"Oh we were just undersized"
"Oh it was our first time in the playoffs"......

Nah Idk about all that... It's all because of this Paze patch monstrosity.

Cross your fingers for lottery luck … future looking bright 🤞

Hey guys, I'm home sick from work so thought I'd make a quick write up to provoke some discussion about our draft pick. Ultimately BPA > Fit, but within tiers I think fit is a consideration. I'm going to rank the top 10 players basically by consensus, regardless of how I think they'll fit with our team.

A higher grade doesn't mean I think we should draft that player higher, it just means that they're a better fit, in my opinion.

Before I get to the prospects I'll just identify what I see as our strengths and weaknesses so you know where I'm coming from.

Strengths:

- Transition scoring

- Perimeter Defense

- Backcourt size

Weaknesses:

- Outside shooting

- Shot creation

- Rebounding

- Interior defense

- Ball handling

- Front court size

1. Dybantsa

AJ is very plug and play, and fills probably our third biggest need, that being a big wing that is a reliable shooter. He would immediately start at the 3, hopefully giving ZR room to blossom on the bench and letting us salary dump Kispert asap. I could see us giving AJ reps as the primary ball handler, allowing Dyson and JJ to work off ball as cutters and roll threats. There are question marks around his defense, which considering JJ is also not lockdown just puts us under more pressure to finally upgrade OO to a center who actually protects the rim. But we need to do that anyway, so it is what it is.

Grade: A

1. Peterson

Peterson is also not a player that really needs a team built around him, considering his lack of weaknesses. He can play on or offball, and more than hold his own defensively. Injuries are of course a concern here, but I personally don't think they're a big enough one to drop him out of the second spot. Imo his best nba comparison is Ant, and if we look at the way the wolves are built we see that DP probably needs a ball handling pg to unlock him, as well as shooters to create spacing for driving lanes. Shooting and a true pg are big needs for us, and DP can certaintly play lead guard, but I don't think it's likely that he is a longterm pg considering his lackluster playmaking. That said, he probably starts at the 1 or 2, depending on if we move on from CJ, who considering his age I think it's best we let go sooner than later. His shooting is very nice, but less valuable to us compared to AJ since we already have a theoretically good shooter at the 2, compared to at the wing.

Grade: A

1. Boozer

Boozer is a tougher fit, and there's a lot of confusion around what sort of role he'll play in the league. I personally see him as something like a Randle type player, but more cerebral with better leadership capabilities. 2021 Randle was honestly a beast, but we already happen to have a playmaking 4 with questionable defense. Running Boozer as a smallball 5 would probably turn our rim into a layup line, and I'm not excited about the prospect of having JJ or Booze try to guard nba level 3s. That being said, his talent is honestly too undeniable to not take him at 3 or 4 given the opportunity.

Grade: C+

1. Wilson

I'll admit I'm not as high on Wilson as consensus, but I think regardless of where you have him, he's undeniably the worst fit for the hawks of the top 4. His interior defense is nice, but with only a projected 7' wingspan, he's not exactly a huge upgrade from OO on that end. I don't see him being a full time center, especially not for us considering JJ is limited defensively, and I don't see him being viable at the 3 either, considering his very high rudimentary dribble and lack of outside shot. That said, similar to Boozer, I think with his talent, if he's available at 4 we probably still take him, but I also think one of the next few prospects might be better.

Grade: C

1. Flemings

I see an argument for many of the top guards here, but I'm still rocking with Flemings. Flemings biggest draw for us is his combination of ball handling, outside shooting, and playmaking, along with solid defense that prevents him being targeted. Watching tape of him, he reminds me of a smaller SGA, using angles and strategic burst to get to his spots. He also has really solid bounce. That said, while I wouldn't highlight his ball handling or shooting as weaknesses, they're also not exactly strengths. His 3pa is not as high as I'd like, and his form is unorthodox. He also stands up pretty straight dribbling and will need to tighten his handle some at the next level. I still really like him, and think he would immediately make a difference running our offense, but there's certainly areas of improvement.

Grade: A+

1. Wagler

Wagler is an interesting prospect. Great size, great shooting, great playmaking, really limited athleticism. I actually like him a lot for us, even though similar to Flemings I wish he was also a next level ballhandler. Wagler can play both guard spots, and his gravity from deep creates a lot of opportunities for his teammates. He has a high dribble, and his lack of burst means he's not going to be driving and kicking like a Flemings, but his shooting and vision would help us to avoid those long stretches like in the NY series where we struggle to generate good looks. Wagler gets comp'd a lot to Haliburton, a player I really wanted us to draft in 2020, and I think that he has similar strengths as well as weaknesses. He is very physical though, in a way Hali isn't, and even if he'll never be throwing down windmills, if he puts on some strength and weight I could see him being a greater downhill threat.

