The Atlanta Hawks got off to a hot start, but only just scraped into the postseason as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, but pushed the Indiana Pacers to seven games. They have talent, draft picks and cap room and should be a team to watch heading forward.

Season Summary

Atlanta got off to a hot start for the season, proving to be the “best of the rest” in Eastern Conference, holding down the third seed – aka the position every team not called the Heat or Pacers was fighting for out East – for much of the early stages of the year.

Unfortunately, a torn right pectoral muscle put an end to Al Horford’s (18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals a night) season and the Hawks dramatically dropped down the standings, eventually sneaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed – the Hawks were the only team to make the postseason with a record below .500 (38-44).

The Hawks coped for a while without Horford, owning a 25-21 on Feb. 1, but they would go on to lose 14 of their next 15 games (a stretch that included streaks of eight and six-straight losses), severely hampering their chances of securing home court advantage.

They bounced back slightly with a five consecutive wins, but another six-game slide condemned them to fight it out for the final postseason position with the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers – a battle they won with only two games to spare.

Atlanta went on to push the No. 1 seeded Indiana Pacers to seven games, but after failing to close out the series in game six at home, the Hawks were no match for the Pacers’ home court advantage in game seven.

A balanced defensive/offensive team – 15th in both points per game for (101.0) and against (101.5) and 13th in pace (94.6) in the league – the Hawks made the most of their veteran frontline, outside shooters and steady point guard play throughout the season.

First-year Hawk Paul Millsap’s play was as savvy as the contract Atlanta’s front office brought him in for – $19 million over two years for an All-Star forward. Brilliant – while speedy point Jeff Teague continued to show flashes of reaching his promising ceiling.

Sharpshooter Kyle Korver (12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and a league-leading 47.2% from downtown) showed why he has a reputation as one of the best shooters in the game, extending his NBA-record of consecutive regular season games with a made three-pointer to 127 – beating the previous record, held by Dana Barros, by 38 games.

Meanwhile, the emergence of DeMarre Carroll (11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per night), Mike Scott (9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds), Pero Antic (7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds) and Shelvin Mack (7.5 points and 3.7 assists) as valuable role players added plenty of depth to the Hawks roster.

Likewise, the veteran presence of Elton Brand, who averaged 6.9 points, 5.5 points and 1.3 blocks after Horford went down, should not be overlooked.

Louis Williams (10.4 points and 3.5 assists) also rounded into form towards the end of the season after returning form a torn ACL.

Most Valuable Player

With Josh Smith heading to the Detroit Pistons and Horford managing only 29 games for the season, the Hawks were left searching for a new leader early in the season.

The kick-start they needed came in the form of offseason bargain buy, Millsap.

The former Louisiana Tech and Utah Jazz stud’s career in Atlanta got off to a wonderful start, averaging a career-high in points (17.9) and assists (3.1), while grabbing the third-most rebounds of his career (8.5) and picking 1.7 pockets per game (ninth in the league).

Millsap also added another weapon to his offensive arsenal, knocking down a career-best 76 triples (at 35.9%, ninth amongst power forwards) in his 74 games for the Hawks – his previous best mark from downtown was 13 from 39 attempts in his last season with the Jazz.

Under the pressure of carrying an offence for the first time in his career, Millsap performed admirably and was justifiably selected for his first All-Star game.

Where many others would have crumbled under the pressure of such a burden, Millsap diversified his offensive game, stepping out and draining threes, passing the ball and heading to the line the 19th-most times in the L.

Millsap’s form should have fans eagerly anticipating the return of Horford and ease the pain of losing Joe Johnson and Smith in the last two seasons.

X-Factor

Point guard Teague had flashed stretches of brilliance during his four-year career with the Hawks, but never managed to put together a full season of elite play.

Admittedly, playing alongside the likes of Johnson, Smith and Horford, Teague was never needed to be more than a facilitator and spot-scorer for Atlanta.

But, with that trio missing from the lineup this season, the stage was set for the speedster from Wake Forest to prove himself as an elite guard in the Eastern Conference.

And while he did not reach the heights of All-Star status, Teague did take some big steps during the season in which he averaged a career-high 16.5 points to go with 6.7 assists per game (ninth in the league).

The presence of first-year head coach Mike Budenholzer, who spent 18 years with the San Antonio Spurs (16 of them as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich), had an obvious positive effect on Teague’s game.

Under Budenholzer, Teague learned to exploit his speed to his advantage – not unlike another point guard his new coach worked with in Texas – and control the pace of the game better. Teague caused headaches for opposing bigs, getting into the lane with regularity and knocking down the 18th-most free throws in the league.

He is a long way from being on the level of Tony Parker, finishing the season 10th in the NBA for turnovers, but under the guidance of Budenholzer and with a greater role in Atlanta’s offence, Teague is on the right path to making those flashes of brilliance the standard of his play.

Looking Forward

Atlanta may have made the playoffs, but thanks to their unimpressive record (for a postseason team) their draft pick fell only one pick shy of the lottery – 15th overall.

And while they missed out on the big-name recruits like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker, ATL were able to draft a player who should make an immediate impact to their roster in Adreian Payne (15th overall) and two intriguing prospects in Walter Tavares (43rd) and Lamar Patterson (48th).

Although a move for Kentucky freshman James Young or Duke’s Rodney Hood would have also made sense for the Hawks, Payne is a player that fits into coach Budenholzer’s system. Payne spent four years at Michigan State and steadily developed into the best stretch four in the 2014 class, averaging 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds, while knocking down 42.3% of his threes in his senior year. Budenholzer values shooting more than anything and Payne should slide right into Atlanta’s already imposing frontline rotation.

Meanwhile, Tavares is a 7’3″, 22-year-old from Spain, with a 7’9″ wingspan. He might not play in the league for a few years, but as he continues to develop abroad, he could become a devastating rim protector. Likewise, Patterson is a project player. At 6’5″, he is stuck between positions physically. However, he has the tools to be a valuable bench scorer/creator.

Closer to home, the Hawks will have roughly $15 million to play with in the offseason according to the projected salary cap for next season.

Decisions will need to made on the futures of the 35-year-old Brand and scarcely used forward Gustavo Ayon.

Most pressingly, the emerging Scott and backup guard Mack are also out of contract.

A run at the likes of Gordon Hayward, Luol Deng or even Lance Stephenson could be a possibility, but the Hawks will face plenty of opposition to bring in a big name during the offseason.

They wont be in the running for any of the biggest names in free agency, but there are plenty of options for Atlanta to look at as they retool for next season.

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