Mark Bradley Goes in On Coach Bud

[Wurider05]

http://www.myajc.com/sports/basketball/the-hawks-need-big-picture-guy-and-that-not-budenholzer/JgvwcfQ4uArdMZUyWV16WN/

Most every NBA watcher agrees: The Hawks need to be sellers at this trade deadline. Trouble is, the Hawks have declared that they’re not selling the player who’d attract the greatest return, meaning Paul Millsap. Having said that, you’ve essentially said, “We are not — repeat, are not — in rebuild mode.”

So here’s what they are: A team with the fifth-best record in the East; a team that has been outscored over its first 56 games; a team that’s 23-22 since Nov. 16; a team that, one summer after losing to Al Horford to free agency and getting nothing in return, could likewise lose Millsap, and — key point here — a team with the NBA’s sixth-oldest roster.

The Hawks are also a team with a coach who’s their czar of basketball, which isn’t the norm and is rarely a good idea. It’s especially perilous if the czar’s team requires a reset — because coaches are constitutionally opposed to the idea of losing by design. Say what you will about the pressures inherent on a general manager, but GMs don’t have yearly won-loss totals listed under their names. Coaches do.

Rick Bonnell, who covers the Hornets for the Charlotte Observer, offers this parable, as related by an NBA executive: “When you’re learning to drive, you know how you’re taught to look far up the road, but after you’ve been driving a while you mostly see what’s just ahead? That’s the difference between a general manager and a coach.”

Were the Hawks of a mind to reset in any meaningful way, they had the chance last summer. They could have thanked Horford, who’d just turned 30, for his years of service and let him leave. Instead they tried to keep him and botched that. Then, even before Horford committed to the Celtics, they signed Dwight Howard, due to turn 31 in December, for $70.5 million over three seasons. Then they tried to persuade Horford to stay as part of an H&H tandem, which would have necessitated trading Millsap.

They appeared to be ad-libbing, which is a kind way of saying they were hurling stuff at the wall in the hope something would adhere. They wound up with Howard, who doesn’t fit what made the Hawks the East’s best team over the 2014-15 regular season, but not Horford, who absolutely fit. They also wound up with their next big free-agent-to-be wondering what the heck this team was doing. Millsap might still be wondering. If so, he’s not alone.

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The Hawks traded Kyle Korver, an All-Star only two seasons ago, to Cleveland in January. Speculation swirled that Millsap would be next. (If you’re serious about dumping older players, you don’t stop at one.) Then the Hawks, for reasons unclear, tabled those discussions. Then Budenholzer said Millsap would be going nowhere — unless/until he leaves as a free agent. Should he stay, the Hawks will have kept a very good player. They’ll also have kept a guy who, if he signs a three-year contract, will be 35 at its end.

Until they signed Howard, the Hawks appeared to be trying to get younger. They traded Jeff Teague, promoted Dennis Schröder and drafted Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry. They’ve succeeded in remaining pretty good, which means they’ll make a cameo playoff appearance and miss the lottery. Missing the lottery is the surest way of remaining Only Pretty Good. But landing in the lottery is no guarantee of anything, either.

The best player to enter the NBA this decade is Anthony Davis, whose Pelicans have nosed above .500 once in his 4 2/3 seasons. The Timberwolves have Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, the first players drafted in 2014 and 2015; they’re 22-35. Sam Hinkie shed every veteran to load up on lottery picks, enabling the 76ers to add Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Ben Simmons in consecutive drafts. That looks nice on paper, but Philadelphia is 21-35; Hinkie resigned as GM last spring.

If you’re a coach with czar power, you see such examples and think, “No way I’m putting myself through that. Give me a few warm bodies and I’ll figure out something.” My guess is that’s what happened with Howard: Budenholzer saw a tantalizing-if-tarnished asset who, with clever coaching, might regain his mojo. Thus did Budenholzer’s team pay $70.5 million for a stationary center who has been, going by ESPN’s real plus/minus ratings, the NBA’s 73rd-best player.

If you’re a franchise stuck on Pretty Good and your biggest offseason choice is whether to dig deep to keep a 32-year-old, you’re in need of a grand design. Coaches don’t deal in grand designs. They see what’s coming next — next week, next game, next possession. That’s the nature of their job, which is the point of Bonnell’s story.

A franchise needs a big-picture guy, and a coach can’t be that. Because a coach is conditioned to believe that, if the L’s pile up, he’s getting fired.

 

[macdaddy]

I agree with some of that but he seems to like to argue multiple view points at once.   We should be tanking but all the teams that have tanked in recent years still suck?   Great argument.   

