The 2024-25 NBA season is still just two months away and the offseason is at a standstill. Most of the big changes have been made and each team’s rosters are likely where they will go for the season, barring any surprises. By looking at the current NBA rosters, you can start to see the potential strengths and weaknesses of each team.
The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of questions to answer. They traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans and selected Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick. Their biggest weaknesses last year were defense and size and they did their best to try to fix those issues. Looking at the Hawks’ biggest potential weaknesses, here’s what Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report had to say:
“Dejounte Murray is gone, but that may only be because it was easier for the Atlanta Hawks to part with their mismatched backcourt by trading him than by trading Trae Young. Young’s contract is much larger, and any team that acquired Young would have to fundamentally change the way it plays. Those factors tend to narrow the trade options.
The Hawks added defensive ace Dyson Daniels in the Murray deal, and he’ll pair with Bogdan Bogdanović to form one of the league’s most versatile three-back rotations. If Atlanta’s front line cooperates, this team could return to the playoffs after last year’s brutal 36-win season.
But if things don’t go as planned and the Hawks decide at some point this season that bigger changes are needed, don’t be surprised if they revisit the idea of moving on from Young.
Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, offers Atlanta an opportunity to make a franchise-changing move; the Hawks can view him as the cornerstone of a new era, alongside Jalen Johnson and any young players they could lure in a deal that would send Young elsewhere.
I don’t agree with that, but if things continue to go in the wrong direction for the Hawks, it’s something that could be discussed next summer. I think the key to the Hawks’ season is the progression of the young players on the roster. Trae Young is an All-Star caliber player, but what about the others? Does Jalen Johnson have another jump to make this year? Can Dyson Daniels and Risacher make an impact from day one? Will Onyeka Okongwu finally be the starting center? The Hawks have the potential to be better than some think, but they have a lot of questions that need to be answered.
