NBA Rumors: Breaking down whether each of the teams should retool, rebuild or rewind heading into the 2018 NBA offseason
Every offseason leaves NBA teams with plenty of decisions but when you boil it down there are really only three directions a franchise can take.
Rewind with the same squad, retool with the same core or get younger and rebuild. Miss the playoffs last year? A rebuild might be the way to go. Come close but ultimately fall short in the playoffs? Retool and give it another shot. Golden State Warriors? Yeah, go ahead and rewind.
Let’s take a closer look at all 30 teams and what their decision should be moving forward.
Atlanta Hawks
Well, this is a no-brainer. Atlanta is already in full rebuild mode, outside of Taurean Prince and John Collins the Hawks may not have had a single starting quality player on the roster last season. During the draft they flipped the third overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks for the fifth overall and a future first rounder; the fifth pick was used on Oklahoma Sooners star Trae Young, who just came off a college season averaging nearly 27.5 points and 9 assists.
There are legitimate concerns over the 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard’s ability to defend at the next level, but if his offensive game transitions to the NBA he’ll be a nice pick up for the Hawks.
The jury is still out on Dennis Schroder’s ability to run a quality offense but he is only 24 years old still. The starting point guard at the beginning of the season will likely be the newly drafted Young, but the Hawks are still invested in Schroder until the 2021 offseason. He thrived as a backup point guard behind Jeff Teague, could they put him back in a similar role?
The $15.5 million price tag seems a little steep for a backup guard and his style of play wouldn’t mesh well enough with Young’s to allow them to share the backcourt. Atlanta will have to figure out how he fits into their plans moving forward.
Verdict: Rebuild