Has the Rest of the Eastern Conference Left Atlanta Behind This Offseason?

Where do the Hawks stand after the recent offseason moves of the rest of the Eastern Conference?

Apr 30, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) shoots against the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Recently, the NBA has been shaken up since the offseason began; in particular, the Eastern Conference has become really competitive. Yesterday, we saw one of the more confusing and controversial trades between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, sending Jaylen Brown to Philly, which made things a little more challenging for the Atlanta Hawks moving forward.

Another BLOCKBUSTER trade happened in the NBA Wednesday night 👀@zachkram breaks down who won the league-shaking move: https://t.co/I3lmTPtGGn pic.twitter.com/AaJ63vdkvm

— ESPN (@espn) July 2, 2026

To make matters worse, the Sixers just signed Anfernee Simons to a two-year deal this morning, making Philly an Eastern Conference contender as of now. That's before I even mention some of the other teams in the East that have also added more ammo to their roster.

Looking at the rest of the conference, we have the Toronto Raptors, who have added Kawhi Leonard to a promising young core that can defend at a high level; Giannis Antetokounmpo joining Bam Adebayo in Miami, who is still building out its roster; and the NBA Champion New York Knicks.

I didn't even mention that you likely will have to deal with the Detroit Pistons, who were the top seed in the East this past season. Still, Detroit will need to fill out the roster after losing key pieces, and the Indiana Pacers, who were also just in the NBA Finals last year, are getting back star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

So now, the real question in all of this that needs to be answered is, where do the Hawks rank amongst all of this?

Where do the Hawks finish and where do they go?

Nov 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) argues with referee Tyler Ricks (95) against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Based on the Hawks' moves this offseason, there's a clear indication they will be focused on seeing where things head with the young talent. After the season Atlanta had, finishing with a Most Improved Player, All-Defensive Player, and NBA All-Star, it's fair to wait and see the jump the roster can make.

However, I don't believe many saw these moves coming, as this past season, Atlanta was able to jump from nearly being out of the Play-In Tournament to a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference. Compared to last season, Atlanta won't have the same opportunities to get off to a slow start and won't have the luxury of being as top-heavy with stars as many of the other East teams will.

So, this leads to my last point: where can Atlanta finish, and what should they do from here? In my opinion, the Hawks, talent-wise, barring injury and without us knowing the leap some of the players will take, could finish in the Play-In Tournament or the five-or-six seed. Keep in mind, I haven't even named Boston or Cleveland, who were also playoff teams that finished better than Atlanta.

While this may come off as a regression, it is important to note that Atlanta has one of the more youthful rosters in the NBA, and a lot of its players have major room for growth. Also, if Atlanta were looking to compete with the rest of the conference, they would have been making moves for another star; although many Hawks fans want that to happen, it isn't always the best thing to do.

Personally, I like the idea of continuing to build on the success that this team has had without making any insane moves because you don't truly know what you have. If you make a move too soon, it could lead to another team capitalizing on Atlanta's mistake, which is something we've seen in the Trae Young era with the draft picks the Hawks gave up for Dejounte Murray.

However, there is still a chance that Atlanta can shock some people with how the team performs this season, so everyone must stay patient. Also, who's to say that if things don't go as planned, they can't make a big move next summer or at the trade deadline? But keeping things the way they are right now gives Atlanta a chance at something special in the near future, hopefully.