The Atlanta Hawks have finally found the sauce with offseason moves

The Atlanta Hawks came into the offseason and made a series of moves to get them closer to their goal of making the playoffs.

Last season, you can say the Atlanta Hawks didn’t have the “sauce”.

Atlanta’s own Gucci Mane said it best seven years ago.

“If you don’t got no sauce, then you’re lost”.

For the past three seasons, the Hawks have been lost.

Yes, they had Trae Young, one of the most exciting young players in the league today. John Collins is a 20 point, 10 rebound player and a human highlight reel. Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, and De’Andre Hunter have shown promise as young wings.

The Hawks had sauce, but they didn’t have enough to win games.

In a span of seven days, the Hawks went from a lottery team to a potential 6-8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

The first domino to fall was drafting Onyeka Okongwu with the sixth pick in the draft. His main skill is defense, a skill the Hawks didn’t show much of last season.

Free agency began two days later, and Danilo Gallinari was the first player to sign with the Hawks. Gallinari has shown that he’s a consistent scorer, and the Hawks needed somebody that could shoot the three well. The Hawks ranked as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league last season.

Next was Kris Dunn, one of the best defensive guards in the league. As I noted earlier, the Hawks were pretty bad on defense last year, so adding a defender on the perimeter was essential.

A few hours later, Rajon Rondo, a two-time NBA champion, agreed to sign to the team. The Hawks needed a player that could run the second unit when Young is on the bench, and also a veteran in the locker room to lead this young team and hold them accountable.

The Atlanta Hawks landed a game-changer in Bogdan Bogdanovic

The last major piece to fall in this game of dominos was Bogdan Bogdanovic, who signed an offer sheet to join the Hawks. The Sacramento Kings had two days to match but ultimately decided to decline the offer.

Bogdanovic is a three-level scorer that can handle the ball and take the pressure off of Young when he’s on the court.

Let’s not forget about Clint Capela, who the Hawks acquired during last season’s trade deadline.

After these moves, the Hawks are 10-deep with plenty of depth at every position. At this point, it looks like they actually got lost in the sauce.

Putting the sauce talk to the side, the Hawks have finally put together a team that can make the playoffs. Gone are the days where Miles Plumlee and Damian Jones were getting meaningful minutes on the team.

Gone are the days where the Hawks couldn’t make a three-point shot or were getting beat on the defensive side of the ball every night.

Gone are the days where it seemed like Trae Young had to do everything in order for the Hawks to win a game.

This team finally has a good group of basketball players ready to compete in the postseason. The biggest problem they should have coming into the season is who is going to start, and which player is going to lose minutes because of the depth. These are good problems to have.

The NBA should watch out because the Atlanta Hawks have found the sauce.

Seven years later, and I think Gucci Mane would approve.