I’m hype for the Hawks again #atlantahawks #traeyoung #nbabasketball #nba
Can I be excited about the Atlanta Hawks again? The Hawks are a team that I’ve been really excited about almost every offseason for the last about 3, four years. Last year, injuries derailed some of their potential and before that, I did not love the pairing of Dejonte Murray and Trey Young. But I was always excited about this team because I think Trey Young’s phenomenal and one of the best offensive engines in the league. He’s averaged over 10 assists a game for the last three seasons. And then in the three seasons before that, he was over nine assists a game. All while scoring over 25 points a game every year of his career except his rookie season. He’s mastered the ability to get downhill and attack the paint just below the free throw line. And once he gets to that spot, he can pull up. He can shoot the floater. He can shoot what looks like to be a floater, but is actually a lob to the rolling big. He can hit it big on the pocket pass. And he can spray out to the three. When Trey Young gets downhill and gets to that free throw line area, he’s virtually unguardable. and the defense is at his mercy. Honestly, it reminds me a lot of James Harden’s game. And yes, I know he leaves a lot to be desired defensively, but I think the Hawks have put the best team they ever have around him and can cover up some of his defensive weaknesses. Dyson Daniels was amazing last season and was what I think is the perfect backcourt pairing with Trey Young. He made all defensive first team. He led the league in steals a game at three game the most since Gary Payton. And he was a runner up for defensive player of the year. I’m excited to see Jaylen Johnson come back from his injury, be another great defender for this team, and was really starting to look good on cuts and drives to the basket. I want to see more of that this season. Adding the kill Alexander Walker to this team was perfect. Another guy who can play defense, who can catch and shoot, and can attack the close out. The versatility of those three guys alone around Trey Young is going to be fantastic. Not even mentioning Zachary Reese, who’s coming off a great rookie season, is going to continue to get better and better, potentially even be an allstar caliber player on his own. and they added Luke Canard, a guy who’s consistently at or around 40% from three. I do have some concerns about the front court. I am excited to see the continued growth of Vaneka and Kongu. There is some concern about him being undersized, but also he’s able to use that as a strength of his and being more mobile than most bigs and being a lob threat for Trey. Christophsis is obviously the biggest concern here. If he plays, he takes the Hawks to a whole another level. He’s what made the Boston Celtics special in my eyes. Great protector. You can post him up and he can create his own shot around the rim. he’s going to be able to stretch the floor and play his pick and pop game with Trey. But in the same breath, we have to wonder how many games is he going to play. We haven’t seen Porzingis play over 60 games since 2023. And before that, it was 2017. So in nine seasons, he’s only played over 60 games twice. That’s a bit concerning. We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens there. But like I said earlier, to me on paper, this might be the best team Trey Young’s ever had. He’s surrounded by great defenders who can all do a little bit offensively, but they’re not going to take the ball out of his hands that much. Call me crazy, but I think this team can get 50 wins. And if they don’t, they’re going to be like 47, 48. They’re gonna be right there.
