Atlanta Hawks: Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving situations cloud East’s outlook
The Atlanta Hawks are just over a week from kicking off their regular season with a matchup against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. It’s certain to be an exciting matchup with Doncic and Hawks superstar point guard Trae Young’s paths eternally linked thanks in no small part to the draft-night swap that landed them in their current situation.
As a team, the Hawks current situation is being viewed as somewhere between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, looking up at the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
But Brooklyn and Philly are both going through internal strife that could leave the Eastern Conference open for a shakeup from the expectation.
The Atlanta Hawks stand to benefit from the turmoil in Brooklyn and Philadelphia
We’ve been over the 76ers situation with Ben Simmons some. He feels they threw him under the bus and has requested to be traded. They have said they want him (including Joel Embiid who said a little bit of everything), have declined many offers for the 6-foot-11 point guard, and recently began fining him for missing team activities including their preseason games.
That last part forced some movement as Simmons’ side “took note” of the hefty amount. He’s forfeited nearly $1 million and his reps, Klutch Sports, aren’t ones to take losing money lightly.
What is still unclear is what Simmons’ intentions are. Is he showing up to finally join his teammates? Or will he simply show up to try and recoup some of the money he lost or, worse yet, lean into his trade demands even more?
Things are somehow even more complicated in Brooklyn. Kyrie Irving has refused to get vaccinated against COVID — though he has made clear he isn’t anti-vax — meaning he wouldn’t be able to play in home games. This has led to the Nets disallowing his participation from all team activities.
The situation has reportedly even become an issue for Kevin Durant and James Harden.
That’s two of the four teams many outlets have put over the Hawks in their preseason power rankings.
We’ve been strongly against Philly getting the benefit of the doubt after being knocked out of the playoffs by an injured Hawks team. Add in all of the Simmons drama and it really begins to make little sense.
Brooklyn’s drama comes as a bit more of a surprise. But perhaps it shouldn’t be. Irving has always been outspoken and might embody “mercurial” better than any other athlete. We all remember how he ghosted the franchise for a while over the summer and his “jokingly” questioning whether or not the Earth was flat.
Suddenly, the Hawks healthy issues don’t seem so daunting. They aren’t at any more of a risk than any other team and have none of the potentially chemistry-ruining internal strife.
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Milwaukee isn’t going away though. And the Miami Heat will be tougher too with Kyle Lowry in the fold. But there aren’t any other teams better equipped to take one of the top spots in the Eastern Conference this season. Of course, that’s why they play the games.