Setting real looking objectives is the best means for NBA gamers to remain targeted heading into a brand new season.
For a significant member of the Atlanta Hawks, there is a particular side of the group he hopes to assist enhance throughout the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
“Simply to enhance on what we did final yr, simply get to the playoffs and discover a option to get there,” Trae Younger instructed Forbes’ DJ Siddiqi on Thursday. “We simply must be higher (at) taking it recreation by recreation. That is the motto, return. There are lots of issues that go into being profitable and getting this far. I do not know if it is only one factor, however we’ve got a gaggle that simply must concentrate on taking it daily. We now have a younger group. I’ve a completely completely different group than earlier than. We now have to have a very completely different mindset, a very completely different method to what we do daily to go so far as we wish to go.
Final yr, the Hawks completed the common season with the tenth greatest file within the Jap Convention, making them eligible to take part within the Play-In match. Nonetheless, because the third-worst defensive group within the NBA, Atlanta gave up 131 factors and suffered a 15-point highway loss.
The excellent news is that it is not like Younger and the Hawks are in an enormous playoff drought. Coming into the 2023-24 season, Atlanta was making ready for a fourth straight journey to the playoffs. Certain, they have been two wins away from reaching that milestone, however it will be ridiculous to counsel the group is in full disarray.
With a ball-handling wizard and shot-creator extraordinaire like Younger main the best way, there’s at all times purpose to be optimistic. The 6-foot-1 guard will probably be with out his backcourt teammate, Dejounte Murray, transferring ahead — however he’ll have loads of offensive weapons alongside him in Atlanta.
Bogdan Bogdanovic is a dependable perimeter shooter who understands the significance of transferring, Jalen Johnson is a fluid athlete with a scalable three-point jumper and De’Andre Hunter is a do-it-all wing with a peaceful demeanor, to call a number of only a few.
The Hawks additionally chosen Zacharie Risacher first total within the 2024 draft. The 6-foot-9 ahead is a promising long-range risk who can occupy the appropriate lane in fast-break conditions. The Hawks will not be championship contenders this yr, but when they take a giant step ahead defensively, they’ll have an excellent probability to return to the playoffs.
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