The Hawks entered the season in a bit of a strange middle ground. The previous years had been focused entirely on building around Trae Young, but his time as the centerpiece of the franchise seemed to be on its last legs following multiple injury-riddled seasons and a breakout campaign from Jalen Johnson. Yet Johnson had injury problems of his own, Young’s contract seemed unmoveable and even if they could trade Young, the next step for Atlanta from there didn’t feel totally clear.
With all of those question marks coming into the season, the Hawks are certainly happy with how things played out. After a (mostly) competitive six-game series loss to the Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Hawks should be seen as one of the rising teams in the league. They have the bones of a legitimate contender with a roster featuring the all-encompassing offensive talents of Jalen Johnson, the all-encompassing defensive talents of Dyson Daniels and the excellent two-way play of Nickeil Alexander-Walker. It’s not a complete team quite yet, but GM Onsi Saleh has given Atlanta no reason to doubt him after several in-season trades paid off big-time.
