One big question for every NBA team

Are the Hawks committed to a rebuild?

The Hawks have played an active role in the 2017 offseason craze, essentially blowing up the core of their previous roster. Just days before the NBA Draft they took part in one of the strangest trades in years, dealing Dwight Howard while taking on Marco Belinelli and the essentially dead salary of Miles Plumlee. In free agency, they let Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. walk and Kent Bazemore is now the highest paid player on the team. Welcome to the NBA in 2017 everyone!

The Hawks have made the playoffs for ten straight years. In that span they have pivoted numerous times, altering their core and retooling without ever bottoming out or blowing up the roster.  Analysts have long described Atlanta as an NBA market that cannot survive a long rebuild; the team struggles to sell tickets even with a solid on court product, so fans would simply stop attending games if the team tanked.

We might just see how valid that logic is soon. The Hawks seem to be shifting directions under the guidance of new GM Travis Schlenk and look poised to start a rebuilding that will last for at least one or two seasons. Will the Hawks maintain this course of action if the on court product begins to hurt the franchise’s profitability?