BY: Tony LiebertThe Atlanta Hawks are quietly putting together the best young roster in the NBA. Not the Pelicans, Nuggets, or Celtics, the Atlanta Hawks have the best young core in the NBA. Atlanta began their rebuild in May of 2017, when they decided to hire Golden State Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk to fill their own vacant role of GM. When Schlenk came to Atlanta he inherited a roster of: The RebuildWhen Atlanta’s new regime took over you could quickly tell what direction they wanted to go, and they began rebuilding. Travis Schlenk has made a plethora of moves during his time in Atlanta. Which have the potential to tremendously pay off. First Trade:
The Hawks were able to move on from Dwight Howard’s two years remaining on his 3 year $71 million dollar contract, but in return that had to take on Miles Plumlee’s three years remaining on his 4 year $50 million dollar contract. 2017 NBA Draft
Atlanta decided to select John Collins who is a versatile big, with elite level athleticism who averaged just under 20 points his sophomore season at Wake Forest.
During the 2018 season Atlanta decided buy out both of their verteran sharpshooters’ contracts.
Atlanta was able to have a draft, that had similarities to the Warriors big three of Curry, Klay and Draymond. They got Trae Young a sharpshooting point guard with great passing ability. Kevin Huerter who has serious 40/50/90 potential, and has the ability to be a solid defender. Lastly Omari Spellman, a versatile big man who can defend all 5 positions and shoot the three. Along with the three players, Atlanta was also able to receive a future first round pick from the Dallas Mavericks. Trade
The Hawks decided to take in the last two years of Jeremy Lin’s three year $38.3 million dollar contract and have a veteran presence in the locker room. Trade
The Hawks were able to get off of the last two years of Dennis Schroeder’s 4 year $70 million dollar contract. But in return take in the last year of Carmelo Anthony’s 5 year $124 million dollar deal.
In 2018 free agency the Hawks added Alex Len on a bargain of 2 years $8.5 million, got a legendary veteran presence with Vince Carter, and lastly bought out Carmelo Anthony’s massive contract.
Atlanta decided to buy out the last season of Jeremy Lin’s contract who later signed with the Raptors. Trade:
The Hawks took on the last year of Allen Crabbe’s 4 year $75 million dollar contract, and got two first round picks in return. Trade
This may have been the first move where Atlanta slightly overpaid, but it was worth it. They were able to move up to the fourth pick in the draft and took on the last year of Solomon Hill’s 4 year $48 million dollar contract. This move was still great, because near the end of a rebuild you have to make moves with urgency, rather than with patience.
The Hawks were able to round out their starting lineup and add DeAndre Hunter who will be a lockdown defender. Cam Reddish was a great selection, in a lower pressure situation I expect him to flourish. Lastly, Bruno Fernando will add great frontcourt depth. Future The Hawks current roster has few holes before free agency. Their projected starting lineup heading into free agency looks like one of the best young rosters in the league. PG: Trae Young (2018-19 stats: 19.1p/8.1a/3.7r) SG: Cam Reddish (n/a) SF: DeAndre Hunter (n/a) PF: John Collins (19.5p/9.8r/2a) C: Alex Len (11.1p/5.5r/1.1a) 6th: Kevin Huerter (9.7p/3.3r/2.9a) 7th: Omari Spellman (5.9p/4.2r/1a) 8th: Bruno Fernando (n/a) 9th: Kent Bazemore 10th: Allen Crabe 11th: Solomon Hill 12th: Miles Plumlee This roster obviously has a bright future and a lot for Hawks’ fans to look forward to, but what jumps out on the page to me is that Kent Bazemore, Allen Crabe, Solomon Hill, and Miles Plumlee will all be free agents next season. That is a combined 63 million dollars that the Hawks will not be paying in 2020. That means they will have two max slots open for free agency in 2020. 