Photo Credit: AP / David Goldman
NBA Offseason Grades – Atlanta Hawks & Brooklyn Nets
ATLANTA HAWKS: D
The Atlanta Hawks have had a terrible offseason. It’s been so subpar that it looks like their best move has been letting go of Dwight Howard, who was massively underwhelming for them. They also said goodbye to their franchise’s best player in Paul Millsap, and did basically nothing to replace him. Following that, a promising young star in Tim Hardaway moved on also, leaving the team with massive holes and soon became a very unattractive place to play. It looks as though the Hawks have gone into full rebuild mode, but in saying that, they don’t have much young talent in comparison to other NBA teams in similar situations. As it stands, their best players are point guard Dennis Schroder, who is good but not great, and Kent Bazemore who is a solid piece, but not a world beater by any stretch. They’ve brought in Dewayne Dedmon, Marco Belinelli, Miles Plumlee and Luke Babbit as not so notable additions. Let’s hope their youngsters blossom beyond expectation as it’s going to be a long season for the Hawks.
BROOKLYN NETS: B+
It could only improve for the Nets over the summer, as they were undoubtedly the worst team in the league last season. They did lose their best player in Brook Lopez during the summer, but what they got in return will set them up for the future as well as bring some excitement back to the city. They have put faith in former Los Angeles Lakers young guard D’Angelo Russell, who despite being known for his off the floor drama more so than his game, actually has decent tools that can help the franchise moving forward. They can give him the ball and let him run the show, which will speed up his development much faster than he would have had in LA, where he had to share the ball with handling responsibilities with Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram. The Nets have been underrated this offseason in the other additions they’ve brought in also. Timofey Mozgov will anchor the paint as a genuine big man, Demare Carroll is a solid wing defender, Quincy Acy is full of energy off the bench, Allen Crabbe adds much needed three-point shooting and Trevor Booker is a solid piece that will help them on both sides of the ball. Hopefully Joe Harris can develop as well, which gives them another shooter as well. All in all it could not have gotten any worse for the Nets this summer, as they try and recover from their devastating trade decisions in previous campaigns. A positive summer for the franchise, and a step in the right direction.
