00:00Rumors floating around the internet from Mark Stein and Jake Fisher that our guy here in Atlanta, Quinn Snyder, could
00:07be receiving a contract extension soon.
00:11I feel, based off of what happened last season, that it is absolutely warranted and deserved, and he has this
00:17team going into the draft in the offseason headed in the right direction.
00:21What say you?
00:24Yeah, Chris, I think this is obviously something I've been brewing for a while.
00:30The expectation was, even before the season ended, that this was the direction that Ansi was going to go, is
00:39essentially with a measure of stability.
00:43Obviously, there's going to be some changes to the staff.
00:47As, you know, obviously Coach Norrid went, and he's coaching in college now.
00:53You've now got Ryan Schmidt potentially in the running for the Chicago Bulls job.
00:57So there's going to be some changes as far as, you know, the guys underneath Quinn.
01:03But as far as, it seems that Ansi is of the belief that everything development-wise that Quinn Snyder's been
01:13putting together is working in a positive direction.
01:18And so, for the moment, you know, it appears that there is a measure of stability.
01:23Now, as we all know, even with a presumed contract extension happening, I mean, we literally just watched Jason Kidd
01:32get fired with four years, $40 million on his deal left.
01:38And so, not to say that, you know, just because a contract extension is happening right now that the Hawks
01:44are then stuck with Quinn, whether things go, you know, well, or if they, you know, happen to not.
01:51But it's just a level of cohesion and consistency that I think this team hasn't had where, you know, in
02:00the past, previously, coaches haven't been able to have down years turn things around and have any measure of development
02:11for the Hawks.
02:11And so, I think right now what you've got with Quinn is a guy who has proven to some extent
02:18that, you know, that he can develop players and get the best out of talent.
02:24It's just, it's in the little details, Chris, that you kind of go, you know, some of these in-game
02:30management decisions that you tend to question, rotations and all of those sorts of things,
02:35that you kind of wonder if Quinn is the guy to take this team to the next level.
02:40But it at least seems for right now that, as you mentioned with the, you know, the reports out there
02:46that for the moment, there's going to be a level of consistency from the success that the Hawks had towards
02:55the end of this year and what they'll be able to do next year.
02:59Is, I mean, the obvious answer is Zachary Reese's Shea, but who, in your opinion, is this offseason most important
03:06for a player to come back and take the next step here in Atlanta?
03:11Oof, yeah. I mean, I think it's easy to say Zach just because it went so horribly bad for him
03:21this past season.
03:22But I honestly, Chris, I think it's Jalen.
03:27Like, Jalen, you've got to see him take that next step, where what we saw this past year was, okay,
03:35you were finally actually healthy, you know?
03:38Like, and not to say that Jalen wasn't great this year.
03:42He, I think he was a really, really talented, obviously, you know, what, 22, what was it, 22-10-8,
03:52I believe, is what he averaged for the season, playing over 70 games.
03:57Like, the 70-game mark, I think, was a really important factor.
04:01And so, him being healthy, great.
04:04Now he needs to go from being healthy to taking that next step, or, as you and I have been
04:11talking in the past, you know, the Hawks kind of need to figure out,
04:15if you're not taking that next step, then we need to go about, you know, figuring out who we're going
04:22to have lead this team towards that next direction.
04:25But, I think there's not going to be a ton of change to this roster, I really don't think, this
04:33offseason.
04:34With the big names that are going to pop up, that are going to be available, I think there are
04:38some really intriguing ones,
04:39especially in free agency or players that could be traded for that I don't think would be so costly that,
04:47you know,
04:47Ansi, like, he's, clearly, he's shown his willingness to make deals.
04:52I just don't think there's going to be such a major roster overhaul that we've seen the last couple years.
04:59True or false, Giannis, LeBron, Jalen Brown are, in your opinion, essentially non-starters?
05:10Oh, true.
05:11Yeah, that's easy for me.
05:14I think for the reasons of those three players are going to teams that then are becoming win-now teams.
