Do the Hawks have the brightest future of any team?

[perks-a-beast]

Besides the Celtics, of course.

We were absolutely certain we’d never see another Steph Curry. Then Trae Young steppes up this year and takes the league by storm. Curry’s an extremely rare talent, and I don’t think Young will end up being as good as him, but I think he’ll come close.

In addition to Young, it seems the Hawks have hit on all their draft picks for the past 3 years...I know it’s early to tell with Hunter and Reddish, but those are guys I regarded highly going in to the draft and think both will be big time players in this league.

The Hawks also got a very good - and still young - Clint Capela to complement all these pieces as their 5 spot.

Oh, and they’re going to have another high draft pick this year to add to the mix - the pick can fall between 1-8, I believe.

I’m hard pressed to think of a team with more intriguing young talent and potential - maybe New Orleans or Minnesota.

I’m putting this Hawks team on notice because I just have a feeling the Celtics are poised to have some late playoff matchups with these guys not too far in the future.

[Monkhouse]

You're forgetting the Phoenix Suns, and the Grizzlies too.

A lot of teams boast so much talent and potential/promise.

I really like the core of the Suns, Mavericks, and Grizzlies, Hawks, and the Wolves. They all boast elite offensive talents, (Ja Morant, KAT, Booker, Doncic, and Young).

I wouldn't be able to just pin point anyone sharing that much of a huge advantage over each other.

[Roy H.]

This article looked at it, and had us in 2nd and the Hawks in 9th:

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ranking-10-nba-teams-with-the-brightest-futures-and-how-well-other-franchises-are-set-up-for-success/

[gouki88]

No. Young might have a similar but worse offensive impact to Curry, but he’s probably the worst defensive guard in the league.

I don’t think Capela will fit too well alongside Collins (I don’t think Capela is that good) and I really do not think Reddish is that good. Huerter is solid though.

Us, Dallas & Memphis all have nicer squads going forward. Especially us and Dallas, since KP was a 23/11/3/3 guy in his last 10 games.

[footey]

I think the Pels have a great future.

[SparzWizard]

Some Hawks/Celtics East Finals will be interesting.

Wonder how will the other teams like Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Toronto, and Philadelphia do once Atlanta becomes relevant.

[Somebody]

I never really understood the Curry comparisons for Trae - Trae is much more ball dominant than Curry ever was, ntm his shooting isn't as efficient as Curry's (some of it is due to shot selection, but he simply isn't as good as Curry in terms of making threes at a high clip). I think a better comparison would be Steve Nash, I can see Trae cleaning up his shot selection a bit and getting to the low 40s in three point percentage as he matures as a player while his passing has the potential to reach that level - he's a top passer in the league right now.

[Jvalin]

Dallas >>> everybody else

If I had to pick one player to build my team around, I'd pick Luka and it's not even close. Him and KP are hands down the best young duo in the league. I believe the Mavs were a dark horse to make some serious noise in the playoffs this season. I bet they'll win a championship in the next 2-3 years. Luka is that good. Imo, he's a GOAT candidate in the making.

Btw, I'm not a fan of Trae's game. Stats mean nothing, unless you are helping your team win games. All I see in Trae's case is empty stats.

[Donoghus]

Until he proves otherwise, Trae has struck me as a bit of an "empty calorie" guy more than anything. 

[Somebody]

Dallas >>> everybody else

If I had to pick one player to build my team around, I'd pick Luka and it's not even close. Him and KP are hands down the best young duo in the league. I believe the Mavs were a dark horse to make some serious noise in the playoffs this season. I bet they'll win a championship in the next 2-3 years. Luka is that good. Imo, he's a GOAT candidate in the making.

Btw, I'm not a fan of Trae's game. Stats mean nothing, unless you are helping your team win games. All I see in Trae's case is empty stats.