I have issues with what the front office has done but to look at it without considering the massive upheaval and dysfunction of this franchise the last 5 years is unfair.    

And the stat that we are one of the older teams is so overblown.   Dunleavey by himself is sucking that average age up but add in Thabo and Humphries and it is skewed by guys who won't be here next year.   Sap and Howard are really our only old  long term pieces.   

[Bankingitbig]

I like Bud the coach (though I get irritated that he doesn't give our rookies a chance), but I am still undecided on Budcox. I am definitely leaning against them after the questionable offseason we had this past year, but am trying to reserve my full judgment for this coming offseason. I am also very curious if ownership is having any influence in basketball decisions. With the crazy season ticket prices that were recently announced, it is hard to get fans to come and watch a potential lottery team.

[hazer]

14 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

I like Bud the coach (though I get irritated that he doesn't give our rookies a chance), but I am still undecided on Budcox. I am definitely leaning against them after the questionable offseason we had this past year, but am trying to reserve my full judgment for this coming offseason. I am also very curious if ownership is having any influence in basketball decisions. With the crazy season ticket prices that were recently announced, it is hard to get fans to come and watch a potential lottery team.

Budcox just rid the Hawks of 2 empty players/contracts who were collecting splinters and cashing checks, rid the Hawks of an aging and no-longer-effective 3zus (who'll be back as a coach, count on it), went aggressively after PG13 and Jimmy Butler (the best available at our position of need), and kept the Hawks flexible for any buyout surprises and pre-draft/draft night deals. Not sure that they could've done any better than that honestly. Hawks are 2 1/2 games out of 3rd in the East, not really a potential lottery team. Although if we sputter in this 2nd half, if it was me I'd play the rooks and shoot for the bottom and snag that lottery pick.

Mark Bradley is a joke, btw.....

[Plainview1981]

29 minutes ago, hazer said:

Budcox just rid the Hawks of 2 empty players/contracts who were collecting splinters and cashing checks, rid the Hawks of an aging and no-longer-effective 3zus (who'll be back as a coach, count on it), went aggressively after PG13 and Jimmy Butler (the best available at our position of need), and kept the Hawks flexible for any buyout surprises and pre-draft/draft night deals. Not sure that they could've done any better than that honestly. Hawks are 2 1/2 games out of 3rd in the East, not really a potential lottery team. Although if we sputter in this 2nd half, if it was me I'd play the rooks and shoot for the bottom and snag that lottery pick.

Mark Bradley is a joke, btw.....

He also has at least three players his roster that shouldn't be in the NBA (Kelly, Patterson and Delaney) when the team could use a legit backup PG and/or C. The team is still stuck with Delaney and Moose as backups.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Hotlanta1981

[Bankingitbig]

50 minutes ago, hazer said:

Budcox just rid the Hawks of 2 empty players/contracts who were collecting splinters and cashing checks, rid the Hawks of an aging and no-longer-effective 3zus (who'll be back as a coach, count on it), went aggressively after PG13 and Jimmy Butler (the best available at our position of need), and kept the Hawks flexible for any buyout surprises and pre-draft/draft night deals. Not sure that they could've done any better than that honestly. Hawks are 2 1/2 games out of 3rd in the East, not really a potential lottery team. Although if we sputter in this 2nd half, if it was me I'd play the rooks and shoot for the bottom and snag that lottery pick.

Mark Bradley is a joke, btw.....

Ehh I look at it more as Budcox traded away a 2nd round draft pick and swapped a ~50th pick for the 60th pick in order to get ~2months worth of Ilyasova. In a vacuum, this is a decent trade, but looking at the grand scheme of things it doesn't really do much in my opinion. I was in favor of trading Korver for a 2019 first - thought that was a great return for him. That said.... Say we actually did land PG13 - I think Korver would have been super valuable for us, but landing him was highly improbable. I also don't think we have that much flexibility this coming offseason if the #1 goal is to resign Millsap. My judgment is more based on the previous offseason and previous seasons, not this trade deadline. I didn't think there was much they could do as well unless they did a blockbuster trade and I am glad to hear they at least tried. I am also glad they didn't give away the BKN 2nd round pick for a rental. I know we aren't a lottery team. That's not what I was saying. Was just saying that it's hard to raise ticket prices on fans, while going through a rebuild - which may or may not be a factor in how the front office is constructing the team (who knows...).