2020 Offseason: worst case scenarioHypothetically let’s say the Hawks have a solid 2019-20 season but miss the playoffs, and their draft pick lands in the back end of the lottery. Let’s say they get the 12th pick for now. Where they would be in territory to take a chance on a player like LaMelo Ball, or play it safe with a prospect like Josh Green. They would also own the Nets first round pick in the which would most likely land in the late 20s, where they could feel more comfortable with a flyer on LaMelo Ball. Let’s expect Jaylen Brown, Ben Simmons, Pascal Siakim, Jamaal Murray and Anthony Davis all resign with their respective teams. That leaves what some may call a relatively weak free agent class. Headlined by Draymond Green, Andre Drummond, and DeMar Derozan. Now they come into free agency and let’s pretend they offer Andre Drummond and DeMar Derozan max contracts. There projected lineup heading into the 2020-21 season would become... PG: Trae Young (22 years old) SG: DeMar Derozan (31 years old) SF: Cam Reddish (21 years old) PF: John Collins (23 years old) C: Andre Drummond (27 years old) 6th: DeAndre Hunter (21 years old) 7th: LaMelo Ball (19 years old) 8th: Kevin Huerter (22 years old) 9th: Bruno Fernando (22 years old) 10th: Omari Spellman (23 years old) 11th: Josh Green (20 years old) 2020 Offseason: best case scenarioYou may say, “This isn’t realistic at all, the Hawks wouldn’t get DeMar Derozan and Andre Drummond.” If anything I think this is a worst case scenario for Atlanta. They could easily have a similar season this year compared to last season, and land somewhere in the top 5 with their draft pick. Or they could also just get lucky in the lottery. And then in free agency, my previous list is not accounting for players who often sign two year deals with a player option after the first year similarly to what Kevin Durant has been doing, and LeBron James made very popular. A player like DeMarcus Cousins signed a one year deal last season, and there is always a possibility of players doing that again. Kawhi Leonard is rumored to do this same strategy and sign a two year deal with a player option after the first year with the Raptors, so he has the ability to defend his title. So let’s say he hypothetically decides to do that. The Hawks would have the ability to reap benefits. Best case scenario the Hawks could possibly trade up higher in the 2020 draft:
In return they could receive a top 5 pick or maybe even a top 3 pick. I could see them moving Huerter and Spellman, because they would most likely be in a win now mode, and lose their patience in developing their young players. So let’s say they now go after the top recruit in the 2019 high school class center James Weisman to fill their void of a missing big man. Weisman is projected to go into the top 3 of the 2020 NBA Draft. Then in free agency if they play their cap situation smart they could have nearly $85+ million in cap space. So lets say they sign Kawhi Leonard for a max deal of $34.8 million per year and Andre Drummond for the same. Then they would still nearly have $15 million in cap space. Where they could sign veterans who want to be part of something special with potential free agents Eric Gordon, Danillo Galinari, Jeff Teague, Goran Dragic, George Hill, Kyle Lowry or Jae Crowder. So forsake of being realistic well say their projected lineup heading into the 2020-21 season best case scenario could be: PG: Trae Young SG: Cam Reddish SF: Kawhi Leonard PF: John Collins C: Andre Drummond 6th: James Weisman 7th: DeAndre Hunter 8th: George Hill 9th: Danilo Galinari I really don’t know if any team in the NBA would be able to beat this Hawks team, and with their young age, they would have the chance to be one of the best NBA dynasties of all time. Their best case scenario is a bit unrealistic, but definitely still possible. And if they weren’t able to land a player of Kawhi’s caliber in 2020 free agency, they would still easily have the best young core in the NBA with the ability to compete for many years in the future. So while the rest of the NBA is spending like crazy this offseason, just remember the Atlanta Hawks are quietly building a superteam.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Follow us on Twitter @SportsPlug_ for more engaging content.
Sign up TODAY for email notifications for every blog post BELOW...
Categories
All
AboutWelcome to Sports Plug, a sports news page where you can read about engaging content. Archive
May 2020
|