Atlanta Hawks: Every party has a piñata

The Step Back has been born from the aesthetics and traditions of the Hardwood Paroxysm Basketball Network. In the past, Hardwood Paroxysm has produced a massive stand-alone season preview. This year, that preview effort has been rolled up into the launch of The Step Back. 

The Step Back’s writers and illustrators have prepared a hefty deep-dive into each team, built from multiple smaller sections. This year’s theme is television comedies and each section is named after some of our favorite sitcoms. For links to all 30 teams, as well as details about the focus of each section, check out our guide on how to read this preview.

Community

By Bryan Harvey (@LawnChairBoys)

Pierce Hawthorne, the politically incorrect curmudgeon of the cult sitcom Community, once described his own birth, after having been left for dead in a mock sailing exercise, as a wrestling match with his own umbilical cord. In his account, he brags: “I came to life when the doctors stopped delivering me and just started laughing.” He needed not a Hera in this myth. He served as his own worst enemy, both the butt and the head of his own cruel joke.

Twelve years into his NBA career, a similar moment may have arrived for Dwight Howard. While not particularly bad at anything, he is tangled in a web of his own navel-gazing, and the game’s forefathers have certainly had their laughs. The only question remaining now is whether or not Dwight can, in the words of an obliviously stubborn Hawthorne, clean out the buffet before he hangs up his sneakers.

The setting for this latest rebranding effort of the league’s most prominent man-child is Atlanta, which also makes this effort different than his previous efforts to polish his wide-toothed and candy-filled grin for the masses. Unlike Houston and Los Angeles, the first two stops of his post-Magic odyssey, Atlanta doubles as his hometown, so his arrival is also a return.

Once upon a time, landing Dwight Howard would have meant winning free agency, and the addition of his name to a roster would have propelled title hopes and parade visions. But that moment has passed, and in its place is a nervous anticipation for rumors and dysfunction.

His body, while still hulking, is no longer Kryptonian. He dominates in spurts and disappears in flashes. And sometimes, under the microscopes of a TNT crew, his skin gives off a strange, greenish hue. Yet his anger is mostly introverted—something that sulks on the court more often than it explodes. He could be a piece, but he is not the piece. At least that is the Chevy Chase-sized narrative currently circling round his head.

Love him or hate him, Howard is amongst the best players of his generation, even if, as Jason Concepcion observed at The Ringer, he is not on the banana boat with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul. That said, he is also on the decline. His resume boasts several impressive accomplishments, but most of those events are at least a half decade old.

Still, his arrival in Atlanta should inspire more than shoulder shrugs. He is less than he once was, but he is not yet a husk. He exists somewhere between Jeff Winger’s apathetic moxie and Pierce Hawthorne’s moist towelettes, and it would be wrong to cast him entirely as an old man with very enormous wings.

He may not be an obvious miracle, but the Hawks should understand what to do with him. Put him in pick-and-rolls. Post him up. Make sure he feels needed. Take advantage of his reduced state. Treat him like a smiling Prodigal Son returning home for what could possibly be his last chance at redemption. This story should be easy to sell, too, but Dwight is Dwight and something more contrived than a three-word presidential campaign slogan, which is to say if this whole affair starts and ends with his resurrection, then something is truly amiss.

The history of the Atlanta Hawks is rarely written in the form of an individual’s narrative arc, at least not since the nights of Dominique Wilkins creating highlight reels. The franchise notes high and low water marks according to collective efforts, and over the last nine years Atlanta has been a playoff team without Howard, or really any individual player of his former stature. Only San Antonio can claim a longer active streak. Thus, redemption for Dwight rests not in his ability to single-handedly resuscitate a failing franchise, but in how he fits amongst an ensemble that is already assembled and, more importantly, already successful.

The current playoff streak began under the watchful eye of head coach Mike Woodson. In his first season, the team won only 13 games. However, by his third year, they possessed one of the most versatile rosters in all of basketball. Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, and Mike Bibby were every bit the challenge to Boston’s 2008 championship run as much more heralded squads led by LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

But, as that particular roster pressed against the ceiling of its potential, pieces were swapped out for players deemed less apathetic, less egotistical, and more ready to play the right way. Josh Smith eventually morphed into Paul Millsap. Jeff Teague grew in the cracks of an aging Bibby. Mike Woodson begot Larry Drew, and Larry Drew begot Mike Budenholzer. But the team never advanced beyond the second round, and so the Hawks changed a lot without changing at all. And then all of a sudden they won 60 games, without any of the typical antecedents that could have predicted such a moment.

