By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

It’s October now so the NBA season will begin later this month.

There are typically about four teams that have legitimate chances to compete for a championship. Atlanta is normally not one of those teams.

Let’s take a look at the Hawks and what we should expect for the 2023-24 season.

Star point guard Trae Young is entering his sixth season in the league. He’s a two time NBA All-Star (2020, 2022) and he averaged 26.2 points per game and 10.2 assists per game last season.

The biggest struggle the franchise is having is adding another great player to the roster.

Atlanta is typically decent enough so they do not get a high draft pick. They consistently pick in the middle of the first round so they add role players. Also, they are not a free agent destination and I am surprised by that.

A couple of decades ago the franchise also had this problem with Dominique Wilkins. Hopefully history does not repeat itself and they don’t waste a star players prime years.

Last year they finished the season 41 – 41 and beat the Miami Heat in the Play-In tournament. Then they lost to the Boston Celtics (2 – 4) in the first round of the playoffs.

Head coach Nate McMillan was fired in February and he spent three seasons with the team. Quin Snyder was hired as the head coach a few days later.

The Hawks drafted guard Kobe Bufkin (Michigan) with the 15^th pick in the draft. The sophomore earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors. He’s a 6’5 left hander and hopefully he can become a solid scoring option.

In the second round they drafted 6’6 guard/forward Seth Lundy (Penn State). He’s a four year starter and as a senior he averaged 14.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

They also brought in two veterans in guards Patty Mills and Wesley Matthews. They will both contribute to leading the team and sharing their knowledge with the younger players.

The team emphasized how important it is to establish good habits.

“It’s about a day in day process about creating good and sustainable habits so that when you do reach those goals, you can continue to surpass them, because you’re leaning on the process of your work, rather than just ‘we’re doing anything we can to just achieve this specific goal,’” general manager Landry Fields said. “So that sort of paradigm of that mindset is really what we’re hopping on right now.”

Spacing the floor is also crucial to their success this season.

“I mentioned spacing a lot last year and spacing allows you to move the ball, it allows you to attack and even though you think it’s subtle, if you’re spaced properly sometimes that can be as simple as like you’re not in someone’s way when they get to go lay the ball in,” Snyder said. “So again, you’re doing something for someone else.”

Another goal entering the season is establishing an unselfish mindset.

“This season is about hard work,” Snyder said. “I would like for that to be characteristic of our system, us being a selfless team is huge and you can point to that in so many different areas, whether it’s taking the charge, making the extra pass, running back on defense, celebrating your teammates successes, all those different things.”

The season will begin at Charlotte on October 25 and is followed with a home game against the Knicks two days later.

I think they will finish the season slightly above .500 with an early playoff exit.