With the recent news coming down that the Atlanta Hawks have traded Dennis Schroder for Carmelo Anthony, a new chapter of the Hawks franchise begins in the 2018-19 season.
As soon as the Schröder news came down the pipeline, it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off the shoulders of the Hawks’ franchise.
In this offseason, the team has moved on from: A coach that didn’t want to oversee a rebuild (Mike Budenholzer) and his handpicked point guard that was given a fairly large contract in the summer of 2016 (what a summer that was).
The team now has three high-upside first round picks taken in the 2018 Draft, a new coach and a beautifully clean cap sheet for the 2019-20 season – which will grant the team a lot of flexibility in what will be a wild market.
With all that in mind, I’ve outlined 5 reasons to be excited for the Atlanta Hawks in 2018-19, starting with:
New Faces
While the team has had many new faces since the high point of the 60-win Hawks of the 2014-15 season, the 2018-19 season will represent the biggest quantum shift in roster overhaul for a long time.
After the Schröder trade, Kent Bazemore is the sole remaining member of the 2014-15 squad, and only 8 of the 22 players who played minutes for the Hawks last season will be returning in some capacity in 2018-19.
The team drafted its point guard of the future in Trae Young, as well as a capable backup/starter and veteran leader to pair with him at the one in Jeremy Lin.
Though some of the players the Hawks obtained didn’t stick around for long (looking at you Luka Doncic and Carmelo Anthony), this fresh-faced team of players should be a lot more fun to watch the bedraggled, stuck-between-two-goals Hawks of 2017-18.
Youth/Upside
With that in mind, the next most exciting aspect of the Hawks will be their extreme youthfulness.
A whopping 7 players on the 2018-19 Hawks will have one year or fewer of NBA experience: John Collins, Tyler Dorsey and Antonius Cleveland all played last season, and Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Omari Spellman and Jaylen Adams are all going into their first season in the league.
Beyond that, the Hawks obtained young wing Justin Anderson (taken in the 2015 draft) in the Dennis Schröder trade and already have DeAndre’ Bembry and Taurean Prince on the team via the 2016 draft.
That’s a total of 10 players with only 10 years of NBA experience combined between them, and Anderson accounts for 3 of those on his own.
Again, they’ll be young (much like a Second Team All-Summer League member) and they’ll make a lot of mistakes, and they might look completely lost out there at times, but the youth movement on the Hawks will be extremely fun to watch in 2018-19.
New Coach/New System
Another reason to get pumped for the 2018-19 season is new Head Coach Lloyd Pierce.
Previously of the Philadelphia 76ers, Pierce has already claimed he will try to instill a defensive mindset into this young Hawks team. Luckily for him, he’s pretty much inheriting a blank slate, and his few veteran leaders – namely Baze and Dewayne Dedmon – should immediately embrace that mindset based on their backgrounds.
Pierce has already shown he’s not like a lot of NBA coaches, as he can still throw down dunks himself and actually face-guarded Trae Young in his pre-draft workout.
#Sixers assistant @LloydPierceLP shows @BenSimmons25 that he's not the one that can dunk before youngin displays soccer skills. pic.twitter.com/jZ04gYlsSZ
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 14, 2017
With Pierce comes a completely new offensive and defensive system, which will also be an exciting part of the season. To see the Hawks complete remade in the course of an entire offseason is fascinating and to see it put into action will be incredible.
Trae Young & Jeremy Lin
The Hawks have obtained two point guards this offseason, and both of them should provide the Hawks with more mainstream appeal than they’ve had since, well, maybe ever.
Though Jeremy Lin’s best days are most likely behind him, he should still be able to contribute solid minutes and strong leadership to a young Hawks squad that will be lacking in the latter category in particular.
Sure, Linsanity is not at its absolute zany, maniacal apex like it was 6 years ago, but he still has a zealous following, and to see that energy brought to a revamped Philips Arena should be magical.
Speaking of “keeping that same energy,” Hawks #5 overall pick Trae Young made headlines during his college career by becoming the only player in NCAA history to lead the country in both scoring and assists.
That sort of offensive production coming to the Hawks should be enough to excite anyone – be it a seasoned basketball lifer or a neophyte hoops fan just learning the ropes.
No matter what, it’s going to be a lot of fun.
John Collins
Lastly, and speaking of fun, the Hawks are going to have one of the most electric athletes in a league that’s absolutely stuffed with them.
John Collins (aka John The Baptist) had a year to improve his game and work on some more dunks, so it will be absolutely scintillating to see his growth this offseason and during the 2018-19 season proper.
Collins was one of the best rookies in the 2017-18 season, and he should’ve definitely been named All-Rookie First Team, but maybe that snub will make him hungrier and readier to explode onto the scene even moreso in his sophomore year.
I can’t wait to watch him.
Next: Grading the Terrific Dennis Schröder Trade
Lastly, the Hawks home arena, Philips Arena, will also be restored and renovated this offseason, so there’s another reason to run or jog over there. I’ll meet you there!