The 2021-2022 Atlanta Hawks, coming off an Eastern Conference Championship appearance, went 43-39 and were booted in the first round of the playoffs by Miami four games to one. The Hawks basically ran back the same team hoping for the same results and it didn't work. The team looked lost for much of the season. The signed John Collins to a huge contract but it didn't fill up the stat sheet or equate to wins. He's really athletic but that only gets you so far. Lots of guys who could get you 10-17 points a night but no clear number two star on this team and Trae Young couldn't carry them.
In the offseason they made a pitch for KD but ended up getting rising star Dejounte Murray from the Spurs. He's a great defender who put up amazing numbers last season (21ppg, 8rbg, 9apg). Trae Young doesn't do defense so this is a big addition. The other big move was moving Kevin Huerter to the Kings for Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless. This move saves them money in the long run but did not make the team better. And it really confused me. I love the addition of Murray but losing Huerter makes the offseason very uneven.
Coach Nate McMillan now has to get two ball centric guards to share. He also needs to get more from John Collins while making the role players better too. Does De'Andre Hunter have another gear? This team has to get better defensively and be more well-rounded on the offensive end. Sure Murray will help but as a team they have to be really efficient and have others who can give them big points when needed. I think Atlanta is better but the East has some really good teams at the top. If they are the number seven seed they'll be doing good and a number six seed will be a really good year. I'm not convinced they are there yet looking at the other teams in the conference but I can have hope.
Trae's entertaining at least.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt. He's fearless and fun to watch.
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