Why the Atlanta Hawks are one of the most underrated teams this season
The Atlanta Hawks made a big splash in the offseason when they sent out Danilo Gallinari and three draft picks for what essentially became Dejounte Murray. While this is an incredible upgrade for the team, there are some potential teething issues between him and Trae Young.
They are both unselfish players as evidenced by their averaging more than nine assists per game each last season. While these numbers are expected to go down for both of them, there is still going to be an insane amount of ball movement generated for the team. This is going to allow for some open looks from deep or a deep paint connection with the big men which will be almost impossible to stop.
Defensively Young still has a question mark over his play but adding Murray is going to mean that the Hawks are less exposed. His ability to generate transition offense through deflections and steals is going to be a thing of legend at the end of his career.
So why are the Atlanta Hawks still underrated?
The problem for the Hawks is that they are still underrated due to the questions at the defensive end of the court. NBA pundits are overly cautious when it comes to the Atlanta Hawks’ chances. They are still mid-pack in the championship odds which is a little ridiculous.
The preseason should start answering some of the questions that are being asked of the Hawks. Murray has been really impressive in the two games that he played. Trae Young put on a show in the first half of the second Milwaukee Bucks game in Abu Dhabi that is going to be hard to forget.
However, it is the other players on the Hawks roster that are going to determine how far this team goes. A healthy Clint Capela is collecting every rebound he can find. De’Andre Hunter is showing that he is a true talent on both ends of the court.
Next. The impact of the Atlanta Hawks waiving four players. dark
On top of that, John Collins is loving being at the end of the passes of two incredible playmakers and the bench is starting to round out nicely. All they have to do is get Bogdan Bogdanovic back healthy from the knee injury that sidelined him for most of the offseason and the Hawks are going to be one of the best teams in the NBA. They will lose the underrated tag before Christmas.