Atlanta Hawks sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker & Luke Kennard | NBA News Reaction
let’s next go to the team that I think has also been a huge winner this cycle and that is the Atlanta Hawks i have absolutely loved what the Atlanta Hawks have done this summer and I think that you and I and Bryce we’ve talked about the Eastern Conference being feeling like a group of four right we felt like the Knicks the Cavs probably Orlando in some respect you know maybe like one other team would kind of fit into that next year boston being down not really having a starting center right now without Jason Tatum as well is a huge issue the Indiana Pacers being without Tyres Hallebertton feels like an issue milwaukee Bucks being without Damen Lillard feels like an issue the Detroit Pistons we’ll talk about them in a minute i’m really interested to see how they kind of structure their off seasonason i I think that their signing of Caris Levert was kind of smart in the way that they structured that at least i think I would have Atlanta as a clear top four team right now for next season in the Eastern Conference following their moves i love that they’ve gone out used the number 22 overall pick to essentially acquire Kristoff Porzingis but also in that process set themselves up for the future by getting rid of the Terrence man money which was not money that people were excited to have he had three years $46 million left on his deal by advantaging the Brooklyn Nets to take that deal with the number 22 overall pick and then bringing back Porzingis we’ll see if Porzingis can be healthy we’ll see if he can get through a full season he’s a valuable player for them at the very least like he will be useful but because they already have a Kongwu they don’t really like desperately need him either they were a really they were in a really positive position to take a risk on Christophs especially whenever you have Anka there and you’re getting off the Terrence man money as well to begin with then they do the deal of all deals trading number 13 for an unprotected New Orleans Pelicans pick that you know I would probably have as a top five projection for next year right now [Music] then today they go out and they sign Luke Canard one year 11 million but more than that they go out and they get Nikquille Alexander Walker four years $62 million which I believe actually does fit into the mid-level exception to start especially whenever you consider for raises they have structured this as a signin trade and I would imagine that that sign-in trade is going to fit i mean here’s the crazy thing Andrew like because they have structured this the way they’ve structured this deal they can fit Nquille either into their mid-level exception as a signin trade or if they can and they can do that fit him into the mid-level exception and then if they can find something in the next couple of days that allows them to utilize the $25 million trade exception that they still have they could do both like they could go out and they could get a really really awesome player but given the fact that they have Canard they actually can’t do that i lied so they they’ve done this they’ve done this the right way never mind they they have they’ve put Nikquil Alexander Walker into the $25 million trade exception my brain work my My brain works i promise uh and then they’ve signed Luc Canard to the mid level regardless home run off season from Atlanta so far on Salah their new general manager it I think he might be awesome at this like he might be like genuinely great at this the way that they have structured this entire off season to be able to go and get Oh this could be fun too so Mark Deaks apparently said they structured Levert as a signin trade and created a trade uh exception which was used for Nikquil Alexander Walker
that’s interesting that’s very they could do that that is interesting but the key is that like what when does all of this run out you need to find like the timing it might make more sense to keep that trade exception for the full year as opposed to the $25 million one that runs out a little bit sooner there there’s a lot of they’ll have to make decisions on how they use their trade exceptions here but again I say all this to say on Salah is a big reason why they have these trade exceptions to begin with but the way that they’ve balanced flexibility the future getting off the man money getting the top five potential pick from the New Orleans Pelicans but also like the ability to go out and win now th this is an unbelievable offseason to me so as one of the other teams in contention for said Eastern Conference that struggled a little bit that watched their team struggle a little bit with the Hawks with some of the length that they have um as much as I will continue to remind people that anytime especially anytime I’m told that Trey Young owns the Knicks that he’s uh 11 and 19 in his career against the New York Knicks and that’s including said fiveame series in which Julius Randle turned into a pumpkin and should more be the reason why people evaluate said series um I am I am annoyed how much I love what the Hawks have done this off seasonason and we talked about this a week ago Sam when we were just evaluating the Porzingis trade and giving Trey a pure five out look when Dyson Daniels isn’t on the floor makes them a scary offense and now you add uh Alexander Walker and this is this is honestly to your point about that they might be good at this this is something I always appreciate when teams do this and there’s a lot of good teams honestly I thought Nico Harrison was doing this last year until he traded Luca