Hawks making 'biggest regret' of 2024 look good as calendar turns

The Atlanta Hawks will close the 2024 calendar year with an 18-15 record.

They were 13-19 at the same point in 2023, so the marked progress despite lowered expectations should be something for Hawks general manager Landry Fields to celebrate, right?

Wrong, apparently. The Hawks’ offseason pivot, trading Dejounte Murray, has seemingly righted the ship. But not everyone believes they have done enough to correct some of the issues they created with their roster-building moves in recent seasons.

“When the Hawks shipped out Dejounte Murray in July, they clearly had an eye on the future. All key components of their return package were future-focused, whether that was the 2025 and 2027 first-round picks they added or 21-year-old chaos-creator Dyson Daniels,” Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley wrote on December 31.

“And yet, it's hard to say Atlanta is fully focused on looking ahead when Trae Young still pilots this attack, Clint Capela remains in the starting lineup and the bench mob follows the lead of De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanović.”

The Hawks are fifth in the East heading into the new year.

They have the 15th-toughest remaining strength of schedule, per Tankathon. Health permitting, there is no reason to believe they cannot hold that spot or remain in that range into the postseason. But that is not good enough for Buckley, with a title still a long shot.

“The Hawks have enough established talent to remain firmly in the hunt for a top-six seed in the East, but not nearly enough to consider themselves championship-contenders,” Buckley wrote.

“In other words, they are continuing to put mileage on the treadmill of mediocrity. In their defense, they don't have an obvious way out, since tanking is off the table with the San Antonio Spurs controlling their next three first-round picks, but there still isn't a positive way to spin being effectively—and perpetually—stuck in the middle.”

Hawks’ bought themselves time with Dejounte Murray trade

Ironically, the same reason Buckley cites as the impetus for the Hawks’ current path being their biggest regret is the same reason they should feel optimistic. Their best player remains the prolific Young.

He is a history-making three-time All-Star and does not turn 27 years old until September 2025.

The Hawks roster just five players who are older than Young. Two of them are 27 (De’Andre Hunter) and 28 (Garrison Mathews).

They have three players who are 30 or older. Two of them – Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr. – are in the final years of their contract. The third, Bogdan Bogdanovic, is in Year 2 of a four-year, $68 million contract but has drawn trade interest.

Injuries to Bogdanovic and Nance could hinder the Hawks’ trade plans and on the court.

But they are far from a team without direction. They just bought themselves more time with Young and seem to have found a winning formula even if it could still use tweaking.

In that sense, they did exactly what Buckley suggests they should. There were really few other options due to their draft pick situation. Daniels has made the trade look like a steal for the Hawks, with the incoming picks from the Murray trade the potential icing on the cake.