That achievement defied expectations, but also raised the bar. In a sense, the question for the Hawks became less about continuity and consistency and more about whether they could be this era’s 2004 Detroit Pistons, albeit with an approach more offensive than defensive. They also became a piñata for ridicule.

Two seasons ago, when the team set a franchise record for wins, the entire starting five, which included Al Horford, Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver, and Jeff Teague, was named Player of the Month for January. The team lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, and not a single individual on the team was an All-NBA selection. Furthermore, the easy take on the Hawks became not to appreciate the constellation while noting the absence of a single star.

Now, after another playoff loss at the hands of LeBron’s Cavaliers, that group, too, has been disbanded. Last year already saw Carroll playing for the Toronto Raptors, and in his place Kent Bazemore emerged as a reliable starter. Teague, who was already losing fourth quarter minutes to upstart Dennis Schröder, was jettisoned to Indiana so the latter might blossom. And then, Al Horford, who was the lynchpin of continuity throughout the current playoff streak, took his talents to New England.

The new look Hawks attempting to do all that old Hawk stuff will feature a starting lineup of Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore, Kyle Korver, and Dennis Schröder. At times, the spacing will look more cramped than in recent years, and maybe the timing on the pick-and-rolls will need work. But, along with a bench that includes Tiago Splitter, Thabo Sefolosha, Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Taurean Prince, this roster could potentially evolve into Cleveland’s toughest roadblock in the East. If that happens, then Dwight Howard in an Atlanta uniform might be a lot like Dwight Howard in an Orlando uniform. The team doesn’t have to win for such a miracle to happen, but it can’t be swept as in years past. And for that to happen, Dennis will have to prove as adept at fixing air conditioning units as Dwight Howard is at being disliked. The story can’t be about one man.

The Odd Couple

By Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles)

When we look back at Dwight Howard’s career, we’ll talk about what could’ve been. Not necessarily in the early days when he became the youngest player to win Defensive Player of the Year before taking the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals, but certainly once he passed his athletic prime. Mostly because, rather than using his physical tools to his advantage as he aged, his game quickly changed for the worse.

Like, posting-up-more-than-just-about-anyone-despite-ranking-in-the-45.3-percentile worse.

To give Howard the benefit of the doubt, it could’ve had more to do with his situation in Los Angeles and Houston than anything else. In both places, he had to play alongside ball dominant wings — first Kobe Bryant, then James Harden — neither of whom pulled the best out of him. Some of that was likely due to Howard not fully buying in, but he certainly wasn’t the only one to blame.

With the Atlanta Hawks, Howard has an opportunity to change that narrative. Beyond moving the ball in a selfless way that would make Gregg Popovich proud, the Hawks — Howard’s hometown team, no less — have knockdown shooters to offer as well as one of the most versatile offensive players in the league in Paul Millsap. With Howard’s ability to roll to the rim, Mike Budenholzer envisions him being the rim-running center putting pressure on teams at the basket which has been sorely lacking in Atlanta.

If Howard does that, great. We could be looking at a team in the thick of it all once again when the playoffs begin. But if not, it’s easy to see the wheels completely falling off.

The person who has the most to lose based on Howard’s approach is Dennis Schroder, who scored a whopping 54.4 percent of his points last season in the pick-and-roll. In fact, the only player to post a greater frequency in that department was Reggie Jackson. And you know who Jackson has as a sidekick? Andre Drummond, a pick-and-roll animal who converts those plays as efficiently as Howard with far greater volume when combined with his put-backs.

Howard’s post-ups aren’t just going to disappear into thin air — even Drummond scores a scary amount of his points on inefficient post-ups — but it’s how he gets them that’ll make or break the Hawks. Deep post-ups in transition by running the floor, for example, can still be incredibly valuable as long as they come within the flow of the offense. If Howard can combine that with upwards of 20 percent of his points coming in the pick-and-roll, as opposed to 9.3 percent like he did last season, Schroder’s transition to being a starter will be much easier.

Besides, Schroder has enough problems to deal with already. The jury is still out on whether or not he’s a starting point guard in the NBA and his jump shot has always been shaky to the point where opponents will happily go under screens. Pairing him with a dominant pick-and-roll scorer only makes sense if they’re both on the same page, and that’s always been a big if when it comes to Howard.

