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Hawks Notes: Offseason, Depth, Capela, Draft, Cap

June 10th, 2020 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks are among the teams pushing the NBA to come up with a plan to ensure that the eight clubs not invited to Orlando this summer get some sort of offseason alternative to keep their players active and at their facility. Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, general manager Travis Schlenk stressed that having those players around for practices, scrimmages, and possibly exhibition games is especially important for a young team like Atlanta.

“One of the most important things for our guys is to continue to play,” Schlenk said. “Just think about last year. De’Andre Hunter, in Summer League, only played about a game-and-a-half before he got hurt. Now he was able to get a ton of minutes, which was great, but Cam (Reddish) was on a minutes restriction for the first half of the season and didn’t play in Summer League. We all saw the growth he had when he was able to play.

“Now if we go another summer where those guys aren’t on the court and able to play — same with Bruno (Fernando) — he didn’t get the minutes those other guys had. Summer League obviously isn’t going to happen this year. All of those things are important to our young guys as they continue to get better.”

As Kirschner observes, even after the NBA determines what to do with its eight non-Orlando teams, the Hawks may not get the opportunity to take a closer look at certain players they’d like to evaluate. Skal Labissiere, for instance, was acquired at the trade deadline but didn’t suit up for Atlanta due to a knee injury. According to Kirschner, Schlenk said on Tuesday that Labissiere has ramped up his workouts and and probably would have been able to play if the Hawks had been part of a resumed season.

However, with the former first-round pick facing potential restricted free agency this offseason, it probably wouldn’t make sense for him – and other FAs-to-be – to risk injury by participating in offseason scrimmages before signing a new contract.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

As relayed by Kirschner and Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link), Schlenk said the club’s top priority this offseason will be adding depth. Schlenk specifically cited the wing and power forward as positions the Hawks will look to fortify. Securing a reliable backup point guard will also be important, per Schlenk, who noted that Jeff Teague is one option for that spot.
Schlenk provided a positive update on Clint Capela‘s health, according to Spencer (Twitter link): “His foot’s feeling fine. He’s got his strength back. If we’re able to have some sort of competition this summer, whether it’s official or unofficial scrimmages, it would be great to get him on the court with our guys and just start that process.” Capela was acquired in a four-team deadline deal, but has yet to make his debut as a Hawk.
According to Schlenk (via Kirschner), the Hawks have yet to interview any potential top-10 picks in this year’s draft class, but have talked to some prospects projected to be late first-round selections or second-rounders.
The Hawks will likely have the most cap room of any NBA team this offseason, and Schlenk has the green light to spend, but he wants to make sure the club does so responsibly. “I honestly believe the worst thing that teams can do is when they have the money and owners or people in my position feel the pressure to go out and spend it,” Schlenk said, per Kirschner. “You give out a long, big contract, and you guys have probably heard me say this, but those mistakes can really hamper your franchise. When you give out those long, big contracts, you need to make sure they’re the right guys.”

Summer Transaction Window Will Be Open For All 30 Teams

June 8th, 2020 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Over the weekend, we learned that the NBA intends to give teams a brief window, likely from June 22 to July 1, to convert two-way players to standard deals and otherwise tweak their 15-man rosters. Today, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the transaction window at the end of June will be open for all 30 teams, not just the 22 resuming play in Orlando.

This is an important point because in a typical season, lottery-bound teams also make roster moves during the final week or two of play, an option that wasn’t available this April. Instead of setting their rosters for the postseason, those clubs at the bottom of the standings are looking ahead to the offseason and the following year, signing players to multiyear deals in the hopes that they’ll become low-cost contributors down the road.

The most obvious example of this form of transaction last season was provided by the Heat, who missed the playoffs but were active during the final week of the season, signing Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson to three-year contracts. The first “year” of those deals only technically lasted a day or two last April, but now Miami has Nunn and Robinson locked up on minimum-salary deals through 2020/21.

Of course, not every lottery-bound team will strike gold with late-season, multiyear signings like Miami did with Nunn and Robinson. But it’s still common for those clubs to use any open roster spots to add players who can be auditioned during the summer and fall.

This summer, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, teams like the Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Timberwolves, and Warriors have available roster spots and could be looking to fill out their 15-man squads with newly-signed players (or converted two-way players). Based on Woj’s report, it sounds like they’ll have at least a week to do so at the end of June. The Knicks, Bulls, and Hawks have full rosters but would also be permitted to make changes if they so choose.

