NBA Power Rankings: Where Do The Hawks Stand at the Start of the Season?

Where should the Atlanta Hawks be in the power rankings at the start of the season?

Mar 3, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shoots at the basket behind Portland Trail Blazers forward Trendon Watford (2) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The 2024-2025 NBA Season is nearly here. In less than three weeks, the Boston Celtics will open the season up against the New York Knicks and the chase for the title is going to begin.

With the new season comes new hope and nearly every team can talk themselves into ways they can be better than the projections suggest. One of the more interesting teams that fits into that category is the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta starts the year with a new look after trading Dejounte Murray for a package that included Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance. Not only that, but the Hawks had the No. 1 pick in the draft this year and selected French forward Zaccharie Risacher, who gives the Hawks size and position versatility, skills they desperately needed. Does this mean the Hawks are going to get out of the play-in race and into the playoffs? Only time will tell.

In terms of power rankings, the Hawks are starting the year off at No. 22 in NBA analyst Andy Bailey's rankings over at Bleacher Report and it seems like Bailey is higher than most on the Hawks this year:

It was clear pretty quickly that the Trae Young-Dejounte Murray partnership formed by the Atlanta Hawks in 2022 wasn't going to work. There wasn't enough playmaking responsibility to go around, and the latter didn't cover for the former's defensive shortcomings the way some expected him to.

It still took two years to break up the duo, but the tardiness is excusable, to a degree. It's hard to pull off a trade in the NBA, and making the decision late is better than not making it at all.

Young is still a superstar-level offensive engine. And now, the rest of the roster better suits him.

There's plenty of potential shooting and defensive versatility from Jalen Johnson, De'Andre Hunter and 2024's No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher.

There's a great rim-runner to operate in the pick-and-roll with Young in Clint Capela.

And the departure of Murray should mean more minutes for Bogdan Bogdanović, who showed his ability to take on a bigger role for the Serbia national team in Paris.

There's still some development to happen for the younger players before these new-look Hawks are anywhere near contention, but at least they're headed in the right direction."

It might be unwise to boil how a team might perform down to one thing, but it might come down to how much the young players on the Hawks can elevate their team and fix their biggest issues from a year ago. For better or for worse, we know what veterans such as Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, Clint Capela, and Larry Nance bring to the table for the Hawks.

Can Dyson Daniels be the defensive backcourt partner for Trae Young? What kind of impact could Risacher make in his first year with the franchise? Is Jalen Johnson ready for a bigger leap than the one he took last year? What about Onyeka Okongwu?

If the answer is yes to most of those questions, than the Hawks could be this year's surprise team.

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