News - Atlanta Hawks - Bulldog63
Trending up or down?
Title says it all. We're gonna go player by player and examine how they're performing lately in the NBA and what it means for their stonk here. (Note: Do not come asking about "Down" guys please, if they aren't on the block we aren't interested in dealing them).
Coby White: Even
Yep, we're starting this off with a boring old even. White has always been a streaky player, but we're in the midst of 2 different streaks somehow. His 3pt% in the NBA this month is 41%, but a large part of that is a massive 9-11 blowup he had; outside of that he's been subpar. Despite that however, he's actually been efficient overall, going over 50% from the field and 90% from the FT line. All of it will likely even out, just as his 2pt and 3pt %s are evening each other out currently.
Desmond Bane: Up
Bane had a brutal november, missing the first half of it and then averaging barely 10 ppg. Since then he's been light's out, avg 50/40/90 splits. What's most interesting however, is his burgeoning passing ability; he's averaging over 6 APG, including a massive 14 ast game the other night. He's also getting better defensively, having at least 2 steals in every Jan game thus far. His turnovers have increased as well however, which is to be expected, but he's showing he has the chops and can get better with reps as a facilitator.
Payton Pritchard: Even
At this point, it feels like even in the midst of a career year we know what he is: a tremendous 6th-man sparkplug. He's the favorite for 6MOY in the NBA, however his efficiency here in the NSL leaves something to be desired. He will always get picked on at barely 6', but it's hard to overlook his ability to get hot, and the fact he has one of the best value contracts in the league. He also has been playing more minutes over the last few weeks which has directly impacted his efficiency; it may be in the Hawks best interest to dial his minutes back a bit, and don't have him shooting the ball every other possession while he's on the floor.
Immanuel Quickley: Down
Down may be a little unfair here, but it's hard to stomach the disappointment that's come from largely a season lost to injury thus far. When he did briefly come back in the NBA he showed flashes of being the franchise point guard the Hawks thought they were getting, but he just hasn't played this year. There aren't concerns about his long term outlook, he wasn't a danger of missing tons of time earlier in his career, he just needs to take some time and get right physically.
Gradey Dick: Down
This is a very slight down, but Dick has undoubtedly both reaped rewards and suffered from the lack of a true PG to open things up for him. Earlier in the year he showed he can be a starter in the NBA, dropping repeated 30-bombs, but recently his efficiency has taken a hit. He doesn't have the defensive prowess to fall back on, nor the frame, and he's been infamously bad at finishing at the rim. There's no doubt of what he can be, it could simply be a cold streak. As we saw earlier this year, once his 3 falls, it opens up his other levels of scoring.
Alex Sarr: Up
The biggest revelation of the season for sure, Sarr had a torrid December shooting the ball and launched himself into potential ROY consideration. It was that 2 way prowess that caused the Hawks to bank on him here. His January has been rather cool by comparison, showing he was perhaps a little hot (his FT% bears this out as well), but on the whole he is showing why he can be considered a franchise cornerstone, which is more than most people thought he would be before the season.
Jaime Jaquez Jr: Up
Jaquez started the season in a dreadful manner. He missed some games with a brutal flu he picked up from Mexico, and then proceeded to shoot 15% from 3 in november and december. Enter Jimmy Butler; since he took a seat, jaquez stepped into the starting role for a brief while and did very well, shooting over 40% from 3 and showing flashes of all around ability, including his first career triple double! His january numbers would be an improvement over his rookie averages, so here's hoping he can maintain what he's done even after butler has returned.
Brandin Podziemski: Down
Podz has been perhaps the greatest disappointment to this Hawks team thus far. Currently injured, he languished most of the season, shooting terribly and even getting called out by his coach. There were concerns that perhaps his NBA team thrust him into the spotlight too soon, and once the team acquired another guard and moved him back to a bench off-ball role that he excelled in last season, we saw much the same again. He shot 40% from 3 in december, and did the little things much better; his plus/minus improved, his rebounding was better, his turnovers and fouls went down, he seems like a prototypical glue guy who might not be definite starter material but will always have a place on a good team. Granted, this would be a lower trajectory than his 1st-team all rookie season projected, but sometimes projections change. We'll see on podz.
Donovan Clingan: Even
Clingan seemed like a typical rookie big early in the season until he burst onto the scene with a massive 8 block game. For a while there he was getting starter minutes while ayton was hurt and racking the blocks up, but since then he's been in and out with injury and generally not getting as much playing time as he was, as his NBA team likely tries to get Ayton some playing time and butter up some potential suitors for him. Still, he's shown exactly what expected of him coming in, that he has the tools to be the next iteration of Serge Iblocka. He's also shown willingness to stretch out on the offensive end; it's still a WIP, but he has the confidence. Overall, as advertised so far.
Isaiah Stewart: Down
Stew has unfortunately been victim of his NBA team signing his replacement in the starting lineup this offseason; as such Stew has largely been relegated to a backup rebounding and energy big. The pistons have taken away his shooting, esp the 3 pointer, though there have been calls to have him replace Duren in their starting lineup at the 5. He's still plenty young, but he's likely what he is at this point, a 2nd string 4/5.
Jay Huff: Up
Huff came out of nowhere to earn a 4 year minimum deal in the NBA, entirely off the back of his 3pt shooting. Shooting over 40% from 3 and 50% from the field, he provides a different kind of spark off the bench than fellow big Beef Stew does. He doesn't have the rebounding prowess that NSLers look for, but it's hard to overlook a 76 ovr player on a 4 year minimum deal under 30 years old. He could find himself rounding out a rotation for a good team down the road.
N/A: Taylor Hendricks, Tim Hardaway Jr, Gabe Vincent, Nassir Little
Hendricks has missed all year with injury, Little is in the G-league, Vincent has sucked and was only salary filler anyway, and Hardaway has stepped into the role Tobias Harris did for the Hawks last year, just be a reliable rotation player who goes out there and doesn't kill you by sucking. In fact he's actually shooting over 40% from 3 in rather small volume this season, but his 16M salary means it's unlikely he gets traded, esp as the hawks value the expiring space. None of these guys save Hendricks factor into the Hawks long term plans, and aren't likely to be traded anyway, so their trends don't really matter.
© 2019|
All Rights Reserved |
About Us |
NBA SIMS LEAGUE