Draft Atlanta Hawks Pick-Swap Watch Thread

[Em-City]

the annoying one is the Clippers pick going to OKC, it could end up being a top3 with a potential for a superstar

Yeah this one kinda keeps me up some nights... Damn thunder

 

[Raven_]

let's face it, if the atlanta pick manages to get into the lottery, it will be a top 2 pick.

 

[ambchang]

Y’all think that maybe scapegoating Trae has gotten a little too far? They just don’t have a good team.

Nah, they may not be a good team but Trae just makes them worse.

 

[LeBowen]

Nah, they may not be a good team but Trae just makes them worse.

Trae at least has a reasonable excuse for his awful defense.
Johnson is just as bad and he's a 6'9 forwad.

Interesting hypothetical: would you take the Spurs getting a top 3 pick in this years draft if it also meant that OKC and ATL also get a top 3 pick? You have to say yes but its interesting to think about

I'll actually say we're one star player ahead of OKC.

Chet is never going to be anything more than a high end role player on offense.
It's just SGA and Williams as elite creators, maybe Mitchell gets there.

Meanwhile we have Fox and Wemby, with both Castle and Harper looking like a sure thing as far as developing into elite guards goes.

 

[PocketMonger]

I'll actually say we're one star player ahead of OKC.

Chet is never going to be anything more than a high end role player on offense.
It's just SGA and Williams as elite creators, maybe Mitchell gets there.

Meanwhile we have Fox and Wemby, with both Castle and Harper looking like a sure thing as far as developing into elite guards goes.

I honestly feel the same way. They have two super stars and a fantastic supporting cast that plays good defense with excellent chemistry. They don't feel as inevitable as the KD Warriors and even then the Warriors get a injury luck with Kawhi and CP3 the following year. Two years ago Denver felt like a lock to win the west and they got bounced. The Thunder are beatable even if they look damn near unbeatable for now.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2003229123855155448

https://twitter.com/x/status/2003556917265002532

 

[Mal]

lmao Risacher

 

[LeBowen]

Bulls beat the Hawks again.

 

[mo7888]

Nice comeback by Chicago for the win... Atl needed that game..

 

[BacktoBasics]

Atl has a tough stretch after Christmas too. I think these 11 games could really help our cause. 3-8 would be great and put them well under .500.

 

[spursistan]

Going 0-2 at home vs the royal mediocrity Bulls
Risacher 'bust'-ing it at the end

 

[mo7888]

That heat game is gonna be big for them. If they lose that they could tumble. At the beginning on the season I had their range between 7 and 11 with 9 being my prediction. I'm dropping their odds now. I've got it from 8 to 13 and 11 is my prediction.

This is a team you take the under on... it could get very rough for them...

 

[BatManu20]

Bulls were down 15 in the 4th last I saw. 2nd straight game with a last-second comeback win for them. You love to see it.

 

[scott]

Atl has a tough stretch after Christmas too. I think these 11 games could really help our cause. 3-8 would be great and put them well under .500.

View attachment 186

While it's unlikely... I would not be totally surprised to see them lose every one of these games.

 

[1kangaroo]

That heat game is gonna be big for them. If they lose that they could tumble. At the beginning on the season I had their range between 7 and 11 with 9 being my prediction. I'm dropping their odds now. I've got it from 8 to 13 and 11 is my prediction.

This is a team you take the under on... it could get very rough for them...

I wonder if they start thinking about trading Trae at that point since they seem to be better without him

 

[Paramore]

Boooooooooooooooooooooozer

 

[bozhemoi]

I wonder if they start thinking about trading Trae at that point since they seem to be better without him

There are a lot of undersize guards on the market - Garland, Morant, Sexton, Trae. I don't think there's much interest in them, really. Where would they go?

 

[mo7888]

I wonder if they start thinking about trading Trae at that point since they seem to be better without him

I believe they will, I actually believe they already have, but finding a trade partner is going to be difficult.

 

[BacktoBasics]

While it's unlikely... I would not be totally surprised to see them lose every one of these games.

