During the 25-26 season, Quin Snyder helped orchestrate one of the best in-season turnarounds in Atlanta Hawks history. From February 22 to April 3, Atlanta went 18-2, including an 11-game win streak. Before that stretch, the Hawks were 27-31 and 9th in the East. At the end of the stretch, they were 45-33 and 5th in the East, where they would finish the season.
Even with that type of turnaround, Snyder didn't receive any love in the Coach of the Year voting. He got two third-place votes, landing him in 9th. It was a bit of a shock, as it was obvious Snyder's system completely changed after the trade of Trae Young and became extremely effective, and earned him a him a contact extension.
Fast forward to the present day: the NBA season is right around the corner, and ESPN put out its "NBA Summer Forecast 2026-27: Predictions of every major award," and Quin Snyder is not one of the five coaches who received votes from ESPN NBA Insiders.
Indiana's Rick Carlisle was the top vote-getter, with San Antonio's Mitch Johnson, Utah's Will Hardy, Minnesota's Chris Finch, and Philadelphia's Nick Nurse the other coaches listed.
The lack of a flashy move has everyone forgetting what Atlanta did last season
The Hawks are returning almost the exact same roster, with better depth than they had last season. Last year's entire starting five is back; they resigned Jock Landale, added proven winners Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, and drafted Kingston Flemings and Zubi Ejiofor, who should fit in seamlessly.
It's easy to overlook the Hawks after all of the movement in the rest of the East Conference. Philly and Miami made superstar splashes, Indiana is getting Tyrese Halliburton back, and New York is returning almost the entire championship roster - those are just some of the teams getting hype headed into the season. None of that means Atlanta won't be right back to where they were last season.
The Hawks have a core that is coming into its collective primes. Jalen Johnson showed the league he is going to be an All-NBA candidate for years to come. Onyeka Okongwu's emerging floor-spacing ability was a massive piece of Atlanta's breakout last year. Nickeil Alexander-Walker shocked the league last year. Those are all pieces that have now had an entire offseason to work on their games in Snyder's system.
Onsi Saleh and Quin Snyder seem to be in lockstep on the direction of the Hawks roster. Once Snyder was free to run the system he wanted, the team hit its stride. It's hard to see Atlanta not building on what they did after the Trae Young trade last year, and if they do that, Snyder will be in the Coach of the Year race.
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