Following their miraculous run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Atlanta Hawks have started off the 2021-22 NBA season very slow. They do not look like the same powerhouse team that they were a season ago and a lot of this has to do with them not giving the same amount of effort in games this regular season like they did last postseason.
All the time, we see teams come off deep runs to the playoffs and lack the motivation to fight early on the following season. Hawks’ star point guard Trae Young has also seemed to notice this and talked about the mood around this team lately.
“I think guys are learning that,” Young responded when asked about the difference between the playoffs and regular season. “We’re no longer the hunters. It’s regular season. I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot more boring than the playoffs. You got to find that motivation to play like the playoffs.”
“We have to figure out who’s going to sacrifice for this team to win. It’s all about winning at the end of the day. If you win, everyone eats.”
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After starting the year 3-1, the Hawks have now lost seven of their last eight games and have really struggled to lock in defensively. Atlanta has surrendered at least 110 points in eight of their twelve games thus far and have just been very lackluster to begin the new year.
With eight of their first twelve being on the road this season, it will be nice for this team to finally play at home in front of their fans, but they really need to take advantage of this opportunity. The Hawks cannot afford to fall any further down the standings than they already have, especially if they want to try and get back to the Eastern Conference Finals this season and prove that last year was not a fluke.
If the struggles continue for the Hawks though, they could be forced to make a move. Defense seems to be their main problem right now, but veteran forward Danilo Gallinari has really struggled on the offensive-end of the floor.
To this point in the year, Gallinari is only averaging 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and is shooting just 37% from the floor. He is shooting 37.9% from three-point range, but 6.8 points per game in 15-20 minutes per game just is not going to cut it for this team.
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Set to make $20.4M this season and then $21.5M next year, Gallinari is going to have to step up for Atlanta in the coming weeks, otherwise they may be forced to explore trade opportunities for him. Very few teams in the league would be interested in taking on this kind of contract, but the Sacramento Kings could be a team to watch.
They are looking to end a 15-season playoff drought this year and with guys like Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III rumored to be available, the Hawks could potentially look at the Kings as a potential trade partner in order to get the extra bit of production they need this season next to Trae Young.
So who could the Hawks target in a trade where they would send Danilo Gallinari to the Kings? Let’s take a look at what this trade could wind up looking like for both the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings.
