Soaring Down South
Fansided

NBA 2K20 Predicts the 2nd Half of the Atlanta Hawks’ Season

By Dallin Duffy

ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 3: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks controls the ball during a game against the Boston Celtics at State Farm Arena on February 3, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 3: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks controls the ball during a game against the Boston Celtics at State Farm Arena on February 3, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Atlanta Hawks
CORVALLIS, OREGON – JANUARY 25: Onyeka Okongwu #21 of the USC Trojans reacts after a dunk during the first half against the Oregon State Beavers at Gill Coliseum on January 25, 2020 in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images) /

The Off-Season:

First, it should be noted that 43-year-old Vince Carter does not retired in the game, despite him clearly making this his last season. He’s out of his contract and a free agent. Second but perhaps most importantly, the Hawks did not fire their coach and kept Lloyd Pierce as coach going into the new season.

In the Draft Lottery, the Hawks were tied with the Pistons and Warriors for the best odds at the number one pick at 14%. Despite this, the Hawks fell to the 6th pick, one of the lowest possible destinations given their odds. Golden State won the Lottery, securing the top pick.

With the 6th overall pick (with a downloaded draft class with real players), the Hawks took USC PF/C Onyeka Okongwu, who is currently projected to go in that same six-hole currently by Tankathon.com.

He’d be an interesting fit next to Capela and Collins, and was certainly known for his defense as well as his ability to stretch floor in college.

Atlanta also chose Malcolm Cazalon in the 2nd round, who is a International shooting guard prospect from France.

Moving forward to free agency, the Hawks were fairly busy.

They signed another big man in the veteran Serge Ibaka, as well as adding a forward in Hawks legend Carmelo Anthony, for some reason.

They filled out the roster with more vets like Trey Burke and Austin Rivers. The only notable players to not be re-signed were Brandon Goodwin and DeAndre’ Bembry. Bembry signed a modest-sized deal with Charlotte, while Goodwin signed a two-way with Brooklyn. Jeff Teague also didn’t re-up with Atlanta, and was still a free agent when the season started. Sorry, Jeff.

While the drafting of Okongwu could certainly happen, I can’t see free agency playing out anything close to how it did in the game. Ibaka being signed to a big deal to be a sixth man makes no sense after the addition of many big men, and the Carmelo 1yr/$18 million deal is hysterically unfeasible.

Trey Burke and Austin Rivers are interesting choices to become Trae’s backup, but it’d probably be just one, not both.

In the end, this was how the rotation looked moving into the 2020-2021 season:

PG: Trae Young, Austin Rivers, Trey Burke

SG: Kevin Huerter, Malcolm Cazalon

SF: De’Andre Hunter (still hurt), Cam Reddish

PF: John Collins, Carmelo Anthony, Onyeka Okongwu, Skal Labissière

C: Clint Capela, Serge Ibaka, Dewayne Dedmon

Next. Did the Hawks win the Trade Deadline?. dark

All in all, it was a fun, nonsensical look into the future of the Atlanta Hawks. In real life, we hope for better results at the Lottery, more than 12 wins in the final months, and for Travis Schlenk to not spend all our money on veterans Carmelo Antony and Serge Ibaka.

For more coverage of the real life Hawks, keep it tuned here.

Home/Hawks News