Mid-Season Report Card: Hawks

Can Nate McMillan rally the troops? Is John Collins being shopped? Atlanta's hope for a breakout season has pending questions.

Expectations

In the East, expectations are tentative because making the playoffs isn't the hardest thing. With that being said, Atlanta looked great to start the year, and it rallied them past expectations, but coming down to Earth ultimately resulted in Coach Pierce being dismissed.

Atlanta had a good offseason, acquiring Bogey, Gallinari, and Rondo. The cast surrounding Trae Young and John Collins in Deandre Hunter and Cam Reddish seemed good enough to compete in the East.

There are clearly reasons off the court resulting in this mess down in Georgia, and it's imperative that the Hawks focus up in the second half if they want to have any form of success.

Young/Collins

The relationship doesn't seem great. Hopefully the rumors aren't indicative of the truth because these two guys have tremendous talent and could be a monster duo.

Because of whatever is going on, trade talks have accelerated involving John Collins, making way for predictions involving what that package would look like. Minnesota wants him, and draft stock probably isn't the only thing Atlanta is looking for since they made it a goal to get to the playoffs.

Dallas would be interesting if they'd be willing to flip Porzingis for Collins, and whatever external salary matchups required to complete the trade.

I could make up trade destinations all day, but the point is that Atlanta is seriously accepting calls on him, and if it plays out right, he may be gone very soon. If the young guys could just make up, if needed, then Atlanta needs to kick into another gear to beat out teams like the Hornets, Knicks, and Bulls.

Second Half

Atlanta can make a push if their firepower can propel them over their competition, and with their offensive arsenal, it's certainly plausible. This team should make the playoffs.

Grade:

B-