Hawks Hunting Grounds

[Beercloud]

Atlanta's Topsy Turvy Start into 2016 Mo Feathers reporting

The moment new Atlanta GM Beercloud sat down in his new office the phone started ringing off the hook. The action got so heavy the Hawks organization had to hire Beercloud a personal secretary. After numerous interviews they hire a pretty young lady from Snapfinger, Georgia named Eileen Dover. Fellow CSL owners were inquiring about player after player. Most were dealing for PF Greg Monroe and C Omer Asik.

With no draft picks in 2016 or 2018, a rebuild was going to be difficult. Any reporter would've loved to be a fly on the wall during that first week. Plans, plans and more plans in case those plans didn't work out. After a lot of back and forths with multiple owners the first deal was struck. Portland offers a draft pick package for Monroe that Beercloud was thinking could be used to start the rebuild process. The deal included Portlands 2016 #1, #13, #28 and PF James McAdoo for PF Greg Monroe. Beercloud had no intention of getting rid of Monroe but the #1 overall pick could of not only started the rebuild process at a young stage but also freed up an already decent sized cap space. The Hawks were set on SF Justin Anderson. It was rumored that they sent him hookers and Cuban cigars, but no proof was ever found.

Then the dreaded league news that hit CFL like a brick or a Shaq free throw, take your pick. That planned cap space just now disappeared. That left teams league wide scrambling to re-access their future plans. Portland now could not afford to take on Monroe's contract and was left scrambling to try and save the deal. The Atlanta's front office was not aware of Portland's situation thinking the deal was a go. But Portland GM lakeshowak7 was hard at work trying to find another way to land Monroe. Of course not knowing what was going on in Portland the Hawks GM posted the trade as agreed upon earlier between the two GM's. After the trade was posted lakeshowak7 informed Beercloud that the deal couldn't go through as planned and that he was working on a third team to make it happen.

He found that partner in Denver but with a twist. NuggOlest would send Blake Griffin to Portland, Atlanta would send Monroe to Denver, Portland would send the #1, #13, #28 and James McAdoo to Atlanta and also send Harrison Barnes to Denver. All parties agree at the 11th hr of the trade deadline. Alls good, lakeshowak7 hard work paid off right down to the wire. But wait a minute, not so fast. The PA informed us that Barnes didn't feel that Denver would be a competitive team without Blake Griffin in town. Even with Monroe heading to the mile high city. So the deal was killed dead right there on the spot. With 2 hours left before the deadline there was no time to put another deal together.

And wait there is another twist upon a twist. In the middle of all this, after Portland's original deal and the salary cap announcement, the Hawks get an offer from OKC's 8timechamp for PG Grevis Vasquez for a 2nd round pick that Atlanta owned which originally was a 2017 2nd rounder from the Raptors. The Thunder was clearing off cap room and the Hawks needed a PG. Beercloud couldn't pass on the PG from Maryland University.

So after all this madness the Hawks keep Monroe in Atlanta and add the a PG that was 2nd in league assists for 2015(Vasquez) to build around. "It was a wild ride" says the Hawks GM. "But in the end it all worked out. In the beginning if we didn't take the Portland deal Monroe was gonna get old here before we were anywhere close to having a rebuilt team. Then it looked like we were gonna be without Monroe and have Vasquez. Then Vasquez was just gonna grow old here before we had a chance to be competitive. In the end we have em both and the rebuild process has taken on a life of it's own. We're still aways off from where we want to be, but we are further down the assembly line than we were with only one of em. Now all we can do is try to plug holes one at a time each year. Still a long and exciting road ahead of us. I'm looking forward to whatever the next madness may bring"


That's it for this edition of the Hawks Hunting Grounds. Til next time, this is Mo Feathers. Good Night.

[NanashiWake]

Good read, and can't hate on the hookers and cuban cigar strategy. Also, I personally am glad you kept Monroe in Atlanta and feel that it'll work out better in the long-run as well. Best of luck with your team.

[Sun Scorched]

Way to hang with it - that's some epic back and forth on the trade front. Now that the PAs are out of the way though, no reason the Barnes deal can't be pulled off.