05:26And I think something that Ansi has been very big on that is, it's tough to have in this climate
05:35of professional sports in general,
05:38of, like, you want to win now and you want to be doing everything you can be to win now.
05:45It's just that Ansi has come from the background of, yes, we want to win, but we want to sustain
05:53winning once we're able to get there.
05:55And so I think that comes from not making the big flashy moves because every time you talk about the
06:03LeBrons,
06:04every time you talk about the Giannis' Jalen Brown being in that mix, it's what you have to give up
06:10in order to go get those players.
06:12The fact that you have to mortgage your future in order to hopefully, you know, win in the short term.
06:20And I think Giannis and LeBron, those two guys, are on much shorter, just, career paths.
06:28I think LeBron's got another year in him.
06:32Giannis, I mean, not that he's some old player.
06:35I just think on the injury front, he's going to be a guy that I think only plays a couple
06:40more years.
06:41Jalen Brown will play longer.
06:43But I just got to be honest, I don't love the idea of Jalen Brown being the leader of any
06:51team.
06:51I think what they've built in Boston works really well just because from a coaching standpoint,
06:57there is someone who can rein him in, and then there is still a lot of talent around Jalen that
07:06he doesn't,
07:07he can feel like some form of leader without actually being the leader of a team.
07:11So, yeah, the big flashy names, no.
07:14But I will throw one out there to you, Chris, that I've seen floating around that I think would be
07:19a great idea.
07:21And even though he has in the past been a little bit of a cancer to previous teams he's played
07:27with,
07:27that's Kyrie Irving.
07:28I think if you're looking for someone you kind of take a flyer on that, you know,
07:35obviously isn't going to be the same guy he was in the past.
07:38But Kyrie is someone who certainly can get his own shot and can mentor, I think, some of these guys,
07:48some of these younger guys, especially even someone who isn't maybe necessarily young,
07:52but kind of in the keel and dice and bring those guards up.
07:58And assuming that you draft a guard in the first round with one of your first two picks,
08:02I think a guy like Kyrie makes all the sense in the world to bring some senior leadership to this
08:08team.
08:09And that's obviously dependent upon, you know, what you want to do with CJ.
08:12And that obviously also solves your problem of this debate about if they need a closer or not.
08:19Well, he is right.
08:20So he becomes your de facto closer in that as well.
08:24No, I like it.
08:25I would like a guy like that.
08:27I know we've talked about it, but I'm all in on Isaiah Hartenstein.
08:31I think that's a move this team should consider to make.
08:34I know he's a bit injury prone,
08:36but I just feel like if he has a chance to be a true No. 1 that he's going to
08:41shine.
08:42And then, to your point, you go draft a young point guard,
08:44have him play behind Kyrie, and then he can ascend from there.
08:49All right, to the playoffs, oh my goodness.
08:52Both these series, Caleb, all out of nowhere, kind of a sleepy NBA playoffs
08:57where there's been a lot of domination by one side.
09:01We get two historic games back-to-back.
09:04Let's start with the most recent one.
09:06Nick's come back from 22 down.
09:08Jalen Brunson does it again.
09:11I know the running cliche joke here in Atlanta is, Caleb, is,
09:16wow, how did the Hawks get a game at Madison Square Garden?
09:18But, I mean, honestly, I mean, you win eight straight playoff games in a row.
09:22It's kind of true.
09:25Yeah, I think it is.
09:27We're finally starting to see some national media
09:32having to reevaluate this postseason specifically in the Eastern Conference
09:37where everybody knew that New York was good,
09:41but I think to what measure is this kind of, you know,
09:49trying to figure out.
09:51New York is such a weird team because they're ones where I feel like on paper
09:57you know how to stop them is you've got to get Brunson off the ball.
10:05You've got to get Kat from being the guy to lead that pick and roll,
10:11and, you know, those guys are going to go cold shooting,
10:15especially a guy like Bridges.
