48 Minutes "Two-a-Days" Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks

So, fellas, the Atlanta Hawks, they finished last year 46-36 on the season, which was good enough to secure the sixth seed in the East to avoid the play-in tournament.

Bruce, while the franchise made their big move at last year's deadline, cutting bait with longtime franchise face Trey Young, this team should still feel much different heading into the new season after their latest offseason.

Yeah, Ross, you know, you mentioned that they were number six with a 46 win season last year.

But what really kind of stood out to me was that they actually gave the Knicks their toughest playoff series.

They pushed it to six games before losing to the eventual champs.

And, you know, last year, despite having tough perimeter defenders like Dyson Daniels and Nikhil Alexander-Walker, They were kind of middle of the pack when it came to guarding the three-point line, so they traded.

The number one overall pick in 2024 is Zachary Reese O'Shea to Dallas in a three-team deal that brought perimeter defender extraordinaire Lou Dort to Atlanta.

Hey, good luck to opposing guards trying to dribble into the paint with Dort, Daniels, and Alexander Walker guarding the perimeter.

We know Jalen Johnson.

He's the star of this team.

He's a triple-double waiting to happen on most nights.

Last year, he averaged 22-10, almost eight assists.

And all that C.J. McCullen returns, and even at age 35, I mean, he should average in the high teens and provide leadership and stability as a coach on the court.

So this team's going to score a bunch of points, but they're going to need improvement on defense where they were 18th in points allowed.

The East, as we've discussed numerous times over the offseason, it's going to be tougher than it was last year.

And the Hawks are going to be hard-pressed to improve on last season's number six seed.

But this will be head coach Quinn Snyder's fourth full season as head coach.

And the team has increased its win total in each of his previous full seasons.

So it's going to be a challenge to do it again.

But, I mean, this is the team that Quinn Snyder wants that he finally has.

Yeah, great point there, Bruce.

As far as the win total is increasing every year under the guidance of Coach Quinn Snyder.

And yeah, that's the challenge this year for this group as they continue to tinker with that roster is, you know, how can they get just a little bit better each and every year? Worldby, what's your thoughts on this Hawks group?