The Hawks' catastrophic month of December did not treat them kindly in the NBA's latest power rankings.
Sitting at a dismal 18th place out of 30 total teams, the once-mocked Eastern Conference 4 seed is losing games left and right – easy ones, at that. Recent losses to the Heat sans Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, as well as back-to-back interior collapses to the Chicago Bulls have sunk Atlanta far down the NBA's poll.
The Hawks current losing streak has extended to 7 games, and they're 2-11 across the month of December. With how cold they've been, it's not ridiculous to begin to speculate what Onsi Saleh's plans for the season may be – should the Hawks pivot to a rebuild, or cash in their chips before it's too late?
Apart from these puzzling questions, one massive positive has held steadfast amidst all of the turmoil in Atlanta.
There is a bright side to the power rankings
Apart from the ugly 18th ranking that the Hawks received, there's a substantial silver lining hidden near the bottom of the NBA's list – where the Bucks and Pelicans currently sit.
When Atlanta traded for the better of the Bucks and Pelicans' 2026 first round pick during the summer, Onsi Saleh was banking on one (or both) outcomes to come into fruition – the Pelicans would implode under the pressure of one of the most stacked conferences we've ever seen, and the Bucks would implode amidst circulating trade rumors of their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Both of these two events seem to have played out perfectly for the Hawks.
The Pelicans continued to struggle out West, with injuries doubling their troubles. No Dejounte, limited production from Zion, and the lingering unavailability of Herb Jones have all damaged the hull of their already damaged tanker. They rank 27th out of 30 NBA teams in the latest power rankings.
Meanwhile, the Bucks aren't faring much better – despite the fact that Giannis just returned from injury, their 11th place standing is a daunting challenge to come back from, especially bearing in mind his need to continue to ramp up to full health over the coming weeks. They sit at 25th out of 30 NBA teams.
While Hawks fans have every right to be disappointed by their own team's win column, the light at the end of the tunnel of the season remains bright – as we march ever closer to the 2026 draft, one of the tantalizing quartet composed of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson may just be an Atlanta Hawk ever so soon.