Hawks 2023 Presser

[WigNosy]

The cat wanders into the press room, and blinks in surprise that there are actually people here. He looks at one of his staffers, shrugs, and sits down behind the microphone.

"So, I suppose you are here to talk about the team again. There's really not a lot to talk about. We had another disappointing season last year when we lost in the playoffs. Yes, we lost to the eventual champs. No, that doesn't make me feel better. We couldn't even win the stinking DIVISION last year. It's getting tiresome."

"Obviously, after last season, it was clear that we didn't have enough firepower. We were kind of annoyed when Aaron Donald's agent informed us he had a max deal from the Kings. We had hoped he would take our much smaller offer so we could surround him with additional talent. Guess he had other plans. In addition, Andrew Aleman got a contract offer from the Knicks that was way too rich for our blood. Fortunately, we had already picked up Daniel Vaillancourt, who compared favorably with Aleman, in the back end of the draft, so we let Aleman walk."

"After what I would consider an expected - if expensive - RFA period, we entered Unrestricted Free Agency looking for manna from heaven in the form of vet-min-mas. We had to pay Daniel Randle based on his all-league service last season. Fortunately, we only paid him for 3 years with a team option for the third, as usual for our... frugal ways."

"We managed to pull in Gordon Hayward, added Jeffrey Thurston, and pulled back former Hawks Merle Weisman and Gil Gale with our vet min offers - Gordon is a quality reserve at this point in his career and we were pleased to pick him up. We felt the other guys would give us some depth but didn't expect them to see much playing time.

"Of course, Training Camp happened. None of our insured guys got hit - thankfully - but Randle's quickness took a big hit. Vaillancourt - who was slated to be our backup point guard - got demolished. Roger Worthy, who we were quite high on after training him last year, took a step back. Blake Griffin and Gordon Hayward took hits expected for their age. The Vaillancourt hit is annoying, but all in all, given the devastation TC wreaked this season, I guess I can't complain TOO much."

"Four of our five starters are penciled in - Donald, Baldwin, Tatum, and Ellinger. We'll probably play around a little with Randle being a supersub since he's shown the ability to play PF in the past, but more likely we'll start him more often than not. Bergstrom and Hayward will also be in the rotation and I'm still trying to work out who will be in the back end of the rotation."

"I'm still in the mood to make some moves this season with the roster. We've been 'good' but not 'great' for too long. We've been close to a couple of deals to make quantum leaps, but nothing like what the 76ers just did with Kevin Love. We're in the tax by quite a bit this season, and if these guys don't play up to that... there will be changes."

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Were you surprised that the Magic edged you out for the division last year? And what do you do differently this year to stop that from happening again?

[WigNosy]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Were you surprised that the Magic edged you out for the division last year? And what do you do differently this year to stop that from happening again?

Extremely.

Do better with my lineups.

[kucoach7]

What do you mean when you say "make some moves?" Would actually consider, gasp, a rebuild?

[digiskunk]

After having a down year last year, do you have faith Daniel Randle will recover and put up the same sort of stats he put up a few seasons ago (e.g. 20ppg)?

[JNR]

GWR: First I want to clarify that you didn't lose to the eventual champs. You lost to the team that got swept by the eventual champs.

Secondly, and I feel like this has been an issue for the last few seasons: what are you going to do about the defense?

[NOLa.]

Do you know if Aaron Donald said anything to Jeffrey Duren while on his stay in Sacramento?

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Last season the Magic snuck up on you and seized the division title. Though they don't quite seem to be set to do that this season, are there any other Eastern Conference threats you have a cautious eye on, aside from the usual suspects?

[WigNosy]

What do you mean when you say "make some moves?" Would actually consider, gasp, a rebuild?

If the right rebuilding package is out there, yes.

[WigNosy]

After having a down year last year, do you have faith Daniel Randle will recover and put up the same sort of stats he put up a few seasons ago (e.g. 20ppg)?

We had fewer offensive options around Randle those seasons; with the current construction of the Hawks, we are concerned more with his efficiency and less his volume. I don't think he'll post the raw numbers of years past, but that's because he no longer has to carry the offense alone - we're getting points from more sources.

[WigNosy]

GWR: First I want to clarify that you didn't lose to the eventual champs. You lost to the team that got swept by the eventual champs.

Secondly, and I feel like this has been an issue for the last few seasons: what are you going to do about the defense?

Gameplan better.

[WigNosy]

Do you know if Aaron Donald said anything to Jeffrey Duren while on his stay in Sacramento?

Even if I did know what he said, repeating it could get me fined for tampering. Sorry.

[WigNosy]

Random Reporter: Last season the Magic snuck up on you and seized the division title. Though they don't quite seem to be set to do that this season, are there any other Eastern Conference threats you have a cautious eye on, aside from the usual suspects?

The Pacers and Wizards always seem to favor eclectic builds - those are the hardest to figure out and those are the teams I generally watch with a little suspicion that they can find something that catches teams by surprise and wins a lot.