Are the Hawks Real Contenders in the Eastern Conference?!

Are the Hawks Real Contenders in the Eastern Conference?!

Not my beat.
If you had told me, let’s say early June, that one of my favorite off seasons in the NBA of any team was going to be the Atlanta Hawks, I’d be like, “Okay.” And then they’ve had an awesome one. And if you had told me that that would not involve trading Trey Young, I would have been like, “Yeah, how’ they do that?” They have. And to talk about it now, Mike Ki 929 the game in Atlanta. Mike, welcome back to the show. Appreciate your time and uh how we doing on this day two of NBA free agency.
I I I am equally shocked as you that the Hawks have been this uh efficient and effective and Trey Young is still on the team. Would not have been on my bingo card.
So, let’s talk about it. They have they they make the Kristoff Sporzingis trade. Um they have signed a couple of key free agents including Nquil Alexander Walker and Luke Canard. But take us back like end let’s go end of the regular season first. So for the Hawks the end of the playin like where did you think the team was going to go? What options did you think they had? Well, you know, this is a critical off season. It really still is as far as Trey Young’s future with the Hawks is concerned because he is entering that window for that supermax extension. And uh the Hawks would probably need to do that this summer or if they had no intention on keeping Trey Young, they would probably need to part ways with Trey this summer in order to get something of value in return. Uh, and it’s starting to feel more and more like Trey is going to be a part of this going forward for reasons we can get into in a moment, but it really felt like at the end of uh that very brief run, if you will, in the playin round for the Hawks that uh there was a pretty decent chance that Trey Young was not going to be back with Atlanta. that this is a team really stuck in the mud making the playin round the last couple years after they had that run of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 and almost made the NBA finals. Really, they they have been in neutral or even regressing a little bit every year since. Um with that being said, they also have the number one pick in the draft two years ago. They took Zachary Reese. He turned out to be um someone who exceeded expectations in his rookie year. Uh bringing in Dyson Daniels from New Orleans. That was someone who exceeded expectations and the most improved player. Uh Jaylen Johnson was someone who showed a lot of flashes before his injury. So the thought was here in Atlanta, all right, you might have three guys that you can build around and you don’t necessarily need Trey Young to be part of that mix. And now things have evolved where it seems like Trey Young is not only going to be part of the mix, but now he might even be recruiting players to join him and try to form some kind of team that uh could compete for a top four spot in the Eastern Conference. So, do you think that they looked around like sent out feelers and didn’t like what they were going to get for Trey Young in return? Or do you think that this team and this this front office, which had some changes as well this off season, has a steadfast belief that they can build either around or with Trey Young, and we can get to the around or with in a second, but like do you think they sniffed around or do you think that they were always planning to go this kind of route? I think they sniffed and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was still light sniffing taking place. Uh although probably not as determined as maybe it was uh during the middle of last season towards the end of last season. I I definitely think uh they probed the market and they would be responsible in doing so. Uh you know, you always want to know what you can get for an asset like Trey Young. I think the way that things unfolded in the Eastern Conference with the injuries to Dame and uh Tatum and and Tyrese Hallebertton that may have changed the calculus more than anything else here in Atlanta because I think you know pretty much any team in the Eastern Conference outside of the the teams affected by those injuries, Indiana uh and Boston and Milwaukee are now probably more in buying mode. And I think Orlando was the first team that sent that signal when they uh gave up five first round picks for Desmond Bane. But everything has evolved so dramatically in the Eastern Conference over the last couple weeks with these big players getting injured that I would imagine the Hawks run office led by a new general manager Anie Cle who took over uh for Landry Fields at the end of the regular season. They probably assessed that hey you know we have a window right now in the Eastern Conference. Let’s go out and see what we can do and uh let’s see if we can do it building around Trey Young.
So, as Mike Ki is with us 929 the game in Atlanta, there is the lingering question of this contract situation for Trey Young and the the potential for a super max or some other kind of extension. Do you think that they have the the gumption, the leverage, the whatever other words you want to use to go to Trey Young and say, “Trey, we really love you, but we’re like we can’t build the team that we the way that we want to if we pay you the super max. You’re also not going to get that from anyone else because you literally can. We want to keep you, but can we work with you on something that is submax?” Do you think Trey Young would go for that? Do you think they have the ability to even ask that in the first place? And part of that, Mike, is caring. If he says, “No, it’s super max or bus,” then looking at him and being like, “Okay, well, we’re going to engineer your way out of here.” Do you think they are at that point with Trey Young and And would they try it? Um, I I have no inside knowledge if they’re at that point. My feeling is that would be a very dangerous road to take. Um you look, Trey Young, for the most part has been um someone who has fit very very well into what Quinn Snyder is trying to do with the Atlanta Hawks. The obvious liability with Trey Young is his defense in, you know, covering the Hawks. I’m on the radio broadcast, so I I get to see Trey play every night. Um, I don’t think