Just over seven months ago, the Atlanta Hawks were fighting with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals with a spot in the NBA Finals on the line. Ultimately, the Hawks lost this series 4-2, but the future looked very bright for this young Hawks franchise.
Now nearing the end of the 2021-22 season, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves just 28-31 and struggling to remain in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. So much has gone wrong for this franchise in the last several months, even though they returned almost the same roster from last year.
They made a move to trade Cam Reddish to the Knicks for a first-round pick and Kevin Knox, as well as trading for Delon Wright before the start of the season, but the Hawks have found no consistency on offense outside of Trae Young this season and frustrations inside the locker room have seemed to cause a negative atmosphere in Atlanta.
There is still plenty of time and plenty of basketball yet to be played this season for the Hawks and they can still earn a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference via the play-in tournament, but it is hard to imagine that this squad has what it takes to have more “Cinderella” moments in the postseason.
Heading into the offseason, change is going to be on the horizon for the Hawks and their cap situation will be addressed immediately ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Clint Capela Calls Out Hawks For Lack Of Defensive Effort
Between Trae Young, John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Clint Capela and Kevin Huerter, the Hawks’ combined payroll is about $125 million and this is not counting the remainder of their roster!
At the trade deadline, the Hawks stood idle, but they did entertain the idea of trading Bogdan Bogdanovic and/or Danilo Gallinari. Could this interest come back in the offseason?
John Collins’ situation is also one to monitor, even though he recently signed a new five-year, $125 million deal with Atlanta in the offseason.
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Between frustrations boiling over this season and the heavy cap hit he brings to the Hawks, it is possible that the Hawks could look to move the young power-forward for another complimentary star to pair with Trae Young.
The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of potential moves to make in the offseason and while there is a lot of uncertainty right now, the one thing we do know is that a roster change is imminent once the offseason begins.
