On Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets are making up their game from earlier this month, which was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Hawks enter the contest riding a five-game losing streak that has them squarely in the focus of speculation with the trade deadline on February 6. It has made Hawks GM a “person to keep an eye on” according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Marks, a former executive for the Brooklyn Nets, predicts tough decisions for Fields.
“Fields is tasked with answering this question before the deadline: What version of this roster does he trust?” Marks wrote on January 28. “There is the team that went 7-1 in late November and early December, a stretch that included wins against Cleveland (twice), New York, Milwaukee and the Lakers. In those eight games, Atlanta ranked ninth in defensive efficiency. After an ensuing three-game losing streak (Milwaukee, San Antonio, Memphis), the Hawks won their next four games. This season, the Hawks are 4-1 against Boston and Cleveland.
“Then there is the team that went 1-4 on a road trip in early January. The Hawks lost by double digits in three of those games (Denver, Lakers and Clippers). They gave up an average of 128 points in the four losses.”
The Hawks’ next win at home will be their first since January 14.
Which version of the Hawks Fields believes is significant because it will determine who they are willing to part with at the trade deadline.
Marks points to centers Clint Capela (two years, $46 million) and Larry Nance Jr. (two years, $21.6 million) as potential trade candidates. Both players are on expiring deals and neither figures to be in the Hawks’ long-term plans.
The Hawks opted against including either Capela or Okongwu in trades last offseason.
However, the Hawks are said to prefer Okongwu in trade talks and recently switched the youngster into the starting lineup.
Hawks get good news before Rockets game
Part of the reason the Hawks have struggled is the sheer number of injuries they have had to navigate.
Tuesday’s injury report brought good news with it, though.
Trae Young is listed as questionable with hamstring tightness, and the Hawks remain without Jalen Johnson, Kobe Bufkin – who is out for the season – and Cody Zeller as he remains away from the team.
However, the rest of the report was clean, which is notable after Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Dyson Daniels all sat out.
Neither Bogdanovic nor Daniels was listed on Tuesday’s report.
The Rockets are relatively healthy coming into the tilt. Rockets forward Tari Eason is out, and teammate Cam Whitemore is questionable with an illness. However, the Hawks’ main concern is beating the No. 2 team in the Western Conference.
Hawks’ record vs the West
The Hawks have not been great in many situations. They are 15-15 against teams with .500 records or better. More concerning for the Hawks even as they get healthy, they are 7-13 against the Western Conference.
There are a lot of root causes for the team’s consistent mediocrity in the standings.
If the Hawks want to quell the noise – and avoid the reaper that is the trade deadline – they must reverse their fortunes in several areas. A win over Houston would be a good start.