Atlanta Hawks: 5 Team Impressions After 15 Games

The Tank Is Real

First off, while Lloyd Pierce has done a great job creating an atmosphere that leads players to make the right decisions on offense and is building a modern offense built around threes and drives, it seems that the main dictum from the Atlanta Hawks front office led by General Manager Travis Schlenk is to tank… hard.

The Hawks are one of the worst teams in the league, with a record better than only the lowly, hapless Cleveland Cavaliers (2-12, so not that much better). Of course, the joke is on us when it comes to the Cavs since the Hawks own the Cavaliers’ 2019 first-round pick – if it falls between #11 and 30 (which it won’t).

The Hawks are currently riding a six-game losing streak and have been handed blowout losses by multiple teams – with the worst offenders being a 31-point beatdown at the hands of the fast-breaking Kings as well as a recent 45-point disembowelment by the Nuggets.

While the offense at least has some interesting personnel to evaluate, the team’s defense has been porous at best – as some of the team’s uninspiring stats indicate.