The Biggest Overlooked Atlanta Hawks Storyline That No One Is Talking About

With the team in place, many questions surround the future of the top two stars, Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis. Coming into the season, both players are on expiring contracts heading into next summer, and while many have discussed the potential of both leaving after this season, no one is discussing what a successful campaign could mean for the team's future.

What is the Atlanta Hawks future?

Though optimistic, the Hawks have set themselves up for a surprising season nonetheless, as they've added some of the best pieces possible for the first time in years. In a recent article by ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, he went over some of the comments Young had heading into his contract year at the Hawks media day, with Young stating the following about both his contract extension and the roster construction:

"I don't know [about] the word disappointment, I mean, maybe, for sure," Young said at Hawks media day. "For me, I'm so focused. I'm more happy about the team that we got going into this season. I'm blessed, bro. I wasn't stressing about anything. If something happened, it happened. If it didn't, I still got time.

"I'm focused on this team. I'm focused on right now. I got a great team going into the season that you can't say I've had [before]. So I'm even more excited about that. Who knows what the future is for me. But right now I'm here and I'm present like me and Coach [Quin Snyder] have been talking about. I'm ready to go."

With Young's back against the wall, it's hard to see a situation in which he doesn't step up to the plate and answer the call. Notably, this is the first time we've seen such a high level of talent surrounding Young since the 2020-2021 season, when the Hawks finished with the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. During that time period, there were, in fact, more competitive teams in the Eastern Conference compared to now, as there were more healthy stars and fully equipped teams, unlike this season.

Coming into this season, the Hawks have a fully healthy roster compared to many of the other teams in the conference, as well as a fully developed team, with added defense, shooting, and experience in winning. When examining the top teams in the conference, they are often dealing with the loss of stars to injury, a lack of talent, and pressure from their star players to win now.

For Atlanta, it is evident that all the players on the roster have been brought in to try to win this season, as many have spoken about knowing their roles and stepping up in terms of leadership. During a recent training camp practice, Jalen Johnson had this to say about both his development and the team's impressive play as a whole:

"My shot has felt pretty good, but overall, my whole game feels much sharper. This summer was a great opportunity for me to, you know, rebuild a lot of the things that I had, just continue to build on my strengths." Johnson then went on to answer about who stood out to him so far in training camp this summer. "We've been impressive as a group; it's hard to pinpoint one person. It's been super fun practicing, super high energy, and, um, we've been flying, so it's been fun, so the whole group stood out."

If the Hawks are victorious this season, it's unlikely to envision a scenario where they would completely overhaul the team. If anything, they could be in talks for a splashy trade this summer, in hopes of potentially landing an all-star-level player who could keep the team in a competitive landscape. As mentioned earlier, while Atlanta is in a good position, many teams aren't, and they have all-star caliber talent that they could be looking to move this summer if the team continues down this path.

While everyone is mainly worried about the potential downside of the Hawks, there is still an important thing to keep an eye on if they were to perform well this season. One of them starts by obviously retaining Young on a contract extension, and the other is likely to bring in more help to build the team for the future. The Hawks also have the roster construction and draft capital to make the necessary moves for another all-star caliber player if the team is looking to continue winning now or build for the future.

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