Five burning questions and answers about the immediate future of the Atlanta Hawks in the wake of their 92-80 loss Saturday night in Game 7 in Indiana:

1. How will the Hawks ultimately grade this season?

I know long-suffering Hawks fans are devastated. They rue allowing themselves to get their hopes up after Atlanta won both Game 1 and Game 5 on the road and gave itself a chance in Game 6 to close out the East's top seed at home. They're inevitably bound to see this as merely just another disappointment for a franchise that can scarcely imagine what the Eastern Conference finals feel like.

Still ...

Let's not forget what this gutty little 38-win squad accomplished.

The Hawks managed to keep the big-market Knicks out of the playoffs and and plunged Indiana into a full-fledged crisis that, until Game 7, made 7-foot Roy Hibbert seem borderline invisible.

The Hawks also achieved all that without their best player -- Al Horford hasn't played a minute since Dec. 26 -- and just introduced a popular new logo change as well.

Bearing all that in mind, it's difficult not to see this season as a success for rookie coach Mike Budenholzer, who quickly proved that plenty rubbed off during those nearly two decades working at the elbow of Gregg Popovich.

2. So what sort of offseason do you envision from Danny Ferry?

The Hawks, to be frank, are one of the toughest teams to read in the matters.

Ferry, like Budenholzer, was schooled in the San Antonio system, where mere ruminations about who to call up on a 10-day from the D-League are treated as matters of national security.

Yet those who know Ferry best expect him to operate much like he did last season. Which is to say that the Hawks are likely to let everyone around the league know they have lots of assets and are willing to use them in the trade market if the opportunity presents itself.

The Hawks want another major piece. They know they need at least one more even if Horford makes a fast and full recovery from the two unfortunate shoulder separations he's endured these past two seasons.

3. What about the Hawks' cap space?

The Hawks should have plenty of it depending on where the salary cap number officially lands in July, but expect them to use it cautiously again. Until he can secure that so-called major piece, count on Ferry to favor flexibility.