Hawks 2018 Presser
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:16 pm
Last season, of course, was a bitter disappointment as we forced the Pistons to Game 7 in the conference finals before ultimately coming up short. Changes had to be made.
I had set things up for this past offseason to be a bit of a crossroads season; we reset our luxury tax obligation and entered the off-season with plenty of cap space but also a number of Free Agents. We had a nice mix of older players and younger players but we knew our offseason would have to start with a couple of restricted Free Agents - their decisions would shape the direction we went in the offseason.
The rookie draft brought us a late first, Merle Weisman, who probably won't see time this year. We also picked up a couple of second round picks who were so forgettable they've already been cut.
As we all know, Aaron Gordon indicated he wanted to move on from his time here and expressed interest in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. Pelicans GM Nick Malone and I were able to find a way to accomodate his desires in a deal that worked well for both teams; we wish Aaron well and know he still has a lot of career ahead of him, but in a conference with Anthony Davis, I felt he still had a long way to go before I could ask him to try to contain AD and I couldn't wait. T.J. Warren, one-time Davis teammate, also expressed a desire to leave after we couldn't find as many minutes for him as we would have liked because of our logjam at the wing. Again, we were able to work with the Bulls to get him into a situation where he can get the playing time that will let him showcase his abilities while still bringing in some assets for us down the road.
Having completed RFA and found ourselves with a couple of extra draft picks - but a little less talent on the roster - our focus narrowed quickly. We had a couple of older players in Joakim Noah and Steph Curry that I knew would find interest elsewhere. Joakim had been matched up against AD the past couple of postseasons and been unable, really, to slow him down. I knew father time would continue to eat away at Joakim's game, but I really felt we could keep him, especially considering we held his Bird Rights. Curry was a great stopgap for us last season at point guard - while Harland Ellinger is probably our future at PG, he wasn't really ready for primetime last season so it was nice to have Steph along to plug the gap while we gave Ellinger time to develop. But we didn't have Bird Rights to Steph so I knew he'd be harder to keep.
All of this brings me back to narrowed focus. We have our wings of both the present and the future with Middleton and Randle coming into their primes. We have Draymond at PF, and in his prime. We hoped Ellinger would continue to improve and be ready to take the reins at point guard. If we could bring back Noah at Center, we'd still be good but... I was concerned for reasons other than father time. Draymond and Joakim were a great frontcourt pair last season defensively, and we enjoyed great success thanks to their passing abilities, but it was clear both were offensive liabilities. With the likes of Pedraza, AD, Ben Simmons, Spencer Hawes, and other top offensive big men in the conference, I didn't feel like I could keep running with no frontcourt offense.
I zeroed in early on Greg Monroe as a possible answer to our lack of offense inside. Greg isn't quite the passer Joakim was, but he has a very well-rounded game and can create offense for himself inside, which I felt would bring our team back into balance. Entering free agency at 28, he's in his prime, which made offering him a max-level contract an easy choice; we could nail down the Center spot for the next 4 seasons, which would pretty much solidify our rotation for the next few years. Knowing that Paul George and Gordon Hayward would be offered supermaxes, but also knowing either of them would be a great upgrade at PF (I could slide Draymond up to C) I sent out max deals to them but didn't really have any hope there. The plan was Monroe and plan B was bring back Noah - I offered Noah $8 million per year over two years because I didn't want to be too heavily into the tax if both Noah and Monroe signed.
But because we had enough cap space for not just a max but a slot of just over $8 million as well, I figured I might as well try to get a guy who I have been after for a VERY long time (ask Pauly P) - Deron Williams. He's in his 30's, and starting to feel the effects of age, but I felt it was worth throwing a contract his way just in case Steph Curry got a big offer to sign elsewhere. I offered Deron a 1-year deal every dollar of cap space that would be left if Monroe signed and offered Curry a slightly smaller deal too in hopes I could somehow keep both.
