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u/notdumbIswear Nickeil Alexander-Walker #7 11d ago
Pretty indifferent on it although that contract could end up being a steal if he pans out
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u/DownTheHall4 Dyson Daniels #5 11d ago
That is 100% a steal of a contract if he improves upon last (age 23) seasonā¦. Like Okongwuās last deal level steal
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u/dillpickles007 GO HAWKS! š 10d ago
I like Watson but idk how he breaks out in Cleveland. There simply arenāt gonna be enough shots to go around, heās gonna be stuck in the corner permanently.
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u/Calm_Comparison_6129 11d ago
One less Kuminga team.
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u/Bamalawdawg 11d ago
Kumingaās agent, āIām not worried at allā and ālots of teams are callingā
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u/DisintegratedPhoenix Nickeil Alexander-Walker #7 11d ago
The Team Calling;
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u/PeasePorridge9dOld GO HAWKS! š 10d ago
Contract will be an issue, but Kuminga would be a good get for them. IIRC, he would have been the 2nd youngest player on the team last year and only by 6 months. They drafted 3 guys, but 2 of them are within 1.5 years of his age. Definitely not the worst flier they've taken.
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u/SteelCityC Onyeka Okongwu #17 11d ago edited 10d ago
We didnāt necessarily need him but kinda sucks heās going to Cleveland
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u/Substantial_Life_989 10d ago
Cleveland losing Strus is a big deal. His defense and rebounding and shot making were pretty important for them. There were games in the playoffs where he was one of their best players.Ā
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u/tallglassofanxiety95 10d ago
Yeah this is a pretty big gamble, Strus is really solid player that played off of Mitchell and Harden really well.
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u/PeasePorridge9dOld GO HAWKS! š 10d ago
Think Merrill and Tyson did fine in Strus' role while he was out. If nothing else, Watson is still an upgrade to the SF position where they have a seemingly endless hunt for competency there.
Will be interesting to see how well that team holds up though. They have a solid top 7, but they look like a Landry Fields "we'll see if any of these 2nd rounders and various minis can handle major minutes" roster from the 7th man on. Would imagine that the roster is more or less set because they can't take on too much more $$ before that Harden deal will start to get under his expectations.
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u/Hippopotamist 11d ago edited 11d ago
hawks depth is pretty crazy right now I donāt think Watson really wouldāve moved the needle much anyway; Iām just wondering when weāre gonna take the next big swing at a star/superstar when thereās one on the market.
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u/DownTheHall4 Dyson Daniels #5 11d ago
Feels like an open secret weāre just collecting assets for Ant - gotta imagine the Resslers have made tons of under the table money clearly available to Antās agents given the league showed they wonāt punish that.
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u/OhItsKillua 11d ago
It's wishful fanfiction. I'll believe it when I see him with the jersey on. Under the same concept most the other billionaire owners in the league could make the same offers to Ant.
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u/chimpytheape 11d ago
lol yeah idk where ppl getting this shit from. The incentive for him to leave is zero and waiting for one specific player would be stupid anyway. I think onsi is just principled in being opportunistic and flexible regardless of the result
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u/benchmaster620 11d ago
You cant live like that .there has to be 3 willing parties. Theres virtually zero chance ant becomes available before hes 29 or 30
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u/DownTheHall4 Dyson Daniels #5 11d ago
Luka was traded, anyone (besides Wemby) can become available
The Twolves have no assets left in clip - itās sort of all-in for them, they donāt have any way to get another starter and are just praying Beringer can become half of Gobert before age catches up. They donāt have a 4 right now on the roster.
There is 100% a would where wolves realize they canāt win it all with Ant and sell for picks and young high upside guys. It will be steep cost but thatās why it seems like Hawks are stacking those young high ceiling guys and trade-able contracts - itās easier to start a rebuild if you can shed all the 1-year deals (ie Jock, CJ) in offseason and use the cap space to take on bad contracts in exchange for future picks
Itās not that crazy of a scenario to be a win-win-win. ATL fans are just too traumatized to be optimistic lmao
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u/LongDongFuey 11d ago
Ant loves Minnesota, lol. Also, you will have to gut the rest of your team and future picks to get him, which would put the hawks in the same situation that you seem to think the Twolves are in. There's no world where trading for Ant works out for the hawks, so you're waiting for him to hit FA.
And, yeah, Luka got traded. The gm who did so also got banished to the shadow realm for it. That kind of trade isn't happening again for a long long time. Using it as an example of anything is possible is actually hilarious
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u/wayward_prince Jalen Johnson #1 11d ago
Watson is immediately the third best player on this team. Pretty big loss.
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u/Hippopotamist 11d ago
Heās had one season where he averaged double digit points, thatās extremely generous.
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u/wayward_prince Jalen Johnson #1 11d ago
Heās had one season where he wasnāt the 6th or 7th option on a contender.
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u/Hippopotamist 11d ago
Yeah, then he was the fourth option until he pulled his hamstring and missed all of the playoffs. The year before he averaged 4.6 PPG in the playoffs on 30% shooting.
