2018 NBA Season Preview: The Atlanta Hawks Edition
Today we’re going to take a look at the worst team in the East and how their future is more promising than we think. I think.
The time is officially here with NBA Media Day sweeping through and training camp is getting underway. With the preseason starting this weekend, I decided to take a look at three teams of the Southeast Division that many basketball heads won’t pay attention to for positive reasons because those people are dumb. I already have written about the Washington Wizards and what they can do to overcome their skepticism of personal clashes, now I look at the team in the Dirty South still trying to figure out things on a clean slate. Let’s take a look into the 2018–19 Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta Hawks (24–58, 15th in the Eastern Conference)
What a difference three years can make. During the 2014–15 season, the Atlanta Hawks were the surprise of the season winning 60 games at the top of the Eastern Conference. Backed by former Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer as their coach, the Hawks had a well-balanced attack anchored by the do-it-all frontcourt of Al Horford and Paul Millsap, the defensive tenacity of Demarre Carroll, killer sharpshooter Kyle Korver, and Jeff Teague at his absolute best. They looked like bonafide NBA title contenders until the Playoffs came around, struggling against the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards only to be soundly swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers
Since then, the Hawks began to go into a slow fire sale, with Horford leaving for Boston in 2016. Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver, respectively, were traded around that time as well, which opened up minutes for Dennis Schroder and Kent Bazemore. The Hawks tried to make one last-ditch effort at championship hopes by signing Dwight Howard, but that fell apart the exact same way as it did for the past three years, this time losing to Washington in the First Round. Dwight’s union with his hometown was short-lived, as he was traded to Charlotte and Paul Millsap dipped for Denver.
With all of their All-Stars and complementary bench players gone, Atlanta was facing the inevitability of a rebuild. The 2017–18 season was focused on the development of their young core of Taurean Prince, John Collins, and Kent Bazemore, with Dennis Schroder putting up numbers as they practically had no one else. It was clear that Budenholzer was phoning in his final year as Hawks head coach as he was not in the mood for a rebuild. Despite being dead last in the Eastern Conference, the team was still pretty competitive as they scored victories against the Cleveland Cavaliers and many of the Western Conference playoff teams.
The truth of who they were last year and likely this year couldn’t escape them: they are a lottery team now. Depending on who you ask in the Hawks delegation, you can say they struck gold in the 2018 NBA Draft or fucked up royally with their decision. Instead of keeping who could be the best player in the Draft in Luka Doncic, the Hawks traded the #3 overall pick to Dallas for #5 overall pick in two-month college sensation, Trey Young. Young was the talk of the town early in the NCAA basketball season during his one year in Oklahoma, showing shades of Steph Curry with his limitless range and flashes of peak Jason Kidd with his court vision. However, he proceeded to flame out as the Sooners slumped and was quickly carted off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Despite all of that, his stock was still high and the Hawks clearly saw something in him to forgo a surefire complete player in Doncic. With Dennis Schroder no longer in the picture as starting point guard, Trey Young have the keys to the franchise and the green light to shoot at all times. Along with their other two draft picks, #19 overall Kevin Huerter and #30 overall Omari Spellman, the Hawks are looking to fast-track the same process that made the Golden State Warriors who they are. Only this time it will be with facsimile versions of Curry, Klay, and Draymond with the rookies, respectively.
Most of this can be attributed to the Hawks’ current general manager, Travis Schlenk, who was a former assistant GM to the Warriors and credited for drafting Draymond Green. I don’t blame the Hawks believing in his evaluation of talent as we have already seen the results in The Bay. Schlenk hopes to bring that same level of success to Atlanta, though that is easier said than done. This can also be known as the official restart of the Hawks, as Budenholzer left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta bringing in former Sixers assistant, Lloyd Pierce.
The duo of Schlenk and Pierce should benefit with developing young talent and the core they already have. Prince, Bazemore, and Collins, in particular, all showed vast improvement over the season and will most likely be the lead offensive weapons as Young gets a feel of the NBA game. The addition of veterans guards in Jeremy Lin and Vince Carter can bring some valuable insight to the rookies in having production career while also helping their win shares in certain games. Plus the Hawks get Linsanity and Vinsanity at the same time, which is pretty cool.
Still, the Atlanta Hawks are going to lose a lot of games and could be in the bottom of the East again. The only thing that should matter here is for the team to find a new identity with Young at the helm, decide that Bazemore and Prince are apart of that future and see if that Killer Mike Swag Shop is worth visiting. At least fans will have a club to drink at with it’s tank time again.
