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

[JayBirdHawk]

2 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

Odd thing for the writer to say as Risacher pick was probably the least risky pick we could have taken.  

 

2 hours ago, AHF said:

Agree but it was overall a reasonable take on the offseason.  Wish more attention would have been given to changes other than ZR addition and DM subtraction.  (No mention of Dyson is strange if you paid attention to the offseason.)

Article didn't post as I had intended, missing the intro and I also posted the wrong link  

The Atlanta Hawks' offseason has largely come and gone, but it was certainly eventful. They traded away Dejounte Murray and got a package that included Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. They shockingly won the draft lottery and ended up picking French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick. There are a wide variety of opinions on how their off-season went, but it would be difficult to argue that the Hawks are not going to look significantly different last season.

Some NBA analysts are not convinced. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report had this to say when describing every NBA team's offseason with one word:

"Atlanta Hawks: Idling"

"The Atlanta Hawks sent significant draft currency to the San Antonio Spurs to acquire Dejounte Murray, who they recently traded to the New Orleans Pelicans to recoup some of what was lost.
The team did luck into the No. 1 overall pick to draft Zaccharie Risacher, but is the 19-year-old wing ready to help the team win around Trae Young? Identifying direction is difficult, as the Hawks seem to be running in place."

Personally, I do not agree with this perspective on the Hawks' moves. I would argue that the Hawks have done the exact opposite of "idling" over the past two seasons. They made a big, win-now trade to get Murray from San Antonio in the first place. Giving up their 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 pick swap and 2027 first-round pick was an overpay at the time and it ended up being a bigger one than the front office had planned for.When the fit between Murray and Young did not work, they instead pivoted in a new direction. If they were truly "idling", they would have insisted on making this partnership work for one more season and placed a lot of faith in the addition of Risacher. They instead got players that occupy smaller, useful roles on the roster. Are Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr going to play a massive role in elevating the Hawks past the first round? The likely answer is no. However, both will fill useful roles on the roster. In particular, Daniels is a player who has upside as an effective two-way wing. Even though he's currently slated as the third-string center, Nance is a smart veteran who offers good passing and respectable shooting. Daniels should bolster the defense while Nance gives the Hawks injury insurance (something that should never be discounted).

 

I do agree with Pincus's statement that identifying the direction of the Hawks is confusing. However, I think the reason it is difficult to identify their direction is because they are in a very unique situation. The Hawks have a star point guard who is entering his prime. It is easy to forget that Young is only 26 years old with an Eastern Conference Finals appearance as the primary option under his belt. However, the Hawks do not control their picks for the next three years. Therefore, they are not currently set up to take advantage of Young's prime years from his age-27 to his age-29 season.

https://www.si.com/nba/hawks/news/nba-media-describes-the-hawks-offseason-as-idling-01j87q72z4v7

[Gray Mule]

In the NBA, there are never any games played where any team is guaranteed to win.  Therefore, every team has the chance to win every game played.  Middle of the road teams, neither the best nor worst, should win half their games.  I hope and expect this season's Hawk team to exceed this!  Only a major injury or sickness should prevent this.  Pray for good health and an accident-free season!

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Wretch]

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

So, in the context of roster spots, practice bodies, deadlines, potentialities, etc....I'm curious as to what the rationale for signing this dude for 5 minutes was.

Can someone explain?

[macdaddy]

26 minutes ago, Wretch said:

So, in the context of roster spots, practice bodies, deadlines, potentialities, etc....I'm curious as to what the rationale for signing this dude for 5 minutes was.

Can someone explain?

Some teams play checkers, others play chess.......hawks play ring around the rosie. 

[JayBirdHawk]

3 hours ago, Wretch said:

So, in the context of roster spots, practice bodies, deadlines, potentialities, etc....I'm curious as to what the rationale for signing this dude for 5 minutes was.

Can someone explain?

I don't know what the thinking is on the Hawks side, but maybe he got a 2way offer from another team or is heading overseas??? So he asked to be waived?

[JayBirdHawk]

 

Offseason

• Re-signing: Vit Krejci
• Additions: Dominick Barlow (free agent), Dyson Daniels (trade), Larry Nance Jr. (trade), David Roddy (trade), Cody Zeller (trade)
• Draft: Zaccharie Risacher (No. 1 pick), Nikola Djurisic (No. 43)
• Departures: Saddiq Bey (to Wizards), Bruno Fernando (waived), AJ Griffin (to Rockets), EJ Liddell (to Suns), Dejounte Murray (to Pelicans)
• Unsigned Free Agents: Trent Forrest, Seth Lundy, Wesley Matthews, Dylan Windler

---

Last season

With Trae Young out for 28 games, the Hawks lacked a clear offensive focal point and ultimately fell short of the playoffs. It represented yet another slip for the franchise, triggering the need for a shakeup.

Dejounte Murray was solid at times without Young, impacting both ends of the floor and generating conversation about whether the Hawks needed both. (Atlanta decided it didn’t, trading Murray to New Orleans.) Jalen Johnson took a step forward in his young career and emerged as a franchise keeper. But 36-46 didn’t cut it for a team that envisioned much more.

---

Summer summary

The good news is the Hawks beat the Draft lottery odds and landed the first overall pick for the second time in franchise history. The less-than-good news is this was 2024, not 2023. Missing out on a transformational player such as Victor Wembanyama was just a case of bad timing. They settled on Zaccharie Risacher, a young Frenchman with shooting, court awareness and defensive instincts.

Once that was settled, the Hawks made a bolder move, sending Murray on his way and breaking up a backcourt high on promise and short on delivery.