Well, we all know how Free Agency fell. Monroe saw what we were building and signed quickly, putting the first piece in place. Deron signed a couple of days later, and we were ecstatic, hoping against hope that if both Noah and Curry came back too we'd be a powerhouse. Ironically, the same day that Deron signed with us, Steph decided to sign with the Pacers... so I guess in essence Pauly and I kind of traded Steph for Deron. I'm sure Pauly will be as happy with Steph as I was. Noah took his time deciding and waffled back and forth - early on in Free Agency he told us he liked the Bobcats' offer, then after Deron signed, he told us he liked our offer - but ultimately he decided to take his talents to Charlotte. Darth is quite lucky to have him (and I'm a little bitter). Also, Nate Robinson decided after a couple of sixth man of the year awards that it was time to move on, so that depleted our depth a little further. Finally, Timofey Mozgov - a guy I threw out a minimum contract to on a lark - signed to give me a little frontcourt depth.
With the first Phase of Free Agency complete, I knew I had my starting five and had bought another year for Ellinger to improve... though he would be my backup guard and get plenty of minutes. I now needed to focus on improving my depth at wings at at big if possible (I didn't trust Moz given his age). I offered Mark Gasol what I figured would be an above-market contract - I had his bird rights, and now that we had Deron and Monroe for sure (instead of just hoping) it wasn't time to be cheap. Finally, we grabbed an old friend, Steven Diaz, who returns for another tour of duty with us. He'll probably play about as much as last time he was with us, too.
As every team does, we had to face the unflinching suckitude that is TC. Knowing that we had two future lynchpins of our team in Ellinger and Randle, we insured them both. Good thing, too, since TC decided to take a swipe at Ellinger for the second time (they tried to kill him last season, too when they killed all of the rookies I picked up in the draft... but he was insured then as well). Poor Kenneth Williams - who TC killed last year and whom I traded to the Knicks - took another hit again this year. At least TC finally decided to cut me a little slack and looked on Arthur Parish with a little bit of mercy - he got the boost that it tried to take from Ellinger. Thankfully, TC decided to give AD a smack on the head as well, which means - like a lot of teams in the East - I'm feeling a little more hope this year than last (at least, until next season when I'm sure he'll gain back most of his abilities to the level of those potentials insurance saved).
So, there you have it. How we got from last year's conference finals loss to this year's opening-day squad.
The East is brutal this year, no question about it. I wouldn't be surprised if there are six of seven teams that finish with 50 wins. But I feel we have talent up and down the lineup to compete with anyone and we'll never stop trying to improve ourselves... so don't be surprised if we try to dial up more moves this season. I know I say that every season and it never seems to happen but that isn't for lack of trying.
I've yapped enough. Questions?
I had set things up for this past offseason to be a bit of a crossroads season; we reset our luxury tax obligation and entered the off-season with plenty of cap space but also a number of Free Agents. We had a nice mix of older players and younger players but we knew our offseason would have to start with a couple of restricted Free Agents - their decisions would shape the direction we went in the offseason.
The rookie draft brought us a late first, Merle Weisman, who probably won't see time this year. We also picked up a couple of second round picks who were so forgettable they've already been cut.
As we all know, Aaron Gordon indicated he wanted to move on from his time here and expressed interest in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. Pelicans GM Nick Malone and I were able to find a way to accomodate his desires in a deal that worked well for both teams; we wish Aaron well and know he still has a lot of career ahead of him, but in a conference with Anthony Davis, I felt he still had a long way to go before I could ask him to try to contain AD and I couldn't wait. T.J. Warren, one-time Davis teammate, also expressed a desire to leave after we couldn't find as many minutes for him as we would have liked because of our logjam at the wing. Again, we were able to work with the Bulls to get him into a situation where he can get the playing time that will let him showcase his abilities while still bringing in some assets for us down the road.
Having completed RFA and found ourselves with a couple of extra draft picks - but a little less talent on the roster - our focus narrowed quickly. We had a couple of older players in Joakim Noah and Steph Curry that I knew would find interest elsewhere. Joakim had been matched up against AD the past couple of postseasons and been unable, really, to slow him down. I knew father time would continue to eat away at Joakim's game, but I really felt we could keep him, especially considering we held his Bird Rights. Curry was a great stopgap for us last season at point guard - while Harland Ellinger is probably our future at PG, he wasn't really ready for primetime last season so it was nice to have Steph along to plug the gap while we gave Ellinger time to develop. But we didn't have Bird Rights to Steph so I knew he'd be harder to keep.
