Official Game Thread: Hawks at Mavericks

[lethalweapon3]

“Don’t laugh, Kidd. You might be next.”

 

Alright, let’s do this again. Luka Doncic for Trae Young and Cam Reddish Kevin Knox, plus a potential first-rounder from the Thunder Hornets. Who ya got?

It’s not just Trade Szn, it’s Who Won The Trade Szn once more for the Atlanta Hawks, as Young and company pop by Luka’s house to play the Mavericks (6 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Southwest in DFW, ESPN). Going on four years in, Trae is making it such a wash that whatever else Atlanta has gained from the deal hardly matters anymore.

All other fluff stripped bare, it's just My Future Two-Time All-Star for Your Future Three-Timer. 2019’s Rookie of the Year winner, Doncic just passed Fat Lever for tenth all-time at 44 career triple-doubles. Turning 23 at the close of this month, he’s already been 1^st-Team All-NBA two seasons in a row. Despite a regression in his shooting efficiency (career-low 54.4 TS%, just below his award-winning rookie season of 54.5), it’ll be tough to leave Doncic (NBA-best 47.7 assist percentage; Trae’s 42.9 ranks second) off the top list this season, either.

Advantage, Dallas, right? Not so fast, my fine-feathered friends. Trae, with his 40-5 games and 20-10 double-doubs, is piling up his own unique list of accolades. Further, he has shown he doesn’t even have to be 1^st-Team All-Healthy for his club to be a threat to come out on top on any given night, at home or on the road, playoff game or not, versus opponents in the East or West.

Going forward, it’s all on the third pick of 2018’s Draft to ensure Dallas Won the Trade becomes an unassailable argument. Would he have been able to lead Atlanta’s campaign successfully through New York AND Philly last season? It’s reasonable to guesstimate that. But until his current team starts knocking out favorites at playoff time, there’s little reason to suspect he’d already be dismissed as Alabaster Joe as a Hawk.

That sobriquet is unfair to Joe Johnson, the longtime subject of another infamously debated trade, to say nothing of plaster materials. Ugly as the series was with Dwayne Wade’s heat, Josephat did lug the once playoff-starved Hawks into the second round by the time of his third All-Star season and his second postseason with Atlanta. Further, Joe was a stout on-ball defender even before he arrived in The A. The grinding slow pace of games for Dallas (96.0 possessions per-48, 29^th in NBA, wedged between the Knicks and Sixers) with Luka in charge, however, makes the comparisons on the offensive end fit better.

The Mavs bounced back from their blowout 113-87 season-opener in Atlanta to win nine of their next 12, and they have yet to lose four in a row all season. Dallas had a fantastic stretch in the past month (13-3 from New Year’s Eve through January 29), but subsided quickly with consecutive losses to Orlando and OKC, shortly after losing Junior Hardaway (fractured foot) and Kristaps Porzingis (bruised knee) to injuries. If KP isn’t up to speed at playoff time, and new team exec Nico Harrison doesn’t swing any game-changing deals, then times could be looking bleak in the Metroplex once more.

We’re already seeing signs of wear-and-tear among the Lukatics. Doncic registered 2.5 million fan votes for the All-Star game out West, but Young in the East came away with a quarter-million more. Last season? Luka got over 3.3 million votes and a starting nod to come to Atlanta, while Trae had under a million votes and was left watching the weekend from home. Q-Rating ships, passing in the night?

Luka ranks sixth in current merch sales among players, but Trae, once more, is right on his heels with the momentum, at #7 with a bullet. As the Hawks organization and its fans feel like they’re hitting paydirt, when you check the MFFL fan boards, the Euro-based LFFLs are slinging mud, glumly commenting every game along the lines of, “I wish Luka was on another team (the Lakers or Warriors, they mean). You guys don’t appreciate Luka for all he does.”

Four years removed from that fateful summer 2018 Draft, and with all due respect to acquisitions Frankie Smokes and Moses Brown, the Mavs have added only one prospect as draft capital. That would be Australian wing Josh Green (last 20 games: 6.4 PPG, 52.1 2FG%, 27.3 3FG%), who has just five starts under his belt, all from last season, since getting plucked in 2020.

