NBA Power Rankings Roundup: Where do the experts rank the Hawks at the All-Star Break?

After nearly four months and exactly 55 regular season games, the Atlanta Hawks have a week off for the All-Star break alongside the rest of the NBA. Overall, Atlanta's win-loss record (26-29) is roughly in line with preseason projections, as many projection systems and betting markets pegged the Hawks for a win total in the mid-to-high 30's in 2024-25. It has been a long and winding road for the Hawks, though, as the highs of an NBA Cup quarterfinal run and various winning streaks were countered by a few losing runs and the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson.

Johnson's absence will be felt for the rest of the season, but the Hawks did augment their depth with the additions of Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and Terance Mann at the trade deadline earlier this month. It remains to be seen as to where the new baseline is for Atlanta from a team quality perspective but, at the very least, the Hawks are expected to compete for playoff positioning from now until the regular season comes to a close in mid-April.

As a key reminder, the Hawks are going through something of a youth movement in tandem with an overall re-tooling effort this season, but Atlanta does not have its own first round pick in 2025, having sent that selection to San Antonio as part of the Dejounte Murray trade. That leaves the Hawks with the incentive to push hard for the postseason, and here is a look at where various NBA Power Rankings peg Quin Snyder's team as of the All-Star break.

NBA.com: No. 22

This is a jump up for the Hawks in this particular ranking from John Schuhmann after a No. 24 placement a week ago. Notably, this piece emerged before Atlanta's road win over Orlando, which may have contributed to the relatively uninspiring landing spot. On the encouraging side, Schuhmann notes that "going forward (and once Johnson is healthy), the Hawks should be able to amass some pretty good defensive lineups with Terance Mann, Daniels, Risacher and Johnson." That is one of the potential upsides of Atlanta's deadline activity.

ESPN: No. 20

In a theme across the board, the Hawks rose in this week's ESPN offering, with Chris Herring outlining that "over the past three months, the Hawks' defense has vastly improved. That is backed up in Atlanta's overall statistical profile, and the Hawks have been solidly better on defense than offense for quite a while now.

The Athletic: No. 19

Zach Harper notes that "Atlanta undoubtedly raised its floor, if nothing else." That is an accurate statement of what the Hawks did at the deadline, adding three rotation-level players at the expense of De'Andre Hunter and a struggling Bogdan Bogdanovic. This is also a bump from the previous week, in part due to the Hawks jumping ahead of the Magic after beating Orlando on Monday.

CBS Sports: No. 23

This ranking is a touch older than the others, with the most recent update before Atlanta's winning road trip. Colin Ward-Henninger writes that "if you're a Hawks or Bulls fan, just purchase your Play-In Tournament tickets now." That is overly simplistic, but the most likely outcome for Atlanta is a Play-In appearance at this juncture, at least if you believe various model projections after about two-thirds of the season.

NBC Sports: No. 19

Kurt Helin writes that "Atlanta’s trade deadline moves were underrated," and the early returns on that opinion are positive. The Hawks won four of their final six games before the All-Star break, and each loss was by a single point. The trend line is rising for Atlanta.