Atlanta Hawks: 5 Predictions for the 2015-2016 Season

Sep 28, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) and head coach Mike Budenholzer and center Al Horford (15) pose for a photo during media day at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Hawks will win more than 50 games.

Winning 60 games is tough and difficult to replicate. It’s unreasonable to expect the Hawks to do that again. That doesn’t mean they’re chopped liver. The departure of DeMarre Carroll seemed to bring an avalanche of people predicting significant regression for the Hawks. The first over/under of the season placed their total at 49.5 wins. That’s borderline insulting for a team this talented.

They lost DeMarre Carroll, they added Tiago Splitter and Tim Hardaway Jr. Is that enough to expect an 11 win drop off? I don’t think so. Unless an injury wave hits the team, they should crack the 50 win plateau with relative ease.

The team still has Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and Al Horford. Is that not good enough to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference? I think it is. Sometimes the offseason can play tricks on us. We have so much time to kill that we end up talking ourselves into teams like the Pistons, the Magic or the Bucks. How often does the sexy pick of the offseason actually come out of the gates firing on all cylinders?

Some say the best indicator of future success is past success. The Hawks were pretty darn successful last season and the loss of the most dispensable player in their starting five is not going to send them hurdling off a cliff.

Next: Seeding