Dallas’ old regime could have kept Shake Milton in the second-round of that 2018 Draft, and the new regime thanks their lucky stars the Mavs hung on to the other second-rounder, guard Jalen Brunson (15.8 PPG and 5.5 APG, 17.1 and 6.2 since becoming an everyday starter in mid-December). If the Mavs (30-23, 5^th in NBA West) are to make a move in hopes of improving the roster this week, Brunson is likely the best chip they have to dangle. Due to the Timmy and KP deal, this year’s first-rounder is probably bound for NYC.

Meanwhile, the Hawks were able to convert Reddish into a flyer for Knox, and they have stashed Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper behind developing contributors De’Andre Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu. Don’t let Travis Schlenk conjure up a way to flip Knox’s expiring rookie-scale salary in a move to upgrade Atlanta’s roster further, nor let the Hawks’ staff find some postseason utility out of I Am The One that the Knicks could not. It could be game-set-match on the Luka-Trae deal before Roland Garros gets here.

Young and Doncic remain in a race to see which could be the biggest Coach-and-GM Killer. Despite some neck-and-neck action last month during Atlanta’s team-wide struggles, and despite the Mavs staying afloat through injuries, Luka is definitely on the verge of running through that tape. LFFLs and MFFLs alike are already souring on coach Jason Kidd. For Dallas, it’s a matter of whether Carlisle’s vision of Kidd being a beneficial mentor for Doncic will come to fruition anytime soon.

He was Ason Kidd as a player before transforming that clunky jumpshot. But the hope was that Doncic would quickly learn why nobody called the Hall of Famer Jason Ki. “This game is on me,” Luka declared in a sign of self-awareness as his Mavs scrambled back in the fourth quarter only to fall to the Thunder here at American Airlines Center this past Wednesday. “Two stupid decisions by me the last two possessions,” he told the Dallas Morning News, “Shouldn’t happen. By far my worst defensive game this year, for sure, and it’s just on me.” Lu Dort (14 OT points) appreciated Luka’s generosity on that evening.

By casting himself a high-usage guard instead of a thick Pascal Siakam, Luka gets to write up his nightly boxscore lines (40 points and 10 dimes and, to his credit, 3 steals vs. OKC; 33-and-15, despite 1-for-6 3FGs, plus 13 boards in Friday’s 107-98 win over visiting PHI). He also gets to pass off the defensive assignments on pick-and-roll plays.

Doncic guards ball-handlers on just 15.3 percent of such possessions, switching off and letting Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, Brunson and, previously, Hardaway to handle the dirty work, happy to sit back in anticipation of rebounds. Trae, by comparison, is on the P&R ball-handler on 33.2 percent of Hawk defensive possessions.

For the Mavs to transcend mediocre projections, Doncic has to commit himself to becoming almost as reliable a defender at his preferred position as he is a producer on the other end (0.91 points per P&R ball-handler possession, on 13.1 possessions/game, second-most in NBA; Young clocks in at 0.92 with his league-high 14.8 per game).

It has been encouraging lately to see both Young and Doncic talking more of the talk about their defensive roles when their teams are struggling. Making plays directly to get fellow gunslingers like Trae to give up the ball before penetrating, then keeping them from retrieving it later in the shot clock, would help boost both Doncic’s and Dallas’ long-term profiles.

J-Kidd unfurled a janky zone to confound Sixer scorers (35 Philly second-half points, after 63 in the first) on Friday night. But he’ll need to take a different tack if the slippery Young can penetrate and rely on his zone-busters a bit more than he could when the Hawks (25-27; NBA-high 37.6 team 3FG%) bowed out in Toronto.

Bogi Bogdanovic went 4-for-9 from deep, but Trae (22 points, 0-for-4 3FGs 13 assists, 1 TO @ TOR) and their jump-shooting mates (combined 5-for-16 3FGs) couldn’t quite bail Atlanta and its over-helping defense out versus the Raps. With John Collins (sore heel) and Danilo Gallinari (tight hammy) still questionable entering today’s action, this could be a prime spot for the ninth pick of 2018’s Draft (34.6 3FG% in NYK, 1-for-9 in spot minutes w/ ATL) to give Dallas (33.3 team 3FG%, 25^th in NBA) a taste of what else they’ve been missing.

