Atlanta Hawks: Las Vegas predicts more wins, worse finish in the East

The Atlanta Hawks turnaround season has them gaining a lot more positive attention these days. Not only will they play in 19 nationally televised games, but they’ll also play on Christmas day, an honor around the league, for the first time in over 30 years. It’s a long way from being blasted for trading for Trae Young.

Perhaps, with better health and depth this season, the Hawks can break through to their first NBA Finals berth in 50 years.

According to Las Vegas, they’re in for a better regular season but could find themselves in a position much like they were in this past year. The Hawks lost out on the fourth seed to the New York Knicks when the latter faced a Boston Celtics team resting players in the final game.

The Atlanta Hawks might not get to reap the benefits of an improved regular season

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Keith Smith of Spotrac.com tweeted out the projected win totals of each conference for the 2022 season, per BetOnline.Ag. They set the over/under on the Hawks win total at 46.5, five wins better than their record in 2021.

It would seem they’re also accounting for better health from guys like De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, both of whom missed most of last season with lower-body injuries.

Trae Young — who is in the top-10 in preseason MVP voting — and John Collins also missed time last season.

It is interesting though. The Hawks have been commended for their offseason despite making relatively minimal changes outside of drafting Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper, neither of which are expected to be major contributors this season with the level of depth on this roster. Backup point guard Delon Wright and backup center Gorgui Dieng were the only vets added.

Entering last season, after an offseason of spending and big trades that landed Bogdan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, and Danilo Gallinari, the over/under was set at 34.5.

This would mark two years of significant jumps in wins but, alas, it could all be for naught, as Vegas sees them once again finishing with the same record as a conference foe; this time the Boston Celtics.

It would be a rather cruel twist if the team that could have gotten the Hawks the homecourt advantage last season stands in their way directly this season. The new-look Celtics are being led by a rookie head coach in Ime Udoka.

But it gets worse as they also have both teams behind the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat in the East.

That means Vegas thinks the Hawks could wind up as the sixth seed.

We’ve long been clear of our stance on this and the Hawks surely are looking to show how good they can be when actually healthy. That part already needs a caveat as they will be without Onyeka Okongwu until at least January. Hopefully, their improved depth pays off.

Ultimately, it’s not a big slide, and the wins show they feel it’s more about the rest of the conference improving too, perhaps more than the Hawks. Had they finished there this season, they would have faced the Bucks in round one. It’s fair to wonder if the outcome would have been any different.