More Atlanta Hawks talk W/ David Lee pt.2

More Atlanta Hawks talk W/ David Lee pt.2

yeah I think too um I think when we talk because so much discussion has been about what direction should they go in how should they build the team out um you know because I I I think there’s the battle of okay East seems wide open you know Boston’s not we assume Boston will not be a contender next year right Cleveland we will assume they are frauds until proven otherwise uh Pacers obviously I’ve said they’re one of the most connected basketball teams I’ve ever seen play which I think is why they have made so many comebacks and they’ve done so well just because I’ve said this even last year I’ve said like the way they play they put so much pressure on you especially on defensively and they’re going all the time so if you even relax they can take advantage and so I’ve said that you know deaf is such an important thing especially in today’s CBA the way it’s constructed you kind of can’t just star your way out of you can’t just say stars and that’s good enough you you kind of have to build it out so I I think I think it’s interesting because I know Caris Avert has been the big signing uh resigning that we could make um but I also see people are kind of like oh I don’t know if we should bring back Levert are we sure we can’t get someone better and I’m like honestly after seeing what’s out there yeah I think you have to i I mean and then I just look at the fact that he can create he can handle the ball like like literally at the end of games they were able to play Trey off ball a few games because Lever Leverne got it going you can play Trey off ball and like I think that’s such an effective and needed thing they need because I because I and I and I I want your thoughts on this i’ve said that obviously Risha’s entering his second year but I’ve made a legitimate argument there’s a chance Risha Shay still won’t be finishing a ton of games just because it’s going to depend on the night like you pretty much know Trey Jaylen probably a Congu and Dyson are finishing games if Levert got it going i mean I I would understand Quinn going with him just because of the ability to create obviously when he gets hot he can get hot whereas Zach I think he has to kind of show if he can be more reliable in the situations like do you kind of agree with that assessment yeah I think that makes sense i think it also makes me think about how important it is to get those reps early and I wonder if to an extent long term the Hawks did him a disservice and I don’t think it’s a bad like again completely defensible and I understand why why Quinn did it but it’s like it’s so important to have those reps and if you don’t give an opportunity to fail then it’s like I don’t know when he’s going to get the ability to actually create for himself in the games or drive closeouts effective effect effectively and efficiently and like you know practice is obviously can do a lot but he has to have the opportunity to do it in the game so I think it is it’s not much of a concern for me cuz I think his his offball movement in the shooting will be enough but I do wonder like how much his ceiling has sort of been capped because of the way that he was using his first year and it makes me think about guys in this draft class too like I think Dylan Harper is an example of someone who could see a negative or like to an extent Cooper Flag too but like those guys are going they could be going to teams where they’re not going to have a ton of onball usage and I think that’s why it took Tatum so long to become like a reliable decision maker because he was playing next to Kyrie for a long time he’s playing with Jaylen Brown Gordon Hayward Marcus Smart other ball handlers and he wasn’t it wasn’t ran through him and I think I don’t know maybe it could that could happen and not saying he’s going to be Tatum but more so like the longer developmental path because it’s not easy to make those reads and you have to see it thousands of times i don’t know it’s just something that I thought about when you asked me that but I I I think it makes sense for sure i just think about like what does that mean for him long term and because he wasn’t asked to do that in France either and so it’s like I don’t know i don’t know regardless I think you have to get Caris Levert back because to your point um you want to bet on these guys to become better ball handlers and creators we know what Caris Levert is we saw what he did in those 28 games or so and the Hawks would not have closed the year the way they did as a much better shooting team much better offensive team without his presence and it would be really hard to replace that i think the price is where it gets interesting you probably want to do like 12 13 but I think he’d probably want 15 16 i think a contender may look at him and say we might give him 20 at that point you know I think it’s too much yeah and I think that number is always going to be what the biggest thing about Caris they say Caris wants to come back so this isn’t a I want to leave it’s just like I just want to make sure I’m getting at least fair value that he feels like he’s worth you know and obviously it won’t be a longterm deal he’s you know he’s 30 31 so you know you’re looking at a guy who you can keep around for a couple more years and maybe you can have someone develop into that role or you know you’ll just revisit it whenever that time comes when you have to make that replacement so I think that’s obviously an interesting you know situation for them to have to figure out this offseason along with other things um so it’s funny I’ll bring this up um Trey Young obviously there has been there’s been discussion recently about his extension yeah um and about how much should the Hawks pay him you know should they give him the max should they make him take less um you know I Zack Low the other day was kind of like you know yeah if they have him going down I mean realistically I like him with the team and I like where they could go and he’s like next year I could see them being up 2-1 in a second round