It was just a matter of time and patience, but we are up to three NBA locales, at present, that are perfectly fine with their takeaways from the top of 2018’s Draft not being Luka The Don. Atlanta’s doing fine. Phoenix is fine. Memphis, at long last, is fine. The only folks left with misgivings are all the way out in Sacramento. Lukatics, feel free to go bother them.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Early morning Boo-Boo report has LouWill (tense hammy) joining Johnny Bap and Gallo as questionable for today.

Beyond THJ and Porzingis remaining out for Dallas, Maxi Kleber is questionable for the Mavs with an effused knee (I dunno what that is) while Sterling D. Brown has been out for weeks due to a sore foot.

~lw3

[Guest]

"He was Ason Kidd as a player before transforming that clunky jumpshot."

Clever!

[shakes]

Gotta find a way to win this one to secure the 2-2 record we needed for the week.

[Gray Mule]

Hawk fans, are we ready for a beat down?  ESPN has Dallas favored to win - 59.9 / 40.7.  

But, we have better odds than Cincy.  66.3 / 33.7 in the Super Bowl.  Now days people pay more attention to the commercials than the game.  Every minute, every second of add time is very expensive.  Advertisers want their money's worth.  Adds are usually great.  Not always.  Sometimes, a dud.  Not often.

Hawks are still in the race.  Every team below them in the standings lost their last game.  This is not a "must win" encounter but a victory sure would be nice.  I hope 2 underdogs win today!

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Alright, let’s do this again. Luka Doncic for Trae Young and Cam Reddish Kevin Knox, plus a potential first-rounder from the Thunder Hornets. Who ya got?

 right off the bat eh, dang lw3 knows where to tickle my reading bone  

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Doncic just passed Fat

it’s like saying pianist in front of me. I miss Lafayette’s sideburns the most. I digress..

 

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Lukatics

Ooohhh 

 

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Luka ranks sixth in current merch sales among players, but Trae, once more, is right on his heels with the momentum, at #7 with a bullet.

When I went to the NBA store in NY (pre Covid) they already had a designated Luka section with no Trae section. I think I asked to speak to the manager in a fit of rage but good luck finding the manager in that huge store.

 

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Roland Garros

Lethal you don’t want me on clay I assure you. 

 

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Luka The Don. Atlanta’s doing fine. Phoenix is fine. Memphis, at long last, is fine. The only folks left with misgivings are all the way out in Sacramento. Lukatics, feel free to go bother them.

Where’s “Vlade Doddy we likes to party” these days? 

Nice write up as always lw3! It’s like reading about Magic (Trae) vs Bird (Doncic) and taking me back to 1985, thanks.

I beat the Mavs by 11 in the 2K simi

Vegas has Mavs -2

 

GO HAWKS!

 

[RedDawg#8]

Defense has to be better than it was Friday.

That's the only way we're going to turn this thing around

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[bleachkit]

23 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Being held out for a trade?

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

JC is in!

[JayBirdHawk]

8 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Being held out for a trade?

Nope.

 

 

[REHawksFan]

Is tonight an ESPN blackout game for Georgia or will it air on both ESPN and Ballys?  Anyone know?

[Dnice]

It should be both.

[Spud2nique]

That 6th seed is wide open for the taking. The Raps are sitting there currently but hopefully keeping it warm for us. But first we gotta take care of our games one at a time starting with the wonder boy today.

Some games count double in my mind as well as I’m sure the media’s.. 

Trae vs Luka feels like a 2 games even though still just 1.

Go Us!

[Guest]

Let's get this freakin' win tonight!!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks playing ugly, but staying right with them.

Trae needs to shoot the floater instead of getting caught in the lane.

And we have the lead?

 

LOL

[REHawksFan]

2 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Hawks playing ugly, but staying right with them.

Trae needs to shoot the floater instead of getting caught in the lane.

And we have the lead?

 

LOL

Trae lookin like he's trying to prove a point early on vs Luka. Just play your game man. Be aggressive but decisive. 

And yeah....getting the floater going would be a huge help.

[Guest]

Squawkers must all be eating dinner right now ...

 

[Carmine]

No Kristaps/Hardaway? Gotta steal this one