2023-24 Insider Information Thread

[KB21]

1 minute ago, theheroatl said:

I think a Sarr/Sheppard combo next to Trae is deadly. Don’t know how they get #3 or #4 to get Sheppard but it’s a dream scenario.

Sarr would allow you to get away with it more, but Sheppard with Trae is still a very small back court defensively.  

[theheroatl]

1 minute ago, KB21 said:

Sarr would allow you to get away with it more, but Sheppard with Trae is still a very small back court defensively.  

Sheppard is sneaky good defensively.. have you studied him?

 

https://lakercountry.com/2024/03/reed-sheppards-defense-is-among-elite/

Edited May 24 by theheroatl

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

Sheppard is sneaky good defensively.. have you studied him?

 

https://lakercountry.com/2024/03/reed-sheppards-defense-is-among-elite/

Yes.  He is too small to pair with Trae, imo.  I love Sheppard but he needs to be paired with a big guard.  Sheppard is small for a SG and lacks elite quickness.  He is a heady player with good hands who anticipates and reads plays well.  I think he will generate plenty of steals in the NBA but will have trouble shutting down guards with a size and athletic advantage over him.  

I'm out on a Trae / Sheppard backcourt.

[KB21]

3 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

Sheppard is sneaky good defensively.. have you studied him?

 

https://lakercountry.com/2024/03/reed-sheppards-defense-is-among-elite/

Saw him live against Josh Hubbard.  I'm not a buyer on his on the ball defense at the moment.  

[Spud2nique]

Here’s what we do. Do a private workout with Reed Sheppard and tell the world he is Nash/Price/Stockton rolled into one. 
 

Get some frickin a$$ets bady!

[Spud2nique]

5 minutes ago, AHF said:

I'm out on a Trae / Sheppard backcourt.

Ya same. Too small. I’m all for one dude being of smaller stature but when you got two, you aren’t gonna stop many teams.

[Jody23]

Oh, boy.

[Wretch]

44 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Key word is early. Remember, no one in the world thought we would actually win the lottery. every team has a big board of prospects but really focuses on the range you think you are going to be in the draft. No one had done in depth serious looks at the top of the draft. Tony Ressler does keep up with basketball. I think he's a lot of things I'd rather not say in public but he at least does keep up with basketball. His liking Clingan and his potential fit on our team is really not that bad of a take for anyone to make.

That being said, I was told Ressler is going to go by the FO this time on the final decision on what to do with the pick. They have a lot of work to do so Tony Ressler's early liking of a player is just that. I wouldn't read too far into it frankly and I say that as someone that is not a Tony Ressler fan.

It's one thing to like and push for proven NBA players - even on the grounds of marketability.  The draft is such a hit or miss thing.  This is the one time that Ressler should allow the front office to do their job.  Please.

[Dragitoff]

48 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Ya same. Too small. I’m all for one dude being of smaller stature but when you got two, you aren’t gonna stop many teams.

I think it's also a body frame thing too.  Guys like Marcus Smart and Lu Dort are shorter guys, but built like tanks.  I think that's been the biggest detriment to the Hawks current guard alignment.  Although DJ is a decent height for a SG, his small frame makes it challenging for him to guard bigger and/or physical guards.

[hylndr11]

7 hours ago, macdaddy said:

Luka, who everyone thinks is the greatest, no miss prospect since Lebron, was passed over by 3 teams and folks don't believe that he wasn't threatening to stay in Europe if he didn't get his way?   In the best draft of the last 20 years teams can't throw away a top 3 pick if him refusing to play is even a remote possibility.  

Still doesn't make sense to me, we have no beef with Dallas , dirk and likewise , it's not like Luka couldn't have a good relationship with dirk outside of Dallas. It also doesn't make sense that dirk would try and force that on him.  []

[KB21]

2024 NBA Draft Big Board: Ranking the top 40 players - Yahoo Sports

[terrell]

4 hours ago, bird_dirt said:

This is the last time we had a high pick and traded down for a good player and additional assets. 
Despite how good Trae has been, Luka is the better of the two, and people still can’t move on from it. People will be talking about that trade for the rest of their careers. 
This is why I don’t want the Hawks to trade their pick this year. Can you imagine how insufferable the noise would be if they trade the first number one pick in the team’s history and they player goes on the be the best player? 
 

