With Hawks getting the 6th seed and the Bulls not making the playoffs, do this make the Miami Heat the supreme overlords of the Play in games?

Should it be called the Heat invitational?

I would love to read an article about the behind the scenes on how the Hawks made an incredible turnaround by trading their once franchise player. Would be really interesting to know the details.

hawks won the luka trade

Hawks record without Trae Young: 44-28

Hawks record with Trae Young: 2-8

He played good in a lot of those games, the team just didn’t function nearly as well on both ends with him playing.

The biggest factor in the Hawks turnaround is that they turned two empty roster spots (Trae and KP who weren’t playing) into actual productive players via trade.  

The Hawks went 27-11 down the stretch in 2021 and made it to the ECF with Trae, where he scored 48 points in a game 1 win on the road vs the eventual champs.  

I dunno, Trae barely played this year. I honestly think it was a shame we never saw the original lineup be able to play. Porzingus was also never available. On paper, it really looked like a solid crew

Cj McCollum erasure

I watched them a bit more this season because of Krejčí (before he got traded), and honestly it did feel different.

With Trae, everything runs through him. Without him, they look more like a team – more ball movement, more guys involved.

Not saying they’re better, but definitely more balanced.

Trae and AD duo nickname suggestion: Peanut Brittle ?

I know people have made many comments about the Hawks’ schedule down the home stretch. But it’s important to note that their SOS is .501 - tied for 8th in the league. (source) And their RPI - 25% team winning percentage, 50% opponents’ average winning percentage, and 25% opponents’ opponents’ average winning percentage - is 12th in the league. (source)

So it isn’t as though they’ve had an especially easy road.

“The biggest one was simply moving” no it wasn’t man. It simply wasn’t

The most telling stat for me? Trae is an all-time assist god, yet the season they trade him is the season they set the franchise record for APG.

nickeil alexander walker set the single season made 3s record for the hawks like wtf was trae even doing all those years

They have escaped the “Trae Young Invitational”

credit to quin snyder for keeping the squad focus together in all the chaos

Guards who don’t play defense don’t win.

He barely played this year though. And when he did wasn’t he hurt?

How much of it you think its because NAW?

Hawks did what the bucks, pelicans, any team holding onto a former star are too stupid to do.

So you’re saying that Bill Simmons should call it the Trae Young theory, instead of the poorly named Ewing Theory

And talking heads wanted the Spurs to trade for him. Good thing they didn’t.

The Hawks turnaround is much more about CJ McCollum than it is Trae Young. I know Hawks fans were throwing a hissy fit when CJ first got there, but having another guy who can self create and shoot has drastically improved their half court offense.

There are a lot of nuanced reasons

I am adamant that the front office never sufficiently built a roster around Trae until this season, but we were injured and inconsistent.

Jalen Johnson went from “amazing side kick” to “wait this guy is actually our best player” and NAW making the huge leap is a big reason.

Losing Trae’s playmaking is made up for by the fact that Quin has loaded the roster with guys who can put the ball on the floor, drive, playmake, and create for themselves. Instead of having Trae as the offensive engine, the team is able to somewhat ride and push with whoever gets the ball off a possession switch.

All of this coupled with not having to cover Trae on defense culminated in us just being better.

Trae has elite skills that I think could make a team a contender, he just has to have his weaknesses completely covered. Also not to leave it unsaid, Trae does seem to have lost a step. His quickness was one of the most underrated parts of his game, just look at the game winner vs Quickley against the Knicks way back. He doesn’t have the same burst to set up his shots.

I still believe in my boy I will always love Trae.

Ewing Theory

Them trading Trae reminded me of when the Grizzlies traded away Rudy Gay. Both guys are clearly talented but the offense just flows much smoother without them for some reason.

I know the feeling. Last night we were playing 3 on 3 and we shot for teams, and the three best players (also the 3 tallest) all ended up on the same team, against me and 2 other avg players. We all thought “ok well we’re gonna get smoked.” Yet being the underdog made us all play our asses off and the other team underestimated us or something and we ended up punching them in the mouth and winning game 1. We lost game 2 by 2 points. We lost game 3 by 3 points but we won game 4, series tied 2-2. I hit the game winner in game 5.

So, ya, I know the feeling.

Sure helps when you have another franchise player emerge.

Whoever says the east is weak this year isn’t paying attention.

CJ McCollum definitely helped along with NAW breaking out. If Trae was healthy they’d obviously be in a better spot with him

so many Hawks fans gave me shit when I said they should get rid of Trae Young. bet they don’t disagree with me now.

Spurs fans in shambles.

good job but them getting cute with magic fans is interesting amidst it all

So the Wizards are going to be worse next year with Trae?

The biggest hawks fan I know ain’t even happy about this 😂 they checked out after the Trae trade.

The biggest factor in their turnaround is that 14 of those 28 wins were against teams that were actively trying to lose, and they were sub-.500 in the competitive basketball games.

so many people were trying to wish this on the Spurs. Glad Wemby wasn’t ruined

I still can’t believe the play in is a thing. It’s so fucking dumb

The 7 and 8 seed make the playoffs but have to play extra games to make it again. There will never be another upset 7 or 8 seed winning the first round series… why make it harder for them

I would say the main reason is they didn’t play a real team for a month

lol this is pretty disingenuous