Then how is his game not helping his team win games? His offence that's helping his supporting cast that's historically bad offensively (especially when John Collins has missed a bunch of games due to a drug ban) not look like the worst offensive team in the league? I agree that his defence is horrible, but his ability to score and create at a very high level easily makes up for his defensive deficiencies, even from the raw eye test. All I see in Trae's case is a really talented young player who is getting dragged down by a horrible supporting cast.

Btw your crusade against anything related to statistics in general is starting to look a bit ridiculous, statistics are not limited to the raw box score and Trae does well in both box and non-box metrics. That's a sign of a good player combined with what the eye test + context tells us. Not everyone has to be Doncic/Magic/LeBron/Nash to be a good offensive quarterback.

[Somebody]

No. Young might have a similar but worse offensive impact to Curry, but he’s probably the worst defensive guard in the league.

I don’t think Capela will fit too well alongside Collins (I don’t think Capela is that good) and I really do not think Reddish is that good. Huerter is solid though.

Us, Dallas & Memphis all have nicer squads going forward. Especially us and Dallas, since KP was a 23/11/3/3 guy in his last 10 games.

^^^this. I am high on Trae's offence, but his defence is a massive problem if he ever wants to crack the NBA elite. As for his supporting cast, I think it's absolute rubbish compared to what other young NBA stars have and will likely make him the guard version of Wolves Kevin Garnett (in the sense that people will think that his stats are empty/light on impact compared to his peers) this decade unless he jumps to Nash level offensively (possible but a bit unlikely) and makes significant improvements defensively so he doesn't tank his offensive value that much.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Reddish is a binky of mine, but he's done very little to warrant my lofty regard for him as a better Andrew Wiggins. Still, I'm buying stock if anyone is selling.

I'm selling all my John Collins stock. I think the Hawks intend to trade him before his extension comes up. At the deadline, the Cs were reportedly interested. I hold the right to buy stock back if Collins is traded to the Cs.

I think Young's stock is artificially inflated right now. He might have just had his best season of his career, and he could only pull his team to to a handful of wins. I'm staying away. Plus, there's already rumors of him being a difficult player to coach and a difficult player to play with.

Capella's stock is probably partially inflated, but I do like him. I'm hoping the Hawks end up wanting to flip him.

I like Huerter, but I can't figure out if he will establish himself as a starter. Still, I like him.

[PhoSita]

Eh, I'm not that big a believer in Trae.  He's a really bad defender and it doesn't sound like he has a lot of interest in improving on that end.  That said he's a nice player to have, in a vacuum, but there are a good number of players under 25 I'd rather build around.


Huerter is fine.  He's a shooter, nothing more and nothing less.  Nice to have but I wouldn't want him starting. 

John Collins is a nice piece but I don't buy him as a 4.  Capela is a nice player to have but he is what he is.

Hunter, Reddish ... eh?  Solid wing prospects at best.

Who else do they have?  Bruno Fernando?



I would say the Hawks are set up to be a pretty good and very fun regular season team in the near future, and they will probably be in a position to sustain that for a while.  As for being any good in the playoffs?  I doubt that.




I would rather be the Mavs, just because Luka is probably going to win MVP at some point, if he stays healthy.  Also Rick Carlisle is great coach who will hopefully be there a while longer.

[Moranis]

OKC is the correct answer.  Paul is 34, Gallinari is 31, but no one else (of note) is above 26 and they are the 5th seed in the West.  They have a real potential star in SGA.  But the real reason it is them is the plethora of future draft picks they own.  That gives them so much trading and drafting flexibility and several of the picks are so far in the future they are bound to hit on one or two. 

[PhoSita]

OKC is the correct answer.  Paul is 34, Gallinari is 31, but no one else (of note) is above 26 and they are the 5th seed in the West.  They have a real potential star in SGA.  But the real reason it is them is the plethora of future draft picks they own.  That gives them so much trading and drafting flexibility and several of the picks are so far in the future they are bound to hit on one or two.

I'd take one MVP caliber player under 25 on my roster over any number of draft picks.