How I Met Your Mother

By Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel)

The Atlanta Hawks have undergone a complete transformation this offseason at the two most important positions in basketball: point guard and center. Dennis Schröder is replacing the departed Jeff Teague at starting point guard. Behind him the Hawks have brought in Malcolm Delaney, a former Virginia Tech standout who has yet to play a minute in the NBA, and Jarrett Jack, who will turn 33 at the end of October and is recovering from a torn ACL. Atlanta’s somewhat-but-not-really Prodigal Son Dwight Howard returns home to replace Al Horford in the middle, necessitating an integral shift in the team’s identity on both ends of the floor.

Before spending last year hampered with a knee injury, Teague was magnificent in 2014-15, especially in the pick-and-roll. Schröder hasn’t shown that he’s able to run the offense as well as Teague, but he’ll be thrown into the fire to prove himself from the beginning of the season. Schröder’s main partner will be Howard, who has been a prolific rim rolling big for years, despite his constant frustration in the press about wanting more touches in the post. The traditional Hawks flowing, motion-based offense that relied on spacing and ball and man movement will be drastically different with the new personnel. Schröder needs to have the ball in his hands to be effective and Howard, despite his Instagram videos to the contrary, will probably not be standing out near the elbow making the mid-range jumpers that turned Al Horford into an All-Star.

The rest of the Hawks will fill in around Schröder and Howard in their familiar roles. Paul Millsap will continue to be the jack-of-all-trades offensive and defensive monster he has been the last two seasons. Kent Bazemore will continue to knock down shots and run in transition. Kyle Korver will always, ALWAYS hit his threes. And Hawks University will invariably pump out another wing or two who will make an impact. The offense won’t be as pretty as it once was and it probably won’t be as effective, but it’ll get the job done while the focus remains on the other side of the court.

Defensively, Howard’s arrival will greatly impact what the Hawks are going to do. Howard and Horford are almost exact opposites on that end. Howard likes to stick to the paint and alter shots inside, while Horford could be frequently found blitzing ball-handlers coming around screens. Everything the Hawks do in the pick-and-roll will be different this season because of Howard’s arrival. Schröder and the other on-ball defenders are going to have to fight over screens harder than in past seasons, to take away open jumpers and funnel guards toward Howard in the middle.

Other than Howard’s willingness to take a shorter contract than Horford, his most important characteristic for the Hawks will be his rebounding. The Hawks have struggled mightily the last two seasons with rebounding, finishing in the bottom third of the league in defensive rebound rate in both. It should be noted that Howard’s Houston Rockets finished worse than the Hawks in both seasons, but their defensive rebounding rate with Howard on the floor was always a few points higher than when he sat, indicating that the Rockets’ defensive rebounding problems were not to be laid at Howard’s feet. Atlanta’s defensive scheme constantly drew Horford and Millsap away from the basket as they trapped ball-handlers, but that same scheme hurts the Hawks’ defensive rebounding. The new scheme should be designed to keep Howard further back into the paint, helping with Atlanta’s defensive rebounding problems.

The Hawks will play a much more traditional game on both ends of the floor with the promotion of Schröder and the arrival of Howard. It may not be beautiful to watch and it may not even be as effective throughout the season, but when it matters most, in April and May, the Hawks are hoping that Schröder’s athleticism and explosiveness and Howard’s rim protection and rebounding will make them a tougher out against the only opponent in the Eastern Conference who matters: the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Perfect Strangers

by Matt D’Anna (@hoop_nerd)

Ten Word Analysis: This chart epitomizes the current league trends. Just pretty.

TeamSPACE charts are based on mapped clusters of shot activity. These areas are affectionately called Hunting Grounds, because they are the areas on the court where a player hunts for shots — and successfully scores most often. TeamSPACE takes the Hunting Grounds of all five players in a lineup and puts them on the court together — because, you know, they have to share that physical space, and there is only one ball.

In the past, it was one color per player; which meant that blending colors represented overlapping spaces for shot activity. But this time around, these are not your ordinary TeamSPACE shot maps. Each lineup is analyzed in the aggregate — one color! — and that unit is compared that unit to the rest of the league. So you will see a persistent red layer on every chart, highlighting the league’s Hunting Grounds from last season. The most prolific locations should come as no surprise: the paint, the corners, most of the top of the arc, and a couple of dabs at the foul line and top of the key.

So…how were these lineups chosen for each team? In the past, it’s been about projecting the starting lineup, estimating the most used lineup, or even designing the “most favoritest” lineup. This year? It’s the these charts represent the “most interestingly feasible” lineups….what? That’s a loaded phrase, so let’s unpack it a bit.