series maybe uh what what what do you think of of just the Trey situation because it it feels like he wants he wants to be here i I I mean usually I always say stars they give indications and also usually teams that stars want out they’re trending down hawks seem like they’re trending up so what what do you think about that whole Trey Young extension situation i don’t think you can I don’t think you start with the Max but realistically he’s gonna mean more to us than anyone else and I think he knows that and I think the rest of the league knows that too like if you have to come up with like a trade team for for Trey it’s going to be tough to find someone who one has the need and two has like the roster construction that would be better for him um because if he basic I mean if we don’t extend him now he could decline his player option this following season and become an unrestricted free agent and if he does that he could make more money than if he take the discount but will it be for a team that has as forgiving of a infrastructure or has been crafted particularly for his sort of weaknesses but also his strengths and I think that’s where I would start i’d say look we have Dyson we have Jaylen we have Zack we’re bringing in these other two draft picks we have Onika as a promising center who could start or be on the bench tell me where you see a better situation for yourself and tell me if you think they’ll pay you and then that’s that’s kind of how to look at the negotiations but I also generally I am not for asking billionaires to take to make a like to not to be cheap like I think players should be played accordingly and I don’t think it should be like because because the the owner who’s a billionaire is being cheap but I think with the new CBA restrictions it’s more than that because that much money on the cap in one player is somewhat prohibitive but it’s still also built like the CBA is built so you can contend with max players like Tyrese is on a max Pascal’s on a max may not be a super max but it’s still like they have a lot of money in that cap i think longterm I mean you Jaylen’s on a good deal and Yaka’s on a good deal i think Dyson’s going to get paid this summer and if Dyson gets paid the amount that I think he is which would probably be like I think Jaylen Suggs made five 150 dyson could be looking at 5 160 170 it’s going to be expensive so I would say okay what do you value most is it is it years or is it average annual value if it’s years then we’ll do a fourear less money over the over the years if it’s if it’s average annual value then we’ll say okay we’ll frontload this and have it descend that’s that’s how I would approach it i think it’s tough to say like you just won’t max them because I don’t I don’t think Trey’s the type to like hear that and then bolt but I also think it’s like he he knows his value to this team too he carried such a offensive load um I don’t you can’t there’s no way you could trade him and get back a offensive player or even a collection of offensive players that could replicate his value to any extent i think the only team that would like trade for Trey would be Brooklyn but Brooklyn doesn’t have I mean they have their picks but like what does that do for the Hawks like I don’t know so I think ideally you want to keep him like 35% of the cap not 40 not 45 or however much the super max is i don’t know it’s it’s it’s tougher because like the guys who typically make that much money are wings and wings again are the most valuable archetype in the NBA when they’re shot creators like a Jason Tatum um and the guys who are in Trey’s positional category aren’t as aren’t typically paid this much and aren’t typically as impactful as a wing and that’s just because like both sides of the ball whatever it may be but I don’t know i don’t think you can dance around it i think you have to pay the man who makes your offense go and you want to start again not at the max but if it comes to close to that I I think you have to bite the bullet and again it’s like there’s worse things like you’re still intended to spend money like they’re not trying to prohibit teams from getting max contracts they’re prohibiting teams from stacking multiple maxes in terms of like three you can still contend with two maxes on your books and you won’t have two maxes unless you make some sort of move and bring in a max player so I think it’s the speculation will begin if they don’t extend them anyway so yeah I mean people are always going to try to you know make articles obviously we hear about the Kings reaching out trying to say “Hey if we wanted to trade for Trey what what would it take things of that nature?” So I mean it’s just it’s just part of the process and part of like you know whatever happens and the Hawks take calls they’ll be like “Okay what what would you do?” But uh I think everybody pretty much feels confident in in just you know Trey being around obviously we had the Quinn Snyder thing yesterday with the Knicks um them reaching out and and you know Trey Trey commenting and just the fact that you know Knicks right now are just trying to see who who’s willing who which team is willing to let their coach talk to them so um it’ll be interesting to kind of see what happens there but so um let’s talk about Jaylen for a second um I think last year clearly shows that yeah he’s very huge part of how far this team could potentially go right um just because of what he can do what he brings to the table uh just the different things the versatility because this team values guys who can do multiple things who can impact the game in different ways and you know the injury obviously hurt coming back this year obviously I think some people and I’ve seen some videos where he’s not as like I guess he’s not as like strong obviously not being able to work out for a while just I’m assuming that that’s natural but uh for you this season for Jaylen what is what is the thing you want to see from him just coming into this year um obviously staying healthy is one but what what else do you want to see for you like what is the next thing