The Atlanta Hawks are coming off of a very impressive 2013-14 campaign, in which they were able to make the playoffs as the eighth seed despite having to play without Al Horford for the majority of the season. They made some moves this offseason, but simply getting a healthy Horford back is going to be the biggest upgrade from last years team.

Atlanta isn’t going to be competing for a championship this year, but they will be very much in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Jeff Teague took a huge step forward last season, and showed during the playoffs that he has untapped potential left to reach. He was a nightmare for the Indiana Pacers to defend, and was one of the main reasons that the Hawks pushed Indiana to a seven-game series. Paul Millsap was also a huge find for the Hawks, and proved to be one of the most underpaid players in the league for the production that he was putting out.

There are plenty of reasons for the Hawks and their fans to be excited, especially after the effort that they showed last year. Atlanta is on the rise, and this season is going to be the best year that they have had in quite some time. The mixture of young talent and veteran players is going to be fun to watch, and Mike Budenholzer’s system fits the roster perfectly.

What starting lineup can you expect to see this year from the Hawks, and who will be their key role players?