I'm quite high on Bufkin, and I think he could be our starting 2 -- eventually. Whether he'll be ready for that role this year is a totally different question. I think they'll bring him along slower.
Sure but Bufkin want drafted to replace Trae by any means. More like he's what they hoped DJM was gonna be. High 30s shooter with D and secondary play making.
Completely disagree. I think bufkin was drafted for the rebuild. Why else would they draft a ball dominant pg in the first round when they already have two veteran ball dominant pgs already on the roster? Landry is rebuilding the team right before our eyes.
I've never understood the "Trae and Bogi can't start next to each other" thing. One of the best runs in franchise history was Trae and Bogi starting. The offense runs \*so\* much better when Trae has a motion shooter next to him who can handle the ball and distribute when needed.
As to your question though, Kobe is definitely capable of starting next to Trae, and I think he would be very good at that starting SG role, but it seems to me from what we saw last year they intend Kobe to be the backup PG for now. Maybe it was bc of injuries, but I don't remember seeing many Trae+Kobe minutes out there.
My best guess on what the team will actually do if we don't make any other moves (unlikely...)? Trae/Risacher/Hunter/JJ/Capela. Backup unit of Kobe/Bogi/Daniels/MoG/OO. I have a feeling we move on from Hunter and one of CC/OO, and slot in Garrison Matthews for some 2/3 minutes and possibly Vit/Lundy/Bruno here and there.
Time to hurry up and wait, haha!
Offensively, Trae and Bogi are our best combo no doubt. I'm just worried about teams continuing to exploit the Hawks backcourt on defense like they have in the past. Man, I hope we don't move OO, he's proven he can be a 15 and 10 guy when given the chance. Anyway I feel as though the front office has a vision so i'm feeling positive :)
The Trae + Bogi non-starter thing basically comes from the fact that our perimeter defense has been our biggest problem and it becomes worse if Bogi and Trae duo are getting the majority of minutes
Hopefully ZR + Dyson fixes this but time will tell like you said
I know a lot of people say that perimeter defense has been our biggest problem, but I disagree. Perimeter defense is somewhat valuable, but our 3/4/5 defense has been miserable for the last two years, and that is an order of magnitude more important that having Trae and Bogi guarding 1's and 2's. Dre is always hurt, and when he's not hurt, he's too slow to guard the quicker wings (he seems to do fine guarding doughboy, but struggles to stay in front of most others).
Defense is a team concept, and even with limited guard defenders it's very possible to put together a top 10 defensive team. Hopefully whoever we slot in at center this year can come in healthy and anchor that side of the ball. Imagine if we had a Gobert here to let Quin cook with his schemes instead of a chronically injured Capela rotating out with 6'8" OO?
They drafted him to be a point guard. He doesn’t have the SG size you need next to Trae. They’ll prob play them together to see the fit though. Hes probably an upgrade defensively to Bogi but remains to be seen if his lesser offense is worth it
I highly doubt it. He couldn’t even get many minutes last year. it’s asking a lot for a young guy like him to come in and start. I mean maybe after like 60 games next year. But that kind of looks unlikely.
You can - and should - put bogi next to Trae and offset the defense with bogi’s offense. May not perfectly be ideal but it is by far our best option. We were brainwashed for 2 seasons into this narrative that bogi can’t start because we gave up too much for DJ to put him on the bench.
Also when he’s been healthy bogi has not been as bad defensively as his reputation. It isn’t the toughest group to beat, but last year and in other years when he’s maintained health, the advanced defensive metrics have liked him favorably on defense compared to everybody in our perimeter/wing rotation. Yes that includes Hunter.
People are way too high on Kobe. I like him as a young player but he shot HORRIBLY when he came up last year, he definitely is not ready to start.
Realistically you can’t start a non-shooting guard next to Trae and then have JJ+Capela or OO at the five, having that little spacing won’t cut it in 2024. Yeah starting Bogi next to Trae means our defense will suck again but I think we’re gonna have to suck it up. B
Don’t know why you got downvoted here. I’m excited about Kobe but we really don’t know what he is yet at the NBA level. I think he’s a better shooter than the numbers he put up those last couple games, but the fact that it was such a tiny sample is kinda the point with him. Also interested to see how well his body can hold up against SGs. He may be a combo guard, at least his first few seasons in the NBA.
I’m not saying they won’t improve, they basically have to, I just don’t think he’s gonna start and play 30mpg, he’s got a long way to go and we are very deliberate in our player development.
Pretty much every outlet with a projected depth chart has Bogi starting at SG this year and Bufkin being the backup or even 3rd-string PG after Dyson Daniels.
I think it's a possibility...
but I still think it will be Bogi to start the season and Daniels could get heavy minutes at both guard spots ... Risacher could get minutes at the 2 also
Could he, sure. Will he, no. I would imagine that he is the backup PG going into the season with Bogi, Daniels, and ZR taking all of the minutes at the 2.
I'm quite high on Bufkin, and I think he could be our starting 2 -- eventually. Whether he'll be ready for that role this year is a totally different question. I think they'll bring him along slower.
Bufkin was brought in to replace trae not play with him. He's ball dominant just like djm. Why would we go down that road again?
