The Atlanta Hawks, ever since making it to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, have become painstakingly mediocre, even though Trae Young continues to produce at such an elite level offensively. And for the 2023-24 season, this trend hasn't changed. In fact, the Hawks seem to be progressively getting worse, falling to 12-16 on the season after their 122-113 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday night.

While being four games under .500 is the Hawks' most pressing situation to deal with at the moment, their continued mediocrity will be a concern moving forward — especially when the franchise is looking to recapture the magic of their impressive 2020-21 campaign.

However, this middling play of theirs isn't anything new. In fact, according to StatMuse, over the past 1,200 games, the Hawks have posted a dead even .500 record, winning 600 and losing 600 during that span. This just shows that over the past 14 seasons or so, the Hawks have made the NBA's dreaded middle ground their home.

Now, there have been a few high points for the Hawks franchise during that time frame. In 2015, they won a franchise-record 60 games, which included an unbeaten month of January, and during those seasons, they were one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference that, unfortunately, ran into LeBron James' teams year after year.

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In fact, the Hawks had a playoff streak from 2009 to 2017 (even though they won just 38 games in 2014), so it's not like they're just treading water in every year. Alas, a poor end to the 2010s brought the Hawks down to earth, although it did result in the addition of Trae Young in the 2018 NBA Draft.

And here the Hawks are, continuing the trend of middling play that they embarked on last year. As one would recall, the Hawks tended to alternate wins and losses last season, always creeping up to the .500 mark — ending the year with a 41-41 record.

Currently four games below .500 on the season, there's a chance that the Hawks end up with another 41-win season, which is very characteristic for the franchise. That, however, may not be good enough, especially given the team's ambitions of competing with Trae Young as the cornerstone.