10:19You've had a strong run from OG,
10:22but, like, this New York team has so many different ways to beat you,
10:29and yet it feels like you can, in a way, figure them out,
10:34and that's what Cleveland had done for essentially three quarters in last night's game
10:39until, for whatever reason,
10:42Kenny Atkinson just did the brainiac move that, quite honestly,
10:47if I can, you know, like, not exactly excite Hawks fans,
10:51some stuff that I've seen from Quinn Snyder in the past
10:54where you just get a little bit stubborn on what you want to do,
10:58and New York switched it up and essentially just had Jalen Brunson
11:03absolutely attacking James Harden time and time and time again,
11:07and essentially Cleveland said,
11:10hey, Brunson's going to have to beat us
11:13or the Knicks are going to have to beat us by hitting some clutch threes,
11:16and that's literally what New York did.
11:20So I just think that New York kind of found their mojo once again,
11:28and I felt like this was going to be a series through the first three quarters.
11:33I felt like this was going to be a series because I thought,
11:35okay, Cleveland wins a game in the Garden.
11:39Now things are going to get interesting.
11:41However, this totally flipped the switch on the direction of things
11:46because, you know, whether guys want to say it or not,
11:50and I know Donovan Mitchell was all about, yeah, well, it's one game.
11:53I heard CJ McCollum say that same exact thing after game four,
11:59talking about it's just one game,
12:01and it demoralizes a team when you go through something like that.
12:08And so not that I don't think that the postseason is still going to be
12:12extremely competitive in the East.
12:14It's just, man, did this completely flip the switch.
12:18And, you know, deservingly so, New York is a really talented team.
12:24Is what we're seeing from Wemby possibly sustainable?
12:32I'll say this.
12:33I sure hope so because, man, is it fun.
12:38I love a guy that is, I don't know how to describe Wemby,
12:46but, like, he doesn't feel lame in the same way that some of these other guys
12:52feel lame as stars.
12:54He feels like he truly is about the game.
12:59He, and not that I have any issue with guys who love what the game brings them
13:05on the outside, but I feel like too many guys are too concerned about everything
13:11that being a professional athlete brings you.
13:15Like, he is truly focused on the game,
13:19and he's a weirdo in a way that we haven't had, I think, in quite some time.
13:25I mean, the articles being written about him going up on the mountain with the monks
13:30and, you know, doing all these crazy hikes and really dangerous hikes up on mountains
13:37and stuff.
13:37Like, he is just a different breed that his shot chart from game one was absolutely insane.
13:44I think he shot one time outside of the paint,
13:49and it was that deep three that he knocked down that seemingly, you know,
13:55sealed things for San Antonio and just a level of excitement that I just love watching the guy.
14:05He is a freak of nature, whereas we kind of haven't had necessarily that level since LeBron
14:13because Steph brought about a game in which, hey, everybody thought they could be that guy
14:19and a lot of shooting, and, you know, Wemby is just a defensive freak of nature
14:25and obviously adding the offensive part of his game.
14:29Man, I just hope that, I really hope that San Antonio is able to win
14:34because they're a really entertaining team to watch.
14:38Do you buy the narrative that whoever comes out of the West has a distinct advantage over the East?
14:46Oh, I, not only do I buy that, I have actually had this discussion amongst my friend group
14:52that the Western Conference Finals are truly the NDA Finals.
14:59Like, that is the champion coming out of that series.
15:03You know, I know I just gave a lot of love to the Knicks, and I think they deserve it.
15:09But, yeah, the Western Conference has the two teams, the two best teams in the NBA,
15:15and I think whoever comes out of it is going to win.
15:19But that, I mean, look, we just watched, you know, last year it go to seven games,
15:25and that was with the Indiana Pacers being involved.
15:27So anything can happen, but I just think from, like, a true talent, skill perspective,
15:33best team, when you think of the best team in the NBA,
15:36it's coming out of the Western Conference.
15:38Caleb, great stuff.
15:39Appreciate it as always, and we'll chat soon.
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