The 2018-19 Atlanta Hawks are still rebuilding for the future, but that doesn’t mean that there could be some hope for this season.
It seems like it has been decades since the Atlanta Hawks fielded a 60-plus win team.
In reality, it was only three seasons ago, when the 2014-15 Hawks compiled a 60-22 record under head coach Mike Budenholzer, using a tapestry of role players. That team went to the Eastern Conference Finals and was swept right out of the playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Fast forward to this upcoming season, and the once-soaring Hawks are searching for a way to win 30 games, let alone be competitive for this season and beyond.
There’s no other way to put it, the 2016-17 Hawks were a disaster.
Remember the 60-22 team? Well, most of that roster got shipped out of town, and the Hawks front-office brass asked Budenholzer to try to do more with less talent. The end result was a 24-58 record, and Budenholzer asked to leave at the end of the season, not interested in sticking around for a rebuild.
So, the 2018-19 Hawks are looking to start over from scratch. They hired a new coach in Lloyd Pierce. Dennis Schroder was traded in the offseason for a three-day rental of Carmelo Anthony, who, promptly, was waived and went to the Houston Rockets instead.
In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Hawks drafted Trae Young, who electrified college fans at Oklahoma with his unlimited range and passing abilities. He will be expected to take over the reigns at point guard sometime this season, but the jury is still out if he is the player Atlanta should be building around.
Until they find out the answer, they have two players who can make the jump to star-status right now — Taurean Prince and John Collins. Collins, specifically, has many in the NBA paying very close attention to him. While much of the focus (early on, at least) will be on Collins and Young (later on), Prince continues to fly under-the-radar. He set career highs all across the board for the Hawks and was one of Atlanta’s few bright spots in an otherwise dark year.
Which leads us to the ultimate question for the 2018-19′ Hawks: Can they really fly this season?
That question is pretty hard to answer. On one hand, they play in the Charmin-soft Eastern Conference, where the final two seeds will be up for grabs. However, it’s hard to predict that this will be a team that will play that well, given that they’re imputing new players into a system that is still under construction.
Atlanta actually made some moves that have their future looking a tad bit brighter than it did toward the end of last year. I actually liked the Schroder trade, as he would fit much better on a contending team than be a featured player for a rebuilding one. Alex Len, who came to the Hawks for a chance at more minutes, is a nice pickup whose game is underrated. Call me crazy, but Len actually has a chance to have the same jump as Nikola Vucevic had with the Orlando Magic.
And, yes, I like the fact that they landed Vince Carter, who will be able to teach the future of the Hawks a lesson on how to be NBA stars. A veteran presence is what the Hawks sorely lacked last season, and with Carter, they have that now, which is only a plus for this group.
Now, do I think the Hawks will be a 40-win team and be a surprise eight seed in the playoffs?
No.
But will they be a door mat that every other team will look forward to playing against?
No.
Why? Because, on paper at least, this will be a much-improved team than from a season ago. Prince will be an 18-point per game scorer, Collins should be able to live up to the hype, and Young will be the leader of the Hawks offense by year’s end.
They may not be a playoff team yet, but Atlanta has a plan, and they’re trending in the right direction. Just give them some time, Hawks fans.
Ah, who are we kidding? The Hawks have all the time in the world to get this thing right.
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