News - Atlanta Hawks - Bulldog63
On the Horizon
Now that the final phase of the offseason has concluded, the Hawks are fully assembled and ready to get through the season! Free agency was uneventful for them, as they simply re-signed Immanuel Quickley to a 5 year contract, and converted stand-out backup C Jay Huff to a 4 year minimum deal. They now have a full 15 players rostered, so let's take a look and see what the rotation could look like, and potential midseason intrigues.
STARTERS:
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: Coby White
SF: Desmond Bane
PF: Isaiah Stewart
C: Alex Sarr
BENCH ROTATION:
PG: Payton Pritchard
SG: Brandin Podziemski
SF: Jaime Jaquez Jr
PF: Gradey Dick
C: Donovan Clingan
RESERVES:
SG/SF: Tim Hardaway Jr
PG/SG: Gabe Vincent
C: Jay Huff
PF/SF: Jarace Walker
PF: Taylor Hendricks (IR, out for season)
The first thing that stands out is having Dick on the bench despite his rapid ascent, but the idea is that Stew helps assist on the inside, given the hawks lack of presence in the paint the past couple of seasons. Plus it gives the bench a de-facto #1 option. The second thing is that they will likely be without a couple of starters for close to a month to start the season: Bane is week to week with an oblique, and Quickley will miss some time with a pelvic contusion. As such, expect the following changes to the rotation to start the season:
White to starting PG
Dick to starting SG
Jaquez to starting SF
Hardaway to backup SF
Walker to backup PF
The state of the team overall is good, but the Hawks are still on the lookout for the #1 superstar that will bring this well-rounded cast together. They have 5 players rated 80+, with 2-3 more who could reach it by season's end, so we fully expect that when healthy, the bench will outplay most other benches in the league. But the Hawks will very likely get stomped again in the starter minutes as last year. One other thing to eyeball as the season goes on, as of now the Hawks are just under a mil over the lux and will want to avoid taxpayer status. Plus, their own 1st rd pick is only top 2 protected, so in a loaded draft they do have incentive to not overperform. If they start out feisty, don't be surprised to see them pivot to selling instead of holding down the road. Realistically, we see the following players being the first out if it comes to it:
Desmond Bane
Payton Pritchard/Coby White (only one)
Isaiah Stewart/Jay Huff (only one)
Bane is obv the closest the Hawks have to an all-star (he has in fact made one) when healthy, and he's on a good controllable deal through his prime. With Dick's emergence, there is a bit of an overload at shooting guard, so him being one of the oldest core players on the roster (at a brisk 26) would make him an obvious candidate. For PG, quickley is locked up long term, and White and Pritchard are both on fantastic value deals so their value may never be higher than right now as starter/6th man caliber players. For Stew or Huff, the Hawks drafted a pair of bigs, and Huff has come out of nowhere to be a solid lower-end rotational player on a 4-year minimum deal, again that's just a really good value contract if he keeps it up.
All in all, the hawks are still firmly in the midst of a rebuild, and the focus of this season to start will be on the development of their young guys. None of the above players are probably going to be shopped until/unless some of their sophs/rookies show further development and prove they can be starters like Gradey Dick has.
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laddas
11/11 08:09 am | QN, Qtr. OFF, #1 | |
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