2023-24 Insider Information Thread

[terrell]

2 hours ago, Sothron said:

I don't think we have the same source(s) in the Hawks so just consider this confirmation from my sources with yours. Even if we got Clingan and the 2025 pick back we're doing good IMO.

Spurs aren't giving that 25 pick back.. I cant see it...

[bird_dirt]

3 minutes ago, ShayD said:

 

Ware would be amazing pick, I’d be surprised if he was still there. 
Dunns “offensive” scares me regardless of how good his defense is. That kind of imbalance is good for subbing in and out in the last five minutes at the end of games type player. 

I’ll trying boning up on my late first/early second round pick prospects and see if I can become an expert in the next 12 hours or so. 

[NekiEcko]

8 minutes ago, Vol4ever said:

Agree i keep Murray and trade Trae myself.  I'm not sure there is a big market for Trae.  

Several teams are interested in acquiring Trae, ranging from the obvious candidates like NOP and LAL to others that haven't been disclosed. Despite his shortcomings, Trae remains an offensive powerhouse. Placing him on a team that excels defensively could prove to be a formidable combination.  Something that Atlanta has been trying to do with no luck at all.

Edited Wednesday at 03:26 AM by NekiEcko

[NekiEcko]

9 minutes ago, terrell said:

Spurs aren't giving that 25 pick back.. I cant see it...

I can see it, besides we are going to be in around 8 - 10 spot (since CHA/DET/BKN/TOR/WAS is still in development mode) so that pick would probably be in the back end of the lottery (this team was lucky to get 1st pick with a 3%), so I can see them give it back to us but keeping the swap/2027 pick. 

So let things play out and see what happens

Edited Wednesday at 03:30 AM by NekiEcko

[NBASupes]

20 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Bridges for 4 unprotected firsts and a protected first. Wow. When I was told the market for DJM had went up this should give us all hope we can get something like that. Not just like that but something close

Don't forget the pick swaps. 

[Spud2nique]

14 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Murray is closer to bridges' level than folks realize, imho.  

I don’t know about this. I’m not knocking our guy but Mikal moves off screens and is more aware of not only his play but how the teammates play and plays off them and adjusts better to me. So far, he’s impacted winning as well, not with the Nets but the Suns and Nova.

[terrell]

1 hour ago, theheroatl said:

5 FRPs.. WTF

 

 

 

 

 

This is losing OG panic mode

 

4 unprotected picks for a guy who never made an all star team? Geez

[Spud2nique]

15 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Trae is levels better than Murray or Bridges tho, vol4. 

Yes.

[marco102]

Murray is worth another 3 picks and a swap at minimum.  Bring on Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram. 

I still want the Hawks to draft Sarr. Hopefully, it happens, but I'll support the pick as others have said. I've never been one to blame the pick whenever management screws up. If you select a bust or trade away a better player, that's on the GM.

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, marco102 said:

Herb Jones

This! Please Somehow.

[sturt]

11 hours ago, Sothron said:

Tony Ressler is actually, finally, letting the basketball operations run this team without his interference.

Wait. Can I ask a little more insight? That's an extraordinary statement, of course, indicative of some milestone event in his life that has significantly impacted his approach.

So, first, let's be on the same page here about what constitutes "without his interference," right?

APR established in his Feb 2023 Schultz interview that what Schultz, me, and possibly you had considered to be "interference," he does not. He is defiant that he's never made basketball decisions, but rather, he only "gives them as much room [as they need] to make important decisions," and his role is to "challenge"... and he says this twice, and we already had heard him talk about this previously so it's not really new so much as it is, with Budcox and Schlenk eras behind us, compelling.

Here's that part of the article.

 

So, there has been this plausible deniability that APR has always been able to claim specific to "making basketball decisions"... and there's no actual debate that I'm aware of, he's always been careful to not let himself become a George Steinbrenner figure.

