2023-24 Insider Information Thread

[NekiEcko]

4 minutes ago, Sothron said:

They are still trying to decide that direction.  I believe they will try to contend. 

The alarming aspect is the belief that contention is still possible despite lacking future draft picks, cap space, or players compatible with Trae Young, unless trades are made, which would require sacrificing future picks or assets. 

The team is in a difficult position, and possessing the first pick only exacerbates the issue.

[KB21]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

What do you think the convo with Sarr's agent (same as Luka) with Schlenk sounds like?

Hey, Travis.  Where's your boss Michael Winger at?

[Afro]

12 minutes ago, Sothron said:

They are still trying to decide that direction.  I believe they will try to contend. 

Broseph the draft is in 5 days! 

I hope this is deciding in the sense of "our mind could be swayed by a monster deal" and not "we don't yet know what we're doing" 

[thecampster]

24 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

My question which is pretty general ... are we going to make moves to contend or are we getting ready to rebuild????

And to be fair, that's the argument we've been having on this board for 4 weeks now.  People fall into a few camps on the board (without badmouthing any concept)
1. Draft Sarr - People in this camp are betting that his impact will be faster than many projections. They believe he can and will make the leap sooner rather than later allowing us to rotate out of our overpriced roster players. They're betting on his height/athleticism vs his current weight (which could change). This allows us to move on from Clint and get out from under his contract bringing back whatever we can get for him.
2. Draft Risacher - People in this camp are still assuming we'll grab him at #1 and believe his height, natural feel, handles is a boon at the 3 spot and will allow us to move on from Hunter after this season or at the trade deadline, getting out of his contract, bringing back assets.
3. Draft Clingan - This camp is split between taking him at #1 overall or moving down a couple slots to take him. At #1, the thought is he's more ready to play than Sarr and so it will allow a faster move on from Clint. In a trade down, it gives us a second asset (future) and more flexibility in case we have to rebuild. The bet here is he's more ready to play than Sarr and in 4 years the difference between the 2 won't be enough to have you regret it.
4. Draft Edey - This camp is of a similar mind as trade down for Clingan but believe he's a better player and can be picked up lower. This means the higher asset in the trade down can be spent on another pick in the top 10 (Shepherd, Knect, Holland or whoever they fancy).

Contingencies - the above 4 are a tad dependent on who we can find a deal for to trade away of the vets. Sarr/Clingan/Edey assume you are moving on from Clint, Risacher assumes you are moving on from Hunter.

 

 

Now I'm not trying to reopen which is the better plan, which is why I didn't bag on any idea here, just listing the arguments and why we've been making them.  #1 is our own really valuable asset right now without trading DJM/Trae/JJ. No other trade option we have will bring in a top 10 pick or back a good win now player without taking back bad salary.  That's our pickle. This pick, the one above is the #1 asset we have and why all the fighting over what to do with it.

[kg01]

13 minutes ago, NekiEcko said:

The alarming aspect is the belief that contention is still possible despite lacking future draft picks, cap space, or players compatible with Trae Young, unless trades are made, which would require sacrificing future picks or assets. 

The team is in a difficult position, and possessing the first pick only exacerbates the issue.

Not necessarily.

We have options. 

[JayBirdHawk]

42 minutes ago, KB21 said:

Hey, Travis.  Where's your boss Michael Winger at?

Ha.

His first question he probably asked him why he got pushed out from Atlanta?

[JayBirdHawk]

Portland, holding the No. 7 pick, has indeed called Houston about trading up for No. 3 overall, sources said.

 

– via Yahoo! Sports

 Draft, Trade, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers

 

According to someone in an NBA Front Office, Pels have engaged Rockets in a “multiple firsts” for #3 scenario, given that their target is still on the board at #3 Their target? Clingan

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Wizards focused on Alex Sarr with No. 2 pick?

The Wizards are likely to remain at No. 2 as well, where Washington has the league convinced its focused on selecting Alex Sarr from the Perth Wildcats. The Wizards, according to people familiar with the situation, invested the most time and resources of any NBA club sending various personnel to Australia to evaluate Sarr.