that you feel like Jaylen Johnson I I want to see if he can do this this year yeah I think it’s the the half court effectiveness for sure he’s got to he’s got to get lower on his drives his handle has to be tighter he has to be more aggressive at the rim turn more of those floater attempts spitting fadeaways into rim attempts and I think you could see a completely different player like he’s already one of the better transition players in the NBA it’s more about figuring out what he could do in the half court so that that would be my biggest thing i think it starts with the handle and he’s a very upright player which is why he’s good in transition but it also makes his handle very susceptible to guys digging on it when he drives past so he’ll be more effective in in in the half court if he can tighten up his handle for sure so I yeah it’d be the handle and it’d be like the half court aggressiveness particularly at the rim and I know last year at times they would try to have him play some point forward um and try to you know do his passing do you still think that should be a focus for him this year or for Quinn and then them trying to give him as a passer do you think hey we’re g focus more as a half court score and and just being and taking advantage of maybe of certain matchups mismatches things like that and passing out of those mhm i think that’s a good question i think he does have to focus on the mismatches because um the passing ability that he already has like it would be a lot easier if he can draw the defensive attention like in the post or against a mismatch i think you still want to try and try him out with a point forward but maybe like off of rebounds as opposed to like in the half court and I think like really empower him to push the ball in transition and then in the half court like try and pick his spots as a offensive player like develop a face up game back guys down take advantage of smaller guys i think you have to you have to take a look at it though because as of right now I mean I don’t think we have a reliable secondary creator outside of Caris and you got to see if Jaylen has that in him yeah and then I know and I know that’s something that the guys like Dyson is trying to work on i know he says he wants to develop his offensive game he wants to take pressure off Trey um you know I think some people wonder with the backup point guard position is that a position where you try to find a guy um that can maybe do that a little bit uh one guy that they were interested in last year Titus Jones who will be a free agent this year um do you like his fit with the team is that someone you would be like “Yeah definitely make a call if you if he’s interested.” I wouldn’t and it’s more so like I don’t think he’s like he’s like a safe point guard and like if if Tyrese Hallebertton was 6 in or 4 in shorter didn’t shoot as many threes and was a lot less aggressive than he’d be Tai Jones and I think in certain systems it makes sense but he’s not as quick of a decision maker and he’s not as high volume of a three-point shooter and he’s also not as consistent as a three-point shooter and he’s not a great defender and it’s like I would hate to give up free agent money and and acquiring someone like that who I think is very onedimensional and yes it takes good pair of the ball but I also don’t think he creates a lot of advantages for guys and so I think I would personally want to roll the dice with Buffka and Dyson and Jaylen and empower them and you also have Caris Avert too like I think like that’s I think that’s enough like um when I and the most recent episode I did pre pointed out that for a stretch of about seven games with Kobe Buffkin they won the backup point guard minutes which Kobe on the floor tiny sample size of course we have no idea what Kobe could be in the NBA context he just has I think he’s played 29 games but I think you have if you squint you know you see a framework with him Dyson Jaylen and Caris at least two of those four guys if not three on the floor when Trey’s off the floor I think you can survive and um you know obviously you’d want to dominate every facet of the game but it’s a reality for every NBA team you’re going to be worse with your best player off the floor same thing for the Thunder Denver Indiana like that you just have to find a different way to win those minutes and I think the way the Hawks can do it is by committee and I don’t think using that free agent money on Tus Jones is the best use quite personally but again I understand that I understand why people would look at that yeah man i I think it’s one of those things where like I said you just try to find somebody who fits what you’re trying to do and and can continue to you know because every player you bring in you want to have a very specific role for them let them understand hey if you do this this is how how this is going to help us win this is how it’s gonna help us be better as a team and if they don’t feel like that’s the case then I get them not doing it so I will ask this though so obviously we see the Pacers in the finals right now um some people feel like the rosters especially maybe you look at the starting lineups they’re not in terms of player archetypes it’s not insanely I guess as far apart as it seems maybe um there’s some similarities you have the dynamic point guard um you know you have the Jaylen really good four Seakum really good four obviously Turner and Yak are not the same player but and that’s this whole different argument um Andrew Nimhar Dyson Daniels you know just people people feel like I’ve always said that I feel like if Quinn Snder had his vision of how the Hawks would play it would be similar to how Indiana plays because he’s always talked about what did he say he said the three things he wants from his players shoot pass drive quick decisions that’s what he wants because that will keep people off their toes defense can’t get set because they’re like quick decisions keeps you rotating um what what do you think is the biggest things that maybe the Hawks can look at and take away from Indiana and