However, we know going back all the way back to Budcox, there has been an on-going expectation that he will have opportunity to "challenge."

And if "opportunity to challenge"... then what he doesn't seem to think any of us who have had a boss in our lives detect... the nature of that challenging inherently allows the boss to have influence on whether we think this decision is something s/he looks favorably upon or with disfavor. And because we just find it's easier to keep a job if we keep that person content... then, us employees tend to read the words our boss chooses along with the non-verbals we pick up on as cues as to whether we are smart or not so smart to move forward with the course of action we would like to take.

 

It gets a little worse, if one bothers to read further and think further... that attempt to draw with black bold lines doesn't hold up as he describes internal decision-making.

 

Tony, pardon the observation, but if one needs "input"... from family or anyone else... the necessary (though perhaps unfortunate and unintended) inference is that the person is getting the input in order to know what action to take. Later, we're told that the voices "feed into Kyle and Landry"... which is it? Did you let your guard down a little here and the reality is that you still consider yourself the final decision-maker (as proudly proclaimed during the Bud era), or is it better understood that "all of the above" is the accurate answer?

Either way, though, Tony... really?... how is that not having substantial influence on decision-making?

Nonsense. Don't think we're that uneducated, that easily duped.

(Aside: "It's very important to me that perception is similar to reality." Interesting. You spend time in this interview confessing that you purposely misled people about the decision to fire Schlenk because an accurate perception might reflect badly on you as the owner. Just interesting, that's all.)

 

And this is the cresendo to this ballad... Tony reveals still more about himself without actually meaning to...

 

Two things.

First, the owner considers himself the best judge of how to run a basketball operations office. Flat out confirms that here, no debate.

Second... so, we either can interpret this from a paradigm that Tony is the good guy who is just trying to be transparent about the reality without totally throwing Travis under the bus.

Or... we can interpret this from a paradigm that we know Tony is altogether cognizant of the need to shape perceptions, and has a stunning lack of self-awareness at times... and from the paradigm already established that Tony demands to have influence.

People are free to choose, but I'll go with the one that seems solidly supported by the evidence, and conclude that Travis was fired because he had become increasingly more autocratic, less democratic... that much, Tony mostly acknowledges. And I wouldn't know but wouldn't be surprised if Travis very pointedly locked Nicky out of some conversations to drive home the point that he had earned his title as President of Basketball Operations and he would run things according to how he believed best to run things, or else. There was almost certainly that or some other similar kind of tipping point where Travis forced the issue, to either have his rightful control over his arm of the franchise, or to be freed from the situation. (I'm aware that the playoff drama with Trae not flying home with the team also may have been a consideration; and on that point, perhaps Tony would have a good point, but not an overwhelming one that demanded a firing decision.)

 

The analogy that I believe fits is that I can take my dog for a walk, and I will let him have leash to go at his pace and where he pleases, but within boundaries I set and within a path that first and foremost I'm comfortable with... not him. He leads for the most part, but I nudge, and my nudges dictate direction. Indeed, if we come upon another dog that I consider a threat, I've been known to pull him back and maybe even reverse course.

That's what Ressler has been doing.

It allows him plausible deniability enough to claim that the dog has had all the leash necessary, and he's just followed behind... but that's not really what's going on... that's just the imagery he likes to be conveyed, because he knows himself to be a control freak, knows himself to be fake with all the True to ATL marketing when, no, this is first and foremost a financial investment, irrefutably.

If he's stopped doing that, though, I'm both an unapologetic skeptic and yet an open-minded observer who would be more than happy to re-engage as a fan if the evidence became extant.

Please tell me more, Soth.

And yes, knowing that you're challenging 8 years of evidence... we're both openly Christian, and so you get it, this is like persuading people that, no, Saul really did get struck down by light, really did get lectured by Jesus, and really did a 180... and he's Paul, not Saul, and he's now one of us.

Hard sell, but big if true.

