Are the Hawks Heading Towards A Rebuild?

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        Ever since the Atlanta Hawks had their surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 they have been nowhere close to reaching the same success. The following year, the Hawks were the ninth seed and after beating Charlotte and Cleveland in the Play-In Tournament they entered the playoffs as the eighth seed. The Hawks would face the one seed Miami Heat and face elimination in five games. Young was awful in all fives games because of the high difficulty of Miami's defense. In the summer of 2022, the Hawks went and made a splash in the offseason by acquiring guard Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs. 



        Many fans believed that a backcourt of Murray and Young would be one of the best in the league and with how great Murray is as a defender many believed he would improve the Hawks' defense. It's safe to say the new backcourt didn't live up to expectations and they finished the 2022-23 season as the eighth seed. They entered the playoffs as the seventh seed after beating the Miami Heat in the first Play-In game and would face the second seed Boston Celtics. The Hawks faced another early exit, faced elimination in six games. 



        This year the Hawks didn't really do anything to improve the roster and even with the Eastern Conference not being nearly as stacked as the West, the Hawks just didn't look like they could compete with the rest of the East. The Hawks finished this season as the tenth seed and would face the Chicago Bulls in the Play-In Tournament single elimination game. The Bulls took control of the game from beginning to end and despite the Hawks' efforts they were worn down. Bulls guard Coby White went for a postseason high forty-two points. The Hawks suffered the loss thus ending their season, missing the playoffs.



        There has been a lot of rumors floating around that the Hawks may look into trading Trae Young. Given how far they have fallen since 2021, the possibility of the All-Star point guard getting moved is high. There is even a chance that both Trae Young and Dejounte Murray get moved this offseason. The Hawks do have a young star in forward Jalen Johnson who they could look to build around in the future. Given the lack of success the last three years, this could be the end of Trae Young in Atlanta. 




Location: Miami, FL, USA

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