the run they’ve had because right now that seems to be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference yeah I think Indiana is built on the concepts of like yes quick decision- making but also um just complete trust in one another and this is a it’s a team that’s been together for a decent amount of time um they bought it they bought guys they brought guys in who were kind of like undervalued in their current system so I think Aaron Smith is a great example um he wasn’t this dynamic in Boston but u they’ve realized that if you empowered him and you gave him the ability to drive and and and you know pick up full court and reward his defensive ability then I think you get a really interesting 3 and D guy and I think the big takeaway for me is like you can’t just be a regular 3 and D player on the highest level of basketball anymore and the fact that Nissan can put the ball on the floor Obby Top could put the ball on the floor Mat could put the ball on the floor like these these are guys who were onedimensional at one point um but they all believe in the system and they believe in each other and I think it’s like that’s why systems are way more matchup proof than actual players and the Hawks offense for a very long time has been tracentric and it look the dude’s incredible like there’s a reason why because he was our best offensive option and also quite frankly I don’t think Nate McMillan was ever inventive enough to build a system but also the guys on that team weren’t capable of playing within a system because they didn’t make quick enough decisions big reason why they moved off DeAndre Hunter in my opinion big reason why they moved off of John Collins clinton Capella is on his way out for that same reason and so quick decision- making and also being able to read and react is really really really important so why VC cri has buil built himself an NBA career because he can read and react and make quick decisions and I think I agree i actually just sent a I had sent a tweet before we started in our Hawks chat and I was like Dyson’s Nimhard is that could be me trees obviously is Hi Siakum is Jaylen and then I had said at the time I said year three Hansen Yang as Miles Turner but a a versatile big man also fits on Yaka Congu and I think that honestly I will say the gap is pretty big to be honest like it every team in the East every team in the league is looking at the Pacers and like we’re not that far this Pacers team is really good rick Carlau is a really great coach they are the most fundamentally sound team in the league their sets are incredible um they’re super cohesive tj McConnell was a demon yeah like there’s there’s there is a big gap but it’s not like unattainable and it’s also not going to be the exact same way if that makes sense like you could follow the model of like taking care of the ball making quick decisions shooting off the catch and forcing turnovers applying pressure on the perimeter but it doesn’t mean it’s going to look the exact same and I think um Dyson is the biggest asset that we have because in terms of like playing that style of basketball I mean because with his three steals per game he was averaging he was adding six and a half points per game and that’s based on the amount of possessions he saved the Hawks defensively by completely stopping a half court possession and then the estimated points per possession in transition off of a steal and so I mean you’re talking about someone who added almost 500 points just off his ability to steal the ball and the turnover economy has defined the playoffs and a lot of that comes down to decision-m but it’s also your ability to put pressure on a defense on on an offense and it starts with Dyson it continues with Jaylen continues with Mohamed Gay on a Kongu whoever we add in the draft um I think the Hawks are in a really good position it may not look exactly like the Pacers but I think it’s similar in the fact that like they want to control possessions they want to get out and run which they did really well this season they they got in transition at the highest frequency in the NBA the effectiveness scoring in transition wasn’t exactly there but you miss Jaylen Johnson only played 36 games so I don’t know man it’s it’s a it’s a good time to be a Hawks fan even if it is a little bit frustrating to see a team that we felt like was beneath us at that time that we made that Eastern Conference Finals run to see them now be in the finals I can understand and be like I felt the same way i’m like man these guys aren’t that good and they continue to prove over and over again that they are that good and at some point you have to respect it and I guess that’s where I am right now but it sounds like to me Barry we need the Indiana Pacers Atlanta Hawks playoff series this is what I’m hearing maybe next year so we can I don’t even know if I want to see them anymore be honest well it’s funny because um I said like I was thinking like what’s like the alltime like Hawks playoff run where like we’re beating certain teams that like it would just mean the most to beat these teams to get to the finals and I was like so clearly Knicks are going to be in there just because um probably right now Pacers because of the Trey Hallebertton arguments D and then I was kind of thinking third I was like I mean I guess the only team really is just because they’ve given this team so much trouble before um in the I think in the playoffs maybe even though they’re not in great shape either miami right they beat you last year and then obviously they’re the reason why you traded for Ty Murray to begin with so um that would be the three teams and obviously you see what happens in the Western Conference but um because now it’s like since Luca’s not in Dallas anymore it’s like I mean you know it’s like whatever um so I I was just it’s just interesting because you know I it’s it’s weird because I think it’s I think everybody thinks the Hawks should be a playoff team next year like it’s one of those things where I think LA this past year even this past year people were like are we going to be a