Hawks could be a sleeper team in the East

The Atlanta Hawks have slowly been rebuilding their roster in recent years. The idea is to surround Trae Young with players who fit his skill set while also covering for some of his weaknesses. 

The addition of Dyson Daniels last summer played a huge role in the Hawks' development. Furthermore, young forward Zaccharie Risacher looks to be a potential star of the future, while Jalen Johnson has been fantastic when healthy. 

Now that a core has begun to emerge around Young, the front office has pushed ahead with making some high-quality additions. This summer, the Hawks added Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard.

When speaking to Keith Smith of Spotrac, an anonymous member of the Hawks front office explained why they're so excited about their roster heading into next season.

"We feel like we had one of the best offseasons in the entire league," the executive said. "I know that’s confident, but we got Kristaps (Porzingis) in a trade and signed Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) and Luke (Kennard). Who else added three players that good? Those are big-time players who all fill needs for us. We’re going to be deep and really versatile next season. We won’t put any kind of expectations on our group, but we’re not putting any kind of artificial limits on them either.”

Judging by the Hawks new-look roster, they could be ready to take a jump next season. The potential starting five of Young, Daniels, Risacher, Johnson and Porzingis projects to be playoff ready. A bench led by Alexander-Walker and Kennard will have playmaking, scoring and perimeter defense to fall back on.

The Eastern Conference is wide open next season. The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers will be taking a gap year due to the respective injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton. The Miami Heat aren't expected to make much noise, and nobody knows what's happening with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Atlanta will come into the season with minimal fanfare from the national media. Yet, with the ever-talented Quin Snyder calling the shots, the Hawks could be far better than expected. They could even be good enough to push into the second round of the playoffs, and that may be a conservative projection.

The 2025-26 season may be when the Hawks' patience finally pays off.