1. Overall Defensive Execution

It’s no secret the Atlanta Hawks have been genuinely terrible on defense this season. They are allowing 1.011 PPP (25th) on overall defensive possessions and are specifically giving up 0.98 PPP (22nd) within the half-court. Those results simply aren’t cutting it.

There are legitimate limitations that the Hawks are experiencing as a result of their personnel. It starts with the fact that Trae Young is a horrendous individual defender and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to reach an average level.

With a defender like Young that is such a negative at the point guard spot, it’s vital for the Hawks to improve their rim protection capabilities. To make matters worse, players like Kevin Huerter and John Collins are also defensive liabilities as a result of physical limitations.

There are wing defenders on the team like De’Andre Hunter and Cameron Reddish that are effective but it’s nowhere near sufficient. With the rest of their rotation being full of defensive liabilities, there is only so much that two young wing players can do to individually to cover it up.

The bottom line is that the Hawks will continue to struggle at containing dribble penetration against most matchups in many different situations. Without having a force in the middle to help cover it up, their defensive execution will continue to struggle at its core.