2023-24 Insider Information Thread

[Macknsweetjones]

We have the number 1 pick laundry saying that bout Sarr don’t mean shit ..yall think the rest of the league don’t know about who Sarr worked out for ? Get real 

[Afro]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

Landry does not do a good job with his interviews.  I'm not accusing him of lying to us but there are just things you shouldn't say publicly.  I feel like some people would have applauded Toronto's GM if he had admitted that they weren't going to resign Siakam and were going to trade him to the highest bidder at some point during the year.

Even though every team in the league knew they weren't going to resign him they publicly never admitted it and said to the contrary that they wanted to keep him.  Everyone knew it was a lie but that is how you play the game.  And it paid off for them with a nice return.

When Landry starts completing deals with strong returns, people will care less about what he says even if they think it isn't great from a PR / leverage standpoint.  If he is both saying things that make fans say "why did you share that on the record?!?" and not getting deals done with strong returns, that is a hard combo to swallow.

He is on the clock with some combination of DJM (or Trae), CC, Hunter, and the #1 pick this offseason.  If he flips DJM for a windfall return then no one will go back to him publicly admitting Trae and DJM don't work and nitpick that interview.  If he ends up with another weak return ala his trade of JC (and obviously DJM will return more than that so I don't mean a one-to-one comparison), people are going to criticize things like that bizarre public admission.

I fully understand the sentiment behind "Well fans like a GM who is more open".

But there is a very good reason none of them are and it's not because they hate us. 

I have a really hard time squaring that this FO(or whoever) yells at Sothron for saying too much on a message board, but also is led by a GM that loves to say shit right out in the open. 

 

ETA: Brad Rowland mentioned on a podcast recently that the Hawks haven't liked some things hes said, and they told him that. I don't mean that in a fascist controlling the media way lol. But how will you criticize Brad and then have your GM go out and constantly tee up things that do nothing but invite criticism.

Edited June 25 by Afro

[Dragitoff]

5 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I think I get it now.  This is Landry setting the stage for an odd couple-esque reality show with he and Sarr sharing a condo.  It'll be full of wacky hijinks in a Hard Knocks-style TV show on HBO.  Stay tuned ... 

On a serious note tho, the perception it creates is that the guy doesn't wanna play here/with trae.  No good can come from that, from a PR standpoint.  

I don't think it's him not wanting to play with Trae per se, but more so he knows Atlanta wants to win and he sees our depth chart.  He realizes minutes will be limited for him, especially if he doesn't perform as well.  Barring inevitable trades, he sits behind OO, Capela, JJ and possibly even Gueye on depth charts at the 4/5.  He doesn't want to play center, thinks more highly of his offensive abilities than most scouts currently do, and realizes touches and opportunities will be limited here.

[supermariowest]

Echoing what others have said, it’s hard to imagine Bufkin getting moved unless it’s in a deal for somebody like Jones.

Part of the ECF run was getting production from players on rookie contracts (Kev at $2.8M, JC at $4.1M, OO at $5.8M, Trae at $6.6M, Hunter at $7.4M). Bufkin is the only rookie-scale player on the roster primed to take the next step. He’s shown a well-rounded game at College Park and should be able to provide scoring, play making, and some rebounding off the bench. Can’t move him for a lotto pick.

Edit to add: This isn’t JJ slander. He’s awesome and has already taken the next step. Hopefully he takes a few more. 

[Afro]

4 minutes ago, Dragitoff said:

I don't think it's him not wanting to play with Trae per se, but more so he knows Atlanta wants to win and he sees our depth chart.  He realizes minutes will be limited for him, especially if he doesn't perform as well.  Barring inevitable trades, he sits behind OO, Capela, JJ and possibly even Gueye on depth charts at the 4/5.  He doesn't want to play center, thinks more highly of his offensive abilities than most scouts currently do, and realizes touches and opportunities will be limited here.

You are completely correct. But he didn't say that. He just confirmed that Sarr doesn't want to be the #1 pick and doesn't want to play here. 

Noone would ever confirm the reasons for it, but if you confirm that he doesnt want to play here, you kinda need to confirm the "why".

 

Because all this does is allow the aggregators to tee off on you today and write think pieces that fill in the "Why" gap he left. I will absolutely shocked if we don't get a "Sarr doesnt want to play with Trae" article by tonight lol. And as I went into yesterday, I think that kind of stuff makes a difference. 