 

– via Yahoo! Sports

[JayBirdHawk]

Grizzlies not interested in trading Marcus Smart

The Grizzlies, sources said, have no interest in parting with Marcus Smart. Memphis has received strong interest from rival teams about Luke Kennard, sources said, in advance of the Grizzlies’ decision on his $14.7 million team option for 2024-25.

 

– via Yahoo! Sports

[JayBirdHawk]

Ian Begley: Heard something similar to the Yahoo report on NYK’s Mitchell Robinson. In NYK talks about potential trades, Robinson’s name has come up. Don’t think NYK is fully committed to moving him but his salary (2 years left on 4-year $60M descending contract) is valuable potential deals

 

– via Twitter IanBegley

[macdaddy]

32 minutes ago, Sothron said:

They are still trying to decide that direction. 

If this is true then this is a bigger joke of a franchise than i thought.  

[Jody23]

10 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Portland, holding the No. 7 pick, has indeed called Houston about trading up for No. 3 overall, sources said.

 

– via Yahoo! Sports

 Draft, Trade, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers

Could Houston fall back to 7 and still get the player they want?  Idk.

[REHawksFan]

2 hours ago, KB21 said:

You don't seem to realize that Trae Young is the best PG in the NBA, and it really isn't close.  There are only two shot creators in the entire league who are his equal.  Luka and Jokic.  That's it.  Atlanta will not be able to acquire another player who immediately draws two defenders the moment he crosses half court the way Trae does, nor will they create open shots for teammates at the rate Trae does.  There is a reason the offense was significantly worse without Trae.  I realize that there is this faction of foolish Trae haters because he doesn't look the way they want him to look, and those haters will ignore how elite he is as an offensive player and playmaker to fit their agenda.  

You have to just ignore benhill. He hates Trae and nothing anyone says is going to change that. He has his pet stats that support his opinion and apparently no other stats or data or opinions are worth noting. The only stats that matter are the ones that Benny chooses to show that Trae sucks. 

You just gotta ignore the nonsense.

[akay]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Time to play:

500 pages of ____________ (fill in the blank).

fun discussion to read and participate in I appreciate yall  

At the end of the day, our team is getting better in a week no matter what the pick is or whatever trade we make. We on the come up, hard to go down from here unless we trade our 25 yr old All NBA player 

[sturt]

29 minutes ago, thecampster said:

And to be fair, that's the argument we've been having on this board for 4 weeks now.  People fall into a few camps on the board (without badmouthing any concept)
1. Draft Sarr - People in this camp are betting that his impact will be faster than many projections. They believe he can and will make the leap sooner rather than later allowing us to rotate out of our overpriced roster players. They're betting on his height/athleticism vs his current weight (which could change). This allows us to move on from Clint and get out from under his contract bringing back whatever we can get for him.
2. Draft Risacher - People in this camp are still assuming we'll grab him at #1 and believe his height, natural feel, handles is a boon at the 3 spot and will allow us to move on from Hunter after this season or at the trade deadline, getting out of his contract, bringing back assets.
3. Draft Clingan - This camp is split between taking him at #1 overall or moving down a couple slots to take him. At #1, the thought is he's more ready to play than Sarr and so it will allow a faster move on from Clint. In a trade down, it gives us a second asset (future) and more flexibility in case we have to rebuild. The bet here is he's more ready to play than Sarr and in 4 years the difference between the 2 won't be enough to have you regret it.
4. Draft Edey - This camp is of a similar mind as trade down for Clingan but believe he's a better player and can be picked up lower. This means the higher asset in the trade down can be spent on another pick in the top 10 (Shepherd, Knect, Holland or whoever they fancy).

Contingencies - the above 4 are a tad dependent on who we can find a deal for to trade away of the vets. Sarr/Clingan/Edey assume you are moving on from Clint, Risacher assumes you are moving on from Hunter.

 

 

Now I'm not trying to reopen which is the better plan, which is why I didn't bag on any idea here, just listing the arguments and why we've been making them.  #1 is our own really valuable asset right now without trading DJM/Trae/JJ. No other trade option we have will bring in a top 10 pick or back a good win now player without taking back bad salary.  That's our pickle. This pick, the one above is the #1 asset we have and why all the fighting over what to do with it.