but when you clearly recognize who’s the centerpiece who’s the core guy that you need to inform all of your decisions after like after you’ve identified that and you build around it and around Trey you have all these wings you have pick and roll partners you have uh defense if you want to go certain looks where it’s it’s kind of hiding him you can if you have looks where you want to go five out you can and then you add in the take advantage of New Orleans i suggest every team just do that by the way take advantage of New Orleans add that to part of your offseason calculation or just front office calculation like the fact they were able to do that and I’ll just say this Sam twice in the last calendar year to two different versions of New Orleans because let’s not forget about the DeJonte Murray trade now you do this and you have what’s currently on the roster with Alexander Walker i just I hate how much I like the Hawks objectively they are a team that to your point should absolutely be considered a top four contender and then look playoffs are a different conversation but man I I was thinking this last year when the Knicks lost to them in the the inseason tournament i was thinking this last year just watching when they would like how especially if Dyson Daniels is able to take some type of leap as a shooter uh and then who knows what happens with Rhys in a in a another year into his career this is this is clearly a well-run team that is putting a perfect team together around Trey Young and I I hate that I have to give them that credit because it’s objectively a very good offseason for them
yeah and to be clear uh Levert is not a sign and trade it’s only a two-year deal so you can’t sign and trade if it’s only a two-year deal that’s just not something that is like legal so whoever if Dee said that he’s incorrect unfortunately um so I checked with that on I checked with John on that john is smarter at this than I am uh John John is very good at front office things i love
I need to get Hollinger back on the show i love John anyway uh Atlanta uh Atlanta veteran and uh I believe John lives in Atlanta at least a decent amount of time throughout the year um this roster is just really fun it is Trey Young i’m going to have to expand it a little bit it’s a little too small trey Young Tyson Daniels Zachary Ricochet Jaylen Johnson Kristoffs Porzingis and Yaka Aong Wu Nail Alexander Walker Luke Canard is your top eight that is a sick top eight that’s a top eight that’s flexible that’s a top eight that allows you to go big and small that’s a top eight that is awesome on defense and insulates Trey Young you might want one more ball handler i think that’s probably what they’re envisioning with Canard and Nquille Alexander Walker and Dyson Daniels that they might be able to get away with you know kind of making it work with those three plus maybe Jaylen Johnson leading the bench unit right and then you have whatever Kobe Buffkin is like Kobe Buffkin I loved him pre-draft he just has gotten so snake bitten with injuries that it’s a shame that we haven’t gotten a chance to see what he is but he was always like a really interesting flexible intriguing player I thought and I guess like Creeche is also like a ball handler in some respect too i wonder if they just have enough to get by in moments where Trey Young is off the court with their ball handling i wonder if they have just enough one and a halfs you know what I mean guys like Nil Alexander Walker who played point guard at Virginia Tech Luke Canard who can handle the ball here and there dyson Daniels who came up as a point guard here in Australia jaylen Johnson being a guy who can run the break i I don’t know they might have enough i’d probably want one more ball handler do you know who this spot might make sense for Andrew
who i can’t believe I’m going to say this who
i think it makes sense for campaign hey once an I thought you going Russell Westbrook with with that um
but time for that money yeah
yeah like this might be like a good third guard i don’t know if you want like a Russ who’s going to come in and be like doineering in that way but I do think if you want like a a guy who can run the show a little bit I think campaign would be an interesting one both of the Joneses are off the table already something like that I think would be useful
like depending on how many minutes you want to dedicate to your ninth 10th man in this situation um I agree with you that Alexander Walker Canard um and to to Shane’s point Cole Anthony cole Anthony would be a good name here too i think
that’s an option i I personally want all second units to be run by Jaylen Johnson so that’s to your point about campaign he can play off of your quote unquote second best player but is largely the focus of your second unit um I was just looking up the the Trey Young career minutes and what he’s like normally logging last two years each he logs 36 minutes a game so if you’re doing the math there you’re looking for 12 to 15 minutes which is the perfect campaign role um and he can play with Trey in certain lineups if you need to because he can play off ball shot the hell out of the ball for the Knicks and look I I I repeat it this is a team that has many options on top of what they’ve already done that makes them I don’t know about winning the East but I would stare at odds if you gave them to me um that they they’ve put together a really good team for next season it wouldn’t shock me whenever we do overunders going into next year Sam I would just like to preemptively take the Hawks over i absolutely just Googled to see if we have any win total over unders yet we don’t