All of this brings me back to narrowed focus. We have our wings of both the present and the future with Middleton and Randle coming into their primes. We have Draymond at PF, and in his prime. We hoped Ellinger would continue to improve and be ready to take the reins at point guard. If we could bring back Noah at Center, we'd still be good but... I was concerned for reasons other than father time. Draymond and Joakim were a great frontcourt pair last season defensively, and we enjoyed great success thanks to their passing abilities, but it was clear both were offensive liabilities. With the likes of Pedraza, AD, Ben Simmons, Spencer Hawes, and other top offensive big men in the conference, I didn't feel like I could keep running with no frontcourt offense.
I zeroed in early on Greg Monroe as a possible answer to our lack of offense inside. Greg isn't quite the passer Joakim was, but he has a very well-rounded game and can create offense for himself inside, which I felt would bring our team back into balance. Entering free agency at 28, he's in his prime, which made offering him a max-level contract an easy choice; we could nail down the Center spot for the next 4 seasons, which would pretty much solidify our rotation for the next few years. Knowing that Paul George and Gordon Hayward would be offered supermaxes, but also knowing either of them would be a great upgrade at PF (I could slide Draymond up to C) I sent out max deals to them but didn't really have any hope there. The plan was Monroe and plan B was bring back Noah - I offered Noah $8 million per year over two years because I didn't want to be too heavily into the tax if both Noah and Monroe signed.
But because we had enough cap space for not just a max but a slot of just over $8 million as well, I figured I might as well try to get a guy who I have been after for a VERY long time (ask Pauly P) - Deron Williams. He's in his 30's, and starting to feel the effects of age, but I felt it was worth throwing a contract his way just in case Steph Curry got a big offer to sign elsewhere. I offered Deron a 1-year deal every dollar of cap space that would be left if Monroe signed and offered Curry a slightly smaller deal too in hopes I could somehow keep both.
Well, we all know how Free Agency fell. Monroe saw what we were building and signed quickly, putting the first piece in place. Deron signed a couple of days later, and we were ecstatic, hoping against hope that if both Noah and Curry came back too we'd be a powerhouse. Ironically, the same day that Deron signed with us, Steph decided to sign with the Pacers... so I guess in essence Pauly and I kind of traded Steph for Deron. I'm sure Pauly will be as happy with Steph as I was. Noah took his time deciding and waffled back and forth - early on in Free Agency he told us he liked the Bobcats' offer, then after Deron signed, he told us he liked our offer - but ultimately he decided to take his talents to Charlotte. Darth is quite lucky to have him (and I'm a little bitter). Also, Nate Robinson decided after a couple of sixth man of the year awards that it was time to move on, so that depleted our depth a little further. Finally, Timofey Mozgov - a guy I threw out a minimum contract to on a lark - signed to give me a little frontcourt depth.
With the first Phase of Free Agency complete, I knew I had my starting five and had bought another year for Ellinger to improve... though he would be my backup guard and get plenty of minutes. I now needed to focus on improving my depth at wings at at big if possible (I didn't trust Moz given his age). I offered Mark Gasol what I figured would be an above-market contract - I had his bird rights, and now that we had Deron and Monroe for sure (instead of just hoping) it wasn't time to be cheap. Finally, we grabbed an old friend, Steven Diaz, who returns for another tour of duty with us. He'll probably play about as much as last time he was with us, too.
As every team does, we had to face the unflinching suckitude that is TC. Knowing that we had two future lynchpins of our team in Ellinger and Randle, we insured them both. Good thing, too, since TC decided to take a swipe at Ellinger for the second time (they tried to kill him last season, too when they killed all of the rookies I picked up in the draft... but he was insured then as well). Poor Kenneth Williams - who TC killed last year and whom I traded to the Knicks - took another hit again this year. At least TC finally decided to cut me a little slack and looked on Arthur Parish with a little bit of mercy - he got the boost that it tried to take from Ellinger. Thankfully, TC decided to give AD a smack on the head as well, which means - like a lot of teams in the East - I'm feeling a little more hope this year than last (at least, until next season when I'm sure he'll gain back most of his abilities to the level of those potentials insurance saved).
So, there you have it. How we got from last year's conference finals loss to this year's opening-day squad.
The East is brutal this year, no question about it. I wouldn't be surprised if there are six of seven teams that finish with 50 wins. But I feel we have talent up and down the lineup to compete with anyone and we'll never stop trying to improve ourselves... so don't be surprised if we try to dial up more moves this season. I know I say that every season and it never seems to happen but that isn't for lack of trying.
I've yapped enough. Questions?