Edited February 24, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[hazer]

8 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Ehh I look at it more as Budcox traded away a 2nd round draft pick and swapped a ~50th pick for the 60th pick in order to get ~2months worth of Ilyasova. In a vacuum, this is a decent trade, but looking at the grand scheme of things it doesn't really do much in my opinion. I was in favor of trading Korver for a 2019 first - thought that was a great return for him. That said.... Say we actually did land PG13 - I think Korver would have been super valuable for us, but landing him was highly improbable. I also don't think we have that much flexibility this coming offseason if the #1 goal is to resign Millsap. My judgment is more based on the previous offseason and previous seasons, not this trade deadline. I didn't think there was much they could do as well unless they did a blockbuster trade and I am glad to hear they at least tried. I am also glad they didn't give away the BKN 2nd round pick for a rental. I know we aren't a lottery team. That's not what I was saying. Was just saying that it's hard to raise ticket prices on fans, while going through a rebuild - which may or may not be a factor in how the front office is constructing the team (who knows...).

Hell, I even forgot and left out the part where Budcox landed us the best backup PF on this roster in recent memory...

[AUhawksfan]

53 minutes ago, hazer said:

Budcox just rid the Hawks of 2 empty players/contracts who were collecting splinters and cashing checks, rid the Hawks of an aging and no-longer-effective 3zus (who'll be back as a coach, count on it), went aggressively after PG13 and Jimmy Butler (the best available at our position of need), and kept the Hawks flexible for any buyout surprises and pre-draft/draft night deals. Not sure that they could've done any better than that honestly. Hawks are 2 1/2 games out of 3rd in the East, not really a potential lottery team. Although if we sputter in this 2nd half, if it was me I'd play the rooks and shoot for the bottom and snag that lottery pick.

Mark Bradley is a joke, btw.....

Yeah...honestly all the people complaining about his moves don't have a better idea.  Also we tried to go after PG and Butler, they might've wanted ridiculous offers or were just teasing with them to see what they could get.

It's easy to say who we should've gone after or to draw up trades that would benefit us - it's a lot harder when you're dealing with someone on the other side that is looking to do the same and has their own agenda.

[AUhawksfan]

14 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Ehh I look at it more as Budcox traded away a 2nd round draft pick and swapped a ~50th pick for the 60th pick in order to get ~2months worth of Ilyasova. In a vacuum, this is a decent trade, but looking at the grand scheme of things it doesn't really do much in my opinion. 

I get what you're saying here, seems to go with Buds thinking of continuing to win now.  My solace is that hopefully Ilyasova will help us finish a little better over the last 20+ games so we look more attractive to other players around the league.

Honestly I'm not too concerned about the second round picks.  Might as well get rid of some bums on the roster and replace them with someone useful.

Although we did replace 2 spots on our roster with a couple other bums recently....that move I am still questioning.

[Guest]

There's almost no reason to take anything that dude writes seriously.

[AHF]

6 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

Yeah...honestly all the people complaining about his moves don't have a better idea.  Also we tried to go after PG and Butler, they might've wanted ridiculous offers or were just teasing with them to see what they could get.

It's easy to say who we should've gone after or to draw up trades that would benefit us - it's a lot harder when you're dealing with someone on the other side that is looking to do the same and has their own agenda.

I am happy with the trade deadline moves.  We tried to go big.  Failed.  Given that, our moves were not bad.  Did not like the Patterson and Kelly moves.  Don't like either of them.  If we are signing them it is smart to get the non-guaranteed second year.

Still, I understand the fans being frustrated that the Hawks never make a significant move even if they tried.

[Gray Mule]

Ersan, a two month rental?  Is he guaranteed not to sign if we wish to keep him?

Hawks may not want him past the season's end.  Again, they might.

An old song, "It takes two to tango!" 

It takes two, and sometimes three, to make a trade.  When we will and they will,

then we trade.  If either side says no, then there is no deal.

Apparently, from what we read, the Hawks tried.  They didn't, but it was not

from the lack of trying.

What they did do may not be much but every little bit helps.

[Watchman]

1 hour ago, Bankingitbig said:

Ehh I look at it more as Budcox traded away a 2nd round draft pick and swapped a ~50th pick for the 60th pick in order to get ~2months worth of Ilyasova. In a vacuum, this is a decent trade, but looking at the grand scheme of things it doesn't really do much in my opinion. I was in favor of trading Korver for a 2019 first - thought that was a great return for him. That said.... Say we actually did land PG13 - I think Korver would have been super valuable for us, but landing him was highly improbable. I also don't think we have that much flexibility this coming offseason if the #1 goal is to resign Millsap. My judgment is more based on the previous offseason and previous seasons, not this trade deadline. I didn't think there was much they could do as well unless they did a blockbuster trade and I am glad to hear they at least tried. I am also glad they didn't give away the BKN 2nd round pick for a rental. I know we aren't a lottery team. That's not what I was saying. Was just saying that it's hard to raise ticket prices on fans, while going through a rebuild - which may or may not be a factor in how the front office is constructing the team (who knows...).