The goal is to identify the collection of five players on a team that could potentially play together, and if they did, the offensive results could be glorious. Ideally these lineups aren’t too far-fetched, but also slightly off-kilter and confusing to an opposing defense. While this type of analysis is not conducive for assessing defense, somewhat reasonable decisions are attempted to be made. So while it’s tempting to just put all the best shooters together…how realistic is it (outside of Houston, at least)? And, full disclosure: I favor some stretch in my lineups. It not only provides plenty of high-octane potential, but getting stretchy is also on par with current league-wide trends.

Each TeamSPACE chart has a couple of other sitcom-related features:

Family Matters: You’ll notice a series of Jaleel White’s across half court. Each lineup is scored on a scale of 0-7 Steve Urkels for how well it matches league-wide trends. Remember, there’s seven league Hunting Grounds (right corner three; at the rim; left corner three; foul line/top of the key; right wing; middle 3pt; left wing). A lineup gains points for matching each area; it loses points for messy excess shot activity.

Odd Couple: “Most interestingly feasible” is obviously debatable, so in order to account for some of those decisions, you’ll see Oscar and Felix on each chart. Often, there are players that are in the lineup…and maybe/probably they should not be. They get the Oscar label. And, there are those players that are out of the lineup…and maybe/probably should be included. They are the Felix for their team.

And briefly, a word about data. These strange visual displays are based on last season’s shot data, weighted by made buckets — so rookies and season-long injuries are sadly excluded. This analysis is nothing without the help of Darryl Blackport, and the research materials available at Basketball-Reference and NBA.com. Further, these charts feature some of the best logo re-designs I could curate from the ol’ Information Superhighway, including Dribbble.com and Pinterest. I made none of the logos; I merely selected some of my favorites. Enjoy!

Everybody Loves Raymond

By Ryne Prinz (@ryneprinz)

Kent Bazemore hasn’t always been the versatile wing player that we’ve known him to be over the last couple seasons in Atlanta. A prototypical 3-and-D forward, Bazemore re-signed with the Hawks on a four-year contract worth $70 million this offseason. His skillset wasn’t always worth that type of money. He has, however, always been an enthusiastic teammate, hard worker and all-around fun person, making him a favorite on a generally likable Hawks roster.

Bazemore started his NBA career in 2012, signing with the Golden State Warriors after going undrafted. He played less than 10 minutes per game in his season-and-a-half with the Dubs and was reassigned to their D-League affiliate multiple times. Where he lacked on the court, Bazemore began to establish his reputation on the sidelines, becoming one of the league’s premier bench supporters. There are YouTube montages showcasing Kent’s wide range of celebrations and dances, from a simple flex to waving his arms wildly. His antics were so widely recognized that they were featured in NBA 2K14.

Halfway through the 2013-14 season, the Warriors traded Bazemore and MarShon Brooks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Steve Blake. A few Warriors, including Stephen Curry, were frustrated by the move, despite Kent being mostly a reserve. That’s the kind of impact Bazemore had without even playing significant minutes.

Although Curry wasn’t happy about it, the move ultimately proved to be the best for Kent. He started 15 games for Los Angeles, averaging nearly 30 minutes and scoring 13.1 points per contest. It was the opportunity Kent had worked so tirelessly for, and to say he seized the moment would be selling him more than short.

His 23 games with the Lakers were enough for the Hawks to sign him to a two-year, $4 million dollar deal in 2014. Bazemore was backup to DeMarre Carroll and played a crucial role for a 60-win Hawks team, providing defensive energy, sneaky cuts to the basket and some monstrous dunks.

Last season proved to be a test for Bazemore’s true future in the league. Carroll signed in Toronto, thus promoting Kent to the starting small forward slot in a contract year. And once again, he didn’t disappoint. In a Hawks lineup that was fairly well-established, Bazemore slid in perfectly, becoming a near-perfect complementary player to the likes of Al Horford and Paul Millsap and earning a huge contract.

I’d be remiss to not discuss one of the more important developments in Bazemore’s career: the “Baze Gaze”. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this stunt, I’m sorry. Several times last season, while his teammates were conducting post-game interviews, Kent would discretely walk behind them, tilt his head slightly forward and stare intently into the camera. The Gaze was all the kicks, inspiring both Twitter accounts dedicated to the act and other Hawks players’ participation as well.

Bazemore has also become friends with hip-hop phenom Chance the Rapper, which isn’t necessarily related to his “likability”, but it’s a relationship that I am highly invested in. The two took a picture with Steph Curry at an Under Armour event, and Kent has been seen sporting the rapper’s merchandise on several occasions.

