Atlanta Hawks’ Playoff Streak: Accolade or Anvil?

Is the Atlanta Hawks’ playoff streak a blessing or a curse?

The Atlanta Hawks are one of three teams to have won at least one playoff series in the 2015 and 2016 playoffs. The other two teams? Golden State and Cleveland. One blaring difference between Atlanta and those teams is that the Hawks are still ringless.

As an Atlanta fan, making the playoffs is second nature. Nine uninterrupted seasons of getting to the postseason has set a standard of excellence that we have come to expect. The only problem is no one really cares about this standard, as Atlanta continues to be a team caught in the middle.

Are the Hawks doomed to always be tweeners? A team stuck between championship contenders and lottery bound losers? Sooner or later they have to make a decision, right?

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Now making the decision towards championship contender is a lot easier said than done. We can’t just expect Mike Budenholzer to wine and dine Paul George and Russell Westbrook to come suit up in Atlanta next season.

But the step toward lottery bound loser is one that the Hawks might need to take sooner or later.

With such a talented draft coming up, one can dream of getting a can’t miss superstar like UCLA’s Lonzo Ball or Washington’s Markelle Fultz.

I am not suggesting that the Hawks tank to get better draft position, but maybe they need to trade some of the older players on the roster that are clearly not a part of the future. Obviously, this season Atlanta has chosen to continue the playoff streak and not test their luck in the lottery.

The Hawks are the 4th oldest team in the NBA. The three teams ahead of them in age are the Clippers, Cavaliers and Spurs with the 5th oldest team being Golden State.

Barring Atlanta, and maybe the Clippers, every one of those teams has realistic championship aspirations. Maybe I’m not speaking for the most optimistic fan, but the Hawks are not in the conversation when talking about league supremacy.

This season, the Atlanta Hawks are on pace for a first round matchup with the Toronto Raptors, with a likely second round meeting with LeBron James looming. Unless the Hawks want to continue their playoff purgatory, they need to make some changes.

First, lets focus on younger talent. Dennis Schroder and Tim Hardaway Jr. seem like as good a starting place as ever, and getting some depth behind them would go a long way.

Re-signing Millsap seems like a bad idea. If he were to stay in Atlanta, its almost guaranteed he would command a max deal. Choking our cap space to keep a soon to be 33-year-old does not sound like smart shopping to me.

Atlanta’s position on whether to go full on rebuild, or continue to make the playoffs, seems to be up in the air. Early in January, Atlanta traded fan-favorite shooting guard Kyle Korver to the reigning champs for Mike Dunleavy Jr., Mo Williams, and a late first round draft pick.

However, closer to the trade deadline in a tweet from The Vertical, Atlanta GM Wes Wilcox stated that the Hawks were buyers:

So which is it, Atlanta? Are you content with making the playoffs without any real meaning?

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Or maybe you should sell high, rebuild around the young players and get some lottery picks to bring some direction back to Atlanta.