Depending on who you ask, the Atlanta Hawks are either having a bad offseason or are rebuilding their roster in a way that better fits Trae Young, even if they aren’t an NBA title contender. I’m in the latter camp, but not everyone is. In a recent ranking of the NBA’s offseason winners and losers, CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin named the Hawks as one of the offseason’s losers:
“I initially had the Hawks as the winners this summer because the return they got on Dejounte Murray was very good considering their lack of leverage and the depreciation of Murray’s market, but in hindsight, the Hawks are still operating in a significant debt position.
The 2025 first-round pick they received from New Orleans for Murray comes from the Lakers, and the 2027 pick will be the worst pick from either the Bucks or Pelicans. All of those teams project to be very good in the near future, so it’s not likely that Atlanta got a high-value pick.
The three picks they gave Murray first, however, were very high value. They were the Hawks’ own picks, and without them they have no incentive to bottom out for a higher draft pick. They don’t control their own first-round pick until 2028.
So sure, Dyson Daniels is a keeper, and Zaccharie Risacher was the No. 1 overall pick, but even that pick comes with the caveat that this is universally regarded as possibly one of the weakest drafts of this century. If Risacher becomes a star, then this summer will be a success. But that could be a long shot, and as of now, the Hawks are still a play-in team at best, with seemingly no avenue for a Trae Young trade that could actually reset their clock. The Hawks have done well with the position they’ve put themselves in, but it feels more like cutting losses than a truly winning summer. Atlanta is in a tough spot.
I think this is a fair analysis because not having their own picks hurts the Hawks. The Eastern Conference has gotten tougher this offseason and it will be a challenge for the Hawks to make the playoffs, although it’s not impossible. You can argue that Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Orlando, Cleveland, Indiana and Miami are all better than Atlanta right now, but the Hawks could still have some moves to make. I think if things go right, the Hawks could be better than some of those teams, but that’s far from guaranteed.
The bottom half of the East (Brooklyn, Washington, Detroit, Charlotte, and Chicago) is terrible, and you could argue that Atlanta is better than Miami and Toronto. While the Hawks weren’t great last year, they were also one of the unluckiest teams when it came to injuries. With better luck with injuries and a roster that makes sense around Young, it’s not impossible for Atlanta to be a top-six seed in the East, especially if other teams underperform and don’t make the next projected jump (Indiana and Orlando). Jalen Johnson should continue to improve, Onyeka Okongwu could finally get a chance to start, and the Hawks’ defense should be much better than it was last season.
ESPN’s Chris Herring placed each Eastern Conference team in tiers and placed the Hawks in a “stuck in the middle” tier along with the Chicago Bulls:
“Atlanta, a play-in team for the past three seasons, has been in the same situation the Bulls have been in recent years: directionless.
There is little to no incentive for the franchise to completely bottom out, as the Hawks owe their 2025 and 2027 first-round selections to the Spurs in exchange for the 2022 Dejounte Murray deal. (San Antonio also has trade rights for Atlanta’s 2026 pick.)
Perhaps because of that inability, the club finally decided last week to trade Murray to New Orleans for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell and a pair of future first-round picks. And there are upsides to the roster. Jalen Johnson, 22, likely would have been on the Most Improved Player ballot had he not narrowly missed the games played limit. Reserve big man Onyeka Okongwu is still just 23. Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s NBA draft, will make his summer league debut for the Hawks in the coming days.
Still, as it has been since 2018, Atlanta is trying to figure out how to build around franchise player Trae Young, whose elite offensive skills are complicated by his defensive shortcomings. The Hawks reached the 2021 conference finals but haven’t come close to that stage since.
The bottom of the Eastern Conference comes in where Atlanta should be a play-in team with its current roster and could even be a top-six seed if things go the right way. This is a better roster around Trae Young and all the pieces fit together better, much like the 2021 Conference Finals team. I’m not saying this team will do that, but the structure of the team makes more sense than it has the past two seasons. There are still moves for the Hawks to make this offseason, including potential deals for Clint Capela, Larry Nance and possibly De’Andre Hunter. The Hawks must continue to add the right pieces to their roster, remain patient and continue to build their roster, which they have done this offseason.
