NBA insider explains why the Hawks won’t even make the playoffs this season

With just two months left before the start of the 2024-25 NBA campaign, fans and pundits have begun making their predictions about what will happen in the basketball league. While franchises still have plenty of time to make exciting deals, one league analyst has made a bold claim about Atlanta’s year ahead.

This summer, the Hawks made the difficult decision to part ways with Dejounte Murray and remain committed to building a team around Trae Young. With their star leaving for New Orleans, they’ve brought in Larry Nance and Dyson Daniels and drafted French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick.

Still, it seems some NBA experts don’t think it will be enough to change the course of a franchise that has struggled to make an impact in the league over the past decade. Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes recently posted a post about each of last season’s play-in teams and explained why the Georgia club won’t make the playoffs.

Reed Sheppard (@reed_sheppard) training with Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young.

“Reed is going to be a great NBA player” –@TheTraeYoung photo.twitter.com/1OCHfF4udG

— Lee K. Howard ☀️ (@HowardWKYT) August 18, 2024

“The Atlanta Hawks should finish ahead of the Bulls, a Play-In contender from last year who will not be at that level again in 2024-25. But Trae Young and Co. are still playing a numbers game; none of the other teams that finished above them in the standings are projected to be weaker than they were last year,” he wrote this week.

Hughes explained why other Eastern clubs have the upper hand. “It’s actually easier to see improvement than regression from any of the (deep breath) Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. All eight of those teams finished with at least 10 more wins than the Hawks last season.

“Perhaps Atlanta can exceed expectations by finding better balance on the roster after trading Dejounte Murray for a package starring Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and two future first-round picks,” the reporter said.

The expert also pointed out that this could also be the year that their star player finally reaches his potential. “And maybe the Hawks get an All-NBA season from Young, who is once again the team’s lone on-ball creator now that Murray is out of the picture,” he noted.

The Hawks have made an effort to address their weaknesses from last season and may have improved their defense

While there is some truth to what Grant Hughes wrote in his latest report, his predictions fail to take into account the fact that Trae Young is still leading the offense and the organization has done everything it can to address last year’s weaknesses.

“If the Hawks can’t keep up with the eight teams that finished ahead of them last season, they could pursue future-oriented deals. Atlanta could shop Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter and any other veteran who can’t serve as a strong supporting piece for the next iteration of the team, which will be built around No. 1 picks Zaccharie Risacher and Jalen Johnson,” the expert wrote.

While the Hawks have acquired bigger athletes and possibly improved their defense, the Bleacher Report expert still believes there are much stronger teams in the Eastern Conference that have built a longer, more stable process.

“On top of that, the Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets are both capable of catching up to the Hawks in the standings,” he explained. “And preventing them from seeing the Play-In at all.”