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Sekou Smith wrote:2018-19 Midseason Report Cards: Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks: D

The Hawks are in a full blown rebuild in Lloyd Pierce’s first season as coach, so the roller coaster ride they’re on this season was expected. Turning the offense over to rookie point guard Trae Young came with inherent risks as well. But to his credit, Young has proved to be more durable (physically, mentally and emotionally) than his slight frame and limited exposure might have suggested.

Second-year forward John Collins is the player who has emerged for the Hawks, who have to figure out which of their youngsters are long-term keepers. He’s got 20-point, 10-rebound potential for years to come and is the ideal stretch big for today’s NBA. The evaluation process for rookies Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman will continue into this season and beyond as the Hawks reconstitute themselves. Veterans like Vince Carter and Jeremy Lin are helping to bridge the gap as Atlanta’s plans enter the next phase.

Jamaaliver wrote:[quote='Sekou Smith"]2018-19 Midseason Report Cards: Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks: D

The Hawks are in a full blown rebuild in Lloyd Pierce’s first season as coach, so the roller coaster ride they’re on this season was expected. Turning the offense over to rookie point guard Trae Young came with inherent risks as well. But to his credit, Young has proved to be more durable (physically, mentally and emotionally) than his slight frame and limited exposure might have suggested.

Second-year forward John Collins is the player who has emerged for the Hawks, who have to figure out which of their youngsters are long-term keepers. He’s got 20-point, 10-rebound potential for years to come and is the ideal stretch big for today’s NBA. The evaluation process for rookies Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman will continue into this season and beyond as the Hawks reconstitute themselves. Veterans like Vince Carter and Jeremy Lin are helping to bridge the gap as Atlanta’s plans enter the next phase.

Spud2nique wrote:Let me get this straight. We were slated to win 23 games this year and have the worst record yet we have the 5th worst and we get a D? I give this author an F for not watching Hawks games yet having the audacity to post this crap.

The Hawks have reached the 41-game mark with a record of 12-29, the fifth-worst record in the NBA, in coach Lloyd Pierce’s first season. This season isn’t about adding up wins, as the team rebuilds. Schlenk, Pierce and the rest of the key players inside the Hawks’ organization are more so looking for growth out of the young players, which Schlenk says he has seen in the past month.

With the Hawks officially at the halfway point, The Athletic caught up with Schlenk to get his thoughts on the team up until this point and, of course, in the future.
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"I’m really happy with Lloyd. He’s just a good guy...even if we’re not winning every night like we want to. Those qualities: being able to keep a positive environment along with being able to develop our players were two of the highest priorities for us.

...We focus on smaller goals. We want to get better every single day. As we improve each day, the wins are going to be there and take care of themselves. We’re taking a bigger picture approach.

...The main thing is that we continue to see growth, individually and collectively. We continue to watch guys get better. It’s not like we’re saying, ‘This is the number we need to reach to consider it a successful season.’ It’s not like that. It’s about continuing to see growth and continuing to see guys playing better."

Zach Harper wrote:The Athletic’s NBA Power Rankings: Halfway point admissions edition


26. Atlanta Hawks (Previously 26th), 13-30 (-7.6 net rating)

I thought the Atlanta Hawks were going to be the worst team in the NBA.

General manager Travis Schlenk tore down a solid roster, and with good reason. That roster had an extremely low ceiling, and the Hawks decided they wanted to build something a lot more meaningful. Going into this season, I was pretty certain that Kent Bazemore was the most talented guy on the roster. No offense to Kent Bazemore, but he should never be the most talented guy on an NBA roster. The Hawks looked fully ready to embrace an even more extreme tanking season after their 24 wins a year ago. Instead, the Hawks have found a bit of a groove lately in being really competitive. Occasionally, this roster will get pummeled and it’s a reminder of the young, but overwhelmed talent on the roster. That’s typically the case with rebuilding teams.

However, this Hawks team has turned a corner lately. They’ve actually won seven of their previous 14 games. They went from a team on pace for about 17 victories to a 24-win projection. That would put them with the same number of wins as last season. That doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, but it does when you think about how bad this team looked a month ago. Lloyd Pierce has this team looking a lot more competent on defense. For a team this young (with its core and not Vince Carter), that feels like a major accomplishment.

Midseason Report Card Grades for Every NBA Team

Atlanta Hawks: C



Grading bad teams that are supposed to be bad is always a challenge. The Hawks didn't make it any easier.

In instances like this, a high-end prospect making considerable improvement goes a long way. The Hawks have one. It just isn't the one on which all the attention falls.

Trae Young's sub-30 percent clip is a genuine concern. The "He's just a rookie" deflections don't work. It doesn't matter that his vision is as advertised, or that he's canning more than 38 percent of his treys since the Hawks' Dec. 8 win over the Denver Nuggets.

L*** D****c, the player Atlanta traded to get Young, is holding Rookie of the Year hostage for an unmeetable ransom. He complicates everything for the Hawks' most talked-about name.

John Collins is doing his damnedest to provide cover. He's (quietly) averaging 18.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists while burying 44.4 percent of his corner threes and exploring the limits of his self-starting jumpers. Lineups that run him at the 5 are deployed in small doses and getting obliterated on defense, but his offensive role expansion is a reminder that Atlanta has more than one top-shelf prospect.

Others are pitching in, too. Kevin Huerter appears to be Young's backcourt mate of the future. Taurean Prince still has potential to work with when he returns from his left ankle injury. DeAndre' Bembry University continues to accept applicants, but admission is about to close.

The Hawks are fun. They're getting into the habit of stealing random road games against quality opponents. And unlike some other rebuilding squads, their asset chest isn't the least bit tied to selling off veterans—Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon, Jeremy Lin—by the trade deadline.

NBA Midseason Grades: Eastern Conference

ATLANTA HAWKS: B+
First-Half Record: 14–30 | Net Rating: 26th

A finely executed rebuild in Atlanta so far. Trae Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter are all top five amongst Hawks in minutes played, while Lloyd Pierce still wisely employs his vets to keep things from going completely off the rails. Atlanta has lost and will continue to lose a lot, but it will also frustrate teams and win sometimes when it’s not supposed to. The Hawks are on a sensible path and must make sure they keep Young at the forefront of their future plans. Young hasn’t been spectacular, but he has flashes of brilliance that make his future seem bright when he’s not being constantly compared to Luka Doncic. Judging him or this team after half a season is a fruitless exercise. Atlanta needs time, and everyone knows that.

2018-19 NBA Midseason Grades:

Atlanta Hawks: C



It's tough to appropriately grade the Hawks this season since they are building for the future. In the present they're not great, but in Trae Young and John Collins they seem to have identified a couple of foundational pieces moving forward.