[RELATED: NBA Roster Counts For 2019/20]

When Wojnarowski and Marks reported over the weekend on the NBA’s potential pre-offseason transaction window, they noted that only players who were in the NBA, in the G League, or on training camp deals during the 2019/20 season were expected to be eligible. However, I wouldn’t expect that restriction to apply to the eight teams that won’t be resuming play in Orlando.

Idle Teams Consider Mini-Summer League

June 6th, 2020 at 3:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

The teams that won’t be invited to Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season are discussing activities to make sure their players won’t be left without games for nine months, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. That plan could involve training camps, followed by a small summer league.

Wojnarowski lists seven teams — the Hawks, Hornets, Bulls, Cavaliers, Pistons, Timberwolves and Knicks — that are supporting a plan to hold joint practices as preparation for summer league games in August. Sources tell him that Detroit and Cleveland have talked about having practices together before a “mini-pod” of games.

Ideas presented by the teams, according to Woj’s sources, include two weeks of workouts in July, regional mini-camps in August with several days of combined practices and approximately three games on television, then organized team activities in mid-September.

Also, the teams left out of Orlando are seeking permission from the NBA to start next season’s training camp a week to 10 days ahead of everyone else. Those teams are concerned that the long layoff will affect the development of their younger players, not only due to the lack of games but because of the long separation from team facilities and the structured life in the NBA.

“Nine months is too long without organized basketball,” Hawks owner Tony Ressler said. “We just can’t risk that. I think the league has heard that loud and clear. We are pushing to remain competitive. That’s what our players want. We were desperate to have something that helps us to stay competitive.”

“Not playing for eight months puts us in a competitive disadvantage, but again, I think there are creative ways to do so,” adds new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas. “Collectively, I think these eight teams we’re getting now on calls and we have conversations of how we can develop our players and how we can have structure in place to get some practicing and possibly some scrimmaging in the offseason to catch up to the teams that are going to be playing.”

Wojnarowski points out that any games, camps or other activities would have to be negotiated by the league and the players union because they’re not part of the collective bargaining agreement. Sources tell ESPN that the league office has promised the teams it will work with them to find a solution.

Magic, Grizzlies, Others Address Return-To-Play Format

June 5th, 2020 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

While every NBA team probably has at least one reason not to be thrilled with the 22-team plan and format the league has settled on for this summer’s return to play, the Magic and Grizzlies are among those who should theoretically have the biggest grievances.

After all, both teams had comfortable leads for the No. 8 seed when the season was suspended in March. Now they’ll have to win a play-in tournament to secure their respective spots in the postseason if they don’t hold a four-game lead on the No. 9 team in the conference after this summer’s eight “seeding games.”

Speaking to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, however, Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman wasn’t critical of the NBA’s plan. Asked multiple times if potentially putting the No. 8 seed up for grabs is fair to the Magic, Weltman was evasive, stressing that his team will try to avoid putting itself in a position where a play-in tournament is necessary, either by catching the Nets or maintaining a big cushion over the Wizards.

“I don’t really think it’s about what’s right for one team,” Weltman said. “I think the league looked at what could be the best way to proceed forward as a league, and there are 30 teams, really all with differing agendas. … There’s no sense in looking at ways to format the rest of the season. Those discussions have come and gone. Now we’re onto actions. It’s time to get ready to play and compete.”

Grizzlies president Jason Wexler also toed the company line in discussing the summer format and its impact on Memphis, as Jason Munz of The Memphis Commercial Appeal relays.

“We know how difficult it was for them to try and balance all those competing interests. From our perspective, they certainly addressed the success the team had through the first, roughly, 80 percent of the season — 65 games. And, you know, gave that some weight and credit,” Wexler said, referring to the fact that any play-in tournament would be double-elimination for the No. 8 team, compared to single-elimination for the No. 9 team. “Accordingly, we felt comfortable with what they came up with to move forward.”

No NBA team has issued a statement that doesn’t express support and respect for the decision that commissioner Adam Silver and the league had to make. However, while comments from teams like the Magic and Grizzlies have been fairly innocuous, statements from some of the bottom eight teams that will be left out of the Orlando bubble this summer have expressed more disappointment with the decision.

The Cavaliers, for instance, issued statements that mentioned their disappointment multiple times and stressed that they “would have preferred to continue playing.” The Hawks put out a press release this morning noting that “this certainly wasn’t how we hoped our season would come to an end.”

