To the casual basketball fan you may look at the Atlanta Hawks 15-41 record and say “Wow these guys blow”. But if you’re a Hawks fan and you’ve been following the moves that they’ve been making you know we’re right where we want to be. Okay maybe that doesn’t sound right, but we’re rebuilding right now and things are going exactly according to Travis Schlenk’s plan.
Just looking at the young core we had to start the season you could be excited. The obvious stars are Ice Trae “Shoot from the damn parking lot and sauce you up” Young (I know, long ass nickname.) and John “The Baptist” Collins, who will dunk on anyone and everyone. The dude is gonna give you a 20 & 10 and shoots a respectable 35.5% from behind the arc. He’s going to be an Allstar very soon. The next guy I’m excited about is Kevin “Red Velvet” Huerter (Sorry we like nicknames down here, maybe its just me.) The kid can play, spot up shots, handle the ball, attack the rim. I like him and I think he’s only gonna get better and better. Add two of the top-10 picks De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish and that’s an exciting young core Mr. Schlenk has put together.
Now what was the main hole here? What were the Hawks in desperate need of? A Center. Some one who will crash the boards and pull down some fucking rebounds. Enter Clint Capela. Averaging 13.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game. Now that’s what I am talking about. But how did we get here? Let’s take a look:
July 6, 2019
Hawks receive: Allen Crabbe and a 2020 First-round pick
Nets receive: Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick
January 16, 2020
Hawks receive: Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham
Timberwolves receive: Allen Crabbe
February 6, 2020
Hawks receive: Clint Capela, Dewayne Dedmon, Skal Labissiere, Two second-round picks
Hawks give up: Evan Turner, Jabari Parker, Alex Len, 2020 First-round pick (Nets)
From all this the Hawks walk away with Jeff Teague and Dewayne Dedmon, two veterans that have previously been in Atlanta and are happy to be back. But the main piece of all this is Clint Capela. What did they give up to get them? Nothing. None of the young core we talked about before. Not their first round picks. I mean that’s robbery if you ask me.
Don’t get me wrong, the Hawks aren’t gonna make the playoffs this year. They will get a top pick in the draft this year with a strong chance at Number 1 overall. So if they can put it all together and these guys can figure it out, the Hawks may be good sooner than people think.
In Atlanta we have a phrase, Trust In Travis Schlenk or TITS.
So TITS my friends, TITS.
Sad Atlanta Fan 