Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are just outside of the 2022 NBA draft lottery picks, but that may change if they have their way before June 23.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported Atlanta is "looking to add a lottery pick either by outright trading John Collins or also including" the No. 16 pick.

The Hawks fell back to earth in 2021-22 after making the Eastern Conference Finals the year before. Winning 43 games and losing to the Miami Heat in the first round was a bitter pill to swallow.

Atlanta's performance also laid bare the need for reinforcements, which will be difficult for general manager Travis Schlenk to acquire.

The Athletic's Chris Kirschner wrote in April that Collins "has to be considered the likeliest person to move" among the team's trade assets. A deal involving the 24-year-old could be mutually beneficial.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in January that Collins "has grown increasingly frustrated over his role in Atlanta." He attempted the second-fewest shots of his career (11.9 per game) this season and saw his usage rate (20.5 percent) fall to its lowest number since his rookie campaign, per Basketball Reference.

In new surroundings, Collins might get to feature more heavily in the offense.

The Hawks, meanwhile, could gain some financial flexibility depending on what they'd receive in return.

Collins is owed $75.4 million guaranteed over the next three years and has a $26.6 million player option for 2025-26.

Atlanta has Danilo Gallinari (unrestricted) and De'Andre Hunter (restricted) hitting free agency in 2023. Bogdan Bogdanovic will be on the market at the same time if he declines his $18 million player option for 2023-24. Then it will be time to potentially give Onyeka Okongwu a new deal in 2024 upon the expiration of his rookie contract.

The cost of keeping this roster together will be high on its own before factoring in any outside additions.

If the Hawks fail to get a player of equal value to Collins, then Schlenk could at least open enough salary cap space to pursue a star through free agency or a trade down the line. That would presumably be the aim if Atlanta wants to use Collins to move up in the draft.

The Atlanta Hawks are reportedly among the teams expected to pursue Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant in a trade this offseason.

Marc Stein reported the Pistons "have not firmly declared that they are 100 percent moving" Grant, though he's expected to generate significant interest over the summer.

The Hawks finished a disappointing 43-39 during the regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Miami Heat. They were coming off a surprising Eastern Conference Finals appearance the year prior and went all-in on talent retention but took a major step back.

Adding Grant could bolster Atlanta's perimeter defense and provide a secondary scorer next to Trae Young, who is often burdened with shouldering too much of the offensive load.

What the Hawks would be willing to give up in a Grant trade may determine whether they're serious suitors. A package of Danillo Gallinari and the No. 16 pick in June's draft would work under the salary cap but would likely fall well short of the Pistons' expectations, especially given how they still value Grant.

The Hawks could also add 2021 first-round pick Jalen Johnson or center Onyeka Okungwu in talks, though Okungwu emerged as a valuable reserve last season. They might not be willing to attach first-round picks beyond 2022 in any trade for Grant, who is playing on an expiring contract and may seek an extension as part of trade talks.

The Portland Trail Blazers have long been considered the top contender for Grant. Blazers star Damian Lillard and Grant have a friendship dating back to their Team USA days, and Portland essentially gutted its roster this season in an effort to rebuild around Lillard this summer.

If it comes down to a bidding war, Portland likely has the young talent, picks and motivation to pull ahead of the Hawks in talks.

Trae Young admitted taunts and chants from opposing fans might have bothered him earlier in his basketball career, but the Atlanta Hawks star no longer worries about it.

"Nothing people say to me will affect me," Young told Natasha Dye of People.

While Young is a hero in Atlanta, opposing fanbases have not had the same opinion during his four-year NBA career. New York Knicks fans especially hold a grudge after their squad was eliminated by the Hawks in the first round of the 2021 playoffs.

"I'm at a space where everything's been said," Young explained. "So, there's really nothing new."

The 23-year-old has already earned two All-Star selections and led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. There is still a long path to a championship, however, especially after the 43-39 squad suffered a first-round loss to the Miami Heat this season.

Young must continue to tune out the opposing fans if he wants to get over the top in 2022-23.

A mini Trae Young entered the world on Thursday.

The Atlanta Hawks star and his fiancee, Shelby Miller, announced the birth of their son, Tydus Reign Young, on Friday.