“It’s fair to say that we are disappointed that our young team will not be allowed to gain more valuable time playing together by being included in the restart of the season,” GM Travis Schlenk and head coach Lloyd Pierce said in a joint statement. “With that said, we understand and respect the countless difficult factors that entered into this decision for the league, and we realize that there are much more important things taking place in our community right now that deserve our attention.”

Ultimately, while everyone may not be thrilled with the outcome, teams recognized that Silver believed his plan was in the best interest of the league as a whole, and the results of Thursday’s Board of Governors vote reflected that — 29 of 30 teams voted in favor of the proposal, with the Trail Blazers representing the only “no” vote.

Latest On The NBA’s Lottery Plans

June 3rd, 2020 at 9:13pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The NBA is expected to finalize a proposal on Thursday that will send 22 teams to Orlando in order to finish out the season. It will be a unique experience for a number of reasons — one interesting wrinkle will be how the league determines the lottery odds for 2020 without all of the clubs playing the same number of games.

The Warriors, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Hawks, Pistons, Knicks, Bulls, and Hornets will likely be locked into the top eight lottery slots, a source tells Hoops Rumors. The order within the top eight has yet to be determined, but the structure means the Wizards couldn’t go 0-8 this summer when the season resumes and land a better position in the lottery than those teams that won’t be playing.

It’s “part of the tradeoff” for the franchises that won’t be given a chance to resume their campaigns, per the source. Another scenario discussed was freezing the lottery as it stands, allowing no movement up or down by any team, even those in the 9-14 positions. Either way, the top eight are expected to be assured of their standing.

Both the lottery and the combine had been postponed indefinitely, though they are now expected to take place in August. Nothing is finalized as of this writing, including the proposal to return.

Here’s a look at the odds of each lottery position as well as the order of teams, should the league go with the current standings:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
GSW	14	13.4	12.7	12	47.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
CLE	14	13.4	12.7	12	27.8	20	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
MIN	14	13.4	12.7	12	14.8	26	7.1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
ATL	12.5	12.2	11.9	11.5	7.2	25.7	16.8	2.2	–	–	–	–	–	–
DET	10.5	10.5	10.6	10.5	2.2	19.6	26.7	8.8	0.6	–	–	–	–	–
NYK	9	9.2	9.4	9.6	–	8.6	29.6	20.6	3.8	0.2	–	–	–	–
CHI	7.5	7.8	8.1	8.5	–	–	19.7	34.1	12.9	1.3	>0	–	–	–
CHA	6	6.3	6.7	7.2	–	–	–	34.5	32.1	6.7	0.4	>0	–	–
WSH*	4.5	4.8	5.2	5.7	–	–	–	–	50.7	25.9	3	0.1	>0	–
PHX*	3	3.3	3.6	4	–	–	–	–	–	65.9	18.9	1.2	>0	>0
SAS*	2	2.2	2.4	2.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	77.6	12.6	0.4	>0
SAC**	1.3	1.4	1.6	1.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	86.1	7.6	0.1
NO**	1.2	1.3	1.5	1.7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	92.0	2.3
POR*	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	97.6

*Will play eight more regular season games

** The Kings and Pelicans have matching 28-36 records and would be subject to a random tiebreaker to determine which team gets the No. 12 slot and which gets No. 13. Their spots in this list (and their odds) could be flipped if the NBA ends up freezing the standings to determine the lottery’s order.

Pierce: Exclusion From NBA’s Return Would Hurt Hawks

June 2nd, 2020 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

If the NBA moves forward with a plan to have its top 22 teams resume the 2019/20 season, the Hawks would be one of the eight clubs left out. Amidst reports that the proposal has growing support, Atlanta head coach Lloyd Pierce told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols today that he’s still hoping his team will get a chance to be part of a return to play this summer.

“I coach the youngest team in the NBA,” Pierce said. “And the biggest thing we can benefit from is playing basketball, and the game has been taken away from all of us at this point. … If the season is going to resume and we’re still not a part of it, it hurts our growth, it hurts our product, it hurts our ability to continue the momentum that we need going into next season.”

A desire to be part of the NBA’s resumed season has apparently been unanimous throughout the Hawks’ organization — general manager Travis Schlenk has said he’s in favor of the franchise finishing the season, and team owner Tony Ressler reportedly expressed a similar sentiment on last Friday’s Board of Governors conference call.