[Chilikonkarne]

Good read, always fun to discover the backstage!
I really like the 2 trades for Atlanta, too bad Monroe one didn't work out

[Chilikonkarne]

Good read, always fun to discover the backstage!
I really like the 2 trades for Atlanta, too bad Monroe one didn't work out

[Dennis]

You have a lot cap, dont you? You could acquire a lot tradeable assets. All those tier 3 players could be signed for 3-5 million within the first few days. Guys like Faverani, Williams, Isaiah Thomas, Moe Harkless, Terrence Jones, Ross, Mahinmi, patrick beverly etc.. They all could land you some picks for the upcoming drafts as soon as their trade restriction is lifted.

[8timechamp]

Monroe for #1 #13 and #28 would be a solid deal if it went through.
Then that 3 way trade you mentioned would have been a blockbuster and good for all parties involved.
Either way keep do your thing, so far you are doing good with the Hawks

[Beercloud]

Dennis Wrote:
You have a lot cap, dont you?

The game says i only have 6m of cap space left. I'm trying to stay under the 63m soft cap. Which prolly isnt the way to do it.
I don't know how to work the cap in basketball. It's much more complicated than football or baseball. I can see this game is gonna teach me.

[WillyJakkz]

Really interesting read.

I like to see or read about the behind the doors look out what franchises are or possibly doing and those were all around interesting moves that were going to be done by each GM.

Nice article Beercloud

[Sun Scorched]

Dennis Wrote:
You have a lot cap, dont you?

The game says i only have 6m of cap space left. I'm trying to stay under the 63m soft cap. Which prolly isnt the way to do it.
I don't know how to work the cap in basketball. It's much more complicated than football or baseball. I can see this game is gonna teach me.

Hmmmm - it sounds like you may not have renounced everyone? You should have $30m+, I think?!

[Beercloud]

Sun Scorched Wrote:
Hmmmm - it sounds like you may not have renounced everyone? You should have $30m+, I think?!

If thats the case im breaking out my happy dance. lol And no you do not want to see that.

I think the 6m is correct cause of the fa holds i have. I only have a handful of players under contract and still need to fill out a roster. So I was trying to divide it out enough to do that.

[Dennis]

Yeah, you still can renounce Ellis, Koufos, McRoberts and Mozgov

[Rizzo]

Can't say that you aren't trying to reshape this franchise. Keep it up.

[Sun Scorched]

Yeah, you still can renounce Ellis, Koufos, McRoberts and Mozgov

Yeah - I'd renounce everyone but Monta and then send in a 5 year deal for him asap. Throw some cash around quickly!

[emplep7]

Yeah, you still can renounce Ellis, Koufos, McRoberts and Mozgov

Yeah - I'd renounce everyone but Monta and then send in a 5 year deal for him asap. Throw some cash around quickly!

Agree. Hold onto Monta as he is your only other big time player and then surround him and Monroe with good complimentary pieces.

[Marcos_Beck]

Yeah you're basically losing time with the other guys. Renounce all but Ellis and find yourself a decent point guard. Isaiah Thomas is a very underrated option, so is Pat Beverley. I'm suprised that multiple teams are not trying to grab those guys yet.

[Marcos_Beck]

Your interior is set with the 4 players you have. Between Monroe, Asik and Hill, you have it well covered. And this guy you sign for cheap only helps. Now go after your perimeter, both starting and bench. Ellis + Thomas to start and two shooters at SG and SF would be good options.

[Dennis]

Yeah you're basically losing time with the other guys. Renounce all but Ellis and find yourself a decent point guard. Isaiah Thomas is a very underrated option, so is Pat Beverley. I'm suprised that multiple teams are not trying to grab those guys yet.

I actually think that pat is the best PG in this year class.. Despite Conley obciously

[Beercloud]

k i renounced McRoberts, Mozgov and Koufos in the FA renounce thread.

That's a lil weight off my pocket book. So you guys don't like Vasquez eh.

How do i pull offers i made in game? I can't seem to figure that out?

[Marcos_Beck]

Brett just said in our Facebook chat: "Open their offer and press clear"
Dunno if it works, but try it