30 Teams in 30 Days: Atlanta Hawks
The NBA season is just thirty days away, on every single day I will drop a preview for each team with a prediction on how their season is going to go.
Offseason Report:
Signings: Cam Reddish (Rookie), Evan Turner (Trade w/ Portland involving Kent Bazemore), Allen Crabbe (Trade w/ Brooklyn involving a future first-round pick, Taurean Prince and Nickeil Alexander Walker), De’Andre Hunter (Part of the Pelicans trade), Bruno Fernando (3/4.7), Chandler Parsons (Trade w/ Memphis involving Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee), Damian Jones, Jabari Parker (2/13)
Departures: Omari Spellman, Miles Plumlee, Solomon Hill, Taurean Prince, Kent Bazemore
The Hawks have continued their slow rebuild and have added a few talented young wings to complement their core of Trae Young and John Collins. The Draft has been a cornerstone of the Hawks’ rebuild for the last few seasons, Travis Schlenk has made a point of drafting the type of player who fits his vision for the team. Schlenk, a former Warriors executive, has decided to build a team around Trae Young which has some similarities to the Warriors’ dynasty. The team will play uptempo basketball in which the ball moves around and good shots will be prioritised within the scheme of the offence. To this day, the Hawks have hit on all of their draft picks during this rebuild. Trae Young provided a dynamic play-maker, Kevin Huerter is a lights-out shooter and John Collins is a versatile big man who rebounds effectively and scores at a solid level. The only thing lacking for the Hawks were talented young wings who could grow with the other members of the core along the same competitiveness timeline.
At the start of the season, Cam Reddish was an outside chance at being of the best prospect out of the fabled Duke Big Three. Reddish’s blend of shooting, passing and defence meant that a few draft experts thought that Reddish had the highest NBA ceiling. The draft stock tumbled as Reddish became inconsistent from deep and Zion Williamson established himself as the unquestioned number one overall pick. Reddish’ loss is Atlanta’s gain as it means that they have snagged a hugely talented wing without needing a top three pick. The upside for Reddish is clear, he could develop into being an elite 3&D wing with secondary play-maker abilities. In prep school, Reddish played as a point forward and his role changed entirely at Duke in which he was utilised in an off-ball role in which he shot the ball from deep and had the hardest defensive assignments.
At worst, Cam Reddish will be a 3&D wing and a supplementary piece in the Hawks’ core. The defensive abilities of Reddish cannot be understated and he does not enter the league with the same questions usually posed towards rookies. Reddish has the blend of length and agility which means that he is adept as a man defender even in a switching scheme. The physical attributes also means that he will be a threat in the passing lanes who could spark easy transition points.
The other rookie drafted is a wing in a similar mould. De’Andre Hunter is one of the reasons why Virginia was able to win an NCAA title despite the heartbreak of the loss to UMBC two seasons ago. Hunter’s versatile, smooth offensive skills gave Virginia an outlet offensively who could be relied upon to score the ball when necessary. The common knock on Hunter’s scoring at Virginia was that he did not display an ability to take games over when necessary and did not always take on an alpha role. This will be less of an issue in Atlanta where Trae Young has established himself as a leader but this still has to be considered for the future. Hunter has less upside that his rookie counterpart but he has a more polished skillset which means that he will be more suitable for NBA play in the short-term. In the long-term, Reddish has the growth potential to be better than Hunter.
The last rookie drafted is a punt for Atlanta, Bruno Fernando is talented but there is a lot of rawness to his game. He could develop into being a solid rim-running big who can shoot the ball a little or he could be limited by his lack of explosive athleticism. It is hard to say what kind of player that Fernando could be in two or three years. The decision taken by the Hawks’ front office makes plenty of space, it is a low-risk pick which could potentially generate solid returns on a cheap contract. This has been a strategy adopted by the Hawks’ front office as they attempt to find market inefficiencies which can be rehabilitated into solid assets.
The Hawks made the decision to acquire both Damian Jones and Jabari Parker, two players with slightly chequered histories. Jones was largely expected to be the Warriors’ big man of the future until Kevon Looney’s exponential growth. Jones did not manage to prove himself among a crowded big man rotation on a team which did not have much time to develop youngsters. The focus of the Warriors was to win now which meant that Jones was not afforded the same freedom or playing time which other rookies from his draft class received. It meant that his stint with the Warriors was inconsistent and unmemorable. The Hawks’ decision to acquire him makes some sense. Jones is on the last year of his rookie deal and therefore has the motivation to prove himself so that the second contract can be secured. The Hawks’ development staff has a track record of success whether it be Taurean Prince or Damion Lee. Jones becoming a functional, rotational big man will be valued for a team which prioritises youth over older veteran players.
Jabari Parker is the same type of punt for the Hawks, the type of player who has a lot of untapped promise. Parker’s early career has been blighted by injuries and he was eventually let go by the Bucks when he did not fit their roster needs anymore due to his inconsistent defence and lack of engagement off-ball. He signed a big contract with the Bulls before being dropped from the rotation entirely and traded to the Washington Wizards. The common criticism levelled at Parker is that he does not try on defence and seems to be disinterested with a complementary role. He was expected to be the defacto option on the Bucks before the emergence of Giannis and he was expected to be an important player for the Bulls before Zach Lavine showed that he has taken a huge jump. If Lloyd Pierce can find a way to get Jabari to buy in, the Hawks will have a former number two overall pick who has great size at the forward position and a sweet shooting stroke. That type of player is not common in the league and is another valuable depth piece on a small contract.
The last two players acquired also make sense in terms of creating future cap flexibility. The $40m tied up in Parsons and Crabbe will be off the books by the end of the season which means that the team has the ability to recruit quality free agents. The 2020 free agency class is not spectacular by any means but it does have solid veteran role players who can teach the youth how to win play-off series. It is possible that the Hawks roll this cap space over into the 2021 free agency class by only signing one year free agency deals which is an exciting possibility. The 2021 class has the type of star power needed to win titles and Atlanta could be a major player if the team can consistently win games and reach the play-offs.
The goal for the Hawks has to be achieving a play-off berth. I fully believe that this team can reach the play-offs season and this has to be the aim for the young roster. It makes no sense to be purposefully bad when the team already has a burgeoning young core. The player to watch out for this season would be John Collins. Collins will likely average a double-double this year on good efficiency, that type of production from the front-court could fix some of Atlanta’s weaknesses from last season.