[terrell]

1 hour ago, Afro said:

I have always loved Mykal but FIVE??? 

You best get a title or you're f***ed. 

It's crazy but the Knicks had a lot of assets..

So does OKC, who needs a center like Clint Capela..

[terrell]

1 hour ago, KB21 said:

So the Knicks are essentially the 2015-2016 Villanova Wildcats.  

What would they give us for Bey? 

[JTB]

Just now, terrell said:

It's crazy but the Knicks had a lot of assets..

So does OKC, who needs a center like Clint Capela..

Seems to me that the Knicks and OKC are following the Celtics build of stacking up on wings that can score at a decent clip if not better but especially defend at a high level.

Did the Cs just start a trend ?…it’s like a you can never have too many wings thing starting up.

[terrell]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

If the Hawks draft this guy, I will finally surrender and stop following the team.

Yeah right..

[terrell]

59 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Who will be the mystery team that acquires DJ? I think it might be a team we don't expect.

Pistons.. lol

 

[Bonzaii58]

Just watched Trae’s latest podcast. Below for reference. And there’s nothing earth shattering there imo. But for some reason afterwards I felt there was a very real possibility of him being traded. Not much talk or excitement from him around the #1 pick which I understand is probably more fun for us fans to think about than a competitive player who would prefer their team not be in the situation. 

Again, I don’t believe he has asked out and I don’t think anyone has stated that. But I worry that he’s already psychologically checked out of being a hawk which is sad. Now with the Knicks making moves (whether we agree with the compensation for Bridges or not) is just another reminder that the Hawks FO don’t make these kinds of moves. Always a day late and a dollar short. 

At this point, I think the hawks need to win big tomorrow in the draft AND this weekend when FA starts otherwise I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Trae asks out. Can’t say I could blame him. We just need to make moves that make us at least a top 6 seed. No more play in. It’s time to put up or shut up. 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 04:02 AM by Bonzaii58

[Wretch]

2 hours ago, h4wkfan said:

Am I the only one that doesn’t want Clingan at all? Stamina issues. Prior foot/ankle issues at his size. 
 

he missed 7 games this year and barely played 1/2 the time in those he did play (22.5 mpg). Last year he played every game … a whopping 13 mpg.

Sometimes the body doesn’t cooperate with the talent. I’ve seen this story before. I’m taking Edey 10/10 times over Clingan. And I’m not taking Edey likely until the end of the lottery.

I'm not interested in Clingan either.

 

[capstone21]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

I’m gonna guess the price they put on Murray goes up. The deal with NOLA was really close. Not sure it will have ramifications but can’t imagine they don’t ask for more now

What was it initially going to be before price went up?

[JTB]

12 minutes ago, Bonzaii58 said:

Just watched Trae’s latest podcast. Below for reference. And there’s nothing earth shattering there imo. But for some reason afterwards I felt there was a very real possibility of him being traded. Not much talk or excitement from him around the #1 pick which I understand is probably more fun for us fans to think about than a competitive player who would prefer their team not be in the situation. 

Again, I don’t believe he has asked out and I don’t think anyone has stated that. But I worry that he’s already psychologically checked out of being a hawk which is sad. Now with the Knicks making moves (whether we agree with the compensation for Bridges or not) is just another reminder that the Hawks FO don’t make these kinds of moves. Always a day late and a dollar short. 

At this point, I think the hawks need to win big tomorrow in the draft AND this weekend when FA starts otherwise I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Trae asks out. Can’t say I could blame him. We just need to make moves that make us at least a top 6 seed. No more play in. It’s time to put up or shut up. 

 

 

I didn’t get a sense from Trae that he could be traded. He sounds the same here like any other interview. He actually looks very nervous like he don’t want to reveal the wrong thing.

i take this interview differently in way that it seems like to me that he knows exactly what deals are on the table but he can’t speak on it.

could those deals include him?..it could but I seriously doubt it.