With the annual NBA trade deadline around the corner, the Atlanta Hawks feel like a prime candidate to shake up their roster.
For the second consecutive season, the Hawks are toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference as they own an 18-27 record and the 10th spot.
If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, Atlanta would be in the Play-In Tournament and would likely bow out given their defensive struggles.
The team has been engaged with multiple teams on potential deals, but they might feel even more pressure to make a trade after their woeful defensive showing against the Dallas Mavericks.
Not only did the Hawks give up 148 points in the loss, but they surrendered a career-high 73 points to Luka Doncic.
After watching the game, Stephen A. Smith expressed his disgust with Atlanta’s performance via ESPN.
“What transpired last night in Atlanta was disgraceful!” Smith said.
“What transpired last night in Atlanta was disgraceful!”
Stephen A. was not happy with the Hawks’ defense in Luka’s 73-point night 😯 pic.twitter.com/AvOCPtcLEj
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 27, 2024
Smith believes the NBA encourages high-scoring games because of the entertainment value for fans, but he also lamented what he saw from Atlanta.
To Smith’s point, the game between Atlanta and Dallas was more reminiscent of an All-Star game rather than an NBA regular season game.
Doncic essentially got any sort of look he wanted and made sure to continue pouring it on every time down the floor.
It’s hard to imagine the Hawks getting any better during the season, so it’s in their best interest to trade away some of their pieces in exchange for young players and draft capital to rebuild the roster.
The next couple of weeks should be busy for the Atlanta front office and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of assets they can get back.
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