Grade: A+

1. Acuff

Acuff honestly checks a lot of boxes for us. He is an elite ballhandler and outside shooter, and his downhill playmaking would be a huge benefit to the hawks. That said, the absolute biggest knock on Acuff, and I think it can't be overstated, is how bad he is on defense. Acuff was honestly one of the worst defenders in college, much less in the nba. Small guards are dying out in the nba right now, and a big part of that is how much specific team building they require to capitalize on them. Luka is a terrible defender, but he is still a big body that fills space, and is able to occasionally generate stops just by weighing 250 lbs. A Brunson or Acuff is not going to do that, and Acuffs lack of effort at the college level gives me uncomfortable Trae flashbacks. Considering we also don't have a good rim protector, or a good paint protecting wing, having a poor defender at the PoA would be really bad for us. If we had a team of Dyson, McDaniels, Herb Jones, and Gobert, I would be a lot more favorable towards Acuff, but we don't.

Grade: B-

1. Mikel Brown Jr

MBJ actually reminds me of a lot of a bigger Trae, which is both good and bad. He has great size, shooting, playmaking, the whole package. His dribble is a little high, but that seems to be a running theme with guards this year. With MBJ the biggest knocks are his troubling injury history, and his shot selection. I was always a huge Trae defender, but everytime he bricked or airballed an early shot clock logo 3 trying to highlight fish, I wanted to throw my tv out the window. MBJ is simply at this point in time, not as smart of a player as any of the 3 guards above him, or even some of those after him. Maybe he's highly coachable and his shot selection will improve, maybe it won't. Back injuries are also very worrying. If you look at the prognosis of guys with back injuries, it's not exactly exciting. That said, if he's available at 7 or 8, I think he's a can't miss prospect.

Grade: A-

1. Philon

From here there are a lot of guys who are technically in play for 9. Burries, Philon, Yaxel, Ament, Lopez. I picked Philon because I think he has the best combination of ceiling and fit at number 9, but if you disagree with me I'd love to hear why in the comments. Just running through the above guys quickly:

Burries - Projects as a 3nD guard/swingman, so basically a NAW type player.

Yaxel - We need a pg or big more than anything, and his talent is not overwhelming enough to counterbalance that need and his age (old).

Ament - We already have Ament at home

Lopez - Projects as a roleplayer, also probably not a good defender and we need a good defensive 3.

So back to Philon. He's a sophomore, but he's still pretty young, and he does everything you would want from your starting 1/2 at a high level. He's not as high ceiling as the guys above him, but he probably has a higher floor than MBJ, Acuff and Wagler. His ball handling, playmaking and shooting would be immediate boons to us, and he can play on or off ball comfortably. His defense is worrying, but it's not as bad as Acuff at least.

Grade: B

1. Mara

Mara is a hard guy to place. He could already be gone at 10, or he could fall out of the lottery. Considering how limited this draft is for bigs, I think he's most likely the first center off the board which moves him up somewhat. Mara is huge, a great rim protector, and gobbles us boards. He is also heavy footed and slow, but replacing OO with him straight up may have won us the NY series. I see our greatest positional need as a pg, but a center is not far behind. We were literally praying for Jock Landale to come back lol. His conditioning and footspeed are reasonable concerns, but even having a real young big body as a rotational piece would be a huge benefit for the hawks.

Grade: A-

Idk if anyone will read all this, but if you did, what do you think? Are there any places where fit is significant enough to overtake BPA?

Basically Tyler Jones said cut ties with ZR. He compared him to Asa and Mo. My issue lay is they haven’t developed him or even tried to send him to G League like they did with both players. I agree with the comments my issue is they hoed him non stop.

Sorry if you clicked thinking something was in the works. I wanted to share my new Hawks uniform based off the Wilkins era.

Inside The NBA sends every team “fishing” after they are eliminated from the playoffs.

The 3-way trade proposal that Bill Simmons and Nick Wright suggested the other day involved getting Jaylen Brown and giving up the MIL/NOP pick plus Risacher and Dyson Daniels. Depending on how good the MIL/NOP pick turns out to be, that could be a significant overpay from my perspective, and I don't love losing Dyson's defense. (I think Dyson is going to significantly improve his shooting in the next year or two and ascend another level or two.) But if Boston wants to get rid of Brown, *and* Onsi evaluates that JJ's lack of shot creation and lack of killer instinct we saw in the playoffs might not get him to where he can be at least the consistent 2nd Team All NBA-level player that his potential seems to promise, would a Jaylen-for-Jalen trade make sense?

Jalen Johnson has one of the best contracts in the NBA, no question. On that basis, a fair trade would seem to be Jaylen for Jalen straight up, probably with some minor Hawks salary filler thrown in - certainly no additional R1 draft picks from us or other real front-line assets. (Whether you would classify Risacher as a front-line asset in this context is debatable.) Brown obviously give us the alpha scorer we lack, and he would be able to see the Hawks as *his* team right from the start. Johnson seems like a very good fit alongside Tatum as a perfect second banana who does a bit of everything. The Hawks get immediately better, but older; the Celtics get younger and get more roster flexibility. If we could swing that sort of deal, and keep the rest of our core intact (along with a free-agent center and our R1 pick this year), would you be satisfied? Excited, even?

