After a complicated start to the 2018-19 season, the Hawks delighted their fans by exploding their hype in the streets of Atlanta, in particular thanks to their youngsters and promising results. Add to that a beautiful 2019 Draft, a funky style of play, seriousness in the coaching staff and the question now arises: how far can this team go this season? It’s preview time.
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Summary of summer transfers
- They arrived : Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe, Jabari Parker, Chandler Parsons, Damian Jones, Ray Spalding, Cam Reddish (Draft), Bruno Fernando (Draft), De’Andre Hunter (Draft)
- They extended : Vince Carter
- They left : Kent Bazemore, Solomon Hill, Taurean Prince, Omari Spellman, Justin Anderson, Dewayne Dedmon, Miles Plumlee
If the famous big heads are back, including the Young-Collins-Huerter-Carter quartet, things have changed a lot in Atlanta this summer! Goodbye the old guys who hung out in the region but not in the small papers of GM Travis Schlenk, hello the veterans who want to frame the group and the rookies with long teeth. The Hawks, by staying on their principle of exciting rebuilding, have done a hell of a cleaning without touching their financial flexibility. Last year, Melo was the monetary heavyweight used as a punchline. This season it will be for Chandler Parsons. Apart from a buoy sent to Jabari Parker and Damian Jones, Atlanta continues to test its talents in the Draft, offering players in need of attention a little exposure. We will see who will use this type of platform the best, à la Alex Len.
Squad for the 2019-20 season
- Leaders: Bring young, Evan Turner
- Rear: Kevin Huerter, DeAndre Bembry, Allen Crabbe
- Wingers: De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Vince Carter
- Strong wingers: John Collins, Jabari Parker, Ray Spalding, Chandler Parsons
- Pivots : Alex Len, Damian Jones, Bruno Fernando
The players in bold are those who should enter the major five at the start of each game from the start of the season.
Welcome to the Baby Hawks. Average age in this mess? You must be between the Brevet and the Bac blanc. That children surrounded by three thirty, grocer. In the five major, two notable changes since the Huerter-Young-Collins trio will be untouchable: the arrival of the very good defender De’Andre Hunter, and the highlighting of Alex Len among the holders. Barred by Dedmon last year, the pivot could enjoy pick and roll, even more if he puts his shots from far and space the field. Out of the bench, the big question arises on the leads, since two clients seem to take the lead for coach Lloyd Pierce, Evan Turner and to a lesser extent Cam Reddish. Two capable creators, but not in a typical Post 1 register, who will alternate as replacements. Aside from that, as mentioned above, the one who has the most to prove will have the greatest pleasure, especially the Crabbe-Parker duo in need of love on the NBA circuit.
Question of the season: can we believe in the hype at the end of last season?
If you start your last season with a record of 6 wins for 23 losses, and you end up with 29 wins for 53 losses, what is it, mathematically speaking? Well that gives 23 victories for 30 defeats, that is to say an almost balanced record, for a team of young people who discovered the League more than anything else. The Hawks, and this was recognized by many opponents from December 2018, surprised the world. John Collins orphans at the start of the game, forced to see Trae Young struggling at the start, not to mention Kevin Huerter with an injured wrist, the guys from Atlanta had a kind of click towards the beginning of 2019 and then offered a intriguing exercise. So the question is there for Pierce and his men. Can we go from a small surprising and little scout team to that of a serious team, which aims for the Playoffs and will therefore be expected at the cleat every evening? The passage from one status to another is sometimes difficult to assume, and the coaching staff of the Hawks must do with a lot of movement (only 6 players out of 15 selected this summer), not to mention the opposing improvements and the system to integrate to the new ones. The ambitions are known, Atlanta wants to seduce and progress. But between excitement, precipitation, no defense and competition, reaching the Top 8 in the East will be pretty darn tough this year. What hype to be in? The game, the young people, the results, the project? The answer is in the hands of Trae Young and his pals, who will be watched much more closely.
Serious transfer candidate: Allen Crabbe
Chandler Parsons? Too hard to sell in the market. Evan Turner? Too important when you see the Hawks’ lack of options at creation. On the other hand, in the spot of the player that the NBA circuit loves and who could interest a contender for the title, Allen Crabbe poses as a serious customer. A year ago, the Decapod Crustacean was a player turning 13 points on average, 38% parking success while offering a tenacious defense on the man. A quality 3 & D, in short, but which has lost all its popularity due to physical problems and the rotations changed in Brooklyn. Lloyd Pierce knows it, he will need his veteran to help the youngsters… but also to allow the management to recover a nice counterpart with a Crabbe revived in the NBA. A playoffable team will want it in February, it is almost guaranteed.
Serious candidate for surprise: Cam Reddish
Barred by the pair Zion Williamson – RJ Barrett at Duke, lacking confidence and balls under Coach K, embarrassed by injuries settled after the Draft, we could continue the list as Cam Reddish was not helped in his only year passed in university. What to find him ready-made excuses and clear him of any criticism? Certainly not. But observers are rallying on one point. Too talented and in need of leather, Reddish could hardly ask for a better destination than Atlanta. With few talented creators behind Trae Young, in a system that gallops and empowers young people, and coming from a bench that will be offered to him, Cam could and should shut the mouths of many critics, who forget the projections made before his NCAA season. . Watch out for the return of the phenomenon.
Best and worst possible scenario
- It is more than a take-off, it is squarely an Airbus take-off that the new generation Hawks offer us. Carried by young people who get along wonderfully, the little ones from Atlanta are the NBA League Pass team for the Eastern Conference. Everyone is tearing off the counterattacks 2 Fast 2 Furious by Lloyd Pierce, and the pick and roll Trae Young – John Collins rekindles the memories of the Nash – Stoudemire pair. Better than that ? The rookies have an immediate impact, especially in defense where the hideous rankings of 2018-19 are rectified. Better than that ? Jabari Parker, Evan Turner and Damian Jones have a blast in this rapid system. Better than that ? The overall image of the franchise is transformed, we tear off these little Hawks who play carefree and scratch an unthinkable 8th place to go to the Playoffs. The first round is lost, logically, but the message is sent to the East. This project is real, we will have to count on him and his children for the years to come.
- Scoring 115 points but taking 120 a night doesn’t help Atlanta’s business. Unfortunately, in a sport where you have to defend a minimum, the limits of Trae Young and his friends under 23 years are too exposed. Some nights the Hawks feast and show there’s a lot of potential, but other nights it’s back to square one. Fun basketball with no real result, while the veterans complain about their playing time. Jabari, Turner, Parsons, everyone is shouting because it’s his last year of contract, so you have to be on the floor. Dirty atmosphere in the locker room, the group stagnates and other projects in the East pass them by. And because it is obviously necessary to end on a very disgusting note, Vince Carter is injured and can not fully play his last career season. Horrible until the end.
Editor’s forecast:
Between 30 and 35 wins, which is still a few more than last season, but let’s not put the plow ahead of the Falcons because that would make them sting. In writing, we expect the best but especially in the field, before – perhaps – an invasion of pioupious that Hitchcock would not have denied.
There seems to be a common agreement on a theme, these Hawks will be watched closely as their game and youngsters are exciting. But between jump suddenly and progress little by little, each his opinion. Atlanta must remain patient, not skip the steps and respect the time to find the elite in a few years. Not a few months. A new season of learning, with a bit of field magic and plenty of intrigue.
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