Are the Hawks....Soaring?

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Being a sports fan can cause plenty of heartache, disappointment and even joy. I’ve experienced all three of these emotions watching some of my favorite teams win championships, then turn around and lose first round matchups as the favorite. Some will say that I'm all over the place when it comes to my favorite sports teams, but I can tell you without even thinking about it why my favorite teams are my favorites.

I loved the hate that Duke received in the early 90s, and I loved watching Grant Hill slash through the paint and finish. That’s why i’m a Duke basketball fan. Being in close proximity to Tallahassee, FL (From Valdosta, GA) I naturally grew up a Florida State Seminole fan. My adoration for watching stout defenses led me to be a Baltimore Ravens fan. Those are all teams that I follow, but the one outlier was in the NBA. The NBA is more of a player’s league, therefore, most fans are attached to players as opposed to teams, and I've always been a LeBron James fan. I’m not writing this to tell you all that I'm no longer a LeBron fan, but to speak about the first NBA team that i’ve gone all in on – the Atlanta Hawks.

How did this come about? Besides the fact that I'm from the state of Georgia, before last year’s NBA Finals I started thinking that LeBron would soon leave Cleveland for the second time and he probably has about five years tops in the NBA before he retires, so it would be great to be a fan of an NBA team instead of just a fan of a player.

Now the Hawks aren’t particularly at the top of the NBA as far as popularity and team history, but I'm going to explain why the future is bright and there should be optimism even for the people who have been fans much longer than I have.

POTENTIAL SUPERSTAR

Atlanta Hawks (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Schlenk (left) and Pierce (middle) were met with a few side eyes upon taking over their respective positions. Since then, they’ve both shown the NBA world why they are the right men for their jobs.

When the Hawks drafted Luka Doncic in this past year’s draft, I understood why. When the Hawks traded his rights to the Mavericks for the rights to Trae Young, I understood that as well. Both showed superstar talent before entering the NBA. Both showed the ability to carry a team on their back and to put seats in the arena. The two men that were hired by the Hawks in the past few seasons, Coach Lloyd Pierce and General Manager Travis Schlenk, seem like the right hires for the organization and it makes sense why they’ve made the decisions they’ve made.

Pierce was instrumental in developing the young talent for the Philadelphia 76ers. Schlenk played a huge role as the assistant GM for the Warriors. I don’t think you could have gone wrong with keeping Luka, but Schlenk watched a skinny volume shooter who was told that he wouldn’t excel in the NBA (Steph Curry) blossom into a star. Trae Young’s lone year at Oklahoma was almost a replica of Steph Curry’s final year at Davidson. Schlenk has drafted players based on the playing style that the Warriors currently play with – spacing, three point shooting and dominant point guard play. Pierce let his young core figure their way throughout the season, and players like Young saw their ppg increase from 14 ppg, 8 apg 35% FG and 19% on 3PTs in November to 23.4 ppg, 9.3 apg, 44% on FGA and 35% on 3PTs in April, bringing his season total to 19.1ppg/8.1apg/42% FG/31% 3PT. At worst, Young looks like he’ll be a perennial All-Star in the Eastern Conference. At best, he’s an All-NBA caliber player – if surrounded by the right pieces.

YOUNG CORE

The previously mentioned Trae Young wasn’t the only bright spot for the Hawks last season. Players such as John Collins, Taurean Prince and Kevin Huerter seem to be the franchise’s core for the near future. 2017’s first round pick, Collins will get plenty of consideration for the league’s MIP (Most Improved Player) award after averaging 19.5ppg and 9.5 rpg during his sophomore season. If Collins had not missed 21 games, he would had a good case for being an All-Star.

Stephen Gosling | Getty Images

The Hawks 2016 1st round pick, Prince has been Mr. Stability, averaging at least 13.5 ppg the past few seasons while seeing his three point shooting percentage increase during all three seasons. The Hawks exercised Prince’s team option in October, so they have at least another year of him holding down one of their starting wing spots. It will be interesting to see if they’re able to keep him around after he’s in line for a bigger contract (i.e. DeMarre Carroll in ‘15). The Luka/Trae fiasco was the main talk in this past year’s draft, but for the Hawks, an underrated and rewarding draft pick came in the form of their second 1st round pick Kevin Huerter. The Hawks are trying to emulate what the Warriors are doing out west with their three point shooting, pick and roll offense and spacing. Huerter is a perfect compliment to that formula because of his marksman-like shooting from behind the arc. Huerter finished the 2018-2019 campaign averaging 9.7 ppg while shooting 39% from deep.

PROMISING FUTURE

Photo by Sujal Manohar | The Chronicle

Though he spent much of the season criticized for his lack of assertiveness and subpar shooting percentage, Cam Reddish would be an excellent compliment to the Hawks young core.

Good GM, check. Good coach, check. Good young core of players, check. One of the brightest spots for this franchise hasn’t been mentioned. Even if you’re one of those who think Doncic will become a superstar and Young will only be an all-star, the Hawks still won that trade. With the trade during last summer’s draft, the Hawks will have the Maverick’s pick, which will be a top-10 selection, along with their own top-10 selection. That’s a pretty nice package in a draft that includes Duke players Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Cameron Reddish, Murray State’s Ja Morant, and Texas Tech’s Jarrett Cullver. The Hawks can either stay put at their spots or possibly package their two picks and maybe an expiring deal (like, say, Kent Bazemore’s) to move up and draft the player that they fall in love with during the pre-draft process. The NBA draft lottery isn’t until May 14th, but it’s likely that the organization will draft at 5-6 (the Hawks own pick) and 8-9 (Dallas’ pick). If this is the case, my targets would be Reddish or Cullver with the first pick, and then North Carolina guard Coby White with the second of the two picks. All three players will add wing versatility and shooting to a Hawks roster that already has pretty good shooters.

OUTLOOK

By no means am I saying that the Hawks will be in the Conference Finals in 2020, but if the draft goes as expected and the organization can get Bazemore’s contract off their books via trade, the team has flexibility to sign two max players. With the outlook of this young team looking promising with current players along with future draft picks, stable front-office with a good GM and coach, a newly renovated arena and not to mention being in downtown Atlanta, the Hawks finally look like a free-agent destination for elite players.