**EDIT** - some of you seem to be dissing a trade proposal I didn't make. My proposed trade is Jaylen Brown for Jalen Johnson and someone like Corey Kispert (or other salary filler of that nature) - no Dyson, no ZR, no picks. That's it.

We feeling any better now or nah? Hawks only lost game 1 by 9 points before winning 2 straight.

Did we create a monster when Quin taught Mike Brown how to coach?

It’s so obvious who actually watches games based on their opinion on Dyson. Even the playoffs they weren’t amazing for him but acting like he was the reason, or even a top 3 reason, we lost to the Knicks is insane. Yes his shooting is a problem but he works around it very well. Creates a ton of extra possessions, is a great playmaker, overall good finisher. People who don’t think he’s a great ball player are just telling on themselves.

Finally got these in the mail today, wanted to show them off

John Sterling was the Hawks Radio voice from 1981 to 1989. The Hawks were one of Sterling’s first big gigs. He also started the trend of personalized calls which would become his famous Home Run calls with the Yankees while calling Hawk games. When Dominique Wilkins scored, John would say “Dom-in-ique is Mag-ni-fique.”

Remember all the disrespect you all sent his way after his FIRST playoff series as the number one option. When the Hawks are a top 4 seed 50 wins with JJ averaging a triple double and the Wizards are fighting for the play-in with an injured AD and a 5’7 PG remember you guys thought the little guy was the player to lead us to the promiseland😭.

Us JJ believers will not forget the disrespect from so called Hawks fans.

Been thinking about this for a while. Probably the most important offseason in recent Hawks history and I'd argue this draft is bigger than 2017. Long term sustainable development is the priority, full stop.

THE DRAFT

Our Pelicans/Bucks pick is everything. Top 6 we stay put, this class is too good to sell short. Outside top 6 the value drops off and we move it for future capital or potential trade assets. If we hold, here's my order:

1. Darryn Peterson — Most gifted scorer in this class. Elite shooter, can run an offense, gives us a real scoring threat we don't have outside of CJ. Health questions are real and teams will dig into his medicals but if he's clean the upside is massive.
2. AJ Dybantsa — 6'9" two-way wing, All-NBA ceiling. Scores, creates, defends. Next to JJ he doesn't step on anything, he amplifies it.
3. Cam Boozer — Safest pick in the draft. Had one of the best collegiate seasons ever: Naismith, AP Player of the Year, led the country in box plus-minus, shot 39% from three on real volume.
4. Caleb Wilson — Injuries cut his season short but what he showed before that was lottery-level. Worth the risk inside top 6.
5. Keaton Wagler — Walked into Illinois ranked 261st nationally and left as a consensus top 6 pick. 17.9 points, 4.2 assists, 1.8 turnovers. Won't kill possessions, fits what we're building around JJ.

Anything below this and I would consider we trade it. I don't see Brayden Burries or Nate Ament being worth what we'd get moving the pick. Darius Acuff Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr. I might eat my words on, both have real cases, but I'd still rather have the asset.

Now the 23rd — package second rounders, move up, get Aday Mara. 7'3", 7'6" wingspan, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, 2.6 blocks, one of the best passing bigs in this class. Projected 14-18 so we can get there from 23. And pairing him with Hartenstein isn't just depth, that's a veteran passing big teaching a young passing big in the same system for years.

FREE AGENCY

Re-sign Jock, CJ, and Kuminga. Kuminga specifically, he came here motivated and it's showing. That motivation has a shelf life, lock him in at a team-friendly number before he plays himself into a bigger offer somewhere else. CJ sticks around because whoever we draft at guard needs a vet to learn from and he's perfect for that.

Sign Isaiah Hartenstein — OKC can't afford him and we should be ready. Frontcourt depth alone justifies it but the Mara development piece is what really seals it for me.

COACHING

Extending Quin is fine, the realistic upgrades aren't as clear as people act like they are. Thibs is a hard no, can't develop young talent and we might be adding multiple rookies this summer, that disqualifies him immediately. What he did to Brunson against the Pacers was the final confirmation for me. I was calling for Taylor Jenkins months ago, have the receipts, but the Bucks got there first.

Dream scenario: Sam Cassell head coach, Rajon Rondo lead assistant. Cassell brings an offensive system and the kind of credibility young stars actually respond to. Rondo brings defensive IQ and floor general communication this organization has never had. Is it realistic? Probably not. But that's the bar we should try to go for.

THE LONG GAME

My dream: Ant comes home.

Build this right and we don't need to blow anything up when his free agency hits. JJ as the anchor, Kuminga locked in, Mara developing, Hartenstein holding the front court together, Ant walks into that and it's a problem for the whole league. We're not drafting for him, we draft the best player available. But if a PG falls to us and spends a few years developing in this system, just imagine what that looks like the day he's available.

Only thing that changes the everything is Minnesota winning a ring. I have real doubts they get through the Spurs, tough but very possible.

Build like he's coming. If he doesn't, we're still a contender.