lottery team like like people didn’t know like how good this team is going to be and now it’s like we should probably be a postseason team next year and I think that’s why I’ve said there’s pressure on Quinn for the first time this year to win because there is that expectation like I’m going into the season expecting us to be a winning team and make the postseason and you’re probably thinking what top six seed just so you’re not in the playin anymore so um it’s one of those things where I think if you’re a Hawks fan there’s optimism but there’s also a bit of like you know hope we stay healthy like you know I hope you know we we reach that level that we think we should be because I always tell people about that stretch around the NBA Cup time where that was the one because I said the one thing the Hawks lost the ability to do was be able to win different types of games because you have to yeah and when they had everybody healthy Jaylen DeAndre everybody they were able to win like 102 104 games yep like like they were able to play in those types of teams where the offense wasn’t great it didn’t have to be because you were able to play good enough defense yep and when Jaylen went down and then they traded Hunter you just lost that ability it became what you were the last two years you got to score you got to score and maybe hope the other team has a bad night because you just don’t you don’t have the bodies it’s like I mean listen at the end of the day like we said we when we talked last time you said George Niang fat boy basketball right and listen I know G Wagon can be a very controversial person because listen he’ll do what he did in that Heat game and give you 20 plus yeah and you’re like George N but at the same time he you also see some of his struggles and be like George N so it’s one of those things where it’s like u I’m very curious to kind of see where this goes um do you think Mo Gay is going to be in the rotation again still this year do you want him to be i think he um if you’re going to play Nang I think you need you need a Jaylen or a or or Moier or you have a free agency big who can stop who can like the bleeding defensively whether it’s Luke Cornet or Stephen Adams so I think Mo is he was so special like he was legitimately like super special defensively his his like per 40 possession block numbers and steal numbers off the charts and you felt his defensive impact it wasn’t fake stuff it wasn’t like he was starting games and changing games when he was on the floor so I think I I definitely would want him there um I think we’re getting to a point where we do have a sneaky amount of depth and and in some ways it’s like a little bit fake like I think our guard depth right now I mean you look at Trey Dyson you have Kobe Terrence Man is your fourth guard but V creature I’d argue is is a better fourth guard than Terrence man and so now you have like five guys who all have are going to be on long-term contracts and I don’t necessarily feel great about the guard room and then if you look at the at the four spot I think they view Larry Nance as a five they didn’t really play him at the four much and so now it’s it’s really it’s really Jaylen and and Mo i don’t think you should play Nang at the four at all i’m going to be honest like the reason why we saw the mobility stuff but also like he can play the three offensively no problem i think it’s more so like can he guard wings and it will be very match up dependent i think you treat him like Garrison Matthews next year is how I would go about it to be honest like you know you give him you give him two three minutes at the beginning of the second quarter if he has it you may stick with him for the rest of the game if not you know we we’d appreciate your veteran contributions on the bench is kind of how I would look at it but he is he is like he came into the Hawks and he was one of the highest scoring three-point shooters in the league he shot 40% from three he was a top five catch and shoot three-point shooter legitimate value right see you want to find out lineup combinations that make him tenable defensively and if the vision is Kobe Buffin’s healthy who’s a menace on that perimeter Jaylen Johnson’s healthy who’s a menace as a weak side defender then I think you can make it work but it’s um yeah it’s it could be tough i do want to point out this little nugget I had found though um to your point about like how the Hawks were able to win in different ways with Jaylen healthy the year prior with 2023 2024 the Hawks had the worst defense in the league against top 10 offenses we were getting lit up by the best offenses in the league allowing 125.3 points per 100 possessions this year we allowed just 117.7 which was good for the ninth best in the league and that’s a huge testament to Dyson Dams but also just this Hawks team in general like they were also I I shouldn’t gloss over Clint Capella clintela was pretty good defensively this season um earlier in the year too so you know when you have the the health there there is a a vision for a defense that’s tenable and and you know I think for a long time it didn’t feel like you could possibly do that with Trey without you know Apex version Clint Capella so for them to have built that with the idea that Capella is leaving I feel pretty good about them being able to to your point win differently which is what we’ve seen Indiana do time and time again um and not be because that first year before they had Siaka they were pretty offensively tilted yep and now they they’ve short up the defense a lot so I think that’s a really good point by you yeah because it’s just you just have to like I because I I just remember watching that stretch and I was just like oh my god we can win games without having to score 120 like this is so I haven’t felt this way in years because I I haven’t seen it um so that’s why it sucked when we had to like we couldn’t do it anymore because I was just like well shoot i said the issue was especially when Jaylen went down it was that we couldn’t stop anybody but I also feel we didn’t have enough offense like I