The Business Of Appeasing Trae Young
Hawks GM said he is "going to get some guys." First, some BA news
To Ball Atlanta readers:
The Hawks are trying to accomplish something this season, which is to not stink. You should pay attention to these guys because they could be utterly fascinating to watch. They won’t stink, but they will smell less.
And you don’t have anything better to do because you will be inside. Right?
The virus is raging. Work from home. Don’t go out to eat. Stay safe in December. Watch some hoops.
The Hawks won’t come close to upending East champion Miami, but the Hawks have six players 22 years old or younger and their core is maturing. They have begun a roster makeover so that when Trae Young goes to the bench for rest, we won’t change the channel.
My view of sports in the Pandemic is that we are watching sports now for the competition and we are less focused on the end game, which are the playoffs, and the championships. The regular season game counts more than the result. So watch. I never watched the NBA more closely than during the Pandemic, not even when I was sitting courtside in the 1980s and 1990s.
Here is Ball Atlanta:
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The NBA has become one big pickup game. The best guy on the losing team doesn’t have to sit for long. His pals, the other celestials, have a scheme for staying on the court until the sun goes down. Kevin Durant (Golden State) and LeBron James (Miami, Cleveland, Los Angeles) showed the rest of the NBA how to to it, how to build a super team so they can win the last game of the season and walk off into the sunset, or get on a team with their pals.
Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving play that game. Kristaps Porziņģis forced a trade to get him away from the Knicks to a contender in Dallas. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA MVP, was pulling the levers early this week to get assets around him for an NBA title run…or else he might walk from the Bucks as a free agent.
So the Hawks have to be mindful of the rules of the pickup game when free agency starts Friday at 6 p.m. Atlanta’s cosmic player, guard Trae Young, is going into his third season and the Hawks have 49 wins and 100 losses in his first two seasons. You can bet Young doesn’t think that’s his fault.
Young wants players around him, like Durant, James, and the others, which is the talent that gets Atlanta into the playoffs this season and enthuses Young enough that he signs a big, fat extension before his walk season of 2021-2022. You can bet Young doesn’t want General Manager Travis Schlenk standing around with his hands in his pockets Friday, not when those pockets are stuffed with $40-$45 million in cap space, making him the richest GM in the NBA.
Schlenk knows to do his duty. He said Wednesday night the Hawks are “going to get some guys” when free agency starts Friday. The business of asset accumulation through the draft is over. It’s all about talent accumulation now and the Hawks are going to use some of that cap space.
Did they start that process of spending money Wednesday night in the NBA, in a convoluted sort of way?
The Hawks needed a clutch-shooting wing to help them get off the bottom of the NBA in three-point shooting, as well as a guy who could play fierce defense on the wing, which is where the NBA game lives these days. They needed a reliable back-up point guard/facilitator to spare Young the nightly chore of getting things organized.
So with the sixth pick in the draft last night they took….a big.
The Hawks snatched University of Southern California’s Onyeka Okongwu, a mobile 6-foot-9 guy with a 7-footer’s wingspan. He can play defense on the small forward and big forward, and he can guard the pick-and-roll, which is what the NBA is all about. He can erase Young’s failings on defense until Young gets his ‘D’ up to snuff. Okongwu blocked almost three shots a game at USC. He is a 5 all the way with offense with his scoring around the basket, not the three-point shooting improvement the Hawks need.
Is it a head scratcher? The Hawks have 6-10 Clint Capela and 6-foot-9 John Collins as their ace front court players. You don’t take a big that high unless a) he’s really, really good b) you have something up your sleeve.
It could be a) and b).
a) If the Hawks are thinking Eastern Conference playoffs, they have to consider the wall in front of them, the Miami Heat. The 2020 Eastern Conference champions have lithe, mobile big men, led by Bam Adebayo and Okongwu is a remedy for Bam. The Hawks needed more depth with their bigs. This 19-year old is a runner, jumper, defender, and plays a relentless game. The Hawks kept talking about drafting the best available and Okongwu might be a really core piece.
b) As for what’s up their sleeve, the Hawks won’t be shopping down the superstar aisle. Anthony Davis, a free agent, is re-signing with the Lakers. The next best FA, Brandon Ingram, is not going to leave the side of Zion Williamson in New Orleans.
I love Fred VanVleet, the combo guard in Toronto, and Hawks’ coach Lloyd Pierce likes him, too, but Fred is likely sticking with the Raptors.
What I want to believe is when the details of the Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade between Sacramento and Milwaukee leaked, the Hawks started waving all their money at Bogdanovic’s agent and said, “Let’s talk.” The Kings’ shooter is a restricted free agent.
If the Hawks are not involved in the Bogdanovic sweepstakes, who does that leave?
There is talk of the Nets sharp-shooter Joe Harris or the Celtics’ wing Gordon Heyward coming to Atlanta. They are splash players because they can fill it up from the outside. Think about roster-building from now on through the eyes of Young—for now and evermore. He is thinking he needs a dead-eye three-point shooter to space out the floor, or a shooter/distributor that will allow Young to move to the wing for the catch-and-shoot.
So what about Kentavious Caldwell-Pope? You know that name. He played at Georgia and is from Thomaston. Pope made about $8 million for the Lakers last season and he was their third best offensive player in the playoffs. The Hawks can certainly offer him $12-$14 million a year, which is why he is open to offers. His agent is LeBron James’ friend, so the Hawks will have to be bold to get him away from the Lakers.
The Hawks were the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, but that was because their bench was not strong. The core wing guys, De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, are passable shooters. So the idea they needed to draft a three-point shooting maven with the 6th pick Wednesday night was a red herring. They went with Okongwu to get their pick-and-roll defense up to snuff and protect the rim….and because they plan to lean in on a wing shooter in free agency. Harris, Caldwell-Pope, Heyward?
Okongwu is a necessary piece, but the real thrill for Hawks’ fans is going to be Friday when free agency opens. It will be really interesting to watch. Schlenk has something up his sleeve and plenty of money in his pocket.