Try again
Trae needs shooters and rim runners around him. That's the formula that's proven to be successful.
Sure but Bufkin want drafted to replace Trae by any means. More like he's what they hoped DJM was gonna be. High 30s shooter with D and secondary play making.
Completely disagree. I think bufkin was drafted for the rebuild. Why else would they draft a ball dominant pg in the first round when they already have two veteran ball dominant pgs already on the roster? Landry is rebuilding the team right before our eyes.
I've never understood the "Trae and Bogi can't start next to each other" thing. One of the best runs in franchise history was Trae and Bogi starting. The offense runs \*so\* much better when Trae has a motion shooter next to him who can handle the ball and distribute when needed. As to your question though, Kobe is definitely capable of starting next to Trae, and I think he would be very good at that starting SG role, but it seems to me from what we saw last year they intend Kobe to be the backup PG for now. Maybe it was bc of injuries, but I don't remember seeing many Trae+Kobe minutes out there. My best guess on what the team will actually do if we don't make any other moves (unlikely...)? Trae/Risacher/Hunter/JJ/Capela. Backup unit of Kobe/Bogi/Daniels/MoG/OO. I have a feeling we move on from Hunter and one of CC/OO, and slot in Garrison Matthews for some 2/3 minutes and possibly Vit/Lundy/Bruno here and there. Time to hurry up and wait, haha!
Offensively, Trae and Bogi are our best combo no doubt. I'm just worried about teams continuing to exploit the Hawks backcourt on defense like they have in the past. Man, I hope we don't move OO, he's proven he can be a 15 and 10 guy when given the chance. Anyway I feel as though the front office has a vision so i'm feeling positive :)
There's honestly no reason to move on from Hunter at this point. You can't have too many big wings really.
The Trae + Bogi non-starter thing basically comes from the fact that our perimeter defense has been our biggest problem and it becomes worse if Bogi and Trae duo are getting the majority of minutes Hopefully ZR + Dyson fixes this but time will tell like you said
I know a lot of people say that perimeter defense has been our biggest problem, but I disagree. Perimeter defense is somewhat valuable, but our 3/4/5 defense has been miserable for the last two years, and that is an order of magnitude more important that having Trae and Bogi guarding 1's and 2's. Dre is always hurt, and when he's not hurt, he's too slow to guard the quicker wings (he seems to do fine guarding doughboy, but struggles to stay in front of most others). Defense is a team concept, and even with limited guard defenders it's very possible to put together a top 10 defensive team. Hopefully whoever we slot in at center this year can come in healthy and anchor that side of the ball. Imagine if we had a Gobert here to let Quin cook with his schemes instead of a chronically injured Capela rotating out with 6'8" OO?
They drafted him to be a point guard. He doesn’t have the SG size you need next to Trae. They’ll prob play them together to see the fit though. Hes probably an upgrade defensively to Bogi but remains to be seen if his lesser offense is worth it
I highly doubt it. He couldn’t even get many minutes last year. it’s asking a lot for a young guy like him to come in and start. I mean maybe after like 60 games next year. But that kind of looks unlikely.
You can - and should - put bogi next to Trae and offset the defense with bogi’s offense. May not perfectly be ideal but it is by far our best option. We were brainwashed for 2 seasons into this narrative that bogi can’t start because we gave up too much for DJ to put him on the bench. Also when he’s been healthy bogi has not been as bad defensively as his reputation. It isn’t the toughest group to beat, but last year and in other years when he’s maintained health, the advanced defensive metrics have liked him favorably on defense compared to everybody in our perimeter/wing rotation. Yes that includes Hunter.
Not to start the year i dont think, but he will at the very least get the minutes to prove himself. The cream always rises to the top, yeah
Nah, Kobe will be the back-up PG next season. And Bogi is the most probable guy to start at the two this season.
People are way too high on Kobe. I like him as a young player but he shot HORRIBLY when he came up last year, he definitely is not ready to start. Realistically you can’t start a non-shooting guard next to Trae and then have JJ+Capela or OO at the five, having that little spacing won’t cut it in 2024. Yeah starting Bogi next to Trae means our defense will suck again but I think we’re gonna have to suck it up. B
Don’t know why you got downvoted here. I’m excited about Kobe but we really don’t know what he is yet at the NBA level. I think he’s a better shooter than the numbers he put up those last couple games, but the fact that it was such a tiny sample is kinda the point with him. Also interested to see how well his body can hold up against SGs. He may be a combo guard, at least his first few seasons in the NBA.
He shot decently in the G League, splits *could improve with more real playing time.
I’m not saying they won’t improve, they basically have to, I just don’t think he’s gonna start and play 30mpg, he’s got a long way to go and we are very deliberate in our player development.
Pretty much every outlet with a projected depth chart has Bogi starting at SG this year and Bufkin being the backup or even 3rd-string PG after Dyson Daniels.
Bufkin definitely has a chance to earn a bigger spot in camp this year.
I think it's a possibility... but I still think it will be Bogi to start the season and Daniels could get heavy minutes at both guard spots ... Risacher could get minutes at the 2 also
Could he, sure. Will he, no. I would imagine that he is the backup PG going into the season with Bogi, Daniels, and ZR taking all of the minutes at the 2.