NBA Analyst Makes Brutal Statement About Atlanta: "The Atlanta Hawks Might Be Screwed"

Will the Atlanta Hawks be able to make the playoffs this season in the Eastern Conference?

Apr 10, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) goes to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

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 are opting to keep Trae Young, which I think is the right choice. The Hawks have made an effort to get bigger and better on defense this offseason and they have done that. Drafting Zaccharie Risacher and getting Daniels back in the trade gives the Hawks two capable defenders and in the case of Daniels, gives them a potential All-NBA defender. If you are optimistic about the Hawks, that would be the outlook you probably have for their offseason so far.

Not everyone shares that view though. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor gave his 15 observations of free agency and he does not think the Atlanta Hawks are in a good position going forward:

14. The Atlanta Hawks might be screwed.

"What Atlanta got back for point guard Dejounte Murray is fair: firsts in 2025 and 2027, plus Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, and E.J. Liddell. But it doesn’t come close to the three valuable firsts and one swap the Hawks originally gave up to get Murray from San Antonio. The Hawks’ current roster will barely compete for the playoffs in the East, and they don’t own the rights to any of their firsts until 2028. If the Spurs called today offering those picks back for Trae Young, the Hawks would happily say yes. But San Antonio is holding them hostage, opting to sign CP3 as a placeholder rather than make a trade for a point guard like Trae. As good as Young is, San Antonio would benefit a lot more from being patient. The Hawks have looked nothing but incompetent in recent years. They’d better hope that Zaccharie Risacher works out, or it’ll get ugly fast."

I would disagree with the point that they are screwed. I am not trying to say that the Hawks are title contenders, but they are more than capable of competing for the playoffs in the East. The bottom of the East (Brooklyn, Washington, Detroit, Charlotte, and Chicago) is terrible and you can make the argument that Atlanta is better than Miami and Toronto. While the Hawks were not very good last year, they were also one of the unluckiest teams when it came to injuries. With better injury luck and a roster that makes sense around Young, it is not impossible for Atlanta to be a top six seed in the East, especially if other teams underperform their expectations and don't make the next projected leap (Indiana and Orlando). Jalen Johnson should only continue to get better, Onyeka Okongwu might finally get a chance to start, and the Hawks defense should be much better than last season.

ESPN's Chris Herring put every Eastern Conference team into tiers and had the Hawks in a "stuck in the middle" tier along with the Chicago Bulls:

"Atlanta, a play-in team for each of the past three seasons, has been in much the same boat as the Bulls in recent years: directionless.

There's little to no incentive for the franchise to bottom out completely, as the Hawks owe their 2025 and 2027 first-round selections to the Spurs in exchange for the Dejounte Murray deal back in 2022. (San Antonio also has swap rights for Atlanta's pick in 2026.)

Perhaps because of that inability, the club finally decided last week to move Murray to New Orleans for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell and a pair of future first-round picks. And there is upside on the roster. Jalen Johnson, 22, likely would have placed in Most Improved Player award voting if he hadn't narrowly missed the games-played threshold. Backup big Onyeka Okongwu is still just 23. Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in last week's NBA Draft, will make his Hawks debut in summer league in the coming days.

Still, as it's been since 2018, Atlanta is trying to figure 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 have gotten nowhere near that stage since."

The bottom of the Eastern Conference makes it to where Atlanta should be a play-in team with their current roster and it could even be a top-six seed if things break the right way. This is a better roster around Young and all of the pieces fit better, much like the conference finals team in 2021. I am not saying that this team will do that, but the team structure makes more sense than the past two seasons. There are still moves for the Hawks to make 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 have done this offseason. It seems like Atlanta finally has a plan to build a roster around Young and they should not hit the accelerator on it too early again.