Things are not as bleak for the Atlanta Hawks as they may seem

The Atlanta Hawks are 15-19 and currently sit 12th in the Eastern Conference. They have lost two straight, are 4-10 since having their seven-game winning streak snapped, and had their road winning streak snapped a couple of games ago by the New York Knicks on Christmas at Madison Square Garden.

Atlanta also has an unconscionable number of players out and players on 10-day contracts in efforts to make it all work.

Even with all of that, there is plenty to be positive about as the calendar year ends.

There are signs of positivity around the Atlanta Hawks despite a rough go of things

For starters, they have already gotten back two, well, starters. Getting Trae Young and then Clint Capela back was a huge boost to morale even if it hasn’t brought wins immediately. Things have been so dire that the Hawks brought forward Chaundee Brown in and he started the same night at power forward.

While they are still awaiting the returns of Bogdan Bogdanovic and John Collins to the starting lineup, they have had a couple of reserves trickle in as well.

Wesley Iwundu got cleared on Wednesday and, it would appear, that Lou Williams is set to make his return after being left off of the injury report. Williams has missed the last five games in health and safety protocols.

Another trusted vet in Danilo Gallinari hit his 10th day in isolation on Friday.

The Hawks haven’t been the beneficiaries of many things during this stretch including a reduction in isolation time recommended by the CDC and, subsequently, the NBA.

Players entering protocols now will only have to be away for five days assuming no new positive tests. All of the Hawks on the list were grandfathered into the old rules and will have to finish out their 10 days barring consecutive negatives within 24 hours. So far, Capela, Iwundu, and Young have been the only ones to return early after testing out.

Friday is Williams’ 10th day but his removal from the report ahead of that suggests he has cleared protocols though no official word has been given.

Even with that roadblock, the dates for the rest of the regular roster are fast approaching.

Gallinari hit 10 days Friday but will have to wait for one more game under the old rules. They could get Kevin Huerter and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot on Monday versus the Portland Trail Blazers with John Collins and Onyeka Okongu just a couple of days behind them.

Their opponent on Friday is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Interestingly enough, it is the team against which the Hawks got their first experience with COVID as their original first meeting got postponed after the Cavs couldn’t field eight healthy players. Now, the Cavs sit in 5th place in the East after getting healthier.

Atlanta is just four games back in the loss column (five wins) of Cleveland for that fifth seed which they rode to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

The Hawks were one game worse record-wise at this point last season.

It had them one spot better in the standings, though, with (you guessed it) the Cavs right behind them having an identical win total but one more loss. Oknogwu and Young have both noted the run they went on last season as reasons they aren’t too concerned.

Getting players back won’t be a cure-all. They will need to get their conditioning back as we have seen and they were having issues before all of that. But with how rocky things have been, with injuries even before COVID woes, the Hawks outlook is far better than one might assume based on this snapshot.