Tomorrow night (Monday) Hawks play game #2, pre-season.

[macdaddy]

Trae/Bogi/Hunter/Capela/OO/Nance are all vets

DD and JJ are entering their third and fourth year.

Zacc and Kobe are the only projected 'rookies' in the rotation. 

It's sad to expect a 'development year' out of this with the amount of experience in the top 10 guys.  

[sturt]

1 hour ago, terrell said:

I mean no player is happy when you draft their replacement.. JC knew the writing was on the wall when we drafted JJ.. Dre knows it too..with Risacher....

Just sayin.. lol

 

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

so if Hunter is moving to the bench and Zacc sarts at SF - isn't that a direct replacement. He's taking his spot as the starting SF which he has held since being drafted.

 

Soooooooooooo... I hear that... and yet... you're arguing that somehow this all got DH upset... just now.... and he erupted in a preseason game???

 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, sturt said:

 

 

Soooooooooooo... I hear that... and yet... you're arguing that somehow this all got DH upset... just now.... and he erupted in a preseason game???

 

It's speculation - I'm allowed.

[sturt]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

It's speculation - I'm allowed.

It's rebuttal. I'm allowed.... hehe.

[Atlantaholic]

42 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

We are gonna surprise some folks. We are a TEAM. Seems like a cohesive unit. I like all our guys willingness to make the extra pass. Team concept of Quin kickin in. Hey that rhymes 

Go Hawks! 

I have no doubt the Hawks will play some better basketball but have you seen the east? Who are we overtaking, not Boston, not Milwaukee, not Cleveland, not Orlando,not the Knicks, maaaaaybe the 76ers if Embiid and PG miss most of the games. 90% chance we are fighting for a playin spot with the likes of the Raptors and Heat. 

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, sturt said:

It's rebuttal. I'm allowed.... hehe.

As is your right!

[Atlantaholic]

9 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Trae/Bogi/Hunter/Capela/OO/Nance are all vets

DD and JJ are entering their third and fourth year.

Zacc and Kobe are the only projected 'rookies' in the rotation. 

It's sad to expect a 'development year' out of this with the amount of experience in the top 10 guys.  

Zacc, Kobe, DD and JJ are all under 24 years old and clearly still developing. They are going to be core pieces of our rotation. 

[sturt]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

As is your right!

Back at ya. And may the better reasoning win.

[sturt]

2 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I have no doubt the Hawks will play some better basketball but have you seen the east? Who are we overtaking, not Boston, not Milwaukee, not Cleveland, not Orlando,not the Knicks, maaaaaybe the 76ers if Embiid and PG miss most of the games. 90% chance we are fighting for a playin spot with the likes of the Raptors and Heat. 

What tends to go unnoticed in the preseason prediction conversation though widely understood... though then, widely discounted nonetheless...

 

Jalen's on an upward trajectory by almost anyone's account, whether internally or externally (last night notwithstanding).

Risacher same.

Daniels won't be so universally assessed as "upward trajectory" but it's entirely plausible that by the end of the season, given his age and given his statistical improvement from his rookie year to his sophomore year, he will be more highly regarded then than now.

 

And.

There will be some number of players on those rosters that are currently considered automatic playoff contenders who will regress or who will be injured and it ends up having similar effect on those teams' performance.

 

Thus.

There is strong reason to resist thinking about 24-25 in terms of 23-24, at minimum. At maximum? There is reason.. not strong but still, reason... to not be surprised by a Trae+Young Prodigies (Dyson-Jalen-Zacc) phenomenon that ends up the big story of the 24-25 season.

[JayBirdHawk]

33 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

We are in a period where this FO has let Dre go spoiled now. 

We are close to Capela getting spoiled (not in a good way).

Kobe is not going to work.

 

Package them all for some defensive players. NOW.

Who would you realistically trade them for?

[Vol4ever]

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

If he wasn't injured, then maybe he sulked having been told he's coming off the bench to start the second half?

They just held him out for the rest of the game.   No issues 

[Wretch]

Back on the subject of expectations for the season...

Now that I've seen this team play, I have a MUCH better read on our floor/ceiling and I'm loving a lot of what I'm seeing this preseason...and I'm seeing A TON. 

Clearly the big eye opener is our length and overall defensive adjustment.  I'm gonna take a page from Supes and just go unhinged on the praise.  We looked scary good on defense in that first quarter.  Absolutely menacing.  I love it.  I have almost zero doubt that we can lock up a playoff spot on that level of defensive intensity alone.  However...

