The Atlanta Hawks were just dismissed by the Miami Heat in Round 1 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. After their Cinderella run in last year’s postseason, this year was nothing short of a disappointment.
They were forced to win not one, but two Play-In games just to earn their spot in the playoffs. And even after winning both of them, they were dismantled by the Heat in five games.
Trae Young did not play well, but a lot of that was due to Miami’s suffocating defense. And in all honesty, he wasn’t even the best player in the series – De’Andre Hunter was.
3 free agents the Atlanta Hawks should target to help Trae Young
Hunter averaged 21.2 points a night on extremely efficient shooting while Young only managed to put up 15.4 points a night. Not ideal for a team’s superstar point guard.
Again, though, Miami targeted Young heavily during the series, so it was close to impossible for him to get much done. And with the loss, the Hawks have a lot of decisions to make this summer.
It’s highly unlikely that they simply run it back. The team is still super young, but with the success they had in 2021, it’s clear that putting the right pieces around Young could lead to real postseason success.
The big question is, however, what pieces do they need to add this offseason in order to put Young in the best position to succeed? With free agency and the trade market as the two best options for adding players, what guys should Atlanta target to help Young?