It came time Friday for the Hawks to recount their versions of the 2023-24 season. When it was Clint Capela’s turn at the end-of-season news conference at the team’s training complex, his comments were unsparing.
In the perspective of the veteran center, selfishness and a lack of commitment undid a team that aimed to build on its 41-41 record in the previous season but instead fell back, finishing at 36-46. Its final gasp was a blowout loss to Chicago in the Play-in Tournament on Wednesday.
As Capela saw it, the Hawks were capable of reeling off three- and four-game win streaks, but then, “we’re not willing to keep doing it because we think more about ourselves.”
Like windshield wipers in a mist, team-oriented play was intermittent.
“That consistency wasn’t there,” said Capela, the team’s leading rebounder and shot blocker. “Sometimes being selfish was overpowering that common goal.”
The headline of the Hawks’ offseason will be what the front office, headed by general manager Landry Fields, will do with the partnership of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. The experiment of pairing the two star point guards appears to have run its course. The Hawks were 84-70 in the two seasons before Murray’s arrival by trade from San Antonio (including the 2021 run to the Eastern Conference finals that witnesses continue to insist actually happened). But in the two seasons of the DejounTrae tandem, the record is 77-87.
The data from an entire season of play: The Hawks were outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions when Murray and Young were on the court together, according to Cleaning the Glass. When it was Murray on the floor without Young, the Hawks had a .8-point edge. With Young on and Murray off, the Hawks held a 3.1-point advantage. Of the three combinations – Young and Murray together, Young without Murray, Murray without Young – lineups with Young and Murray were the least efficient on offense and also on defense.
At least publicly, Fields was not ready to abandon the partnership when he spoke Friday, saying that there have been “plenty of moments where I can say, ‘Hey, it looks really good right now.’ You’re always going to take those moments and try to figure out, ‘OK, how can we continuously get better?’”
In that moment, he sounded less like someone who, minutes earlier, had emphasized the importance of “making sure that we’re in a state of neutrality” before making offseason decisions and more like someone who gave up three first-round picks for Murray and feels trapped by that decision.
Whatever the Hawks do, that’s far from Fields’ only conundrum as he completes his second season as general manager.
He has made it clear that he is trying to build a team of players who are selfless, play to their roles and are connected to one another. However, the assessment of his starting center would indicate that Fields presides over a roster that is incapable or unwilling to do those things on a consistent basis. Being unable to win consistently “because we think more about ourselves” is quite a label, and it wasn’t only Capela who saw it that way.
“We didn’t sacrifice enough,” guard Bogdan Bogdanović said.
The veteran was asked what that looked like. He gave an example of players being told to do something in a certain way but then not following through.
“That’s the sacrifice,” said Bogdanović, a dedicated marksman who set a career high with 16.9 points per game this season. “You’ve got to do it. That’s it.”
The disregard happened on offense and defense.
“Sometimes we are too locked in on ourselves and individual stats or whatever,” Bogdanović said.
To that end, it’s worth revisiting what Fields said before the season when asked about the main goal for the year. It was an opportunity to give fans something substantive and bold, like advancing in the playoffs or winning 50 games. Fields answered that “it’s about stressing the fact that we are unified, and we want to play unselfish basketball.”
Which is fine; it’s his answer. But the problem is that not only did the Hawks register their lowest win percentage in the past four seasons, but they also didn’t achieve the warm-and-fuzzy goals that Fields set for them.
For instance, the Hawks were second worst in the NBA in defending in transition and third worst defending the 3-pointer (per Cleaning the Glass). There are a number of reasons for either, including lack of effort, communication, size and quickness. But teams generally don’t get steamrolled on fast breaks or lit up from 3-point range because they’re unified and unselfish.
“When we play a game, we can’t always allow the best players to have the best nights and just let it happen,” Capela said. “At some point, as a team, we need to show character or, I don’t know, even one elbow. Something. Just that, you’re not going to come in here and have a nice night.”
It’s unassailably true that the Hawks were crushed by injuries, which hampered continuity and negatively impacted the record. But having to play shorthanded should have nothing to do with being, in Bogdanovic’s words, “too locked in on ourselves.” If it does, then you probably need to find new players or leadership.
“It’s more about a mindset than just injuries,” Capela said.
There were some bright spots. Forward Jalen Johnson took big steps forward in his third season. Forward De’Andre Hunter arguably had his best season, although injuries limited his availability again. Young made his third All-Star team.
This isn’t entirely on Fields or coach Quin Snyder. They inherited a lot of the players on the roster. But they also have chosen to keep them. They’re welcome to take big bites out of the responsibility pie and are charged to get this right.
This offseason would be a nice time to start.
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