“The Atlanta Hawks may be in a tough spot”

The 2024 NBA offseason is underway and the Atlanta Hawks made one of the biggest moves of the summer by trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, and two first-round picks. The Hawks needed to split up their backcourt and chose to keep Trae Young, which I think is the right move. The Hawks made an effort to get bigger and better on defense this offseason and they did just that. The selection of Zaccharie Risacher and the return of Daniels in the trade gives the Hawks two capable defenders and, in Daniels’ case, gives them a potential All-NBA defender. If you’re bullish on the Hawks, that’s probably the outlook you have for their offseason so far.

But not everyone shares that view. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer gave his 15 observations on free agency and he doesn’t think the Atlanta Hawks are in a good position going forward:

14. The Atlanta Hawks may be in a tough spot.

“What Atlanta got in exchange for point guard Dejounte Murray is fair: first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, plus Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels and EJ Liddell. But that pales in comparison to the three valuable first-round picks and a trade the Hawks originally gave up to get Murray from San Antonio. The Hawks’ current roster is hardly playoff contender in the East, and they don’t own the rights to any of their first-round picks until 2028. If the Spurs called today to offer those picks in exchange for Trae Young, the Hawks would happily say yes. But San Antonio is holding them hostage, opting to sign CP3 as a backup rather than trade for a point guard like Trae. As good as Young is, San Antonio would have much more to gain by being patient. The Hawks have looked nothing but incompetent in recent years. They’d better hope Zaccharie Risacher succeeds, otherwise things will quickly go wrong.”

I disagree with the idea that they are in trouble. I am not saying the Hawks are title contenders, but they are more than capable of making the playoffs in the East. The bottom of the East (Brooklyn, Washington, Detroit, Charlotte, and Chicago) is terrible and Atlanta is arguably better than Miami and Toronto. While the Hawks were not very good last year, they were also one of the unluckiest teams in terms of injuries. With better injury luck and a roster that makes sense around Young, it is not out of the question for Atlanta to be a top-six team in the East, especially if the other teams don’t make the jump they expected (Indiana and Orlando). Jalen Johnson should only continue to improve, Onyeka Okongwu could finally get a chance to start, and the Hawks’ defense should be much better than last season.

ESPN’s Chris Herring ranked each Eastern Conference team into several categories and placed the Hawks in a “stuck in the middle” category with the Chicago Bulls:

“Atlanta, a play-in team each of the last three seasons, has been in the same boat as the Bulls in recent years: directionless.

There’s no real incentive for the franchise to bottom out, since the Hawks owe their 2025 and 2027 first-round picks to the Spurs in exchange for Dejounte Murray’s 2022 contract. (San Antonio also has the trade rights to Atlanta’s 2026 pick.)

Perhaps it was that inability that led the club to finally trade Murray to New Orleans last week in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, EJ Liddell and two future first-round picks. And there’s potential on the roster. Jalen Johnson, 22, likely would have been in the Most Improved Player voting if he hadn’t narrowly missed the games-played threshold. Big man Onyeka Okongwu is still just 23. Zaccharie Risacher, the first overall pick in last week’s NBA draft, will make his summer league debut with the Hawks in the coming days.

Yet, as it has since 2018, Atlanta is trying to figure out how to build around franchise player Trae Young, whose elite offensive skills are complicated by his defensive shortcomings. The Hawks reached the 2021 conference finals but haven’t gotten anywhere near that point since.

The bottom of the Eastern Conference allows Atlanta to be a play-in team with their current roster and could even be a top-six seed if things go right. This is a better roster around Young and all the pieces are coming together better, much like the 2021 Conference Finals team. I’m not saying this team will do that, but the structure of the team makes more sense than it did the last two seasons. There are still moves to make for the Hawks this offseason, including potential deals for Clint Capela, Larry Nance and possibly De’Andre Hunter. The Hawks should continue to add the right pieces to their team, stay patient and continue to build their roster, which they did this offseason. It appears Atlanta finally has a plan to build a roster around Young and they shouldn’t step on the gas too soon again.