feel like okay Trey Hunter gives you 20 hunter can give you 20 okay who else g you like who else like your third option i mean I guess that third option was was Dyson’s was capable like you know Dyson’s capable of putting the ball back it just depends on the game because that’s still not like a very natural thing for him to be a scoreer zach we know about him and up and down this and he may give you 21 in the first half but he may give you two in one like you know that’s just the Zachary Rishi experience so more consistency from those guys obviously can help up the the floor and then you know potentially raise the ceiling but um which I think they’re really hoping for a big jump from just those two guys because I’ll focus on those two guys specifically Dyson and Rish because that’s where the jump will be made in the starting unit if they make a jump to me because I feel like Jaylen I mean for the most part I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t give you what he just gave you before he got hurt last year 20 what 18 five and five or sorry 1810 and five um and then you know Trey Trey going to be Trey you know he can give you 25 and 10 if he needs to he led the league in assist year and a Congu I think his big thing will be how does he progress as a stretch five because that was something he started to make more of as the season went on and that’s why to me I’m just like I just feel like his value for this team i don’t I don’t I get if you want size I just don’t get people who say get him off the team yeah no just I’m like a productive player you want go like why like I don’t doesn’t make any sense to me so we’ve been waiting on this for years it’s like and it’s not fake it’s not fake like kind of like how the Hunter stretches were you know like and I loved Hunter when he was here i was so happy to see him finally succeed but we saw his limitations for Cleveland as well where he like Cleveland badly needed someone who could defend at the point of attack and Indiana is not an easy team to defend at all but I Indiana did not see defensive resistance until game three against New York and a lot of that was because Cleveland was soft at the point of attack they didn’t have anyone who could move with their guards they didn’t have anyone who was able to actually apply fullcourt pressure and that’s some of DeAndre Hunter’s limitations and then we talk about the decision making we talk about his his own inconsistencies yeah like um I can take an inconsistency from a thirdyear guard who didn’t have offensive role in New Orleans i can take inconsistency from Zack as a rookie um from Dre it was kind of getting to the point where it’s like we need to know what we’re getting from you and you’re not giving us enough defensive value and ideally you bring in like Rez can come in and hopefully I think his defense honestly like was really good for his age and especially at the rim and so it’s like what can he what could he look like with even more weight added like he added he he was drastically different by the end of the season for sure oh yeah people have told me like beginning season ree to the end of the year you saw him put on some weight it wasn’t he was not the exact same guy and sometimes during the season it’s hard just because they talk about you burn so many calories because you’re playing these games flying so you’re trying to maintain a lot of players trying to maintain weight yeah and he was still able to just gain some so it’s always good right now he’s just able to kind of work on it and just focus in it’s not something he has to be like “Oh shoot now I got to burn all this.” Even though I know he’s working out but like you know it’s not the same way as an NBA game right so you know I I have big expectations for him this next year i’m not saying I’m expecting him to become some star player but I’m just expecting him to be more consistent i said if Ree becomes more consistent and can maybe give you what is 14 15 fair consistently a game um you know and then the ability at times to give you a big game i think I think people I think he I think be happy with that yeah so I’d have to agree with that yeah so I mean it just it really just depends and like I said since the draft this year is is before well it’s every year it’s before free agency it’s like it’s different like in the NFL you you try to figure out okay who do we want to sign before we figure out okay who do we want to draft nba you got to figure out who you want to draft and then say okay if we get this player how does this change our free agency plans and that’s what really I think what that’s what happened this year when they took Zach like when they had the I’m sure they had the Dyson deal lined up and that’s why they didn’t take Castle at least in my opinion or even like someone like Reed Shepard because they’re like we have our backcourt pairing for Trey percolating down the line so I do think they think about that but it’s also like you you make your draft decisions based on what you think is available in the trade market like teams right now are trying to figure out what the trade market looks like so they can inform their draft their draft make decision making and I think the Hawks should be readily available as like the team that like steps in as a third team to take on a contract if you need to facilitate like I think Devin Vel has been a guy who’s been floated around and if you can get him in terms of like facilitating a Phoenix and uh San Antonio trade where you don’t have to give up a pick or maybe you send Phoenix or maybe you swap with San Antonio and send like Terence Man or someone to Phoenix i don’t know to make the salaries work do it you know I think they they have a lot of because it’s really like us and Brooklyn that has like space to like dump contracts so and I think the Hawks the Hawks get creative man they they could yeah i mean Washington could too because I’ve heard obviously they were talking about they might take Bradley Bill back um but but um it was funny cuz uh cuz um you know first you mentioned Terence man two three times in