Sports Daily: What to expect from the Hawks

And the Hawks? Well, the Hawks begin post-All-Star break activity tomorrow.

Let’s talk about it.

Quick links: Braves bullpen ‘opportunities’ | Local combine participants | Bulldog sues NCAA

LOOKING AHEAD

Credit: Nick Wass/AP

Credit: Nick Wass/AP

The Hawks traded away Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter — then won three of their next four games. The loss? An overtime thriller against the Knicks.

All in all, a solid way to end things before the All-Star Break.

But where do they go from here?

🤔 Atlanta heads into Thursday night’s home game against Orlando with a 26-29 record. Not great but not terrible, considering the multiple runs of injuries they’ve endured.

However, AJC beat writer Lauren Williams points out, “The Hawks are in a position where every one of the remaining games matter.”

With 27 games to go, they’re three games back of Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed and a spot in the “real” playoffs — “but a bad stretch could leave them remaining in a spot they have been in for the last few seasons: the play-in.”

🤔 The team’s trade deadline moves flummoxed more than a few fans. That said: the guys they got back for Bogdanovic and Hunter can hoop.

Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Terance Mann aren’t exactly household names (or, in the case of Mann, the fictional author from “Field of Dreams”). But Lauren described them as “veterans with playoff experience.”

Niang scored 16 in his Hawks debut. Both he and LeVert hit the 20-point mark in that Knicks loss.

They’ll have to continue coming up big, with other key bench pieces Larry Nance and Vit Krejci expected to miss several weeks with injuries.

🤔 And what about the future? What’s the point of all this? The frustration is fair. Another year with Trae Young and without any real shot at competing for a title.

It’s hard to handicap what the offseason might hold — but a full-scale, strip-it-down-and-start-over approach doesn’t appear to be forthcoming.

Young, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher “remain a core the team is looking to continue to build around,” Lauren said.

Make sure to follow Lauren on social media, and stay tuned to ajc.com/sports for a more detailed breakdown of the schedule ahead.

NUMBER OF THE DAY: 41

That’s how many now-former college football players with ties to the state of Georgia are expected to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine, according to an analysis by our D. Orlando Ledbetter. A total of 329 players were invited, meaning Peach State products make up a solid 12% of the whole group.

Heisman winner Travis Hunter (Collins Hill High School) and a few handfuls of UGA players lead the way.

📅 The combine officially begins Monday in Indianapolis, with Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris slated to address reporters Tuesday. The televised on-field workouts start Feb. 27.

BUCKLE UP

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Cy Young winner Chris Sale is set to start the Braves’ first Grapefruit League game on Saturday.

Who takes the mound after him (and the rest of the starters) looks like it’ll be a bit of a puzzle all season long.

As columnist Ken Sugiura points out, eight guys got most of the bullpen action for Atlanta last year. Two of them (A.J. Minter and Jesse Chavez) are gone. Another (Joe Jimenez) is injured and won’t be back for awhile. And a fourth (Grant Holmes) is competing for a starting job.

🗣️ General manager Alex Anthopoulos summed the situation up like this: “We have a lot of guys that are coming in and competing for a job. I think that’s a place where you might see us churn a little bit, even during the year.”

🗣️ So how are we feeling about the bullpen situation, folks? Makes me pretty anxious, to be honest!

UGA VS. NCAA

Georgia baseball sits at 4-1 on the young season after topping Kennesaw State 6-4 on Tuesday (please enjoy this clip of pitcher Brian Curley making a funny face at a runner just before his game-sealing strikeout).

The Bulldogs may be getting another bat back in their lineup, too.

Designated hitter Dylan Goldstein sued the NCAA this week to ask for another season of eligibility. His argument’s similar to the successful one Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia made before last football season, contending that the year he spent at a junior college shouldn’t count toward his Division I tenure.

We’ll let you know where things land!

⚾ While we’re at it: I deeply enjoyed this story about Georgia coach Wes Johnson being a “wizard.”

⚾ And if you were wondering: Georgia Tech baseball is off to its own strong start, moving to 4-0 with last night’s 5-3 win over Georgia Southern.

EYES ON UNITED

Credit: Mitch Martin/Atlanta United

Credit: Mitch Martin/Atlanta United

Lots more season preview-type content to come as we approach Saturday’s opener against CF Montreal.

But Atlanta United beat writer Doug Roberson gets the ball rolling with looks at the Five Stripes’ opponents, a roster rundown and some key storylines to watch.

🧐 New striker Emmanuel Latte Lath’s transition period falls among the latter: “Latte Lath had never been in the U.S. and said he hadn’t watched MLS before he signed. He knows his teammates and manager only from a few training sessions and part of one friendly.”

He’s really fast, though!

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Top Braves pitching prospect Hurston Waldrep gets his throws in during a recent spring training workout in North Port, Florida. Waldrep recently re-added a curveball to his arsenal.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.