Edited June 25 by Afro

[JeffS17]

1 minute ago, Afro said:

I fully understand the sentiment behind "Well fans like a GM who is more open".

But there is a very good reason none of them are and it's not because they hate us. 

I have a really hard time squaring that this FO(or whoever) yells at Sothron for saying too much on a message board, but also is led by a GM that loves to say shit right out in the open. 

I think people here have this idea that being an effective GM is being some realpolitik master manipulator when there is actually a major component of being candid, honest, and forthcoming that develops the positive relationships with colleagues to get the job done -- just like in business anywhere.  Sure, there's some soft gray lines in there where you don't show your hand too hard and massage the messaging, but this interview was a massive non-event, just like all of his interviews.

Other front offices probably do not even listen to GMs public facing interviews.  They get all of the information they need by talking to Landry and other GMs, who are going to share who we are shopping, what we want, what players we're interested in, etc.  Other front offices have immensely more information than we have in the public, including any noise shared by our insiders.  Just a bunch of negative energy for no reason, which is par for the course on this board when it comes to anything front office related.

[BangHolman]

Bufkin, Griffin, and Johnson didn't workout for us in the last 3 drafts (yes- AJ and JJ fell further than expected), so it's not like this FO hasn't drafted players who they didn't have a private workout with before. For Sarr, he was interviewed, have scouted him in person, seen his medicals, and done everything else. A workout wouldn't deter a selection if they wanted him.

[RedDawg#8]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

I wouldn't take Childress in the top 2 of any class even this one but I would take Risacher in this one. He's a lot more projectable. He's an off ball player. 

Risacher wouldn’t go top 2 in any other class but this one.

[Afro]

6 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

I think people here have this idea that being an effective GM is being some realpolitik master manipulator when there is actually a major component of being candid, honest, and forthcoming that develops the positive relationships with colleagues to get the job done -- just like in business anywhere.  Sure, there's some soft gray lines in there where you don't show your hand too hard and massage the messaging, but this interview was a massive non-event, just like all of his interviews.

Other front offices probably do not even listen to GMs public facing interviews.  They get all of the information they need by talking to Landry and other GMs, who are going to share who we are shopping, what we want, what players we're interested in, etc.  Other front offices have immensely more information than we have in the public, including any noise shared by our insiders.  Just a bunch of negative energy for no reason, which is par for the course on this board when it comes to anything front office related.

We're talking about two completely different things here. I'm not talking about specific GM-GM relationships. 

But I do completely disagree with the 2nd part. Brad just said in the podcast on Sunday that he's heard that some teams, agents, GMs, etc etc, don't have the highest of opinions of this FO. I don't know how you can sit there and say that doesn't have anything to do with anything. 

If you let the media run rampant with "everybody hates Trae" guess what thats gonna do when other GMs call? If you let the media run rampant with "We cant keep both of these PGs" guess what thats gonna do. If you confirm that a player outright denied being the #1 pick, what do you think that's gonna do? If other GMs/agents arent using this for leverage, they're not doing their jobs either. 

Perception matters. A lot. You and I appear to disagree on that. That's fine. But just don't sit here and be like "wahhhh everyones negative". 

Can you sit here and tell me some Free Agent isnt looking at his twitter feed right now and saying "Oh damn, what the hell is going on in Atlanta?"

Edited June 25 by Afro

[deester11]

1 hour ago, txsting said:

I will try not to be too disappointed with whatever goes down, because the truth won't be known for several years.  More fun to talk yourself into belief than to smother yourself in doubt.

This is a very succinct and common sense post.
Of which I want no part of.  It’s been fun talking about the insanity of picking number one in a draft where NO ONE knows the outcome or even suspects a star. The backtracking and squinting to find positives in a few of these players is more comical to me. But your post in and of itself…is decent. Kudos. 

[NekiEcko]

8 minutes ago, AHF said:

Landry does not do a good job with his interviews.  I'm not accusing him of lying to us but there are just things you shouldn't say publicly.  I feel like some people would have applauded Toronto's GM if he had admitted that they weren't going to resign Siakam and were going to trade him to the highest bidder at some point during the year.

Even though every team in the league knew they weren't going to resign him they publicly never admitted it and said to the contrary that they wanted to keep him.  Everyone knew it was a lie but that is how you play the game.  And it paid off for them with a nice return.