As we noted in that story on Friday’s call, some of the NBA’s lottery-bound teams are concerned about facing a nine-month gap between games. Besides the potential impact such a lengthy layoff would have on fan interest, those clubs also don’t want to be apart from their players for so long.

That’s of particular concern for a young team focused on player development like Atlanta. Schlenk said last month that the Hawks would “play our guys” rather than sitting stars like Trae Young and John Collins, since the team wants those building blocks to get as much time on the court together as possible.

“I play young guys, I have young guys,” Pierce told Nichols. “They need game experience and so we need to play basketball, we want to play basketball.”

More Details On Friday’s Board Of Governors Call

June 1st, 2020 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s concern among some NBA owners about the fact that a 22-team return-to-play format would result in a number of small-market teams not playing any games for nine months or more, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.

The ESPN duo reports that Thunder owner Clay Bennett expressed those concerns on last Friday’s Board of Governors call, openly wondering if the NBA could bring back all 30 clubs when it resumes play. Other team owners, including Josh Harris (Sixers) and Robert Sarver (Suns) “enthusiastically” backed the idea of having as many teams as possible in the bubble environment, per Woj and Lowe, who add that Hawks owner Tony Ressler wants his team to be able to play in Orlando even without a path to the postseason.

While some team owners are in favor of having all 30 teams resume play, commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA don’t appear as bullish on that idea, given the health and safety concerns tied to bringing so many people to Orlando. Additionally, as ESPN’s report notes, Silver reminded those on Friday’s call that many players – and some teams – are “far less invested” in the idea of conducting several weeks of camps and enduring a quarantine period in order to play a handful of regular season games.

Wojnarowski and Lowe provided several more details on Friday’s conference call. We’ll round up the highlights right here:

One Eastern Conference official on Friday’s call described the push to include as many teams as possible as follows, according to ESPN: “The message was something bigger, reminding people that some teams can’t just reopen the doors in nine of 10 months and so easily sell tickets or a sponsorship without having played basketball for that long.”
With the NBA focusing on a 22-team return to play, there have been conversations about the teams left out of this season’s resumption holding mandatory summer training camps or even participating in regional fall leagues to help bridge the gap between seasons, per ESPN. Such a concept would need to be collectively bargained with players, and Woj and Lowe say there’s an expectation that the league will reach out to the NBPA to discuss the issue.
The NBA is still determining how a potential play-in tournament would work in the 22-team format, Woj and Lowe say. It remains unclear how much of an advantage the current No. 8 seeds would receive in such a tournament, especially if they widen their leads on non-playoff teams when the season resumes. The unbalanced nature of bringing back 13 Western teams and just nine Eastern squads also complicates the play-in issue.
According to ESPN’s report, the NBA estimates that a 22-team format with some regular season games and a play-in tournament will be worth “several hundred million dollars more in revenue” than a 16-team format that advances straight to the postseason.

Hawks GM Talks Draft Prep, Finishing The Season

May 26th, 2020 at 8:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The NBA handed out revised guidelines for teams during the pre-draft process last month, as they are unable to meet with prospects in person. Clubs are allowed to meet with potential draftees for up to two hours in any meeting and a maximum of four hours per week with any one player. GM Travis Schlenk explains to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic how the Hawks have navigated those waters.

“I feel like we’ve talked to every player in college basketball,” Schlenk said. “Our (meetings) usually last between 30 to 45 minutes. We haven’t interviewed any player twice up until this point. We have set up as many interviews as we can. We probably do 12 a week or so. Usually, we do four days a week. So about 16 guys, but we probably average around 12 or 13.”

Atlanta has averaged 18 executives on each of the Zoom calls, according to Schlenk. While it may seem like a lot of people for a video conference, it allows the Hawks to get various opinions on each prospect as they determine rankings.

Schlenk also touched on the NBA returning this year. He said the Hawks are preparing as if the 2019/20 season will resume at some point — and as if they’ll be part of it.

“My message has been that it feels like we’re gaining positive momentum,” Schlenk said. “So it’s time to start changing our mental mindset from hiatus status to we’re coming back and to also start ramping up our workouts because we don’t want to be in a situation where we come back and we have a bunch of soft-tissue injuries because guys are out of shape.

“… We would play our guys,” Schlenk added when asked how the Hawks would handle a return. “The more time we can play our guys together, the better it is for us. To be able to see guys we made trades for play with our guys — those would be valuable minutes for us.”