---

Spotlight on

De’Andre Hunter fits the definition of an enigma. He has obvious physical tools but only twice played 60 or more games in his five seasons. In 2022, the Hawks gave him an extension on his rookie deal. However,  the former No. 4 pick has for the most part been only their fourth-best player since. Is the next step coming? If not, he might have value at the trade deadline as a capable defender.

---

How far can the Hawks go?

Because the Hawks are on the hook for those 2025, ’26 and ’27 first-round picks they surrendered to the Spurs for Murray, they couldn’t afford to push the reset button this offseason. So they’re “stuck” — if that’s the right word — with Young.

He remains a good, if sometimes inefficient, offensive player. But he’s missing a co-star (unless Johnson flirts with All-Star consideration) and even then, that probably just makes the Hawks a Play-In Tournament threat. Unless the Hawks find a magic formula and Risacher is a quick study, the only beneficiary in the next few years will be the Spurs.

[ATLHawks3]

7 hours ago, Wretch said:

So, in the context of roster spots, practice bodies, deadlines, potentialities, etc....I'm curious as to what the rationale for signing this dude for 5 minutes was.

Can someone explain?

They retain his G-League rights if he's not signed by another team I believe. 

[JeffS17]

JJ Redick says the Lakers starting lineup will be D’lo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui and AD.  How is our pick looking?  That's gotta be a bottom 10 defense, right? Bottom 3 if AD gets hurt.

[AHF]

10 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

JJ Redick says the Lakers starting lineup will be D’lo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui and AD.  How is our pick looking?  That's gotta be a bottom 10 defense, right? Bottom 3 if AD gets hurt.

I think LeBron and AD's health is what it is all about.  Last year they both played 70+ games and the team won 48 with a starting lineup of D'lo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui (39 starts)/Prince (49 starts) and AD.   They were #16 in DRTG.

If they are healthy like that again LA will be good.  If either misses significant time, they will be significantly worse.  If both miss significant time, it could be a disaster there.

[JeffS17]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

I think LeBron and AD's health is what it is all about.  Last year they both played 70+ games and the team won 48 with a starting lineup of D'lo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui (39 starts)/Prince (49 starts) and AD.   They were #16 in DRTG.

If they are healthy like that again LA will be good.  If either misses significant time, they will be significantly worse.  If both miss significant time, it could be a disaster there.

If they continue to get the most absurd whistle in the league, I agree with your assessment.  But Lebron is aging and cannot give full effort minutes anymore and the west continues to get better imo.  AD health is definitely the biggest factor though as his absence turns them into a true bottom feeder

[AHF]

9 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Lebron is aging and cannot give full effort minutes anymore 

I'm not sure how different that will be from last year.  He is still great when engaged and when he selectively gives full effort he is still really impactful.  His overall 26/8/7 production is just incredible for his age.  I think the idea that they will be dramatically worse than last year is all about health.  If LeBron plays 2504 minutes and AD plays 2700 minutes like last year then this pick won't be in the lottery.  Good news is that this is unlikely and the Lakers didn't improve their roster even if their starters are basically the same year over year.  A bench of Cam, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, etc. isn't useless but is hardly gangbusters.  They did luck into a mature potential impact rookie in Dalton Knecht, but I don't think it is likely that he is a difference maker.

[benhillboy]

If anyone has the Hawks portion of this article I’d appreciate it:

 

[kg01]

56 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

If anyone has the Hawks portion of this article I’d appreciate it:

 

Why, you wanna ... enjoy yourself to the negativity? 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

Why, you wanna ... enjoy yourself to the negativity? 

I’ll guess what it says.

 

Hawks are in rebuild mode because they have no first round picks of their own coming up and they are all going to the Spurs. They are “stuck” with Trae Young for the time being.

 

They have no secondary stars ️..

Their fanbase is a$$ specially that 2 second wonder from the Sac de Cul..  

 

Not verbatim but you get it.

 

ps If they are predicting w/L I’m guessing they give us 30-35 in the win column max.

Lame  

[Gray Mule]

4 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

 

 

ps If they are predicting w/L I’m guessing they give us 30-35 in the win column max.

Lame  

Oh no!  They are more optimistic.  They project 35.5 wins!!

[kg01]

7 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

I’ll guess what it says.

 

Hawks are in rebuild mode because they have no first round picks of their own coming up and they are all going to the Spurs. They are “stuck” with Trae Young for the time being.

 

They have no secondary stars ️..

Their fanbase is a$$ specially that 2 second wonder from the Sac de Cul..  

 

Not verbatim but you get it.

 

ps If they are predicting w/L I’m guessing they give us 30-35 in the win column max.

Lame  

I'll give it a shot...

Hawks recognize they NEED to MOVE Tray Yung but found everybody valued him as a bench role player and would rather have TJ McConnell. 

Hawks really need to move John Collins.  And made a YUGE mistake not building around Dejauntay Murphy.

Bogdanovic is complete trash who'll never contribute  meaningful minutes in any scenario.  Any scenario. 

Maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to trade Bogdanovich to DEN to reunite with Jokic.  Bogdanovic is such a talented player that'd he'd instantly extend Denvers title window.

Nothing else in Atlanta matters plus I hit my minimum word requirements so ... bye? 

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

Tray Yung

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

Murphy

 

[kg01]

24 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

 

I was proudest of 'Dejauntay'. 

[Spud2nique]

59 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I was proudest of 'Dejauntay'. 

People who write national media type articles on the Hawks really do inspire me to start a blog on John Madden shoes . The ladies love them and I know a lot about it. I was a lady’s shoe show her like Alfonse Bundy.