anyone know?

Edited August 1, 2014 by TJR4536

[vdunkndunk]

I don't think it was terrible at all.  Not terribly exciting, of course, but definitely not terrible. To me, this summer we:

 

+Added an all-star center (Al Horford);

 

+Added a stretch 4 who actually has requisite NBA size, strength, and leaping ability, and also showed some ability to play in the post (Payne);

 

+Added a 3-and-D guy who, if he bounces back in the 3-point percentage department, could be a major defensive piece who fits better with this team than Lou did in terms of his size, length, defense, and 3-point shot (Safolosha);

 

+Added a young prospect who's athletic and defends and has shown some upside on offense (Bazemore);

 

+Potentially added another stretch 4/5 type of guy who, to me, showed significant improvement in summer league (Muscala);

 

+Drafted a giant guy with a giant wingspan who's hardly played basketball and therefore hopefully has a lot of upside (Tavares); and

 

+Maintained some solid cap flexibility, which could make us a player on the trade market or in free agency.

 

Also, with the additions of Safolosha and Bazemore I don't think we'll miss Lou all that much, and with the addition of Taveres I don't think we'll miss Bebe all that much, either.

 

To me, all of the above - plus another year with Bud - will make us significantly more competitive this season, and I think we've got that cap space and a lot of attractive assets who could be included in trades, so we can be opportunistic if a trade comes our way.

 

Finally, I don't think adding Deng would have done much except eat away our cap space.  Stevenson would have been pretty cool - high upside there, but also a lot of potential downsides.  There were some other guys out there, like Parsons or the dude from Utah whose name I'm forgetting right now, but no real game changers in my view (other than Lebron, of course).  I didn't even really want Carmello, to be honest.

 

So overall, I like what we did this summer.  I'll be disappointed if we don't make another follow up move with the cap space this trade season or next summer during free agency, but for now I'm intrigued by the roster we have and the potential we have to make something happen in the future.

[NineOhTheRino]

Players want to come here.  The real problem is Danny Ferry's inability to connect with star players. 

[Ruckus]

Players want to come here. The real problem is Danny Ferry's inability to connect with star players.

Really? How do you figure? This problem goes back much further than Ferry IMO.

[Guest]

Players want to come here.  The real problem is Danny Ferry's inability to connect with star players. 

I guess they were flocking here well before DF.  The ownership instability has a lot to do with it.

Us fans had a good chuckle at this picture

 

But it's a lasting image of the ownership problems.  Players remember this kinda stuff.

Hopefully with DF here and Levinson and now Koonin on board as the face of ownership we are on the right track.

[Guest]

I guess they were flocking here well before DF.  The ownership instability has a lot to do with it.

Us fans had a good chuckle at this picture

 

But it's a lasting image of the ownership problems.  Players remember this kinda stuff.

Hopefully with DF here and Levinson and now Koonin on board as the face of ownership we are on the right track.

Oh, I had more than a good chuckle at that picture ... then I realized the ramifications it would have throughout league circles.  It's not the reason we struggle in FAgency, but it's certainly a part of perpetuating the perception that we're not a well-run organization.

 

While the initial statement made by @NineOhTheRino appears to be inaccurate based on the franchise's history, I think the second part of the statement may be true.  I've never had the impression that Ferry has the cache to attract and land guys (no need to debate this, it's JMHO and I already know most of y'all feel he's passing on guys who don't fit the mythical 'system', etc.).  Will Koonin step in and improve that?  I hope so ...

[Guest]

That's an odd one I must say....

Is your favorite word "odd"?

[Vol4ever]

Anybody think this was a terrible summer for the hawks or do you have a feeling some big deal is coming our way?

Personally I like the moves we made but I'm not in love with them until I see them play...but I am excited to see them play and see what talents they have. Also I'm not disappointed in ferry, of course I don't know the guy personally but I really felt like he tried to get the hawks talent this summer just like he did last year, it just didn't pan out...unfortunately I can't help but to wonder how ferry is going to approach the trade deadline as well as next off season. I thought trading sap was a smart thing to do but looking at the way good players view the hawks we might want to hold on tight to sap and probably just overpay horford to stay.

Real Talk:

Being GM for the hawks is really tough! Star Players don't listen to you and the ones that do don't really take you serious. Smh...just a tough ass job man. Ferry reputation is bad from Cleveland days but I just can't be mad at ferry, it's not his fault this franchise has been handled poorly before he got here.....the writing is on the wall, it's going to take the hawks a loooong time to overcome the poor mistakes in the past. As of right now we aren't even respected in the league.

The problem I have is I dont believe the ASG is committed to winning a championship.  Ferry is just another in a line of pawns.

[benhillboy]

I'm neutral. I'm a Lance fan and would have liked to see him acquiesce to our system. I can't get over 7 mil for the consensus All-Star snub who led the league in trip-dubs when we needed a dynamic wing in the worst way. I still trust in Bud to outsmart most coaches and Danny to outmaneuver a majority of GMs.

