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The Atlanta Hawks are going to have some very interesting moves to think about during the 2022 year. A season ago, they made the Eastern Conference playoffs and shocked the world by beating the Philadelphia 76ers who were the number one seed at the time.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, they have not found that same amount of success this year but many of that could be put on their injuries and guys coming in and out of the covid protocols. Many teams are dealing with injuries and players in the protocols this season and have still performed to what they were supposed to while Atlanta has underperformed.
In order for the Hawks to get back where they want to be after their impressive season a year ago, they're going to have to avoid some major mistakes that could be made. Let's take a look at three mistakes the Hawks must avoid in order to get back to an Eastern Conference Finals and maybe even potentially win an NBA championship.
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Hawks Must Avoids 2022
3. Don't trade Cam Reddish for anything less than an immediate impact player
There have been many rumors out there that the Atlanta Hawks are going to trade Cam Reddish for a first-round draft pick. This would be a horrible decision from the Hawks because the chances are the guy that they draft in the first round with that pick is not going to be anywhere near as good as Reddish. This kid is 6 ft 8′ and he defends at a very high level while also being able to score the basketball. He's essentially everything that an NBA team would want and it's questionable why the Hawks are thinking about getting rid of him. There had to have been something in the locker room or with the personnel because trading him when he's still this young would just simply make no sense.
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Unless Atlanta is going to get back somebody who can come in and make an immediate impact, it would make no sense for them to trade him. They do have another player in DeAndre Hunter who they could look at similarly to Reddish, but either way, having guys who are that tall and can defend while still being able to score is a good thing and an NBA team can never have enough of those guys.
2. Must go out and get an on-ball defender
The biggest issue with this Hawks team is that their guard defense is below average. Trae Young is obviously not a good defender just because of his size but that isn't necessarily a bad thing because he's usually going to outscore the other team's point guard and that's exactly what he needs to do. Atlanta does do a good job at times of hiding him and making sure that teams aren't targeting him so that's something that they're going to want to continue.
If they do want to have any success in the playoffs once again, they need to go out and get somebody who can guard the ball because there are way too many talented players in the Eastern Conference to allow guys to just shoot over him all game.
1. Find that fire and passion they played with a season ago
Whenever a young team finds success earlier than they were anticipating, they often start to get over their heads and that's potentially what happened to this Hawks team so far this year. A season ago, they made the Eastern Conference Finals when nobody expected them to but themselves. They played with a lot of fire and that was a reason why they were able to get so far into the playoffs.
This season it just doesn't seem like the Hawks are playing with the same type of energy that they were a year ago. That could certainly be put on their inability to stay healthy and having many guys come in and out of the covid protocol but they still haven't had that same fire regardless of the situation.
If the Hawks are going to want to get back to an Eastern Conference Finals or make any sort of noise in the playoffs, they are going to need to find that same passion and energy that they were playing with a season ago. They were one of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA a year ago. This year it seems like they don't play with as much fun as they were a year ago and that has certainly been a major reason why they have struggled early on through this first part of the season.
