The Atlanta Hawks are a team that many experts seemed to have no shortage of praise for before the season began. They were supposed to have one of the league’s most promising young cores.
Fast forward to now, the Hawks are sitting with a 12-35 record and are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. This is despite the fact that they have one of the five starters for the East All-Stars, Trae Young, leading their offensive efforts.
While the Hawks have certainly been a bad team this season, Young has not allowed that to cloud his judgment about the bigger picture. He believes the team has ‘exciting pieces’ and has ‘winning in the future.’
“If you’re not on a team right now where you feel like you can win now and win a championship now, why not be a part of what’s going to be winning in the future and starting something now?” Young told Bleacher Report. “I think that’s something that’s exciting. We have exciting young pieces and a city that’s excited about what we have going on and is going to be behind us. Why not be a part of that?”
It’s important for the Hawks that their franchise-centerpiece remains optimistic while they are going through such a bad period. However, at some point, they will need to show signs of progress and doing so to close out the season would be an ideal time.
Here are three main areas where the Atlanta Hawks must improve to close the season:
