Atlanta Hawks

Last season, the Hawks were that “little team that could” in the playoffs, taking down the Knicks, then the 76ers and facing the eventual champions in the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals

Trae Young evolved into an All-Star point guard last season and both the Hawks depth and young age really made them a formidable team heading into the 2021-22 season. 

So far this year, the Hawks have continued to lean on Trae Young for production, as he is going to his second straight All-Star game, but they have not improved at all and are just 26-28 on the season, good for the 10-seed in the conference. 

About a month before the trade deadline, the Hawks traded Cam Reddish to the Knicks for a first-round pick and Kevin Knox, which was good I guess in terms of getting a first-round pick, but the Hawks failed to make any other kind of franchise-altering trade that would have helped them this season. 

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The Hawks have one of the best, young talents in the league in Trae Young, but he can only do so much by himself. Whether it was moving Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari or even John Collins for more value, the Hawks needed to do something at the deadline to improve their playoff chances and they failed to do so. 

According to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, the Hawks held trade discussions surrounding talents like Ben Simmons, CJ McCollum and Derrick White, but all fell through for various reasons.

There is still an outside possibility that the Hawks could make the Eastern Conference Finals again, but they will most likely enter the offseason now with a big cloud over their heads, knowing that change is on the horizon.