The Path to Success for the Atlanta Hawks
Photo by Michael Dwyer
While the Atlanta Hawks have had several star talents that have played for them, they have no championships to show for it just yet. Over the last 25 years, the Hawks have mostly been a middle-of-the-pack team. They have made the playoffs almost every year, but have not had a lot of success afterwards. The hawks did make it all the way to the conference finals in 2015 and most recently just two seasons ago. However, they failed to advance to the finals both times as they got swept by the Cavaliers in 2015 and lost in 6 games to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. The Hawks also made the playoffs this season as the seventh seed in the East and they did put up a good fight against the Boston Celtics in round one, but fell once again after six games. Now, with a core of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, the Hawks seem poised to take the next step.
So, what do the Hawks need to do in order to cement themselves as a legitimate title contender? The first step is actually quite simple. Shoot more three-pointers. Under Nate McMillan, the Hawks were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA in terms of volume and efficiency. They ranked 28th in the NBA in three-point attempts per game, and 21st in the NBA in three-point percentage. The positive side is that the three point shooting did improve after Quin Snyder took over as head coach. Snyder has always run a high volume offense that features a lot of three-point shooting, so this will benefit the Hawks as Snyder implements his new staff this off-season and the players become more familiar with Snyder’s sets. Just take a look at all of the successful teams in the league. The Denver Nuggets ranked fourth in three-point percentage this season. The defending champion Warriors ranked eighth in three-point percentage last season.
The second and final step that the Hawks need to take in order to become contenders is to improve their perimeter defense. Perhaps the biggest issue for the Atlanta Hawks this season was their inability to guard opposing teams on the perimeter. The Hawks finished 26th in the NBA this season in points allowed per game. With a solid defensive frontcourt core of Clint Capela, John Collins, and Onyeka Okongwu, the defense in the paint was not an issue at all. The guards and the wings was where the issue resided. The Hawks will need to make a few trades and bring in some guys who can defend at the point of attack and stop teams from hurting them from the perimeter. If this means they have to trade someone like DeAndre Hunter or John Collins, it should definitely be considered. A few names that the Hawks could also look to sign in free agency include Josh Hart, Dillon Brooks, Jae Crowder, Rui Hachimura, and Matisse Thybulle.
It won’t matter how good the Hawks offense is if they don’t also take pride in defending the perimeter and adding quality 3&D role players this off-season. Trae Young is obviously an exceptional talent and one of the best guards in the league. However, the Hawks must surround him with big and physical defensive-minded wings in order to negate some of Trae’s defensive shortcomings. The term “defense wins championships” is still very much true, even in a league that is becoming very offensive-minded.
