Ok. This will be long and rambling, but I will give my thoughts.
Before I do, just a reminder, about the Hawks first round draft picks this year and the next three years (feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this)...
2024 (tomorrow) - Hawks have the #1 pick in the draft
2025 - the Hawks have no first round pick (traded to San Antonio as part of the Dejounte Murray trade). The Hawks do have Sacramento's first round pick but it is Top 12 protected meaning that if Sacramento has the 13th pick or worse, then it goes to the Hawks (I am fairly positive this is part of the Huerter trade)
2026 - The Hawks get the worst pick of either their pick or the Spurs pick (so if the Hawks get the #4 pick in the draft and the Spurs get the 13th pick in the draft then the Spurs choose the one they want and we get the other so the Spurs would choose the #4 pick obviously).(this is part of the Murray trade obviously
2027 - we don't have a first round pick. (Spurs have our pick because of the Murray trade)
So in hindsight, the Dejounte Murray trade was a HUGE miss for the Hawks. The Murray/Trae combo hasn't worked (at this point). My personal opinion is that it hasn't worked because Dejounte hasn't been near as good defensively as the Hawks had hoped (he had a couple of really good defensive years his first two years in San Antionio).
With all that said, the idea of blowing up the roster and starting all over doesn't make any sense since the Hawks can't control and draft picks by tanking. The one exception to that is if they were to trade Trae Young to the Spurs (there have been rumors that the Spurs may want to pair Trae/Wemby and would give back next year's Hawks first rounder as part of the package.
My personal opinion is that the Hawks should keep Trae and Jalen Johnson and the #1 pick (whoever that is and build around those three players). But if they do this they run the risk of passing Trae off since he may not want to be part of a rebuild this far into his career.
As for the Trae/Dejounte debate. I know there is a lot of debate about on here about who they should keep. I am 100% on keeping Trae between the two of them. The reason is that Trae is elite in two categories...scoring and passing. There just aren't many NBA players (now or in the history of the game) that can do those two things as well as him. He has his deficiencies like defense and turnover. The turnovers don't bother me as much since he handles the ball so much. All players that handle the ball as much as he does will he higher in turnovers. I might feel better about keeping Dejounte if his defense was better but it just hasn't been much better. Yes, better than Trae's defense but you are also giving up more scoring and assists. But if you are going to trade Trae, you might as well blow it up and just tank and start over.
As for the draft, I am really torn between Sarr, Risacher and Clingan. I do believe that Sarr has the highest upside, but when I watch his highlights (everyone looks great in the highlights), it feels like his potential will take longer to be realized than Risacher and Clingan. Clingan is just as good (or better) defensively right now as Sarr and ahead of Sarr offensively right now. Clinging has really high IQ and is a strong passer in the paint. The more I watch him the more I like how well he moves. Plus, he is a lot heavier than Sarr so he will be able to hold up better in the paint than Sarr right now. As for Risacher, at 6-9, he has shown the ability to shoot 3s really well at times and we know that isnwhere the game is right now. If he continues to improve his 3-point shooting he could be deadly and allows for a lot of spacing on the floor either drawing big men out with him or shooting over smaller forwards.
All that said, the big question is are they going to keep Trae? That is what determines everything. The second they trade Trae (if they do) that makes the team he is going to MUCH better. That means, the first round pick(s) the Hawks get for him will be worse picks. The ONLY acceptable trade is to the Spurs so we can get our OWN draft pick back and tank.
If I were the Hawks, I would keep Trae and Dejounte (for now) and draft Sarr. I would trade Cappella (so Sarr could start) and make DeAndre Hunter available for a trade also. I don't love the Trae/Dejounte combo but I do trust Quin Snyder to figure out a way to make them more effective together. I would start Trae/Dejounte/Johnson/Sarr and either Hunter or whoever we trade for.
Then, see where we are at the All-Star break and look at our options. It is possible that we get more for Trae or Dejounte at the trade deadline than right now.
However, I will honestly be happy with any of the three picks - Sarr, Risacher or Clingan. I think I would enjoy watching the Hawks over the next two years more if they draft Risacher or Clingan (since I believe both are more pro-ready).
