Atlanta Hawks Playoff Push: Who has best player, Magic, Hawks, or Wizards?

The Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, and Atlanta Hawks will be pushing for the playoffs

Lucky for Atlanta Hawks fans, you can probably pencil the team in as one of the 20 teams making it beyond the regularly scheduled 72 regular-season games this year.

Thanks to a revamp of how the playoff bracket is determined, the top 10 teams from each conference will get a chance to make it into the round of 16.

There will be a play-in tournament between the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth seeds, and the Hawks figure to be a part of that. The Hawks if they play really well could threaten for the seventh seed, but almost certainly will land at 10th or better.

Based on preseason projections and power rankings, the Hawks figure to be in the mix with the Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards for the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference.

Since these will be likely battles for the Hawks to make the round of 16, it’s worth considering these teams throughout the season to see how the Hawks stack up.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is team basketball. Whichever team is better will probably win, but in single-game situations, sometimes the victory comes down to whichever team has the best player.

Let’s look at each team’s very best player and how the Hawks might stack up if it comes down to it.

Hawks playoff push: Atlanta’s best player is Trae Young

This one is obvious enough. Trae Young made his first All-Star game as a starter in 2019, and the third-year point guard out of Oklahoma has lived up to every early expectation that was placed upon him after the Hawks traded for him on draft day in 2018.

Young’s almost 30 points per game in 2020 accounted for nearly 25 percent of his team’s total offensive production, and between his own points and assist points created, Young was a part of 47 percent of the Hawks’ points in 2020. Yeah, pretty crazy.

Young had no John Collins for 25 games last year and his season was cut short due to the pandemic. Fans should expect he’ll heat it up early and relish in the spotlight with a much stronger team around him. A second All-Star nod should be in play for Young, and there’s no doubt that he and Luka Doncic will continue proving how great their draft class was.

As far as how he’d impact a play-in tournament, Young is clutch. Put the ball in his hands in a final play situation and he’ll get the job done.

Look no further than a four-minute video of clutch shots from 2018-19:

Of course, Young being a smaller guard will be targeted in a last-second inbounds situation. The Hawks thankfully have more offensive weapons than last year to defer to if he can’t get a shot up.