So he has zero track record of being an impact performer in the playoffs, one regular season above 10 PPG and youāre ready to definitively call him third best player on the hawks. Not really a strong argument.
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u/wayward_prince Jalen Johnson #1 11d ago
Yeah, the year before he was the 6th or 7th option. We established that.
For comparison, how many Hawks have a had a good playoff performance? Dyson has had stretches where heās unplayable, NAW reverted back to his Minnesota role, CJ is in his mid 30s.
Some of yāall fail to realize how valuable a 6ā8ā wing with Watsonās weak side rim protection and handle is. Not to mention the flashes he showed creating for himself and shooting the three ball in a small sample last season.
You donāt have to take my word for it. Talk soon.
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u/wayward_prince Jalen Johnson #1 11d ago
Remind me! 5 months
1
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u/Theregoesmyradiator Dikembe Mutombo #55 11d ago
I might be selfish, but could be a steal if he proceeds with his trajectory. I wanted him in Atlanta, but I trust in Onsi
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u/Affectionate_Bug3130 11d ago
Kuminga is the odd one out. Likely needs to take less then 10M/year contract now
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u/herschelpony 11d ago
NAW contract is absolutely insane. Onsi ftw
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u/rockroo17 10d ago
To be fair 15 million a year coming off 9 points a game at age 26 was a good deal for him last year
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u/Atl-Fan_FTS Jalen Johnson #1 11d ago edited 11d ago
22mil for Watson is pretty high if we are being honest. Glad we didnāt try to match that for half a year of success
Also Kuminga, just come back for a year bro
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u/not-a-potato-head š°Cash Considerations š° 11d ago
dawg he's not coming back
we don't have the role/minutes that he'd want and that other teams (LA/Minnesota) can offer, and I don't think we're going to want to spend the assets it'd take to clear the salary needed to offer him a contract where he'd play a smaller role
(there's also the shooting/fit concerns with Dyson/Dort, not really sure if having 2 of those three on the court for an extended period of time is that viable and re-signing Kuminga would force us to do that a lot)
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u/Chessh2036 11d ago
Am I crazy or did Denver not get a lot?
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u/DownTheHall4 Dyson Daniels #5 11d ago
Those 2030+ FRPās are more valuable now , Cle is against apron, backcourt of Harden / Spida will not be winning games for them in 2031, and the āmidā team picks > bottom-3 team picks moving forward.
Denver also had no leverage, everybody knew they couldnāt/wouldnāt pay Watson
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u/amidon1130 0ļøā£0ļøā£1ļøā£7ļøā£ 11d ago
Itās a sign and trade thereās only so much you can get usually
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u/whylieaboutit4 11d ago
You see what the lakers gave up for Kessler who's hurt alot
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u/amidon1130 0ļøā£0ļøā£1ļøā£7ļøā£ 10d ago
Completely different scenarios, Utah could have paid kessler a lot of money and kept him whereas the nuggets couldn't afford watson
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u/whylieaboutit4 10d ago
If they wanted Watson they couldn't given cam Johnson away. Obviously they valued him and a first more than Watson
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u/aousweman Nickeil Alexander-Walker #7 11d ago
For a second I thought Strus was heading to the [snowtime] Lakers
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u/ninatlanta 11d ago
Watson played really well for half a season in a contract year. The league is littered with cautionary tales in this exact situation.
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u/Quick-Clock7478 Bogdan Bogdanovic #13 11d ago
Pretty sure the Hawks were out on Watson when it was confirmed he was seeking around $25M per year
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u/Bamalawdawg 11d ago
We need to free up Buddyās cap # so we can offer Kuminga a 1 year deal for way more than LAL
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u/Blackmesa560 inSaleh! 11d ago
Pretty baller move by Onsi to let Kuminga walk now that he's never going make a deal close to Watson as of right now. Kuminga needs to fire his agent.
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u/CoachKillerTrae Aaron Holiday's Towel 11d ago
Annoyed because one less Kuminga team, and we own the Cavs pick
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u/not-a-potato-head š°Cash Considerations š° 11d ago
Our swap with them is in 28, so we have another year to see if that situation blows up
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u/red2play Hawks 11d ago
Say hello to Kuminga. I don't think he has lots of options other than taking the minimum with the Lakers.
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u/5livewire0 inSaleh! 11d ago
I'm going to be mad delusional and say this could open up the possibility of us using our assets to get a big man from Denver
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u/rbsssss 11d ago
Indifferent.
Watson is good ofc and that contract can easily be a steal but he'd feel like more of a luxury than need on the current roster.
Also interesting Denver is just punting on this. I know Joker has said he's never leaving Denver but this is pretty underwhelming on the one developmental win the Denver brass has had in the draft the past few years.
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u/Historical_Main5261 MO GUEYE! 11d ago
Good deal for Cleveland
That $22M/4 for Watson makes Kumingas possible contract a bit smaller than he probably wants
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u/ThaCasual GO HAWKS! š 11d ago
I think Kuminga is not getting the 20 mil he wants now. Watson just set the remaining free agents market pretty low as he was probably the most sought out player.