The trade deadline was today and the Hawks made some decisions that made fans go ballistic. Deandre Hunter was dealt to Cleveland and Bogdan Bogdanović to the Clippers. Hawks fans on X were quite upset about the return for Deandre Hunter but let’s take a look at what that sets them up for.
For this year the Hawks lineup is a little lackluster now but these additions will make for a stronger bench unit based on depth. Currently the Hawks are sitting at 23-28 earning them the current 9th seed in the Eastern Conference poising them for another year of Play-in action. The Bulls are the 10th seed only one and a half games behind but, they did also trade shooting guard Zach Lavine to Sacramento now reunited with former teammate Demarcus Derozan.
If you are one of the Hawks fans that are upset just close your eyes and let’s take a look at next year’s possible rotation. Trae Young at the 1. Most, if not all Atlanta fans wouldn’t want to have it any other way. Dyson Daniels at the 2. He has been an absolute menace and almost everything we wanted Dejounte to be. #1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher at the 3. Risacher has shown some incredible flashes and chemistry with Trae but has also had limited minutes and lackluster at other times. With Hunter gone though he should be in a position to prosper. At the 4 Jalen Johnson, who should be healthy at the beginning of next season. Jalen is explosive and essential to the Hawks lineup and it has shown. The 5. Clint Capela has held it down for a while but, next year should be Big O’s time. Oneyaka has shown the ability to expand the court a little better than Capela and is also younger. This should be a solid starting five to keep Trae Young happy but like the past problems of the Hawks, is our bench finally good enough to outscore opponents?
Terrance Mann will most likely be the backup point guard. Mann is another Daniels type player. Maybe finally will be able to see Kobe Bufkin action in the big leagues consistently. Caris Levert will also be out there bringing a good 3 ball to the rotation. Clint Capela may finally be gone this offseason based on the way they started clearing cap today.
The Hawks have a solid lineup ahead of them but can we really trust they will make the right decisions to finalize next year’s lineup? At the end of the day you have to prioritize on keeping Trae Young happy because once he leaves they will have no sort of direction. Hawks fans feel free to leave a comment on who you think will be a key addition to finally put together a strong playoff run parallel to 2021.
Life of an Atlanta fan 