A 2-0 start has given way to a three-game skid for the Atlanta Hawks.
Shorthanded and already reeling from back-to-back losses, the Hawks fell to the Washington Wizards for the second time in three days in a 133-120 defeat.
The loss itself and the injuries suffered by Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, and others are bad enough. But things could get worse for the Hawks before they get better as their schedule will not do them any favors with eight road games in their next 14 outings, including a four-game road trip.
How the Hawks fare in this stretch could have significant ramifications.
“The Hawks have been middling in the play-in picture over the past few years but have a lot of optionality,” ESPN’s Brian Winhorst wrote on October 25. “They have eight core players age 26 or younger, including the 22-year-old Johnson and 19-year-old No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, and have two firsts in the highly anticipated 2025 draft.”
The Hawks will have time to right the ship. Their injured players should return well before the trade deadline on February 6. But that assumes they do not suffer any more significant losses.
The noise before then could get very loud if they fail to do so.
“Atlanta will be a team to watch on the transaction front because all this gives the Hawks a lot of choices on how to build their roster during the season, especially as the window for Trae Young to extend his contract opens next summer,” Windhorst wrote.
Windhorst has previously discussed the financial aspect of Young’s future with the Hawks rather than his long-term fit and track record as is often the case.
Young is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract and has a player option for 2026-27.
“This is a real pivotal year … for Tae Young. No. 1, after this season he can extend his contract,” Windhorst said on “The Hoop Collective” podcast in August. “We know that he's on the ‘Fun Max .’ We know the next contract is ‘Stress Max’ time. It's been dubbed the ‘Stress Max’ because it affects both sides. Sometimes it's the stress on the team whether they can get the player to sign, and sometimes it's stress on the player about whether he can get that second max.
“In this environment under the new rules where you've got to watch the dollars being spent, especially when you get to the 30% part of the 30% max. Trae is going to have to have a big year, even if it's to stay in Atlanta and sign a max. And then it's, ‘Is it going to be in Atlanta? Is that where they're going to be?’”
Young came up in trade rumors this past offseason. He has rejected them before and has consistently represented Atlanta, which seems as telling as anything else. A deal of that magnitude also makes more sense for the offseason or teams that control their own first-round picks.
Of course, Windhorst did not specifically say or even suggest the Hawks could look to trade Young. They could always look to make a move to further bolster the roster around him.
That alone makes them a team to watch during this transaction window.