2024-25 Insider Thread

[macdaddy]

Hawks always feel like we are the 'one more and done' franchise with guys coming here to ride the pine and prove that they are washed.  

[ATLHawks3]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

He got benched in a brutally unjustified way while he was here so that may well have soured him on the team in a way that has nothing to do with Fields.  I don't think that makes the sales pitch from Fields impossible but it means he has to overcome that presumably by pointing out that it is a new coaching staff and new front office.  Some GMs are better than others at convincing guys to buy in.  Time will tell whether this type of sales job is a strength for Landry.

 

Yup, Nate had completely removed Delon from the rotation in the early part of the 21-22 season for Lou Williams.

 

He also cut his minutes later on that season as well:

 

The bridge was probably burned then. He was never coming back here.

[ATLHawks3]

Again: 

 

[AHF]

Was a really stupid decision by Nate at the time.  Lou clearly did not deserve to play over Delon.

[NBASupes]

6 hours ago, Phunkabilly said:

I'm just going off memory and don't have a source of where I heard this, but I'm pretty sure Delon wasn't exactly thrilled with his experience in Atlanta.  Granted, it's pretty much an entirely new regime at this point, but he may have soured on Atlanta enough to where most of the other teams in the league would have a leg up on us.  Hard to criticize Landry for not getting a free agent who most likely didn't want to come here.

He wasn't. He didn't hate it but the words I got was, I prefer not to come back to Atlanta but I did get Atlanta fans really like him and he gets a lot of love from Hawks fans more than others. Mainly because how bad our PG situation is for a backup. We tried to get Delon but he wasn't interested 

[JeffS17]

I never really liked Nate after he installed his schemes and coaching staffs, but I also didn't think he was horrible.  He was not good but not the worse... I was actually really nervous when we fired him because it was still possible to go backwards (look at teams like the Nets bringing in Nash, etc).  Anyway, the decision to not play Delon in favor of washed Lou Will was always indefensible and still pisses me off.

[ATLHawks3]

3 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

I never really liked Nate after he installed his schemes and coaching staffs, but I also didn't think he was horrible.  He was not good but not the worse... I was actually really nervous when we fired him because it was still possible to go backwards (look at teams like the Nets bringing in Nash, etc).  Anyway, the decision to not play Delon in favor of washed Lou Will was always indefensible and still pisses me off.

Nate didn't care about the development of our young players that was the final straw with me.

[Vol4ever]

38 minutes ago, ATLHawks3 said:

Nate didn't care about the development of our young players that was the final straw with me.

I liked Nate he was personable when I was around him a couple of times, but I agree with you on this. 

[Sothron]

Nate is an average NBA HC with some positives and some negatives. The way he handled Delon was one of the most idiotic coaching blunders I've ever seen from a Hawks coach.

Delon doesn't want to come back here. He knows the situation changed but he can be a good backup PG for other teams and not have to worry about Atlanta.

It doesn't mean I can't still miss him.

The team needs a veteran backup PG. Mrs. Sothron keeps joking about Brevin Knight so much (this is for our 2k guys @NBASupes and @Spud2nique ) that on the Kobe era Hawks I just traded to get him back as the BU for Terry. 

Jokes/2k franchise mode aside, this is what we need on the roster. A veteran BU pg that knows his role and can absolutely engage Kobe in a mentorship aspect and be ready to play if needed. 

[JTB]

8 hours ago, Sothron said:

Nate is an average NBA HC with some positives and some negatives. The way he handled Delon was one of the most idiotic coaching blunders I've ever seen from a Hawks coach.

Delon doesn't want to come back here. He knows the situation changed but he can be a good backup PG for other teams and not have to worry about Atlanta.

It doesn't mean I can't still miss him.

The team needs a veteran backup PG. Mrs. Sothron keeps joking about Brevin Knight so much (this is for our 2k guys @NBASupes and @Spud2nique ) that on the Kobe era Hawks I just traded to get him back as the BU for Terry. 

Jokes/2k franchise mode aside, this is what we need on the roster. A veteran BU pg that knows his role and can absolutely engage Kobe in a mentorship aspect and be ready to play if needed. 

Seems to me that we should be addressing the center position more than anything else but sounds like there may be a final decision to move forward with OO as our next starting center.

also I just saw a report that the blazers are prioritizing moving grant and Simons …no signs of moving ayton so that tells me they are really going to roll out a big lineup like the wolves did a few seasons ago….meanwhile hawks are still trying to make this small ball stuff work over putting a lengthy big lineup around Trae.