Latest On Potential Resumption Of NBA Season

May 26th, 2020 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has a number of important conference calls scheduled for this week as it continues to discuss the possible resumption of the 2019/20 season.

According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the league’s advisory/finance committee will have a call on Wednesday to talk about potential plans. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says a call with the league’s general managers will take place on Thursday. A Board of Governors call is scheduled for Friday, as previously reported.

According to Wojnarowski, the NBA may present a recommendation to its team owners on Friday, but that’s not guaranteed, since the league believes it still has some time to further deliberate. Sources tell ESPN that the possibility of games resuming in August – rather than July – remains a possibility for the NBA.

As the NBA continues to preach patience, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts has started to push for a resolution to the league’s deliberations. Roberts, who plans to speak with players from all 30 teams over the next week to determine how they feel about the NBA’s reopening plans, tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that players overwhelmingly want to play, but need details on what it will look like.

“It’s time. It’s time,” Roberts said. “It’s been two and a half months of, ‘What if?’ My players need some level of certainty. I think everybody does.”

Roberts added that she doesn’t think the players’ union would necessarily need to conduct a formal vote on an NBA proposal when it arrives, since the NBPA has stayed in constant communication with the league, which has a pretty good sense of how its players are feeling.

“If we thought we needed a vote, we would. If we’re ratifying a CBA, we need a vote,” Roberts told Shelburne. “But our preferred method is talking to people or just having them talk to us. Then if we get a sense of what the sentiment is then we can move forward. We talk to our players and figure it out.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s plans:

There’s no strong consensus among NBA teams and executives about what the league’s return to play should look like, according to Wojnarowski. For instance, the idea of all 30 teams participating has “lost momentum,” but “still has a significant lobby.” Teams like the Hawks, Cavaliers, and Pistons are interested in resuming play, per Woj, who notes that some young, rebuilding squads are wary of taking the summer off and having a nine-month layoff before the start of next season.
On the other hand, there’s some ambivalence among lottery-bound teams about returning, particularly if they have no path to the postseason, Woj writes. Damian Lillard has publicly expressed this sentiment, as we relayed this morning. Commissioner Adam Silver is also prioritizing player safety and is wary of the possibility of subpar basketball if all 30 teams are brought back — the combination of the long layoff and stars on lottery teams sitting out could create a “bad television spectacle,” notes Woj.
Some agents are also hinting to GMs that their free-agent-to-be clients may not want to jeopardize their stock by playing poorly in a brief return this summer if there’s no path to the playoffs for their teams, according to ESPN’s report.
One starting player on a lottery team offered the following assessment, according to Woj: “If we don’t show up, we lose more money. We are already in the hole. And what message does it send to the public, the teams, the players that we are OK with 10-to-14 teams not playing. We already have a competition problem in the league. … My thing is: Play 30 teams for as many games as possible for the money, or go straight to the playoffs.”
According to O’Connor, Silver is interested in trying something different with this year’s playoffs because he wants to boost interest and appeal to casual fans at a time when all eyes will be on the NBA’s return. O’Connor lays out, in detail, the possibility of turning the first round of the postseason into a World Cup-esque “group stage,” which is something the NBA has discussed — we’ll have much more on that concept in a story coming later this afternoon.

Southeast Notes: Jordan, Bamba, Hawks, Draft

May 20th, 2020 at 8:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

While Michael Jordan was no longer the dominant MVP that he was in Chicago days, his stint with the Wizards showcased that he still had game, as I detailed on Heavy.com. Jordan became the oldest player (38) to score over 50 points in a game during year one in Washington and became the only player 40 or older to score over 40 in a game during his final season in the league.

Jordan made the All-Star Game during each of his two seasons in Washington but his individual success didn’t translate to the win column, as the club missed the playoffs on both occasions.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Mohamed Bamba has been in the league for two years and the jury remains out on him. One scout tells Josh Robbins of The Athletic that the Magic center’s effort remains a concern. “But the question with Mo, and I think there’s no secret, is there are games when he plays with very low energy,” the scout said. “He just doesn’t seem to be able to turn it up to the level that he needs to consistently and play with a certain amount of energy for a sustained amount of time.”
Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines the best draft strategy for the Hawks. The club has been aggressive over the past two drafts, moving around in the top 10 during each event. If Atlanta lands in the top five, as the team is currently projected to do, it may be best served staying put.
In a separate piece, Kirschner examines Atlanta’s salary cap situation. The Hawks are expected to have the most salary cap room in the NBA when the offseason arrives.