trade talk so it sounds like to me sound like to me hey Terrence man what can we get for Yeah i would I would try posted the play from the Miami games i try I try and post it like every two weeks so I can just remember that he did that because it’s when I think about the the the first couple games of Terrence man i was like okay you know I liked him when he was on the Clippers i thought you know like it’s a nice little third guard who could be a combo guy can be a good point of attack defender he just his CTE acts up a little bit and then also he um if he was like if he was Ben Matan’s size we’re talking about a different player but it’s like and he does have value as a driver i thought he he helped us a lot in that in that sort of department but some of the shot selection um the inconsistency as a shooter he wasn’t as good as a defender as I expected either often was out of position um gave up stuff off ball and it’s really the contract like he’s making a lot of money and for a long time he still has three years at 15 18 mil and I think if you can get off that contract like that was like the worst part of the bogey deal besides like the sentimental factor obviously bogey big Hawks legend I think at the time I said I wasn’t that big I didn’t really care that much about the deal basketball-wise because of how bad bogey had been but at least we knew that was a a bad stretch for him as opposed to like bogey just sucks now and he eventually became you know a helpful player for LA even if he did shrink a little bit in the playoffs but it was the fact that Bogey has one more year on his deal and Terence man has three and so he will be on our books for the foreseeable future the other issue is like yes you know we could try and facilitate a trade i don’t think he’s a positive asset right now and which means you might have to include draft capital which I don’t know if I would do at this point maybe next season you know but Well yeah i I was saying before the season when they got the 22nd pick I was like I mean maybe you could see if somebody wants Terrence man 22 and see if somebody willing to budge on that like I said Terence Man is such a weird player cuz you know there’s so many statistics where it’s like when teams would make runs he’s on the floor but then at the same time when we would come back or make fake comebacks he was also on the floor so it was like he’s such a wild variant of a player where he can help you a lot if he’s good like if he’s playing well yeah yeah but then he also could just hurt you his lows his lows are definitely pretty low for sure like cuz like for the most part this season I was like okay he corner three okay yeah he was fine yeah you know what I’m saying like he’s a good driver like I said I hated the fact we finished at the four with him i I know the Clippers I think did that and I think that’s how they ended his Quinn Snider’s tenure in Utah but um I was like the default to go small and he’s the guy you’re going small with was just kind of like uh I guess he had no choice he’s like I can’t trust Mo or Barlo in this situation and I guess Nang it just depends because I guess he’s like I need some type of defense something yeah he like I I try to cut him some slack for sure cuz it’s just like like there were not many like guys that you could really like you could say okay this guy could hold down the four i mean they have him listed at 67 i think that’s BS i think Terrence man is like 6’4 without shoes if I’m be honest and like in his positions like for the Hawks he played 50% of his minutes at small forward and like they were plus 1.7 in those minutes um which isn’t bad but I think it’s more so like he’s not the ideal three and like the Hawks need a lot of size on the wing and and the minutes he played at shooting guard again because of some of the offensive inconsistencies and and some of the defensive stuff like they’re minus 8.3 and their defensive rating was 127 second percentile it’s it’s rough just because of his size honestly that’s that’s kind of like how I look at it and again like the contract and the size is what makes him a rougher fit for us if we were a bigger team if he was on a little bit less of a contract he’d be fine i think he’d be looked at like Nquil Alexander Walker honestly but if you like like if you swapped the Alexander Walker and Terence Man for the Hawks I’d be elated but again like no one’s taking on that contract without the proper compensation they said they said a 610 do we believe that i think I think on is 69 i just there’s just no way Terence man is 67 like Terrence man is maybe 6’5 in shoes i I don’t believe he’s 67 at all i mean he he looks like he’s like 6’4 6’5 like I probably six 68ish 68 point something like that without shoes but I don’t know it’s I mean listen I always say about Yucka that man I I always like to go back to the Houston game because that was the game where you really saw the front court issues because they went to the double big and it’s just like and and Quinn was like I cannot play Gay or Barlo this game at all or get cooked when they’re out there because uh Singon will just cook them if if I throw him out there and Aongu is the only one who can put up resistance um and I but I think I think the Yucka had like a double double that game too like I don’t think he had a bad game and so sometimes I got to remind people like I was like brother this man is out here by himself against 27 foot giving you 20 and 10 at least you like I’m just like why are we why are we mad like I just it just annoyed me seeing after the game when we get destroyed destroyed in the front court because we have no other bigs we can play and they’re like a yaka i’m like like what why is this so directionally aimed he’s an easy person to blame but like I just check they have him at 68 in a a quarter uh without shoes so he is playing smaller than most centers but I think he’s been able to overcome that in a lot of games like you point out with Houston and it’s like when he’s bringing the offensive value as like a passer and a three-point shooter and a great finisher at