If we hadn't of reached on Reddish potential and just took PJ Washington(who Schlenk liked also),  Herro,  or even Cam Johnson, it wouldn't be talked about as much.. smh

Edited May 24 by terrell

[Jody23]

[ ]

Just going to ask since there has now been a public report about Clingan having "fans" within the Hawks.  Do you believe Tony Ressler will yield to the front office this time?

[NBASupes]

Langdon is a big admirer of Dejounte Murray. Be on the lookout for an offer from Detroit 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

His liking Clingan and his potential fit on our team is really not that bad of a take for anyone to make.

Clingan wouldn't be a bad choice, if we were one piece away from being a contender.  But at the #1 spot, you must take the guy that you project will become the best player in that class.  You only take Clingan if you're trading down.   And if you're trading down, that's a horrible sign for your ability to evaluate players.

Even when Michael Olowakandi was picked 1st in 1998, you still had Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, and Antawn Jamison come out of that draft class.

 Landry needs to pick the right guy that has the best chance to become a star or superstar player.  Most of us believe that will be Sarr.  Very few of us believe it will be Clingan.  But if Landry sees someone else, and he think he is a can't miss prospect, go ahead and take him.

He just better be right.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

5 hours ago, AHF said:

He has a ton on his plate between what needs to be done with the existing roster and getting this pick right.  Really exciting opportunity but there is no hiding if we don't get it right.  I'm sure he doesn't want to go down with the GMs who took Kandi, Kwame, Bennett, Bargnani, Fultz, etc. at #1.

He is going to chart this team's path for the next 5 years at the least and the range of potential outcomes is massively wide.

He can't chart the team's path for the next 5 years.  He doesn't have 5 years to get it right.  He has 2 . . . with an evaluation going forward into Year 3.  No way he has a job, if we're still in the same spot after 2 years, despite him having a 5 year plan.

[AHF]

34 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

He can't chart the team's path for the next 5 years.  He doesn't have 5 years to get it right.  He has 2 . . . with an evaluation going forward into Year 3.  No way he has a job, if we're still in the same spot after 2 years, despite him having a 5 year plan.

I don't follow this at all.  If he gets it wrong and Trae leaves that radically changes the direction for the franchise from where it is now for the next 5+ years, right?  If he turns us into contenders that radically changes the direction of the franchise from where it is now, right?  If he just treads water for the next 2 years and keeps us in play-in territory that doesn't leave us a lot of ways to positively impact our path forward after that does it? The decisions he makes over the next year will determine this.

It seems to me that he can set us on a path to rebuild, to be a play-in team, to be a playoff team, to be a contender, and probably a bunch of variants and whatever he does the next 2 years will point us in one direction or another for years beyond that whether he is still employed here or not.

Trading DJM or Trae, having the #1 overall pick as the last pick we control for the next 3 years, and having key decisions made on other players (like CC, Hunter, Bey, etc.) is going to have dramatic impacts that reverberate far beyond the next two years, imo.

(Rereading this - if you thought I meant he was guaranteed to still be employed here then that is not what I tried to say and please take this as a clarification.  My point is that the decisions he makes now are unusually important and consequential and that they are going to affect us for years to come.) 

[bleachkit]

50 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Clingan wouldn't be a bad choice, if we were one piece away from being a contender.  But at the #1 spot, you must take the guy that you project will become the best player in that class.  You only take Clingan if you're trading down.   And if you're trading down, that's a horrible sign for your ability to evaluate players.

Even when Michael Olowakandi was picked 1st in 1998, you still had Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, and Antawn Jamison come out of that draft class.

 Landry needs to pick the right guy that has the best chance to become a star or superstar player.  Most of us believe that will be Sarr.  Very few of us believe it will be Clingan.  But if Landry sees someone else, and he think he is a can't miss prospect, go ahead and take him.

He just better be right.

Clingan=horrible free throw shooter. For me that's a deal breaker. 

[AHF]

Discussions about race belong on the politics board.  Please start a thread there if you want to continue that line of conversation.  Let's get this thread back on track.

[Mikey]

Word on the street is Sarr has been telling teams in interviews that he doesn’t want to play the 5 and that he views himself as a 4. Shouldn’t really be a shock considering his play style but interested to see what teams think of that