Their team’s name notwithstanding, the Hawks are neither fish nor fowl. None of their core players is older than 30; when the 2023-2024 season begins, six will be 25. Those six are due to earn at least $18 million next season. The $178M payroll would be the NBA’s 20th-highest; their record last season tied them with Toronto for 17th-best.
Their payroll is above next season’s cap. Almost every NBA team’s is. Not every team was as ragingly mediocre as these Hawks, who were 29-30 under Nate McMillan, 13-15 under Quin Snyder and 2-0 under interim coach Joe Prunty.
Apart from the post-Lloyd Pierce bounce in 2021, the Hawks haven’t been anything special since 2015. They tanked to get better, but they haven’t gotten good. You’d think they’re too young to re-tank. Then again, they’re too high-salaried to be going 41-41, which they just did. As has often been true of this odd organization, it’s complicated.
It’s hard enough to execute one plan. The Hawks are caught between plans and planners. Apart from Saddiq Bey and first-round draft pick Kobe Bufkin, this remains tank-master Travis Schlenk’s roster, though it’s no longer his team. Landry Fields is the general manager. Kyle Korver is assistant GM. Snyder is working on a five-year deal at what’s believed to be $8M per annum, meaning the Hawks are heavily invested in this coach.
The draft was always going to be the lesser part of the Hawks’ summer. Bufkin appears to be next in the line of recent draftees – Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, AJ Griffin – who have gained playing time without making themselves indispensable. Which leads us to ask: Apart from Trae Young, what Hawk is indispensable?
Various trade rumors suggest the Hawks might be willing to part with any frontcourt starter. Dejounte Murray, imported at heavy cost for the express purpose of complementing Young, didn’t achieve the desired mesh and is about to enter the final year of his contract.
The Hawks could decide to give Snyder a full season with the talent on hand, though we can’t say this talent looked much different under the new guy than in the final days of McMillan. They could look to offload John Collins/Clint Capela/De’Andre Hunter: Why go further with what keeps landing them in the play-in tournament? (To be fair, the Hawks have become PIT masters.)
They could package Collins and Murray in a go-for-broke deal for Damian Lillard. It mightn’t work, but the tandem of Trae and Dame would be something to behold. They could make a run at the free agent Draymond Green, who could be the inspirational winner this franchise has lacked or the bringer of utter chaos.
They could do just about anything, which isn’t to say this administration has a clean slate. For these to become the New Hawks, they can’t be the Same Old Hawks.
Might a frontcourt of Bey/Johnson/Okongwu be an improvement – not to mention younger and cheaper – than the status quo? But what if it’s not? What if addition by subtraction leads the Hawks back to the lottery? In the grand scheme, would that be so awful?
The worst place to be is where the Hawks are – not great, not terrible. But this brings us, as does everything regarding the Hawks, to Young. He’s under contract through at least 2026 for an aggregate $130M. Would he want to be part of another redo? Shouldn’t having a supermax player position a team to play for championships, not draft picks?
As we speak, it’s impossible to say what this team is. What comes next should offer guidance, assuming the Hawks do something major. And they have to do something major. Don’t they?
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