Decade in Review: the 2017-2018 Atlanta Hawks
By Dallin Duffy
Looking back to the 2017-2018 Atlanta Hawks who struggled to just 24 wins.
The Atlanta Hawks had made ten straight playoff appearances, but won just six series during that time, making the Eastern Conference Finals just once.
They had reached their ceiling, and various attempts to retool rather than rebuild the roster fell short.
It was time to start over.
Paul Millsap, who had made the All-Star team in each of his four years with the Hawks, was the first piece to fall, leaving for a lucrative deal in free agency with Denver. They also traded last season’s starting center to Charlotte for a few pieces.
They kept Dennis Schröder, and hoped to see more development from both him and 2nd year starter Taurean Prince.
Atlanta took a chance on Wake Forest sophomore John Collins with the 19th overall pick, who we now know of course, was a hit.
He was primarily off the bench for most of the season, despite putting up good rookie numbers. The starting five looked like this for most of the year:
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PG – Dennis Schröder
SG – Kent Bazemore
SF – Taurean Prince
PF – Ersan Ilyasova
C – Dewayne Dedmon
Mike Budenholzer, in his fifth and final year acting as the Hawks’ skipper, led them to a 24-58 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
At some point in January, the team was looking really good, winning nine of ten, including seven in a row.
In February however, the team decided to cut ties with some of their vets instead of attempting to make a run for the 8th seed. Both Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli were bought out, although the team kept Bazemore amid trade rumors.
Schröder led the team in scoring with 19.4 a game, also leading them in assists with 6.2. Dewayne Dedmon led the team in rebounds with 7.9, while rookie Collins was just behind with 7.3 in just 24.1 minutes per contest.
As a team, they still were feared defensively, as they were in every year under coach Bud, although not as much in years prior.
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They struggled to score the ball, finishing 23rd in points per game.
All in all, for a first year in a rebuild, things weren’t so bad for the ’17-’18 Hawks. It could have certainly been worse. (Like this current season).