Before I do, just a reminder, about the Hawks first round draft picks this year and the next three years (feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this)...
2024 (tomorrow) - Hawks have the #1 pick in the draft
2025 - the Hawks have no first round pick (traded to San Antonio as part of the Dejounte Murray trade). The Hawks do have Sacramento's first round pick but it is Top 12 protected meaning that if Sacramento has the 13th pick or worse, then it goes to the Hawks (I am fairly positive this is part of the Huerter trade)
2026 - The Hawks get the worst pick of either their pick or the Spurs pick (so if the Hawks get the #4 pick in the draft and the Spurs get the 13th pick in the draft then the Spurs choose the one they want and we get the other so the Spurs would choose the #4 pick obviously).(this is part of the Murray trade obviously
2027 - we don't have a first round pick. (Spurs have our pick because of the Murray trade)
So in hindsight, the Dejounte Murray trade was a HUGE miss for the Hawks. The Murray/Trae combo hasn't worked (at this point). My personal opinion is that it hasn't worked because Dejounte hasn't been near as good defensively as the Hawks had hoped (he had a couple of really good defensive years his first two years in San Antionio).
With all that said, the idea of blowing up the roster and starting all over doesn't make any sense since the Hawks can't control and draft picks by tanking. The one exception to that is if they were to trade Trae Young to the Spurs (there have been rumors that the Spurs may want to pair Trae/Wemby and would give back next year's Hawks first rounder as part of the package.
My personal opinion is that the Hawks should keep Trae and Jalen Johnson and the #1 pick (whoever that is and build around those three players). But if they do this they run the risk of passing Trae off since he may not want to be part of a rebuild this far into his career.
As for the Trae/Dejounte debate. I know there is a lot of debate about on here about who they should keep. I am 100% on keeping Trae between the two of them. The reason is that Trae is elite in two categories...scoring and passing. There just aren't many NBA players (now or in the history of the game) that can do those two things as well as him. He has his deficiencies like defense and turnover. The turnovers don't bother me as much since he handles the ball so much. All players that handle the ball as much as he does will he higher in turnovers. I might feel better about keeping Dejounte if his defense was better but it just hasn't been much better. Yes, better than Trae's defense but you are also giving up more scoring and assists. But if you are going to trade Trae, you might as well blow it up and just tank and start over.
As for the draft, I am really torn between Sarr, Risacher and Clingan. I do believe that Sarr has the highest upside, but when I watch his highlights (everyone looks great in the highlights), it feels like his potential will take longer to be realized than Risacher and Clingan. Clingan is just as good (or better) defensively right now as Sarr and ahead of Sarr offensively right now. Clinging has really high IQ and is a strong passer in the paint. The more I watch him the more I like how well he moves. Plus, he is a lot heavier than Sarr so he will be able to hold up better in the paint than Sarr right now. As for Risacher, at 6-9, he has shown the ability to shoot 3s really well at times and we know that isnwhere the game is right now. If he continues to improve his 3-point shooting he could be deadly and allows for a lot of spacing on the floor either drawing big men out with him or shooting over smaller forwards.
All that said, the big question is are they going to keep Trae? That is what determines everything. The second they trade Trae (if they do) that makes the team he is going to MUCH better. That means, the first round pick(s) the Hawks get for him will be worse picks. The ONLY acceptable trade is to the Spurs so we can get our OWN draft pick back and tank.
If I were the Hawks, I would keep Trae and Dejounte (for now) and draft Sarr. I would trade Cappella (so Sarr could start) and make DeAndre Hunter available for a trade also. I don't love the Trae/Dejounte combo but I do trust Quin Snyder to figure out a way to make them more effective together. I would start Trae/Dejounte/Johnson/Sarr and either Hunter or whoever we trade for.
Then, see where we are at the All-Star break and look at our options. It is possible that we get more for Trae or Dejounte at the trade deadline than right now.
However, I will honestly be happy with any of the three picks - Sarr, Risacher or Clingan. I think I would enjoy watching the Hawks over the next two years more if they draft Risacher or Clingan (since I believe both are more pro-ready).
