The Hawks entered full rebuild mode over the summer, so there is a lot to look out for this season. Only Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala remain from the 60-win Hawks, and most of the roster is new to the team this year. It is looking like a lottery year for the Hawks, but there are still plenty of storylines to watch in the 2017/18 season.

John Collins:

Clutchpoints.com

This is the most excited that Hawks fans have been for a rookie in maybe forever. John Collins, an extremely athletic 20 year old power forward out of Wake Forest, was drafted with the 19th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks. He lit up the Las Vegas Summer League and was named to the all-Summer League team. He threw down a nasty posterizing dunk virtually every game, including one where for a brief second it seemed as if Collins was flying. That dunk was widely considered one of the best plays of the summer. Look out for Collins’ name to be thrown around for rookie of the year.

Dennis Schroder:

Yardbarker.com

With the departures of Tim Hardaway Jr, Paul Millsap, and Dwight Howard, the 24 year old German point guard is without a doubt the best player on the Hawks. Schroder has shown great potential in his four seasons in the NBA, but this is the season that he has to play like an all-star. He was given the reigns of the offense last season and he showed flashes of being an all-star caliber player, but was far too inconsistent overall. If he is to be at the center of the rebuild, Schroder has to cut down on the turnovers and become one of the top point guards in the East.

Kent Bazemore:

USA Today Sports

Bazemore had a career season in 2015-16 and was rewarded with a big contract. He followed that up with an extremely disappointing year that left many Hawks fans regretting that contract. His percentages went down and his playing time suffered due to it, eventually being replaced in the starting lineup by Taurean Prince. At 28 years old, Baze is one of the older players on this young team. If he wants to stick around for the long run, he has to play like one of the oldest and highest paid players on the Hawks. He had all of last season and the summer to become more comfortable in a ball-handling role, so the expectation is for him to improve from last year.

The sophomores:

Soaringdownsouth.com

Taurean Prince had a fantastic rookie season, and by the playoffs he had taken over the starting small forward job. Prince is just a solid all-around player; he has the ability to make a difference at both ends of the floor, but his offensive game is rough around the edges. If Prince wants to be a legitimate weapon on the offensive end, he needs to improve his shooting, handles, and finishing. Luckily he showed great potential doing all of those things last season, and as a very under-the-radar pick Taurean Prince greatly exceeded expectations. The other player entering his second year, Deandre Bembry, can also expect more opportunities to be a difference maker this season. Bembry had a quiet rookie season, but his athleticism and high I.Q. were apparent to anyone who watched him play. As Bembry continues to get more experience, he’ll turn into a very solid player for the Hawks.

The new guys:

Soaringdownsouth.com

The Hawks have a lot of new players. To be more specific, the guys that are playing their first season in Atlanta are Luke Babbitt, Marco Belinelli, Nicolas Brussino, Quinn Cook, John Collins, Tyler Dorsey, Dewayne Dedmon, and Miles Plumlee. There are a few others, like Josh Maggette, that most likely will not be on the final roster at the start of the season. On that list, only Marco Belinelli is older than 30 years old. In these early rebuilding stages, the young players that impress coach Bud will become part of the future, so this is a critical season for a lot of guys. Nicolas Brussino is one of the more intriguing players on this years roster. He was a rookie last year, but saw very little playing time for the Dallas Mavericks. He had a lot of success over the Summer playing in the FIBA Americup for his home country of Argentina. He’s a really good shooter, and at 6’8”, he’ll create quite a few matchup problems on the offensive end.

featured Image: Rob Carr/Getty Images