Trey’s uh struggles on defense are tied to lack of effort. I think he gets picked on because of his size. Uh, what the Hawks have now done, and this might be a hint, maybe a little bit of a tip to where they’re going to go with Trey in this off season is I think they’ve made themselves tougher to play against by bringing in a Porzingis. and you guys know in Washington there’s absolutely no guarantee that Porzingis is going to play, you know, 55 or 60 games, but what if he does? Then you’ve brought in a really good rim protector. Uh they drafted Asa Newell out of Georgia. Good rim protector. I think he’ll spend most of his time in the G-League this year, but someone who’s a very good defender. Then you bring in a great 3 and D defender and Nquille Alexander Walker and suddenly it feels like the paradigm has shifted a little shifted a little bit along with the Dyson Daniels edition last year that the Hawks are are not content to be you know 28th 29th 30th in the league in in total defense and defensive rating and maybe some of the moves that they are making uh could be in in mind to compensate for Trey Young’s defensive weaknesses. is all that being said, um, for a guy with a strong personality like Trey Young, and I’m sure Trey believes he is worth the Superbacks, it feels like a dangerous game to play to go to him and say, “We’re not going to do that.” Even though you make a very good point. The Hawks are the only team that can pay him that kind of money uh, under the way the rules are in the NBA right now. So, um, the Hawks do have some leverage, but I don’t know if that’s a risk that they’re willing to take at this point.
I mean, it’s this is a different conversation for a different time. Uh, but I’m sure you’ve you’ve thought about this too as a guy who’s around the league as much as you are, Mike. Like, the supermax is so silly because teams are forced to negotiate against themselves and it really just winds up hurting the incumbent team and in some ways hurts the player. Like, yeah, you get more cash. That’s nice. all these players would get a ton of cash and they they have worse teams around them so they wind up having to carry an undue load and they might wind up getting traded and you know where or you know not having the success they would. It’s just it’s a very silly thing and I think a player like Trey Young in many ways that Bradley Beal was here. It’s like Brad at the time that he signed the supermax was a very very good player who should not have been making as much money as LeBron James let’s say or Stephen Curry and I think Trey Young safely fits into that which leads to my final question for you Mike as Mike Ki again host 929 the game in Atlanta specifically their Hawks pre and postgame coverage um my only concern like I love what the Hawks have done we started talking about that but my concern is how much room do they have to continue to go up and get better. Have they locked themselves into being a top four caliber in the East as currently constructed with three top players out with Achilles injuries, but not good enough to win the thing? And if even if they do, they feel like they would get smoked by an Oklahoma City or whoever else comes out of the West. Do they still have upward mobility with the assets they have to continue? Like, hey, this is a great offseason and boy, wait to see what the Hawks do next year. Yeah, a little bit because Porzingis is on an expiring uh you know the Luke Canard signing yesterday. Reportedly, he’s on a one-year deal. Uh you still have your younger players like Reza on a team friendly deal for a couple more years. They’ll have to figure out what they want to do with Dyson Daniels. I’m sure he would be in line uh for a big raise. The Hawks this off season still have, I believe, a mid-level exemption that they could use uh that they have not deployed yet. So, there might even be some upward mobility this year. Um, I honestly the best thing that I think the Hawks front office has done over the last week, I feel like they may have fleeced the New Orleans Pelicans a little bit on draft night by trading from trading from 13 down to 22 to get a lottery unprotected pick next year. The better of New Orleans were Milwaukee. And keep an eye on what’s going on with the Bucks now. um that could very well be a top five pick next year. That’s your your big asset. That is your big chip when you look at where the Hawks could maybe have some upward mobility and making moves whether it’s this off season at the trade deadline coming up uh in February of 26 or next off season. Um but I think you kind of hit the nail on the head and this is something we’ve been talking about in Atlanta today. I love what the Hawks have done. They’ve made themselves better. They’ve made themselves deeper. They got that great chip in the draft pick. Are they one of the four best teams in the Eastern Conference? I cannot put this Hawks roster above Cleveland’s roster right now. I can’t put them above Orlando right now to be totally honest with you. Uh I can’t put them above the New York Knicks right now. And then you start to get into the discussion. Um you know, what’s Indiana going to look like without Hallebertton now, without Miles Turner? got to stay in Milwaukee. Miami is always kind of a wild card. They’re always lurking. What are they going to do? I I think your top three in the East is a pretty solid group right now, and I don’t think the Hawks are in it.
And then the question is, what can they do? They also have multiple draft picks uh every year. A lot of it’s like pick swap type of stuff, but they at least have that to throw in a trade as well. Mike, great stuff as always. Uh enjoy having fun Hawks talk and hopefully what’s going to be a fun Hawk season uh starting in the fall. Yeah, we don’t get to do it often, but uh it’s been fun and I look forward to uh speaking with you again.
Indeed, Mike Ki, everybody with us here on the Hoffman Show. This is the Hoffman Show on the Team 980 and the Odyssey app.

The Atlanta Hawks have not so quietly had a tremendous off-season, but is it enough to make them contenders in the NBA’s Eastern Conference? Mike Conti from @929TheGame joins the show to discuss Atlanta’s moves and where they sit in the east!

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