The Atlanta Hawks have qualified for the play-in tournament but they now have an incredibly tough path through the playoffs. The best news for the Hawks is that they take on the Charlotte Hornets at home where they have won 11 of their last 12 games.
However, looking at the season that the Hawks have had, it is highly unlikely that they will make it to the NBA Finals. The Hawks still need to be looking for ways to improve their team. Now that the season has ended for 10 of the 30 teams, the rumor mill has started.
One of the first stories that broke was Donte DiVincenzo being unhappy with the way the Sacramento Kings have used him and whether the Hawks should be interested. Now, rumors have also surfaced that the Indiana Pacers are looking to move Malcolm Brogdon and whether the Atlanta Hawks should be interested.
Should the Atlanta Hawks take any interest in Malcolm Brogdon?
There is no doubt that Brogdon is a serious talent. He is still the only player taken with a second-round pick who has won the NBA rookie of the year. The problem is that Brogdon has a similar skill-set to so many other players on the team and will not improve the team enough.
He started all 36 of his games last season for the Pacers and averaged 19.1 points, 5.9 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in 33.5 minutes per game. He was efficient from the floor, going at 44.8 percent. The problem is that he was very inefficient from deep, only hitting 31.2 percent of his 5.2 attempts per game.
The problem is that Brogdon is also a very weak defender which is not what the Hawks need right now. They have ridden the back of the offensive talent of Trae Young but he is not strong on the defensive end of the court. With Brogdon on the floor, the Hawks will not be able to defend the opposition backcourt.
The other problem for the Hawks chasing Brogdon is that he has more than $60 million and three years left on his contract. The Hawks would need to give up a key piece which not be a problem if Brogdon made the team better, which he does not.