Young and Miller have been together since 2017 after meeting while Young was playing basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. The two got engaged in December 2021.

The Hawks acquired Young on the night of the 2018 NBA draft, and he has been a staple in their lineup ever since. The 23-year-old had an impressive 2021-22 season, averaging 28.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists in 76 games while shooting 46.0 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from deep.

Young's efforts helped the Hawks finish ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 43-39 record, though they fell to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs after earning the eighth seed in the play-in tournament.

Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker was named a first-team All-NBA selection on Tuesday night, while Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns was named to the third team. 

That made both players eligible in the future for the designated veteran contract, aka a supermax extension, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. 

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, who was named to the third team, became eligible for a 30 percent max extension.

Players are eligible for 35 percent supermax deals when they have between 7-9 years of NBA experience and meet one of the following criteria:

• Made an All-NBA team in the most recent season or each of the two seasons prior to being extension eligible.
• Were named Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season or each of the two seasons prior to being extension eligible.
  
• were crowned MVP in one of the three seasons prior
  

So because both Booker and Towns otherwise met the criteria, Tuesday's All-NBA selection made them some serious coin (assuming their franchises offer them these supermax extensions, which seems likely).

ESPN's Bobby Marks offered the estimated figures for that pair and Young:

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine, however, missed out on All-NBA honors, though he'll still be eligible to re-sign with Chicago at a massive number:

Then there's the case of Ja Morant, who was named an All-NBA second-team selection but isn't eligible for the 30 percent max extension just yet under the designated rookie extension rules:

Morant is an interesting case, in that he's extension-eligible this offseason but only at 25 percent of the cap since he isn't in the final year of his rookie deal and hasn't accrued four service years. If he fails to reach All-NBA next season, that 30 percent extension disappears entirely, which happened to Jayson Tatum last year. 

It's a complicated business, wading into the depths of the NBA's salary cap, though the extension waters are surely feeling just right for players like Booker, Towns and Young after Tuesday's news.  

Madison Square Garden has seen its share of villains, with players such as Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller torching the New York Knicks and letting the fans know about it as it happens.

Trae Young fits the bill for the current generation.

The Atlanta Hawks star appeared on the Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter and discussed Knicks fans' hatred of him and the back-and-forth trash talking that occurs when he visits MSG.

"It was the craziest environment, probably, that I've played in," he said of last season's playoff series. "… Them yelling the whole time, it was probably one of my favorite times playing basketball."

He also said Knicks fans should know better than to give him extra motivation.

"There's certain guys you shouldn't talk to and just leave alone," he said. "I feel like I'm one of those guys in that category."

While the Hawks' win over the Knicks in the first round of the 2021 playoffs stands out the most, Young put on a show in New York during a 117-111 victory in March as well by posting 45 points behind 7-of-15 shooting from deep to go with eight assists.

The guard, who is no stranger to derogatory chants from the New York crowd, even stared down the fans following a first-quarter buzzer-beater.

It will surely be appointment viewing next season as well when the Hawks visit the Big Apple.

Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons was a trade-deadline target for the Atlanta Hawks, according to The Athletic's Chris Kirschner.

Should the Hawks look to be aggressive and chase a big name in a trade this summer, Kirschner described Simmons as someone to "keep an eye on."

Atlanta had to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in tournament and ultimately lost to the Miami Heat in five games in the first round. That was a disappointing outcome for a franchise that was on its way to the Eastern Conference Finals this time last year.

Improving the team's defense is a necessity for general manager Travis Schlenk. The Hawks finished 26th in defensive rating (113.7), per NBA.com.

Acquiring a 6'11" guard who can basically defend every position on the floor would make obvious sense toward addressing that concern.

But there's no guarantee when he returns to the floor or suits up with another team that Simmons will still be the player who made two All-Defensive teams and was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year in 2020-21.

Brooklyn announced the 25-year-old underwent a microdiscectomy surgery for a lingering back injury. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported he may not be back to 100 percent until three or four months after the procedure.

Even that could be an optimistic timeline.

Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. had the same surgery when he was a freshman at Missouri. While he returned for two games with the Tigers late in the year, he was out for his entire rookie campaign because of a second back surgery. A third back surgery followed this past fall.

