2024 Hawks Offseason Thread: What's Next? 2024-25 Season Outlook.

[Peoriabird]

50 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

We are thin at SF if Quin doesn't believe in Hunter and we have a 19 year old rookie

 

LOL!  Y'all are just comical

[Afro]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

We are good but lacking depth at PG.  Counting on Kobe but he's basically a rookie

We are ok at SG with Dyson and Bogi but neither are a complete player

We are thin at SF if Quin doesn't believe in Hunter and we have a 19 year old rookie

PF is good with JJ and Nance

C really isn't bad with Capela and OO.  Lots of teams work with less

 

So I still think we are shaky at the 2 and 3 just like the last few seasons.  We are counting on big contributions from Dyson and Zacc.   That's not a lock.  

Basically requiring Zacc to be good with this current construction scares the piss outta me lol. Whatever your feelings on the pick are, all rookies have a very big chance of being downright bad, and ours is still just 19 which makes those chances even higher. 

We have Bogi, DD, and Hunter as our only proven average or above average wings....(I'll add JJ for peoria.....but Gueye and Nance are the only ones behind him soooooo)

[Peoriabird]

8 minutes ago, Afro said:

Basically requiring Zacc to be good with this current construction scares the piss outta me lol. Whatever your feelings on the pick are, all rookies have a very big chance of being downright bad, and ours is still just 19 which makes those chances even higher. 

We have Bogi, DD, and Hunter as our only proven average or above average wings....(I'll add JJ for peoria.....but Gueye and Nance are the only ones behind him soooooo)

Mathews as well

[Afro]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

Mathews as well

Yeah you are welcome to bank that Matthews is an average-above average winning player. I'm good lol. He's perfectly fine. But that's about as far as Im going lol. 

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, Afro said:

Yeah you are welcome to bank that Matthews is an average-above average winning player. I'm good lol. He's perfectly fine. But that's about as far as Im going lol. 

We are expecting 3rd string players to be game changers now?

[Afro]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

We are expecting 3rd string players to be game changers now?

I'm going to need you to go back and read what this conversation actually is about lol. 

Because that's not at all what anyone said. 

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, Afro said:

I'm going to need you to go back and read what this conversation actually is about lol. 

Because that's not at all what anyone said. 

You said what you said in a sarcastic manner so I wasn't sure what you meant

[Afro]

8 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

You said what you said in a sarcastic manner so I wasn't sure what you meant

Well yeah, cause I said we had 3 proven average to above average wings and you said Garry Bird lol.

My original point is just that I think we're trying to do two things: Rebuild and develop guys and win. I am very curious to see if they can thread that needle. If ZR is bad you're playing dudes more minutes than a winning team should or constantly playing guys out of position. If DD doesn't take the leap we're all expecting, same thing. If Bufkin can't handle backup PG minutes, same thing. 

There's just a lot of gambles on this roster for a team that probably should be competing for a top 6ish seed. Center can be added to that, but not for the same reasons. 

Edited July 9 by Afro

[Gray Mule]

This season's players are taller, younger and slightly more athletic.  Our 2 headed monster at PG is gone.  All of next season will depend on the health of Trae Young.  This is an awesome responsibility to heap on the head of one player.  As he goes, so goes the Hawks.  As of now, Atlanta has more players than they have slots.  A two for one or a three for one may be necessary.  Otherwise, we may just lose a player.  

[AHF]

Backup PG, SF and PF are my biggest worries as far as roster depth.

If Trae is out, we are going to be hurting given our options as primary playmakers.  As long as he is healthy, I think we are fine with 14 minutes or so a game of Daniels, Bogi, Bufkin, etc. teaming to move the ball.  I also think Risacher should be better at passing than Hunter and JJ is a strong passer at PF which helps.

The only guys who can defend big wings on the team consistently, imo, are Hunter and Risacher.  If Risacher struggles as a rookie on the defensive end that will be very problematic.  If Hunter suffers his annual extended injury we are going to be in some trouble (but if  Risacher can handle opposing big wings then much better off than last year).  Both would be a really bad position for the team.

I don't list JJ as someone to guard big wings because we are a two man shop at PF and I'm not fully convinced Nance can play extended minutes there so I think we will need JJ at PF for nearly all the minutes he plays.  These are Nance's minutes from last season and they are basically all at center:

As long as JJ is healthy then I don't think it is asking too much for Nance to play some time there.  He did when he was younger and it doesn't seem like a huge stretch.  But if he has slowed down some then that leaves us very thin at the position and for the same reason you'd be reluctant to slot JJ at SF you would likewise be reluctant to slot Hunter at PF (lack of depth at SF).

I don't ever want to see us having to give heavy minutes to guys like Mat(t)hews again.  (I'd love to see someone like Mathews or Gueye, etc. improve enough to earn more minutes but I don't count on either one being a competent defender at this stage of their careers.)

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

Backup PG, SF and PF are my biggest worries as far as roster depth.

