Five Realistic Goals for Hawks in Celtics Series

Five goals the Hawks must achieve in playoff series against the Celtics.

The Atlanta Hawks are completely outmatched against the Boston Celtics. This should not come as a surprise to anyone with a connection to the outside world. Boston won 16 more games than Atlanta and has two All-NBA players on the perimeter.

Game One of the series was a beatdown of epic proportions. Boston led by 30 points at halftime before letting their foot off the gas. However, Atlanta gave a good effort throughout the entire game. Defeating Boston in a best-of-seven series seems unrealistic, but there are five achievable goals for Atlanta in this series.

5 Hawks Goals

Fix Trae Young's Game

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The sample size is far too large to write off as an outlier. Trae Young's offensive game has not been the same since last year's playoff series against the Miami Heat. Sure, Young can sleepwalk to 26 points and ten assists per game, but his efficiency has tanked.

During the regular season, Young took his second-fewest three-point attempts per game (6.3) on his lowest percentage since his rookie season (33.5%). With Young being unable to stretch the floor with his outside shooting, it alters who he is as a player.

Trade rumors involving Young started as murmurs late in the season before becoming loud noise the day before the Play-In Tournament. Fixing Young's game has to be at the top of Atlanta's to-do list.

Quin Snyder System

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Quin Snyder's sojourn through South America was abruptly cut short when the Atlanta Hawks reached out to him in February about filling the head coaching vacancy left by Nate McMillan.

Snyder is quick to remind everyone that he has yet to fully unpack his clothes or establish a residency outside of his Atlanta hotel room. But the veteran coach has already begun making changes with a total overhaul coming this summer.

The fiery coach has treated this squad with kid gloves to try and salvage the season (which has already been accomplished). Whatever Snyder's vision is for the future of the team should already be getting implemented right now.

Onyeka Okongwu

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The Atlanta Hawks have the rare luxury of two players capable of starting on almost any team. However, they do not have the resources to pay for both. Onyeka Okongwu becomes eligible for his rookie-scale contract extension after this season ends, and he will surely get his bag.

But Clint Capela has been the unsung hero of the season. After years of battling nagging Achilles injuries, Capela has been very reliable. The veteran center averaged 12 points and 11 rebounds in 65 games this season - not to mention his defensive presence.

In Game One of the series, Capela logged 26 minutes to Okongwu's 19 minutes. If Atlanta is going to invest in Okongwu this offseason, they probably want to start prioritizing their centers' playing time accordingly.

Forwards' Future

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If you believe recent reports, no player on Atlanta's roster is safe from the trading block. No one knows this better than the team's most tenured player and captain, John Collins. Now, De'Andre Hunter is getting a whiff of that insecurity.

Collins has been trending in the wrong direction for the past two seasons and is a mainstay in trade rumors. Hunter just signed a contract extension last summer but can easily be moved after the season.

If Atlanta's backcourt is safe, the small and power forward positions are the next logical areas for an upgrade. Getting one last look at Collins and Hunter before making a big trade this summer is important for Atlanta's newly-minted front office.

Future Forwards

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Snyder's punctuated season feels like a tryout for everyone. Since arriving in Atlanta, Snyder has been flexible with his lineups and generous with players on the fringe of the rotation.

Luckily, sophomore Jalen Johnson and rookie AJ Griffin have not been casualties in the coaching change. Both players have received a fair amount of playing time (especially for a team fighting for a postseason birth).

With at least three games remaining, Atlanta needs to find out if Johnson and Griffin are capable of starting next year. Griffin will still fall behind Saddiq Bey next season, but will he also be behind De'Andre Hunter?