Gone into the fortune telling business huh?  You know for sure we won't re-sign Ilyasova, or you just don't want him re-signed?

[Bankingitbig]

1 hour ago, Watchman said:

Gone into the fortune telling business huh?  You know for sure we won't re-sign Ilyasova, or you just don't want him re-signed?

I wish... But I didn't need to in order to see the fact that he is an Unrestricted Free Agent this offseason, which classifies him technically as a rental. The Hawks could have signed him in the offseason without having to give up anything if they truly wanted to. Sure - we got his Bird rights, but with a cap hold of $12.6M is that really worth anything? Sure, we can offer him a 5-year deal, but do we want to since he will be 30? If he is resigned and Millsap is resigned, then we are likely rolling out with the same team next year with an added rookie + MLE unless we dump Howard or Baze. So I think it is safe to say that Ilyasova isn't posting up in ATL and buying a house/moving the whole family quite yet.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[TheNorthCydeRises]

On 2/24/2017 at 3:54 PM, Hotlanta1981 said:

He also has at least three players his roster that shouldn't be in the NBA (Kelly, Patterson and Delaney) when the team could use a legit backup PG and/or C. The team is still stuck with Delaney and Moose as backups.

That's the main thing.  He's so married to Delaney, that he continues to play him, despite the numbers showing that he's one of the worst point guards in the league.

[BigDog90]

On 2/24/2017 at 4:10 PM, Bankingitbig said:

I like Bud the coach (though I get irritated that he doesn't give our rookies a chance), but I am still undecided on Budcox. I am definitely leaning against them after the questionable offseason we had this past year, but am trying to reserve my full judgment for this coming offseason. I am also very curious if ownership is having any influence in basketball decisions. With the crazy season ticket prices that were recently announced, it is hard to get fans to come and watch a potential lottery team.

I'd assume Ressler was behind Bud going after George/Butler. 

[BigDog90]

On 2/24/2017 at 4:25 PM, hazer said:

Budcox just rid the Hawks of 2 empty players/contracts who were collecting splinters and cashing checks, rid the Hawks of an aging and no-longer-effective 3zus (who'll be back as a coach, count on it), went aggressively after PG13 and Jimmy Butler (the best available at our position of need), and kept the Hawks flexible for any buyout surprises and pre-draft/draft night deals. Not sure that they could've done any better than that honestly. Hawks are 2 1/2 games out of 3rd in the East, not really a potential lottery team. Although if we sputter in this 2nd half, if it was me I'd play the rooks and shoot for the bottom and snag that lottery pick.

Mark Bradley is a joke, btw.....

Should have traded Millsap for assets. 

[BigDog90]

On 2/24/2017 at 5:10 PM, Bankingitbig said:

Ehh I look at it more as Budcox traded away a 2nd round draft pick and swapped a ~50th pick for the 60th pick in order to get ~2months worth of Ilyasova. In a vacuum, this is a decent trade, but looking at the grand scheme of things it doesn't really do much in my opinion. I was in favor of trading Korver for a 2019 first - thought that was a great return for him. That said.... Say we actually did land PG13 - I think Korver would have been super valuable for us, but landing him was highly improbable. I also don't think we have that much flexibility this coming offseason if the #1 goal is to resign Millsap. My judgment is more based on the previous offseason and previous seasons, not this trade deadline. I didn't think there was much they could do as well unless they did a blockbuster trade and I am glad to hear they at least tried. I am also glad they didn't give away the BKN 2nd round pick for a rental. I know we aren't a lottery team. That's not what I was saying. Was just saying that it's hard to raise ticket prices on fans, while going through a rebuild - which may or may not be a factor in how the front office is constructing the team (who knows...).

A late 1st in 2019 isn't really anything special. Millsap is too expensive for ATL. They should have got something for him.

It's not really going to matter, Hawks aren't even that good in attendance. 

[macdaddy]

So far all the trades we've made, other than hardaway, seem to be for the benefit of someone other than the hawks.   Either the other team or a gift to the player himself.   

[Sothron]

The big question is whether or not we should have traded Millsap. If he bolts we are screwed. We went big on pg13 and Butler and could try again at the draft.