The Atlanta Hawks season ended in embarassing fashion on Thursday with a 51-point loss to the New York Knicks, but despite that result, the Hawks should feel good about what they were able to accomplish this season.
The Hawks had one of their most successful reagular seasons in quite some time, winning 46 games and going 20-6 after the All-Star Break to finish 6th in the Eastern Conference. During exit interviews yesterday, that was the sentiment the players, head coach Quin Snyder, and general manager Onsi Saleh shared with the media.
Here are my biggest takeaways from yesterday.
1. Onsi Saleh has the right plan for the Hawks moving forward
When the Hawks made the moves to trade for Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Gabe Vincent, CJ McCollum, and Corey Kispert near the trade deadline, Saleh talked about how the moves were looking to the future and how the Hawks were not one player away. That message did not change yesterday during exit interviews, when Saleh reiterated that the Hawks are going to continue to develop talent and not rush this process:
“We are not one player away from this, the best iteration of this team is going to be through development and our players currently getting better. We’re really excited about the future and what holds there, from the draft to the flexibility moving forward, all that stuff. We’re in a good place, position set up moving forward, and our coaching staff has just been remarkable this year.”
I think this is the right course of action for the team going forward. While there is uncertainty about what the entire roster will look like, they have a core of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Onyeka Okongwu, and Dyson Daniels heading into next season and potentially a top pick in this year’s draft thanks to the trade with the New Orleans Pelicans last summer.
The Hawks have plenty of resources to improve this offseason, but making a big massive move for one player and trading away draft picks to try and win big next season is not on the horizon, nor should it be.
Despite the beatdown they got on Thursday (and most of the series), the Hawks have a good core and structure in place and now is not the time to deviate from that and make a mistake like they did when they traded for Dejounte Murray four years ago.
2. Hawks are using their game six loss as fuel for next season
While the start of next season is five months away, the Hawks are not going to forget what happened on Thursday and it is going to motivate them.
Star forward Jalen Johnson, who did not have a good series vs New York, talked about the loss and what he is going to improve on going forward:
“It just sucks. I think that’s the best way to sum it up. It sucks. It’s a terrible feeling. It’s not the way you want a series to end, of course. It’s just a lot of fuel going into the next season, a lot of fuel going into the offseason for everybody. We’re going to make sure this never happens again. We never get this type of feeling again. It’s just a sick feeling to our stomach, so it’s been tough for sure.
Yeah, there’s plenty of stuff. I’m going to take a couple of days to decompress, and then I’m really going to dive back into the film session, as hard as it is going to be to watch. It’s something I need to continue to grow and continue to be the best version of myself. I’m going to take a lot away from this, just growing wise, and I’ll be better moving forward.”
3. Hawks have several decisions to make on veterans
I mentioned the core four players that should be back no matter what next season, but there is uncertainity with everyone else and the Hawks still need to figure out what they are going to do.
CJ McCollum, Gabe Vincent, Jock Landale, and Tony Bradley are going to be unrestricted free agents, there are two team options the Hawks have to figure out with Jonathan Kuminga and Mo Gueye, Keaton Wallace is a restricted free agent, and Buddy Hield’s contract becomes fully guaranteed in late June. McCollum and Kuminga are the headliners, but what are the Hawks going to do about the rest?
The first big day of the offseason is going to be next Sunday at the NBA Draft Lottery. When the Hawks find out where they are picking, they can plan the rest from there.
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