Predictions: Hawks not expected to contend, but …

1. Their record will get better, too

As fun as it is to about this team’s potential, the fact remains that they won’t be a good team next year.

Clubs as young as the Atlanta Hawks tend to scuffle while they adjust to the heightened pace, speed, and athleticism the NBA offers and with a roster comprised of salary dumps and unproven young talent, it’s no surprise to see sites like FiveThirtyEight project Atlanta as a team that will fight to win 30 games, even in a weak Eastern Conference.

It’s also not a good sign for your team’s outlook when that very same site compares your supposed best player to a 1998 version of Stephon Marbury with its CARMELO algorithm or when it labels starters like Alex Len “scrub”. But there are a few factors that could help the Hawks exceed their low suppositions.

Chief among them is the mediocrity that pervades the rest of the conference. It’s been said in other pieces on this site, but are the Hawks really that much worse than the other teams in the East?

Sure, they aren’t markedly better than those teams, but this team should hold its own against the likes of the John Wall-less Washington Wizards, the middling Detroit Pistons, the awful Charlotte Hornets or the equally terrible Cleveland Cavaliers.

This isn’t to suggest that the Hawks are a lock to make the playoffs, but if we get a significant jump from the players mentioned in the previous slides and the supplementary pieces become the best versions of themselves, this team could shock some people.