The Atlanta Hawks had another incredible offseason, their second franchise-changer in three seasons. While the front office said that they were just working on tweaking the roster, they have made some pretty decent changes, while still keeping most of their young core.
Moving on from Danilo Gallinari and Kevin Huerter has the potential to have a negative impact on the Hawks offense in the short term. However the perimeter def ense, which was their greatest liability last season, looks to be greatly improved.
Gallinari was one of the most important players on offense for the Hawks second unit last season but to be fair, he was a liability on defense. Huerter was another player who was tremendous offensively but he play-by-play defense was not as strong as the Hawks needed it to be.
So, how have the Atlanta Hawks fixed their biggest issue from last season?
Well, firstly they picked up a former All-Defensive level defender who is also good enough ofensively to be named to his first All-Star team least season. Dejounte Murray would be enough to say that the Hawks have fixed their biggest issue, however they did not stop there.
The Hawks also added the 3-and-D wings Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless thanks to the Huerter trade. These two players are known for their defensive ability so let’s hope that the Hawks don’t suffer any regret by trading Red Velvet away.
They also added Aaron Holiday to the guard rotation, and while he is not a wing defender, every time that he hits the floor, he is going to make life difficult for the opposition. This rotation of players should gel really well with the established defensive core of De’Andre Hunter and Clint Capela.
So have the Hawks fixed thir biggest issue from last season? The answer must be yes. Murray would have been enough to fix the majority of the issues but adding the other two wing defenders means that the Hawks should be a lot harder to score against. Bleacher Report certainly agree.