In what seems to just be the beginning of a successful career, Kent Bazemore has finally established himself in the NBA, something he had done a while back in our hearts.

Boy Meets World

By Trevor Magnotti (@Illegalscreens)

The Atlanta Hawks have been excellent in the draft over the past few seasons. Their roster going into training camp will feature seven players who began their careers in Atlanta, and outside of Dennis Schroder, who will become their starting point guard, the rest will be relied on to provide depth.

It should be no surprise that the Hawks, who found themselves with two 1st round picks after trading Jeff Teague to Indiana, selected two players in the 2016 NBA Draft who project to be role players. With the 12th pick, the Hawks landed Taurean Prince of Baylor, a 6-8 small forward who took 299 threes in his last two college seasons. Then, with the 21st pick, the Hawks went back to the role-playing wing department, grabbing the intriguing DeAndre Bembry from St. Joseph’s.

It appears clear that the Hawks aren’t looking at Prince and Bembry like typical long-term investments. Prince was a four-year player for the Bears, and Bembry comes to the NBA after a three-year career where he topped 3,600 minutes. The expectation for both players is they are on the more “NBA-ready” side of the development curve.

The Hawks’ roster construction supports this idea. Free agency was spent revamping the point guard and center positions, with no focus on the wing. Atlanta promoted Schroder to replace Teague, and then filled out their depth behind him with Jarrett Jack and Russian league superstar Malcolm Delaney. At the 5, Al Horford departed for Boston, so the Hawks responded by making the minor move of inking Dwight Howard to a four-year deal.

Meanwhile, the wing rotation remained the same with Kyle Korver and Kent Bazemore as the projected starters and Thabo Sefolosha and Hardaway coming off the bench. Prince and Bembry are now competing for the spots previously commanded by Kirk Hinrich and Lamar Patterson. The depth changed, but there weren’t upgrades attempted at the top of the depth chart for 2016-17.

This means Prince and Bembry could be playing larger roles earlier than many of their fellow 2016 draftees. While Korver, Bazemore, Sefolosha, and Hardaway appear to be entrenched for now, that could begin to change as the season unfolds. Korver is the best of the bunch, but coming off surgery to repair a high ankle sprain and to remove loose bodies in his elbow, Korver was a shell of his 2014-15 All-Star self, averaging just 9.2 points per game and shooting a poor (for him) 39.8 percent from three. There’s legitimate concern of continued regression, as he’s know 35. Both Korver and Sefolosha are unrestricted free agents next summer as well, which further complicates things for the future of the franchise. Bazemore appears set to start at two-guard for the next few years after re-signing, but Hardaway is a bit of a question mark as well. After three seasons in the NBA, he’s struggled to prove that he can hit outside shots consistently, and he hasn’t developed as a defender like some thought he might coming out of Michigan.

The hope is that Prince and Bembry can immediately step in. Between the two of them, the Hawks are betting that at least one hits the ground running to take some load from Korver or Sefolosha as early as this season. For Prince, that means using his athleticism and three-point shooting to carve out a niche as an off-ball scorer, similar to how they used DeMarre Carroll two years ago. Prince shot 37.6 percent from three over his Baylor career, operated best spotting up around the perimeter, and he’s a good athlete who can slash and finish in transition. Bembry, meanwhile, offers a unique combination of off-ball cutting, secondary ball-handling, strong perimeter defense and shot-blocking that should allow him to develop into a flexible energy player. Both players have their warts — Prince’s defensive fundamentals, Bembry’s shooting and quickness — but those are both solvable over time.

Atlanta should look to integrate Bembry and Prince immediately, as both could help fill gaps on the wing. If Korver or Sefolosha miss significant time, either may be called on to fill significant small forward minutes in their place, offering some interesting wrinkles around the Schroder/Howard pick-and-roll. The other major benefit of adding these two is that Prince’s size and Bembry’s style of play will help against bigger, quick forwards, who gave the Hawks significant problems over the last two years. Even if they aren’t fully developed, being able to throw Prince’s frame against LeBron James would be an improvement, as Atlanta has run into issues defending guys like James and Rudy Gay with their combination of Korver, Sefolosha and Bazemore.

The Hawks have a clear goal in mind for their two first round wings, and that very well could mean cracking the rotation this season. With no D-League team, the Hawks should have both on roster from October on, and the combination of skills between the two means that either could get a solid shot at playing time, depending on what’s needed. The Hawks have relied on what they’ve done in the draft to translate to depth behind a solid starting five, and it appears that with Bembry and Prince, they’re going to need to rely on that to a new degree.