I don't have a camp. I have an island.

And some, no doubt, wonder "why is sturt even here at all?" I can answer that with a lot of lucidity, but first let me cast the vision that partially addresses it...

If Hawks fans were to, in unison, make it very uncomfortable for the owner--one whose highest priority is extant now, and the True to ATL mantra has been exposed as BS, the True to APR mantra becoming clearly substantiated--to continue being the owner, or at least, continue being the lead owner in the ownership group... that would be about the most significant thing that could possibly happen to this franchise to give it some oxygen and put it on the track back to being what all of us who've been around for decades want it to be.

How do you make him uncomfortable?

Well, there's the obvious... to be putting negative karma out into the universe that exposes his schtick... remember he lied about Travis' firing because he cared about your perceptions of him... like a lot of wealthy people, though not everyone, he likes the imagery of being loved... in fact, he so likes it, he's prone to even self-delude himself that people love his kid being in the room when big decisions are being discussed.

But circle back... what's his highest priority? Yeah. None of us individually make him richer, but collectively, we each have our capacity to either give his enterprise more of our money than last season, or less. Or, even, none.

To the degree that Hawks fans resist the hope that APR so desires to sell here in the short term, there's some better reason to be bullish on the future of this franchise long term.

And the converse is also true.

So, why is sturt here?

Well, for one, there's not much to talk about anywhere else for the moment. NFL training camps don't start for another month. And baseball has been replaced by Manfredball. And my old NBA team actually has a big moment coming up where it gets to pick first in the draft for the first time since I was in elementary school... dang, David Thompson and Marvin Webster and what could have been, right?

But add to that the vision above... and the sense that so many right now are so frustrated, and rightfully so. To the degree that the island can, in fact, emerge as a camp of its own, the Atlanta Hawks are in a better position than they are presently.

[cam1218]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

And the offseason hasn't even really started.  

Don't remind us! This reminds me of the people complaining about how hot it has been this summer for the last month or so looking at me with such disappointment when I told them it was still Spring. Luckily as of yesterday, I can no longer say that. 

[therealist]

2 hours ago, KB21 said:

You don't seem to realize that Trae Young is the best PG in the NBA, and it really isn't close.  There are only two shot creators in the entire league who are his equal.  Luka and Jokic.  That's it.  Atlanta will not be able to acquire another player who immediately draws two defenders the moment he crosses half court the way Trae does, nor will they create open shots for teammates at the rate Trae does.  There is a reason the offense was significantly worse without Trae.  I realize that there is this faction of foolish Trae haters because he doesn't look the way they want him to look, and those haters will ignore how elite he is as an offensive player and playmaker to fit their agenda.  

trae is not the best point guard in the league. defense is half the battle, and he's atrocious at it. teams almost never win with a PG as their best player, so you need one who can play make enough and play great defense. last time a true PG as the best player lead their team to a championship was in the 80s.

jrue holiday is the best point guard in the league

[KB21]

Just now, therealist said:

trae is not the best point guard in the league. defense is half the battle, and he's atrocious at it. teams almost never win with a PG as their best player, so you need one who can play make enough and play great defense. last time a true PG as the best player lead their team to a championship was in the 80s.

jrue holiday is the best point guard in the league

Jrue Holiday doesn't even have a quarter of the offensive gravity that Trae has.  

[warcore]

49 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Just a reminder that Travis Schlenk is probably just .....in Washington laughing and bad mouthing the Hawks organization.

Honestly I'm happy for him. Fkn Tony POS. 

[benhillboy]

2 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

This is the thing Ive started to come to terms with.  Its obvious players do not like Trae nor are they itching to come play with him.  I dont know why that is but its not really that relevant.  Probably why we jumped on Murray.  To me this is probably the biggest barrier to building around him, which has been difficult to say the least.  Star level players have to want to be here.  Trae gets consistently poor survey results amongst his peers in the league.

And it’s not rocket science either, so simple.  What high level, impactful, efficient talent  wants to be off the ball more for the smallest player in the league who shoots under league average and leads the world in total turnovers since his debut?  Let alone seeing his salary escalate at the expense of team building?  0.  It’s turned into a cult of sorts at HS.

Edited June 21 by benhillboy