2023-24 Season Previews

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One Defining Number for Every NBA Team

The 2023-24 season is mere days away. Here’s one key fact or figure for each team in the league that will dictate what’s to come.

Atlanta Hawks: 33

The Hawks have been the NBA’s most mediocre team since their surprise conference finals trip three seasons ago. In 2021-22, they finished 43-39, good for ninth in the East. (They won the no. 8 seed in the play-in round.) In 2022-23, they finished 41-41, good for eighth in the East—though they jumped to no. 7 with a play-in win in Miami—and, even more remarkably, were within a game of .500 for a remarkable 33 games in a row, from mid-January through early April.

This graph shows how many games above or below .500 Atlanta was throughout last season, including playoffs. Note that the Hawks deviated from an even record by more than a game just once over the last half of the season (play-in and playoffs included).

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NBA Power Rankings



19. Atlanta Hawks

What do we like? I love the talent and depth for this Hawks team. The idea of Quin Snyder coaching them pulls it all together. Trae Young has plenty of things to work on, but he’s still one of the most talented offensive players in the world. Dejounte Murray is a really good backcourt partner, and this team has plenty of pieces to put together a good defense under Snyder. The Hawks have the talent to be a top-six team in the East.

What do we question? Their focus and buy-in with coaches doesn’t have a great track record. A roster with Clint Capela, Dejounte Murray, De’Andre Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu shouldn’t be a bottom-10 defense. This team should be more well-rounded, and it’s not because of leadership issues throughout the roster and organization. Can that be fixed this year?

One random prediction: Trae Young becomes the fourth player in NBA history to average 30 points and 10 assists per game.

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NBA Power Rankings

18. Atlanta Hawks



Now that Quin Snyder has had a full offseason and training camp to implement his offense around Trae Young, it's hard to imagine the Atlanta Hawks leaving the top 10 in offense.

Over Snyder's last six seasons with the Jazz, Utah was sixth in points scored per 100 possessions. And over the course of Young's career, the Hawks have typically scored at a well-above-average rate when he's on the floor.

With time for those two to figure out how to work with each other, it's safe to assume the Hawks will put up a decent number of points.

Outperforming this rank and being better than the mediocre 41-41 they were in 2022-23 probably depends more on the other end. With Dejounte Murray's perimeter defense, Clint Capela's size inside and the theoretical switchability of forwards like Jalen Johnson, De'Andre Hunter and Saddiq Bey, Atlanta at least has the potential to be average on defense (even with Young in the rotation).

Bleacher Report

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Five keys for the Hawks’ 2023-24 season



The Hawks’ regular season finally arrives Wednesday night, when the team tips off its first full season under the guidance of coach Quin Snyder. The team has implemented a new system, and they’ll look to improve upon last season’s 41-41 regular-season record.

Here are five keys to the coming season:

Young and Murray’s offcourt chemistry

Spoiler:

The Hawks believe that Trae Young and Dejounte Murray can make their partnership work. The team extended Murray’s contract in the offseason, furthering its commitment to building the roster around the skills that he and Young possess. Murray and Young also have confidence in their partnership and believe that their court chemistry can translate into the games.

The Hawks are a much stronger team with either of the two guards on the floor, as they help to facilitate steady ball movement. Together, the two help to put pressure on defenses and keep them off-balance with their threats as scorers. Snyder has cautioned patience with the two guards as they continue to navigate their growing on-court relationship. But the Hawks will want things to click to give the team a chance at a good start this season. For Young, that means playing the right way.

“I mean, there’s a lot of things,” Young said. “I mean, obviously you want to win every game. But if you’re playing the right way, and sometimes shots don’t go in or certain balls don’t go in some nights, it’s going to be like that you play (82) games. So it’s hard to judge just based off winning and losing. But I mean, I want to win every game, and so to get off to a hot start is very important. But if we’re playing the right way and we’re playing how I think we will, we’ll be in every game and give ourselves a chance to win.”

Young players have to step up

Spoiler:

The Hawks have been one of the younger teams in the NBA and still have plenty of young veterans making up the roster. But after a run to the Eastern Conference finals three years ago, the expectations remain high that the Hawks roster can return.

The team has several young players who have shown promise over the past couple of seasons, and the expectation is that they will play bigger roles in the team’s rotation this season. The Hawks have exercised Jalen Johnson’s fourth-year option and AJ Griffin’s third-year option, so they are committed to having them in the fold long term.

But the team will need the two, along with players such as Saddiq Bey and Onyeka Okongwu to take steps forward in their development and make even bigger contributions. Both Bey and Johnson are expected to play the bulk of the team’s open minutes at power forward. Both players offer the Hawks different things to whatever lineup the team adds them to. So, the Hawks have plenty of options on how best to use them.

Collective defense

Spoiler:

The Hawks lost one of their stronger defenders during the offseason when they dealt John Collins in July. So, the team has looked to improve its defense internally with the team focusing on it throughout camp. Last season, the Hawks had a No. 22 defensive rating (115.4). That number ended being a bit of an average from the Hawks season before the All-Star break (114.2) and its defensive play after the All-Star break (118.2).

The Hawks had the 10th-highest opponent 3-point percentage, allowed the fifth-most fast-break points and the second-most points in the paint. With the team looking to play faster under the guidance of Snyder, the Hawks will have to rely on the getting stops and getting out in transition to wreak the most havoc on the offensive end.

As a team, the players know they won’t have trouble generating looks. In order to be a winning team though, they know they have to step up on defense.

Remaining as healthy as possible

Spoiler:

The Hawks took advantage of a healthy offseason to try to get themselves in the right condition to withstand 48 minutes of basketball. Now they’ll look to maintain that conditioning for an 82-game season.

Injuries to some key players have slowed the Hawks in the past, but the team has had minimal injuries in training camp and throughout the exhibition season. The team sat De’Andre Hunter for three of their five exhibition games with a minor bone bruise on his right knee. But Hunter returned for the final two games. So, the team will look to take advantage of the current status of its roster to get out to a good start.

In-Season Tournament

Spoiler:

The NBA introduced the In-Season Tournament in July to add a little more excitement to the middle of the season. Typically, hype to the season dies around the middle of November and through December as the teams make it to the halfway point. Now, the league has designated tournament nights as teams look to increase the competitiveness. The Hawks want to embrace that extra competition, and they’ll have to back up their words that they have built good habits by consistently performing each game.

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32 Predictions for the 2023-24 NBA Season

Trae Young Will Not Lead the NBA in Assists...or Turnovers



Trae Young amassed more total assists and turnovers in 2021-22 than anyone else, and then he did it again last season. Your first thought should probably be some version of "Maybe get off the ball once in a while, Trae."

New head coach Quin Snyder probably agrees.

Snyder didn't get a chance to install his full strategic package upon taking over for Nate McMillan late last year, but his track record suggests Young won't dribble the rock into the ground for a third straight year. Though his Utah Jazz teams ran plenty of pick-and-roll action, a set in which Young excels, Snyder favored "advantage basketball" marked by more movement, handoffs and off-ball activity.

That'll bring diversity (and probably improvement) to a Hawks attack that has been too one-note in recent seasons, and it will also reduce Young's ball dominance. Trae is already running around away from the action more in preseason play than he ever has.

Young's counting stats could dip in 2023-24, but that might wind up being a net positive for Atlanta.

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