The Atlanta Hawks aren’t a great team, but they’re only a step or two away from becoming one.
The Atlanta Hawks aren’t as good this season as they were last season when they ranked sixth in both offensive rating and defensive rating and won 60 games, but under the guidance of coach Mike Budenholzer, the squad is still humming to the tune of second place in the Eastern Conference – which, at the moment, is a dog fight.
While the Hawks didn’t get better, the rest of the East did, though not by an enormous amount. Still, it evidently hasn’t been enough to usurp the Hawks from their spot as pseudo-contender behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.
How have they done it? Well, they’re Spurs East. The Hawks play an under-the-radar style game that isn’t overly exciting to watch, but it’s supremely effective. With the way their team is set up, they are able to run all sorts of plays in the same sort of way that allows Golden State and San Antonio to seemingly match up well with almost everyone.
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And just like the Spurs (and unlike the Warriors), no one outside of Atlanta pays attention to the Hawks. They’re just kind of there – plugging away night after night and racking up a more than respectable record.
Atlanta is seventh in offensive rating (105.7) this season, only one spot removed from where they were last year. The larger difference comes on the defensive end, where they rank 13th (103.8) as things stand. The latter is obviously a product of losing DeMarre Carroll last summer, who now plays for the Toronto Raptors.
Carroll was an important piece for this club last season. He was their defense, in a nutshell. He fought hard every possession, battling for the ball and constantly taking the tough job of guarding the opponent’s best player. Though the Hawks were likely going to lose to the Cavs last postseason anyway, when Carroll went down in that series everyone knew that Atlanta was cooked.
The team itself still plays solid defense, as is made apparent by their 13th overall league ranking, but individually these guys are not the greatest defenders. Their best perimeter defender is probably Thabo Sefalosha (who has a 101.8 defensive rating), but he’s a serious downgrade from what Carroll was able to provide.
Indeed, the Hawks are missing two salient things, it seems: a) a defender the likes of which they had with Carroll and b) a true superstar.
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The former is easier to acquire, of course, and the Hawks might look around before the trade deadline for another piece that adds some defensive grit. That trade is there for them if they can find it.
The latter is what they needed last season. It was the reason why hardly anyone believed they could really contend with the likes of Cleveland and Chicago for the spot of top dog in the East. They just don’t have that one guy who can completely take over a game when necessary.
Sure, they had four All-Stars last season in Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and Al Horford, but let’s be realistic. Korver is a role player, though a very good one, and the other three are stars if anything. But not one of them is a superstar.
This is a team that plays the right way, has a very good coach and contains a group of solid to almost-great players. They are the Spurs East, but this is what keeps them from fitting into that title with zero difficulty. The Spurs have those superstars, aged or otherwise.
Can you imagine if the Hawks had their version of Kawhi Leonard? We’d suddenly be talking about Atlanta in a very different manner.
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This team won’t last forever in its current state. It simply can’t win it all this way. It needs more. It would be wise, then, to seek out a superstar sooner rather than later. If you see the Hawks making a big play for one Kevin Durant in the offseason, don’t be surprised.