Before news of the back surgery surfaced, Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer spoke to a general manager who said Brooklyn might be stuck with Simmons because the three-time All-Star doesn't have "any real trade value."

For the Hawks, there's little reason to pursue a Simmons deal until he's healthy again.

The NBA announced Tuesday it's staging a pair of preseason games between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks in Abu Dhabi in October.

The league already confirmed plans to have the Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors play in Saitama, Japan, during the upcoming preseason.

The Abu Dhabi games are months in the making. The NBA announced in November it had signed a deal with the local Department of Culture and Tourism. Part of the agreement guaranteed two preseason games to mark the league's first trip to the Arabian Gulf.

"Abu Dhabi is a vibrant multicultural hub with a demonstrated track record of hosting world-class sporting events," NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said at the time.

Commissioner Adam Silver's predecessor, David Stern, had a vision to turn the NBA into a global game, and that helped the league's popularity explode overseas.

The NBA Global Games was one way to give international fans a taste of what happens in the Association on a nightly basis. The COVID-19 pandemic meant the series had to temporarily go on hold.

The 2019-20 season was the last time the NBA held events in foreign markets. It had preseason games in India, Japan and China, in addition to regular-season contests in Mexico City and Paris. 

The Atlanta Hawks announced that center Clint Capela will not return for the team's play-in game against the Cleveland Cavaliers after suffering a hyperextended right knee.

Capela was injured late in the first half after fouling Cavs forward Evan Mobley as he headed to the basket:

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, there was "initial optimism" that Capela didn't suffer "significant right knee damage." He's scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday.

Capela had seven points and eight rebounds in 13 minutes before exiting. He averaged 11.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game this year.

Onyeka Okongwu served as Capela's backup in the first half and started the second half in his absence. He had three rebounds in 11 first-half minutes, but the Hawks were plus-11 with him on the court. Atlanta entered halftime trailing 61-51.

Okongwu scored two points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 second-half minutes.

ESPN's Lisa Salters said during the television broadcast that Gorgui Dieng would play at the 5 with Capela out.

The Atlanta Hawks seemed poised to be among the NBA's best teams this season after an Eastern Conference Finals appearance last year and with young star Trae Young to lead the way.

That has not been the case, which may be surprising to some—but not to Hawks big man Clint Capela.

"Our approach the entire season, we were already thinking we were going to the playoffs," Capela told Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. "Our approach wasn't about the next game; it was, 'Oh, we won this. We won that.' That's the problem with teams that are not used to this. I'm not so shocked."

The high-profile struggles of the Los Angeles Lakers have overshadowed Atlanta's issues on a national level, but it is still stunning to see the Hawks battle to make the play-in tournament after last season's success.

Atlanta is 26-30 and tied with the Washington Wizards for the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, which would be the final play-in spot.

That surely wasn't the plan after falling two wins short of the NBA Finals last season.

Consistency has been a problem, as evidenced by a seven-game winning streak in January that included wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and Lakers, followed by five losses in the next seven games.

"I feel like our approach night-to-night isn't the same," Capela said. "Maybe we don't prepare ourselves well enough for every game. It obviously affects how we're playing our opponent every night. It hasn't been good for us. It's clearly an issue."

Then there is the defense.

Atlanta is 27th in the league in defensive rating, and Capela pointed to a lack of buy-in:

Because I feel like it comes from the mindset of everybody. If you're always thinking about offense, you're always going to feel like offense is an issue. If you're more defensive-minded, you're going to take more pride on defense. I feel like the team we are, we're more offensive-minded. There aren't a lot of guys who take pride on defense, so it's hard. I'm mostly a defensive-minded guy, but it's a team thing. Your team has to be defensive-minded. It can't be just him or him or him. Everyone. So, it is what it is.

Fortunately for the Hawks, they have plenty of time to turn things around before the playoffs.

The core of this team proved it can compete on a postseason stage with the run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Notable wins over the Bucks, Heat and Phoenix Suns in the last month underscore how dangerous Atlanta can be on any given night.

With better defense and more consistency, the Hawks could be a threat to the top teams in the East come playoff time.