them or Orlando heading into the year next year oo well to your point that’s my 34 right now but I just don’t know the order yet i would probably say Orlando but I I’m not stern in my projection of that that it’s like it’s Orlando of course like if if you told me Atlanta finished third ahead of Orlando uh I wouldn’t I I could see that reality absolutely what about you close really close for me i think I would go Orlando still i think that they need to have like Fron and Paulo take like one more like mini jump each right and I also think that Atlanta just has a few more injury guys that worry me a little bit more like Porzingis right and like they’re hoping that Kobe Buffkin might be able to be like a ninth man you know Jaylen Johnson has struggled to stay healthy you know the last couple years for a full year right i think I would go Orlando but it’s close to me it is close and look this Atlanta team if you remember I talked a lot about them throughout the year as a team you don’t really want to play in the playoffs like I I kind of said like with the Knicks like I would not want to play Atlanta in the playoffs particularly was one team that I was worried about for New York i think that stands still like they went out and they got playoff guys like Christophs allows you to play five out which is a thing that you need a look that you need in the playoffs uh Muel Alexander Walker is a playoff guy i think Zachary Ricochet at some point is going to be a playoff guy just needs to get a little bit stronger right i like that they’ve valued players that play up in the biggest moments as well and this is the final point here all of what they have done over the last week and Milwaukee fans will be annoyed by this a whole lot of other people will be annoyed by this i think that they have positioned themselves better for Giannis than any other team in the league and the reason that I say that is that they now own Milwaukeee’s 2026 firstrounder if Milwaukee wants to trade Giannis they probably want their own pick back atlanta can offer them that pick and they now have Jaylen Johnson they have Dyson Daniels they have Zachary Rische to be able to offer in a deal like they have a lot of pieces that I would want if I was Milwaukee if I was looking at a Giannis deal which to be clear again nobody is looking for a It feels like nobody’s looking for a Yiannis deal right now keywords in that sentence you just said were right now i I have some thoughts about and you’re more informed than me so maybe that’s your right now is much more important than than my right now uh I just have some thoughts on what Milwaukee has done so far that isn’t a desperate we must do everything to keep Giannis uh look I I tend to think Houston if they wanted to they could beat an Atlanta offer but you’re right in that 2026 uh Bucks pick is probably the most valuable asset because you get control over your draft for a year and yeah that they they become a very fascinating Giannis team if they want to make an even bigger home run swing which look my whole thought with any Giannis sweep stakes that might pop up is that why would he leave Milwaukee it’s especially why would he leave the Eastern Conference you’re telling me he gets to stay in the Eastern Conference and gets to play with Trey Young it’s um yeah it’s a scary thought um we’ll see what what eventually happens over the next couple weeks if there becomes any type of sweep stakes to that end
yeah and someone asked in the comments what’s the salary going out in a Giannis deal um I believe that Jaylen Johnson being at 30 and Rissa being at 13 gets you pretty damn close now in terms of the money that you have to send out so it it’s it’s actually like pretty doable financially for them to be able to do a Yiannis deal as well
Atlanta Hawks sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker & Luke Kennard | NBA News Reaction
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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.
17 comments
Hey Sam! I love what my Hawks have been doing. But I’m not sure if I want to give up that pick and any of our young core for Giannis.
Sam we need a emergency pod
Andrew dont be annoyed by liking the hawks squad. I was hoping the knicks were gonna win the finals if the wolves werent going. I liked that knicks squad this season.
Buddy on the right still hurt about the damage Trae Young did to his city 💀
Hawks just jumped the Pistons. Probably the Bucks and Celtics baring further moves.
Good chance they finish 4th and make the 2nd round
Trae owns the knicks
Let’s go HAWKS!!!! Aww-AAAWW!! Aaaawww-AAAAWWWW!!! 🦅🦅🦅
That man on the right sickkk 🤢🥹🥲😭
The Knicks fan being annoyed with the Hawks made my day😅
Unpopular opinion but i think ATL should hold on that pick. As great as Giannis is, he's already 30 with a game predicated on athleticism and will cost a TON. ATL should stay the course and keep adding to this current core w/Onsi steering the ship.
NO WE DON'T WANT GIANNIS NOW😂😂😂
We here!!!! Put some respect on our name baby!!!!!!
People talking trash bc Atlanta won a playoff series 8 years ago. 😂😂😂
There’s only two people in that top 10 that cant handle the ball 😮
😂Giannias….. Not gutting our team for him. We don’t need a PG we hv 6 ball handlers- people are sleeping on Vit and Gueye. I could see Quinn going 10 deep. We need a Big somebody like Andre Drummond PK is more finesse. We need a bully in the middle.
This dude really acting like New York was good back in 2021. Hawks went to the ECF and took the eventual champs to Game 6. You weren't even close. Dubious Handles wasn't eaten alive by Hunter, too.
See what’s up wit Jrue Holiday