[Wretch]

Honestly?  People are mostly buzzing over change.  It's the high that comes with transition and without substantial results, it will eventually fade.  In the mean, people are excited because of the buzz and because:

 

- Joe's contract is gone

- Knucklehead Josh has been removed

- Marvin is gone

- Cap room has been created

- We hired a highly regarded coaching prospect

- We play smart basketball on the court

- We pushed the #1 seed to game 7

 

So naturally, everything that Danny Ferry does gets the gold seal of approval.  Things that should normally be underwhelming or cause for concern suddenly become positive:

 

Finishing six games under .500 becomes "doing far better than expected without our best player."

 

First round exit vs. a slumping, unimpressive, and probably overrated top seed becomes "an inspiring series by a hungry underdog vs the best team in the East."

 

A team of vets that have pretty much peaked individually becomes "an exciting team with potential that's maturing and learning to play together under a new coach and a new system."

 

Letting talent walk out of the door for nothing becomes "a shrewd move to maintain cap flexibility."

 

Mid to late first round draft picks (that historically have about a 2% chance of becoming Allstars) and disposable 2nd round picks that usually don't even make the roster become "promising talent that could be the future of the franchise."

 

Miraculously finding a team DUMB AND DESPERATE ENOUGH to erase our mistake with Joe becomes "brilliant negotiating by our impressive new GM."

 

Which brings me to the most dangerous examples of this kind of sugarcoating:

 

The same Cavs GM who built the underwhelming supporting cast for the Cavs from 2005-2010 becomes "just a victim with no real control because it was LeBron who was the real GM."

 

The ASG, one of the WORST ownership groups in the history of ATL sports, if not all of sports, whom we absolutely despised for awful decisions, meddling, incompetence, keeping the status quo, and being out of touch...*OVERNIGHT* they become "an afterthought after their brilliant decision to hire the wonderful Danny Ferry whom they have obviously surrendered complete control to."

 

Call me a hater, but I'm not buying into the hype.  Change does strange things to people.  The same people who forget that they did the exact same thing when Billy Knight took over and gushed over him for simply...dumping the roster.  It's a good move to be sure, but it was not the stroke of genius that everybody praised him for.  For me, it's the same for Ferry's Joe Johnson trade (which was the catalyst for the Ferry-love).  Getting the rights to swap picks with those guys WAS a very shrewd move that could have paid off big, but if you're honest...we lucked up in that deal BIG TIME.

 

I have felt the same way since Ferry's first moves as GM.  Outside of Bud, our moves have been underwhelming and yes, this is another underwhelming summer.  Not by any means bad at all but overall...uninspiring.  This is exactly how he built LeBron's Cavs, except we don't have a LeBron...but somehow, people expect the same or better results.

 

The fact that people can't see that, and are just so hopelessly optimistic, is blowing my mind.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Wretch

[Wretch]

The problem I have is I dont believe the ASG is committed to winning a championship.  Ferry is just another in a line of pawns.

 

And I'll do you one better...no need for a pawn when you have someone who thinks EXACTLY like they do.

[macdaddy]

The comparisons between Ferry and BK are a huge stretch.  If you remember BK dumped the team and then we went on to win 13 games the next season.  Ferry dumped most of our salary, kept the best players and didn't get any worse for it.  Bk and really moreso Woody came in and tried to implement a brand of basketball that was dying out/dead in the nba.  And BK acquired not such a great roster of talent.   Even though our record was worse last year you could see how much more competitive we were as a team against the powers of the league if you watched the games.  Much more than any of the previous 8 years when we were routinely blown out, out classed, and out coached.    

 

The fact that people are already calling Ferry a failure when he's just getting started is blowing my mind.   

[JTB]

Fixed it for ya...

lol thanks

[Guest]

The comparisons between Ferry and BK are a huge stretch.  If you remember BK dumped the team and then we went on to win 13 games the next season.  Ferry dumped most of our salary, kept the best players and didn't get any worse for it.  Bk and really moreso Woody came in and tried to implement a brand of basketball that was dying out/dead in the nba.  And BK acquired not such a great roster of talent.   Even though our record was worse last year you could see how much more competitive we were as a team against the powers of the league if you watched the games.  Much more than any of the previous 8 years when we were routinely blown out, out classed, and out coached.    

 

The fact that people are already calling Ferry a failure when he's just getting started is blowing my mind.   

You're kinda saying what he said most were satisfied with, "well, we look better so ...{insert pie-in-the-sky-ism}".  You're both essentially agreeing we have a much better coach now, hence the improved performances you mentioned.

 

I don't think Ferry is a failure here.  I think he's accomplishing exactly what he wants (don't spend, stay in playoffs, stay employed).  The brand of ball we played this past season makes it more palatable, but it's not much different than the prior 8 years results-wise.