I didn’t want to jinx it

 

[BatManu20]

Need Trae to stay on the court tbh.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2003875203626291366

 

[Arguendo]

Trae at least has a reasonable excuse for his awful defense.
Johnson is just as bad and he's a 6'9 forwad.


I'll actually say we're one star player ahead of OKC.

Chet is never going to be anything more than a high end role player on offense.
It's just SGA and Williams as elite creators, maybe Mitchell gets there.

Meanwhile we have Fox and Wemby, with both Castle and Harper looking like a sure thing as far as developing into elite guards goes.

Generally agree with your takes, but nah Jalen isn't near as bad as Trae, not same ballpark. Should he be better with his size and athleticism? Maybe, but team concept matter a lot (see Vassell and KJ this yr-effort there even if performance/skill isn't) and he's never played on a team that really tried on D. Also, he's 6th in the NBA in Dreb% and #2 per/g, that's a pretty huge part of defense.

But agree with Chet (and OKC). Tools but he's not a dog, I hope he earns a SuperMax though. He's a fake tough guy stick figure. I loved KJ elbowing him, followed by Vic throwing him to the ground on that drive. Both were O-fouls, only one called. Keep doing that. Bully that fucking stick figure into submission. Break his confidence against the Spurs, put fear and hesitation into him, and suddenly Spurs look a lot more like a true contender this yr. (I fucking hate Chet, I want the Spurs to literally blood him up every game. Brought BB and just get a fucking bruiser/enforcer to go after him.)

 

[LeBowen]

Generally agree with your takes, but nah Jalen isn't near as bad as Trae, not same ballpark. Should he be better with his size and athleticism? Maybe, but team concept matter a lot (see Vassell and KJ this yr-effort there even if performance/skill isn't) and he's never played on a team that really tried on D. Also, he's 6th in the NBA in Dreb% and #2 per/g, that's a pretty huge part of defense.

I'll admit it's not just my take, I've been reading some Hawks fans opinions and they see him as a low IQ defender.
I've seen a handful of their games and he hasn't proven those doubters wrong.

I'm old fashioned and I just can't excuse anyone with such elite physical attributes being a negative defender, team scheme being to blame or not.
That's why I was so hard on Keldon and Devin over the past few years.

In these two losses against the Bulls Johnson put up 36/11/9 and 24/9/10 which looks elite, but had a total of -19 in two games decided by one possession.
I'm not the biggest fan of +/-, but there's something to it.
He's played 989 minutes this season and is at -11 while averaging 24/10/8.

For comparison Giddey is at -15 in 906 minutes, averages 20/9/9. And everyone knows he's an empty stats player.
I just think Johnson is a lot closer to Giddey in terms of actual impact than to elite point forward wings his statlines compare to.

I guess we won't know until he gets a chance to play for a winning team.

 

[bozhemoi]

Yeah I'm buying the idea that Johnson is not a good defender. We're lucky that a guy like Castle is a very effective offensive player but still is a dog with smothering potential on defense.

 

[Maddog]

Johnson fell in the draft because of the multiple high schools, dropping out Duke (possibly a reasonable explanation). In addition he was always known to be a low effort defender

from the Ringer draft eval

• Inconsistent defender who goes through stretches when he gets caught ball-watching or doesn’t put full effort in to get a stop.
• Teams worry about his character after leaving IMG Academy during his senior year of high school, then departing from Duke after just 13 games.

I'm pleasantly surprised I was leaning towards the pick not conveying, but Spurs are a lot better than I expected and Atlanta a bit worse

 

[Exstatic]

Johnson fell in the draft because of the multiple high schools, dropping out Duke (possibly a reasonable explanation). In addition he was always known to be a low effort defender

from the Ringer draft eval

• Inconsistent defender who goes through stretches when he gets caught ball-watching or doesn’t put full effort in to get a stop.
• Teams worry about his character after leaving IMG Academy during his senior year of high school, then departing from Duke after just 13 games.

I'm pleasantly surprised I was leaning towards the pick not conveying, but Spurs are a lot better than I expected and Atlanta a bit worse

If we had drafted him, posters would be calling him an empty calories tank commander and demanding he be traded.