Backup PG is important but it’s not as important to me if we have Bogi, Hunter, Nance jr. and potentially Capela coming off the bench. I mean let’s be real Bufkin if placed in that backup role could be surrounded by some good quality vets. I think it’s the least of our worries honestly.

[macdaddy]

OO may be small at center but we've increased size where we needed it at 2,3, and 4 by adding dyson, Zacc and Nance

[RedDawg#8]

16 minutes ago, JTB said:

Seems to me that we should be addressing the center position more than anything else but sounds like there may be a final decision to move forward with OO as our next starting center.

also I just saw a report that the blazers are prioritizing moving grant and Simons …no signs of moving ayton so that tells me they are really going to roll out a big lineup like the wolves did a few seasons ago….meanwhile hawks are still trying to make this small ball stuff work over putting a lengthy big lineup around Trae.

Backup PG is important but it’s not as important to me if we have Bogi, Hunter, Nance jr. and potentially Capela coming off the bench. I mean let’s be real Bufkin if placed in that backup role could be surrounded by some good quality vets. I think it’s the least of our worries honestly.

Bufkin’s injury concerns are also why we are saying we need another PG. Trae can’t play 48 mins a night and Bufkin got hurt again before SL after being out most of his rookie year. It’s a risk to go into the season without an emergency option at the least.

We need a skill/talent upgrade at Center for sure, but we have 5 Centers currently on the roster that we need to clear up before talking about bringing in another.
 

[Gray Mule]

Rumors abound.  Action, Nill.  

I check here, several times a day, to see if anything has happened.  Quiet.  Who needs some of our centers?  Who has that elusive PG that we need, down at the end of our bench?

All we can do is to continue our checking the Squawk.  It's going to happen.  We wonder when??

[JTB]

53 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Bufkin’s injury concerns are also why we are saying we need another PG. Trae can’t play 48 mins a night and Bufkin got hurt again before SL after being out most of his rookie year. It’s a risk to go into the season without an emergency option at the least.

We need a skill/talent upgrade at Center for sure, but we have 5 Centers currently on the roster that we need to clear up before talking about bringing in another.
 

It’s possible that Bogi may be running point off the bench and newly acquired SG/SF Roddy will get some significant minutes off the bench to allow backup PG minutes to be split between Bufkin and Bogi.

just throwing that out there because well that is a cheap way to fix it.

you mentioned “risk”…honestly everything about this off season is risky because we are facing a very serious chance in losing our franchise player.

I don’t hate this offseasons moves …it just doesn’t assure anything in the near future. We still need that one big move to guarantee Trae is a hawk for life and I’m not so sure we’ll see that happen.

[JTB]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

OO may be small at center but we've increased size where we needed it at 2,3, and 4 by adding dyson, Zacc and Nance

I will say this….if there is ANY hope this season to be better than expected it won’t be because of Trae…it will be because of his surroundings …

Dyson - showing he has point of attack defense and showcasing he very well could be an elite defender with a reliable 3pter

Jalen - stepping up to all star status and meeting his potential 

Risacher - being a off ball efficient offensive menace while playing good defense 

OO - being a reliable 3pt shooter and expanding his offense game while keeping his grit mentality on defense.

 

UNFORTUNATELY these are all IFs…..it could happen and we could win 45-50 games but that’s wishful thinking this all clicks at the same time.

The only thing I really love about this team is the bench and it’s possible the bench doesn’t stay like it is today and I consider the bench Bogi, Hunter, Nance, and just recently Capela….that’s a hell of a bench unit to throw out on the floor vs any team. This is where the value is in my opinion.

The starters will go as far as Trae and JJ takes them and without for sure good spacing it’s tough to know how far the starters will get and yes I believe Dyson and Risacher should be starters. Not for it to be handed to them but from just an overall fit perspective it’s not really an argument.

[JayBirdHawk]

9 minutes ago, JTB said:

It’s possible that Bogi may be running point off the bench and newly acquired SG/SF Roddy will get some significant minutes off the bench to allow backup PG minutes to be split between Bufkin and Bogi.

just throwing that out there because well that is a cheap way to fix it.

Bogi can handle the ball, I just don't want us not having a legitimate vet backup PG. We have struggled on offense when Trae sits as it is, we shouldn't go into the season without one.

[Gray Mule]

In an emergency, JJ could handle the PG duties.  Don't look so shocked.  He can dribble the ball and walk at the same time.  He's been known to throw a pass or two while playing in a game.  And, another thing, he's not as dumb as a box of rocks.

Notice, I said in an emergency, not as a regular thing.  

[akay]

We need a vet pg?  

 

[ShooterSays]

Bruno just waived per Shams fyi

[ShayD]

 

Unlucky casualty.