THE HAWKS SHOULDN’T BE THIS BAD

If someone asked you at the start of the season about how you think the Atlanta Hawks would perform, what would your answer have been? Chances are, like many people out there, the answer was “Middle of the pack, competing for a play-in spot”. Why is that? Is it because that’s just how the Hawks always are? Well, that would imply that their roster didn’t improve this season. Is it because the East was competitive? That couldn’t be further from the truth. We have been conditioned into believing that the Hawks are a mediocre team, which honestly just saves this franchise from receiving criticism for what can only be dubbed a failure.

This era of Hawks basketball started on the 21st of June 2018, when the Hawks traded down for the fifth pick in the draft as well as a first round pick in the next draft. The cost? Well, a Don from Slovenia. Early on, things were going well. In fact, the pick they got from this deal would turn out to be Cam Reddish in the 2019 draft, a draft in which the Hawks also got De’Andre Hunter with the fourth pick. And the season that followed was an exciting one. This young core of Young, Collins, Huerter, Reddish and Hunter was showing flashes of what could have potentially become a great team. They finished 14th in the East in a shortened season, however the seamless connection of their two best players in Young and Collins coupled with the elite shooting from Huerter as well as the scary defensive potential of Cam and Hunter gave them hope for the future. Trae young also had a strong sophomore year, averaging 29.6 points and 9.3 assists on his way to his first All-Star selection. In addition to this, they somehow managed to acquire a 25-year-old Clint Capela for cheap. Thoug he would sit out the season with injury.

Heading into the 2020–2021 season, expectations were high, however, no one would have expected what was to come. The Hawks started strong, drafting Onyeka Okongwu with the 6th pick in the draft. They would also add bench scoring with the signing of Bogdan Bogdanovic and a steal for Danilo Gallinari. So they headed into the season with a starting lineup of Capella, Collins, Hunter, Young and Hunter, with Reddish, Gallinari and Bogi off the bench. This was later boosted with the much-needed veteran presence of Rajon Rondo and Lou Will. Despite some major injuries and a coaching change, the Hawks managed to make it to the post season with an above .500 record as the 5th seed ranking 8th in offensive rating. In hindsight, this team was much better than it gets credit for, which is why it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when they shined in the play-offs. It started off with a legendary Trae Young series against the Knicks, followed by a second-round win courtesy of a franchise collapse from the Sixers. This was followed by a respectable loss in 6 games to the Bucks, a series in which Trae missed a crucial game 5 loss. And just like that, another season in which Hawks fans were expecting great things to come was over. This would turn out to be the last time the Hawks ever make it past the first round in the playoffs to date.

The next few seasons were mostly a blur. 2021 to 2024 would see the Hawks have massive draft luck with Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher. However, in that same time period, the Hawks had a record 120 -126. The prime definition of mediocre. This string of disappointing seasons would see them eventually breaking their young core. This started off when Cam was traded to the Knicks due to injury concerns. Huerter followed in 2022 as he was traded to the Kings. The following year Nate McMillan was fired and replaced by Quin Snyder and John Collins, off of signing a major contract, was shipped off to the Jazz. Wow. A complete collapse.

All this led us to the 2024 off season, where the Hawks didn’t really make much noise other than the acquisition of Dyson Daniels. They did get Risacher with the#1 pick, but let’s be honest, no one was turning tables over the 2024 draft class. The big story line surrounding the team was Trae, with everyone almost certain he would be leaving to join Wemby in San Antonio. However, he didn’t. And looking at hour the team performed to start the season, you would be led to believe that this was the right call. By January 18th, the Hawks had a 22–19 record and had just won 4 of their last 5 games. Trae was leading the league in assists. Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu were finally breaking out, and Dyson Daniels was the best perimeter defender in the league. That team was not only good, but extremely balanced on both offense and defense. But then came 8 straight losses, and the season was basically over from that point. In his breakout year, De’Andre Hunter was traded to the Cavs on deadline day, Jalen Johnson got injured, and despite flashes of brilliance early in the season, Onyeka Okongwu became part of the Hawks struggle in figuring out their big man rotation. They would finish the season as the 8th seed with a 40–42 record and would once again make it to the play-in where they would lose.

We may blow over it, but the Hawks team this season should have been way better than 40–42, especially considering how weak the East was this season. Excluding the Knicks, Cavs and Celtics, every single team in the East should have been beatable for a lineup that had Young, Okongwu, Daniels, Johnson, Hunter, Capela and Bogi. Even with Jalen’s injury, the Hawks could have certainly avoided the play-in this season. Now the fans are left to wonder what happens moving forward. Trae recently shared a cryptic tweet following their post-season exit that more or less confirms what we have all known for a while now: He needs to leave ATL. Once that happens, this era of basketball in Atlanta that began that fateful night 7 years ago, will be completely done. Not all hope is lost however, as the Hawks are set to kick-off another era with yet another great young core (If they manage to keep all of Okongwu, Jalen, Dyson and Risacher), and with some draft luck, they could recover from this pretty quickly.

However, with the Trae Young era now all but over, the Atlanta Hawks are left looking back at one of the biggest wastes of potential in a team that really, should never have been this bad.