the basket man and and also like what I think people forget when Jaylen’s on the floor and Jacob can switch on the guards a lot more freely and that’s where you really see him shine like in that first game in that season opener against Brooklyn he switched out to Cam Thomas and he just completely locked him up and took the ball away he had multiple like 2K rip moments this season just taking the ball away from from ball handlers because his hands are really good he moves his feet really well i think you’ll see the Hawks lean into some of that switchability more with Jaylen healthy and of course with Dyson on the team too and with Zack on the weak side like you just have the the size and the length to like pull your center out and not have to worry about it because Jaylen can clean up the glass and also protect the rim so that’s why I think you you’ll see his defensive impact pop a little bit more like even this season he he defended like some of the fewest shots in the league at the rim among centers but that’s by design you know like they they’re trying to get him on the perimeter and and you know lean on their other versatile guys so I don’t know man like I I’ I’ve been in on Jacob Defender for a long time i’ve wanted him to start for a long time i think if he would have started last season we would have seen us a little bit earlier too like he should have started in the 2024 season from the jump and then maybe you could have moved Clint for positive value as opposed to like letting him walk for free but those are the decisions that you that you end up looking back on and like you know you miss out on the opportunity i’m just happy they finally did it yeah i mean too with Meka um I I think that he it’s it’s funny because he he mentioned us after game he was like you know when you’re coming off the bench it’s hard to sometimes get a feel for the game and I think that showed in how he played that’s why I think there was so much inconsistency where I think as a starter you saw more consistency because he was like “All right I’m starting every game so I can get a feel for this.” And then you saw a consistent player from that and so then you get that well now you get a more solid player so it’s like it’s almost like if you if you think about the starting group next year pretty much if Dyson does take a bit of a jump offensively and Zach does too you’re getting to a point where like all right everybody can kind of put the ball in the ball in the basket you know Yaka is someone who could sneakily get you 20 and 10 we know what Jaylen can do obviously he’s continuing to try to you know develop his half court game zack especially develops as a shooter i think Brad told me he was like there’s he said if re is there’s a difference if reach is a good shooter and then like a really good to elite shooter for him like being a good shooter you know be a starter be good comes elite shooter okay now we’re you know maybe we can start talking a little bit higher of him just because of the way he plays obviously outside of the cutting and things like that and even Dyson if he can just you know I I said especially when he would play point guard when Trey would come off the floor I felt like he was more he was more aggressive as an attacker I because I feel like also mismatchwise he’s getting guarded by a point guard and Dyson’s a big guy so he’s like oh I can just attack this guy like in the Spurs games I was like I would want him to attack Chris Paul more because I’m like brother Chris Paul cannot guard you realistically like I mean he just can’t guard a lot of people at this point but you know you you have an advantage and so you know I think that’s something like listen if he’s able to pull up like a stop midi game pick and pop whatever that would just add to him and it just makes the offense more dynamic in the half especially because they really need it for the half court and then you kind of just hope guys like Caris Vert and whoever else you bring in this off season kind of help with that so I mean we’re gonna have to see man this team there like I said there’s optimism about where they could go and I’m excited to see what this team can end up being man but obviously I appreciate you Brad coming on for another episode i feel like every time we do this we have very long episodes but it is what it is we talking ball so who cares um let them know where they find you David for sure man appreciate you Bryce and you know I I’m a little verbose i apologize no you’re good you’re good you know I love I love the Hawks love basketball you know how I get but um yeah D for three all platforms um cooking up some draft stuff i think I want to talk about like some takeaways from the playoffs with the draft talk about why I think Yangs are the best playmaker and then I’ll do like a what I think every lottery team should pick and then also like of course a Hawks focus video before the draft drops and then I’ll drop my full board pretty soon as well but again thank you for the opportunity and I hope you all enjoy it yes sir yes sir obviously guys uh you enjoyed the episode for sure just subscribe to the channel like the video leave a comment down below about anything we discussed um follow me on exit_2K um obviously follow Keep Up with David he obviously puts out really great work um a guy who’s becoming a more trusted name you know he came on here gave me wisdom so I appreciate him for sure uh for doing that man taking time out of his busy schedule man but like I said guys we’re going to see what happens as we get closer to the draft more rumors will come out more things will happen we’ll see what our Hawks do on draft night but that’s all for us guys that’s David i’m Bryce we’ll see you next time

My conversation with David Lee continues, as we dive into Hawks offseason talk about certain players and if they could be like the Indiana Pacers. Along with some free agents talk and what to do at key positions.

Topics

Direction of the team
Hawks and Pacers alike?
Backup PG talk
Potential Upgrades
Risacher

#atlantahawks #nbaoffseason #nba #nbanews #nbapodcast