Atlanta Hawks Take Small Step Up In Latest Power Rankings As Trae Young's Return Nears

Where should the Atlanta Hawks land in the latest power rankings now that Trae Young is nearing his return from injury?

Oct 25, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) goes to the basket between Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and center Chet Holmgren (7) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

After getting a win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, the Hawks have been off and getting ready to play the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, the first game of a back-to-back.

After a brief losing streak, Atlanta has won two of their last three games, with the wins coming against the Wizards and the 76ers, while the loss was an uncompetitive game against the Pistons.

The big news of course is that of Trae Young's potential return. Young returned to practice this week and might be nearing a return for the Hawks. They face the Hornets on the road tomorrow night and then come back home to face the Spurs on Friday night. There is a big home stretch coming up for the Hawks and it would not be surprising to see Young make his return to the court.

Latest Rankings

Dec 14, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) drives the ball towards the basket against Philadelphia 76ers forward Dominick Barlow (25) during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

The latest power rankings from ESPN have the Hawks moving up one spot, from 17th to 16th and analyst Ohm Youngmisuk discussed the Hawks injuries and Young's return:

"Losing Kristaps Porzingis for at least two more weeks hurts an already small Atlanta front line. But at least the Hawks have some clarity that the center will be out, as opposed to wondering if he will be able to play every other game. Trae Young was assigned to the College Park Skyhawks on Tuesday to get more practice time as he's nearing a return. Until he is back, Jalen Johnson will continue his emergence into a star. Johnson will go for his fifth-straight triple-double on Thursday at Charlotte."

The big question on the minds of Hawks fans has been how the team will look when Young returns to the lineup. Atlanta has held up well since Young went down with his injury, but will re-integrating him into the lineup be more difficult than it might appear? I tend not to think so because Young has been playing for so long, but the Hawks have built a nice identity around emerging forward Jalen Johnson.

Young is a player that is going to want the ball in his hands and he is one of the best playmakers and shot creators in the entire league, but will that mess with how Johnson has been playing? As the vocal leader of the offense, Johnson has been posting unreal statistics, including back-to-back triple doubles. Having Young back might mean that Johnson is going to take a backseat as the focal point of the offense and it will be interesting to see how that meshes.

Another interesting aspect to Young returning is what happens with Nickeil Alexander-Walker. He has been thrust into the starting lineups since Young has been injured and he has put up multiple 30-point games and was fantastic for the team on defense.

Those are the tough questions that the Hawks will have to answer, but for now, they have to be glad to be able to get a break and get their feet back under them. The Eastern Conference is a big cluster of teams close to each other and a fresh Hawks team should be able to continue to win and make a charge up the standings.