Brooklyn Nets: Way-too-early Eastern Conference standings predictions
By Nolan Jensen
#10) Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks are hard to judge, there’s a genuine part of me that believes they can sneak into the playoffs as an 8th seed—but the reality is that they’re not quite there yet.
Atlanta had a busy draft night, they traded up with the New Orleans Pelicans to select De’Andre Hunter with the fourth overall pick but in the process sent the 8th and 17th back the other way, which turned into Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker—the verdict is still out on that one.
They also went with Cam Reddish with the 10th pick and Bruno Fernando in the second round to join their core of Young, Huerter, Collins, and Hunter. That’s not bad, at all, it’s quite the opposite really. But they’re still very young, playoffs are in reason but it shouldn’t be the expectation next year.
At this point, you just want to see each individual further develop and the team to strengthen their identity as a force to be reckoned with in the near future. The Hawks are a fun league pass team, and after the expiring contracts of Crabbe, Parsons and Turner are up this summer—they could be in the market for a complementary star.