If Trae is out, we are going to be hurting given our options as primary playmakers.  As long as he is healthy, I think we are fine with 14 minutes or so a game of Daniels, Bogi, Bufkin, etc. teaming to move the ball.  I also think Risacher should be better at passing than Hunter and JJ is a strong passer at PF which helps.

The only guys who can defend big wings on the team consistently, imo, are Hunter and Risacher.  If Risacher struggles as a rookie on the defensive end that will be very problematic.  If Hunter suffers his annual extended injury we are going to be in some trouble (but if  Risacher can handle opposing big wings then much better off than last year).  Both would be a really bad position for the team.

I don't list JJ as someone to guard big wings because we are a two man shop at PF and I'm not fully convinced Nance can play extended minutes there so I think we will need JJ at PF for nearly all the minutes he plays.  These are Nance's minutes from last season and they are basically all at center:

As long as JJ is healthy then I don't think it is asking too much for Nance to play some time there.  He did when he was younger and it doesn't seem like a huge stretch.  But if he has slowed down some then that leaves us very thin at the position and for the same reason you'd be reluctant to slot JJ at SF you would likewise be reluctant to slot Hunter at PF (lack of depth at SF).

I don't ever want to see us having to give heavy minutes to guys like Mat(t)hews again.  (I'd love to see someone like Mathews or Gueye, etc. improve enough to earn more minutes but I don't count on either one being a competent defender at this stage of their careers.)

DD has already proven that he can defend big wing

[AHF]

7 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

DD has already proven that he can defend big wing

If he isn't playing minutes at SG then we have a depth problem there.  I am counting on him and Bogi playing around 54 minutes a game between the two of them which will mean a few minutes at the big wing but not enough to slide him over especially if one gets hurt in which case I think all their minutes and then some will be at the SG spot.  (Both have had injuries in the past as well with ankle and knee respectively).

[Gray Mule]

M. Gueye is one of our unknowns this upcoming season.  Injured and missed a lot of time his rookie season.  He was around, however, learning.  As Yogi might have said, "Half of this game is 90% mental!"  

As we ponder who will be where and who will do what, don't forget M. Gueye.  I think most posters really like him.

[AHF]

3 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

M. Gueye is one of our unknowns this upcoming season.  Injured and missed a lot of time his rookie season.  He was around, however, learning.  As Yogi might have said, "Half of this game is 90% mental!"  

As we ponder who will be where and who will do what, don't forget M. Gueye.  I think most posters really like him.

I am not counting on him at all in assessing our depth but I definitely haven't forgotten about him.  He was just very raw coming into last year and lost a lot of developmental time due to injury.  I hope he will be able to step up and earn some of the backup PF minutes as well.  Still excited about his potential.

[Peoriabird]

29 minutes ago, AHF said:

If he isn't playing minutes at SG then we have a depth problem there.  I am counting on him and Bogi playing around 54 minutes a game between the two of them which will mean a few minutes at the big wing but not enough to slide him over especially if one gets hurt in which case I think all their minutes and then some will be at the SG spot.  (Both have had injuries in the past as well with ankle and knee respectively).

Then we have Mathews and Vit to slide over to the 2.  Why are we talking about scenarios where the majority of the starting line up is out anyway?  Let see what we have 1st before declaring the season lost due to multiple injuries or worst case scenarios with unknown players performances

[Peoriabird]

29 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

M. Gueye is one of our unknowns this upcoming season.  Injured and missed a lot of time his rookie season.  He was around, however, learning.  As Yogi might have said, "Half of this game is 90% mental!"  

As we ponder who will be where and who will do what, don't forget M. Gueye.  I think most posters really like him.

Don't you know nobody gets better during the off season! LOL!

[ShayD]

11 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Then we have Mathews and Vit to slide over to the 2.  Why are we talking about scenarios where the majority of the starting line up is out anyway?  Let see what we have 1st before declaring the season lost due to multiple injuries or worst case scenarios with unknown players performances

Vit is not even signed on the roster yet. Have to get rid of one of Bruno, Zeller or Liddell

Depth Chart:

PG: Trae, Kobe

SG: Dyson, Bogi, Mathews

SF: Hunter, Risacher

PF: Jalen, Nance, Gueye

C : Capela, Okongwu, Bruno, Zeller

A lot of unproven and high expectations on the roster. 1 injury to a major player and there might be problems.

Edited July 9 by ShayD

[macdaddy]

2 minutes ago, ShayD said:

Vit is not even signed on the roster yet. Have to get rid of one of Bruno, Zeller or Liddell

This is why I think there is some kind of move coming even if it's a small one.  

[ShayD]

3 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

This is why I think there is some kind of move coming even if it's a small one.  

I still do not understand how Liddell and Zeller were not re-routed to a 3rd team. Landry has to have known those roster spots were important. Unless he was clueless.

[macdaddy]

3 minutes ago, ShayD said:

I still do not understand how Liddell and Zeller were not re-routed to a 3rd team. Landry has to have known those roster spots were important. Unless he was clueless.

We can hope they wanted the salary to complete a seperate trade.   I don't know though.