Hawks’ blowout loss to Knicks doesn’t look as bad in hindsight
When the Hawks’ season ended last month, following an unfathomable 51-point loss to the Knicks in Game 6 of the first-round Eastern Conference series, the prevailing notion seemed to be that the Hawks were fatally flawed.
In the weeks since, that belief seems to have evolved … somewhat.
The Hawks may not be in as bad a shape as first thought.
Since the Hawks pushed the first-round matchup to six games, the Knicks have gone on to stack up nine consecutive wins in the playoffs.
After the Hawks won both Games 2 and 3 by one point each, the Knicks dominated the final three games of the series. Then they swept the 76ers in four games, beating them by 10 or more points in all but one of them.
Now, the Knicks lead the Cavaliers 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. They look poised for another series sweep after executing a 22-point comeback to force overtime in Game 1. They led the Cavs by 18 points with 1:21 when the benches cleared.
So, with a little bit of hindsight, the Hawks forcing their series against the Knicks to six games provides the smallest bit of affirmation that they’re on the right track.
The Hawks still have a lot of work to do.
They still need to shore up their frontcourt depth. They have some size issues in the post — despite the valiant efforts of Onyeka Okongwu, along with Mo Gueye and Tony Bradley, who played in the absence of the injured Jock Landale.
They also need more assertive scorers who can wreak havoc when defenses send double-teams at their top options — CJ McCollum, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
But the outlook doesn’t look as dire following their 51-point blowout loss in Game 6.
As the Hawks move forward to improve the team, they won’t build the roster solely to compete against the Knicks. But the series offered a blueprint of some of the issues they could address.
They have a couple of opportunities this summer to upgrade the roster, including the NBA draft in June and free agency at the beginning of July.
The Hawks have three draft picks this year, which gives them some of the optionality that general manager Onsi Saleh coveted last offseason. Those picks open up the possibility they can address some of those needs in the draft or use them as chips in a deal to upgrade some of their positions.
The team, though, may likely use the picks. It would first pick at No. 8 overall, as well as No. 23. The Hawks’ pick in the second round falls at No. 57.
ESPN has projected the Hawks could use their first pick to take Michigan center Aday Mara at No. 8, before using the second pick on a guard.
How the Hawks proceed in the draft next month will, of course, give them even more flexibility in navigating free agency.
The Hawks don’t have a ton of roster space with 12 players under contract, with a current projected $153 million in salary, excluding cap holds, for next season.
Some of those numbers could change. They could opt out of contracts for players with team options and restructure the deals. Or, they could completely opt out of the club options, allowing those players to become unrestricted free agents and open the door to signing new free agents.
The Hawks could spend up to the first apron of the luxury-tax threshold, which would leave them $55.9 million in space.
On top of that, they could spend up to $25.9 million more in salary than they bring back under the salary-matching rules because of the four trade exceptions generated last season. They have a year from the date of the trade to use those exceptions, some of which won’t expire until next February.
Saleh said, at least twice, in his end-of-season availability that he did not think the team was one player away from making an NBA Finals run. But the Hawks will look to capitalize on their offseason in their bid to improve this year’s results.
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