When Landry starts completing deals with strong returns, people will care less about what he says even if they think it isn't great from a PR / leverage standpoint.  If he is both saying things that make fans say "why did you share that on the record?!?" and not getting deals done with strong returns, that is a hard combo to swallow.

He is on the clock with some combination of DJM (or Trae), CC, Hunter, and the #1 pick this offseason.  If he flips DJM for a windfall return then no one will go back to him publicly admitting Trae and DJM don't work and nitpick that interview.  If he ends up with another weak return ala his trade of JC (and obviously DJM will return more than that so I don't mean a one-to-one comparison), people are going to criticize things like that bizarre public admission.

I'm somewhat undecided on this matter. If you aim to be among the top players in the draft, you should attend every workout, scrimmage, and any other event the teams require because there are individuals more talented who couldn't make the leap and had to pursue different paths in life. Take all of the opportunities that is given to you.

Could he have phrased it better? Certainly, but sometimes brutal honesty is necessary. As fans, we appreciate it more when our front office is transparent about such situations, rather than sugarcoating the reality, even if it's unpleasant at the moment. However, I believe he will improve.

[BangHolman]

5 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Risacher wouldn’t go top 2 in any other class but this one.

No one in this draft would go top 2 in any other class but this one- that's the issue.

[kg01]

15 minutes ago, Dragitoff said:

I don't think it's him not wanting to play with Trae per se, but more so he knows Atlanta wants to win and he sees our depth chart.  He realizes minutes will be limited for him, especially if he doesn't perform as well.  Barring inevitable trades, he sits behind OO, Capela, JJ and possibly even Gueye on depth charts at the 4/5.  He doesn't want to play center, thinks more highly of his offensive abilities than most scouts currently do, and realizes touches and opportunities will be limited here.

I think those of us who are paying attention know this is the case. But we also know the perception will be that he doesn't want to play here or with Trae.  That's the issue I have with Landry's comments. 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

Boykin

 I think I told you all this but my friends have warrior season tickets and they took me to a warriors bobcats 

and Early Boy had played really well for the warriors and it was his return to Oakland. Oh man, Baron Davis harassed him all night. One play he stole it from Baby Boy and lost it to him then regained the ball while early hit the floor face first and Baron was twisting in the air and throws the ball off Boykins face and outta bounce…

Oh myyyy.. I was dying laughing at the same time sayin “THIS AINT RIGHT”!!!!!!

[Spud2nique]

43 minutes ago, Mikey said:

You guys complain a lot.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

 

Oh my ...

@Spud2nique, I may be having a change of heart on Rissa... Resees ... 

 

 

YOU JUST TOLD A MF NOT TO GO TO THE DARK SIDE! No!!!! No I won’t let you!!!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/431141476512529?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

[AHF]

21 minutes ago, BangHolman said:

Bufkin, Griffin, and Johnson didn't workout for us in the last 3 drafts (yes- AJ and JJ fell further than expected), so it's not like this FO hasn't drafted players who they didn't have a private workout with before. For Sarr, he was interviewed, have scouted him in person, seen his medicals, and done everything else. A workout wouldn't deter a selection if they wanted him.

This to me would have been a much better answer:

92.9:  "Has Sarr worked out for you?"

Fields:  "It doesn't mean much to us whether someone works out for us or not.  While we like seeing players in workouts, we scout these prospects for years and have reems of tape on every one of them.  In fact, our last 3 picks didn't work out for us and we've been very happy with those young players.  It is all about who we think that player can be and how he will fit in with our culture and roster.  Sarr is a very exciting young prospect and has been very much on our radar for some time."

92.9:  "So has he worked out for you?"

Fields:  "As I told you guys last week, we aren't sharing who has or hasn't worked out for us this year.  Every year we have plenty of tape on every one of these guys that we use to put together our board and make our selections.   Workouts are nice but as you've seen from us in recent years, we don't limit ourselves in any way based on who has worked out in Atlanta."

[Hawkmoor]

Nothing has changed. I could care less what the Hawks say. You draft Star and if Washington wants him, you make them make a huge offer.

[deester11]

47 minutes ago, Mikey said:

You guys complain a lot.  

Yeah. This franchise has been so good and adept at mediocrity that we should be throwing bouquets instead. 

[NekiEcko]

6 minutes ago, deester11 said:

Yeah. This franchise has been so good and adept at mediocrity that we should be throwing bouquets instead.