We have to put the ball in the damn basket.  There's enough talent in the starting lineup to make things interesting and if we move DH to the bench with Bogi, I don't see how we're not at least a middle of the pack team on talent alone.  But...if JJ doesn't take the leap and/or we're going to do it by committee, then execution will need to be our other calling card and I'm sorry...but "live by the Trae, die by the Trae" isn't going to cut it.  The only thing that has me more frustrated than watching CC play volleyball under the basket...is watching Trae trying to shoulder the entirety of the offense year after year.

As for the rest of the team...I could offer a lot of things about different guys.  However, the one player that I'm honestly most intrigued by is Vit.  I liked him last season and has shown all sorts of flashes of talent.  I wonder how much of a role he can handle on the 2nd unit.

Lastly...

I have a controversial and positively wretched take that's gonna get me stoned by the village, so I'm just keeping it in my pocket for now.  LOL remember this thread though, because when I finally do put it out there, ya'll are all gonna do this:

[macdaddy]

4 minutes ago, Wretch said:

I have a controversial and positively wretched take that's gonna get me stoned by the village, so I'm just keeping it in my pocket for now.  LOL remember this thread though, because when I finally do put it out there, ya'll are all gonna do this:

As a mod i'm ordering you to put it out there now.  AHF, LW, Cap can i do that?  No??  Dammit why did i sign up for this?

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, Wretch said:

I have a controversial and positively wretched take that's gonna get me stoned by the village, so I'm just keeping it in my pocket for now.  LOL remember this thread though, because when I finally do put it out there, ya'll are all gonna do this:

 

What do you have in your pocketses? (In my Gollum voice)

Tell us 

Can't wait.  I have my gif reaction queued up and ready. 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, Atlantaholic said:

Orlando

Not sold on them just yet.

[sturt]

44 minutes ago, Wretch said:

Lastly...

I have a controversial and positively wretched take that's gonna get me stoned by the village, so I'm just keeping it in my pocket for now.  LOL remember this thread though, because when I finally do put it out there, ya'll are all gonna do this:

 

Hey hey hey. Stay in your lane. I have dibs on positively controversial and wretched. Always have. Always will.

[REHawksFan]

2 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

And if Dre is coming off the bench for 22-25 mins, then he is really starting to be overpaid. He is making like 5 mil more than Bogi. So yea, if he loses his spot and minutes to a mix of ZR and Dyson Daniels, he is getting replaced. And that's not a bad thing. 

I don't understand the logic of being too expensive to be a bench player.  Dre is paid what he's paid.  It was a deal done to keep him at the time.  If he's no longer the best player to start, then bench him.  Who cares if he's higher paid than a "typical" bench player (whatever that means).  If you can get starting quality NBA player on a rookie deal, you can afford to have a backup that makes more.  It's just not a concern of mine.  

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

At this point I'm not concerned with Hunter's salary as a bench player, it is what it is......we once had a $20 mil Gallo coming off the bench and it worked. I want the rotations maximized to give us the best of offense and defense.

Agreed. 

[gurpilo]

hace 6 minutos, REHawksFan dijo:

I don't understand the logic of being too expensive to be a bench player.  Dre is paid what he's paid.  It was a deal done to keep him at the time.  If he's no longer the best player to start, then bench him.  Who cares if he's higher paid than a "typical" bench player (whatever that means).  If you can get starting quality NBA player on a rookie deal, you can afford to have a backup that makes more.  It's just not a concern of mine.  

Agreed. 

At this point if we could package Capela and Hunter for Ayton and Thybulle we should do it. Same amount money, upgrades the C position and gets similar value at SF with less money and better fit.

[Final_quest]

58 minutes ago, Wretch said:

Lastly...

I have a controversial and positively wretched take that's gonna get me stoned by the village, so I'm just keeping it in my pocket for now.  LOL remember this thread though, because when I finally do put it out there, ya'll are all gonna do this:

Two years ago it was predicting Nate gets fired.  Cassandra accuracy might be your thing.  
I’ll say it for you.  We won’t be good enough or show enough positive potential to keep Trae.  Whether the FO or Trae makes the move, it will happen.  When we hit a 14-20 record again it is the next domino to fall: coach, GM, then player(s).  

[Atlantaholic]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Not sold on them just yet.

I'm not "sold" on them either but they had more wins last season then the Hawks have had in a single year since 2016, their entire core is back and filled with young players that have gotten better every year and are playing in their third year together. It's a bit of a longshot to assume complete stagnation from Orlando and a big jump from the Hawks imo. If we are being realistic and not homers.

To me the teams that could fall this year are the Heat, Bucks and Sixers (assuming Embiid and George miss large chunks of the year... which is kind of likely)