5 Bold Predictions For The Atlanta Hawks In 2014-15

5. Hawks Will Make The Playoffs As The 3rd-Seed

The Atlanta Hawks are finally healthy.

Before the Al Horford injury, the Hawks were the third seed in the East.

Sure the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls made moves to acquire good free agents, but outside of those teams who is there to challenge the Atlanta Hawks next season?

If the Atlanta Hawks can stay healthy, their stellar bench along with their starters should be able to lift them to the third-seed in the East.

The Miami Heat added Luol Deng to replace LeBron James, but Deng is only a shell of the player he formerly was. Wade is also on the wrong side of 30 and continues to decline rapidly. Miami didn’t have a very strong bench last year and after this offseason, that notion shouldn’t change.

The Washington Wizards are a club that people think could challenge for that third-seed but they have issues as well. They signed Paul Pierce to replace Trevor Ariza, but the question is how much can Pierce offer at his age? The rest of the Wizards frontcourt may also be in trouble as the combination of Nene and Marcin Gortat is an aging duo. Washington can, however, challenge for the third-seed if John Wall and Bradley Beal continue their rapid development.

The Charlotte Hornets could challenge for the third-seed but there are some issues there as well. Charlotte is relatively young and they still don’t have the experience Atlanta has. They could, however, make a jump if Lance Stephenson can play up to his potential. Stephenson now has a big time role and it will be interesting to see the type of production he puts forth.

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Another team that could challenge for the third-seed is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have a solid team, but it will be interesting to see if they can repeat their success from last season. Toronto couldn’t hold down home-court in the playoffs, losing to Brooklyn in seven games. That could be an indication of things to come. If this team uses that experience properly, it could propel them to another season as the third-seed. However, I believe the Hawks have more experience than the Raptors and that would show true at season’s end.

Atlanta has the highest scoring interior tandem in the league with Paul Millsap and Al Horford. They have one of the best thee-man punches when you include Jeff Teague. They also have two All-Stars — Paul Millsap and Al Horford — and two players with Team USA experience — Millsap and Kyle Korver.

If the Atlanta Hawks can stay healthy, their stellar bench along with their starters should be able to lift them to the third-seed in the East.