Hawks Receive Poor Marks For Offseason, But Potential For Surprise Is There

The Atlanta Hawks made a big move by trading guard Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. They also selected forward Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick.

But they may not be any better, contended David Aldridge of The Athletic. In fact, he put them near the bottom of his offseason rankings.

“The rankings are based on one question: How much better is a team going into next season than it was at the end of last season?” Aldridge wrote. “At least Atlanta replenished some of the draft capital it expended in acquiring Murray from the Spurs in 2022 by getting back two future firsts and multiple depth players from the Pels.

“But the main thing is still the main thing: Where is this team going with Trae Young as its franchise player? Winning the lottery and taking Risacher provided an unexpected offseason bonus, but even that was tainted by Alex Sarr‘s unwillingness to work out with Atlanta before the draft.

“Ice Young is still just 26, in his prime and with another two years on his deal before his player option arrives. You can’t go full-tank mode as long as he’s on the roster; he’s too talented. But this feels like a franchise spinning its wheels.”

Aldridge brings up some decent points, but what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate to the court. And what doesn’t look great on paper occasionally proves to be an incredible fit. The Hawks, of course, are banking on the latter.

For starters, we don’t know what type of impact Risacher will make. The Hawks can also bank on the continued improvement of forward Jalen Johnson and the solid play of the likes of Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter and Clint Capela. Maybe it will all come together under widely respected coach Quin Snyder.

Is Atlanta on its way to the NBA championship? Yeah, probably not. But they will be an interesting team that shouldn’t be bad, either.