The Hawks haven’t won a single game since the calendar turned to December. It’s been more of the same mediocre basketball that we’ve seen over the last few years.
It’s not a Trae Young thing and certainly not a Quin Snyder thing. It’s a supporting cast issue; it’s a front office and ownership issue. The Hawks have two incredibly inexperienced men steering the ship in Landry Fields and Kyle Korver, who seemingly accepted roles as yes men under Tony Ressler.
Atlanta’s principal owner has meddled in basketball decisions ever since the club reached a false summit during the 2021 Eastern Conference run. They peaked too early, and it was a bit of an illusion with series wins over a bad Knicks team and an imploding 76ers club.
Ressler took the reins and forced former GM Travis Schlenk’s hand in the Dejounte Murray trade while simultaneously forcing cost-cutting measures, like trading Kevin Huerter to the Kings in a salary dump.
Reports surfaced late last season that Ressler’s son, Nick, had an unprecedented amount of influence for a person of his experience. The Hawks have become a laughingstock. If not for Quin Snyder and Trae Young, it would be completely hopeless.
John Hollinger of The Athletic agrees, putting Atlanta’s panic meter at six out of ten. Things are bad, but they aren’t that bad.
Time to cue up Dennis Green: The Hawks are who we thought they were. Any maybe not even that.
The league’s most average team over the last two years and change (cumulative record 93-94) has work to do just to get back to .500. Amid a five-game losing streak, Atlanta currently sits outside the money at 11th in the East. Does it even count as a Play-in Tournament if the Hawks aren’t involved?
The Hawks are on their third coach of the Trae Young era, but Quin Snyder hasn’t made them any more successful defensively than his predecessors; Atlanta currently stands 28th in defensive efficiency. The endless John Collins trade question is now the John Collins trade exception question, with a $23 million traded player exception that could potentially have some use at the trade deadline or in June, but a looming luxury tax situation that may make it harder to use in practice. Atlanta’s ownership has absolutely zero interest in paying tax and likely will have to move a player somewhere between now and the start of next season.
The Hawks didn’t use their mid-level exception this summer and have openly ducked the luxury tax after Ressler publically said it didn’t scare him. It’s actively hamstrung the front office in their attempt to build the roster. It feels like everyone from the top down is pulling on a different rope. Ownership has proven untrustworthy and inept. The front office is full of rookies that may know what they are doing, but it’s far too early to tell if they can successfully navigate such a difficult situation. Even more proven GMs would be challenged to fix the Hawks
There is a glimmer of hope for the future because of Quin Snyder, Trae Young, and some of the Hawks younger pieces, but their potential likely won’t be realized unless ownership and the front office is willing to completely reshape the roster. That’s not what fans expected when the Hawks made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, which Hollinger calls “the worst thing that could have happened to the Hawks.”
You can talk yourself into a future here if you squint hard enough: Nearly all the key players are in their 20s, some of them are still on the upswing (notably forward Jalen Johnson), and the Hawks are likely to have an extra first-rounder from Sacramento in 2024. But that Kings pick was the result of gifting them Kevin Huerter due to the aforementioned distaste for the luxury tax, and the Hawks still owe two future unprotected picks to the Spurs from a previous panic trade for Dejounte Murray. Those obligations kneecap their ability to make any kind of splash move that would change the situation going forward.
In retrospect, making the 2021 Eastern Conference finals was the worst thing that could have happened to the Hawks; it made them believe they were ready to contend when they weren’t and precipitated several short-sighted moves as a result. The end product isn’t terrible, and it’s at least entertaining given the roster’s offensive tilt. But Atlanta went all-in on average, and that’s what the franchise is looking at for the foreseeable future.
The panic meter being at a six is fair, but knowing Trae Young and Quin Snyder are in the fold gives me hope. Then again, with Tony Ressler writing checks, there shouldn’t be confidence.
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Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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