Two Big Reasons Why The Atlanta Hawks Could Turn Their Season Around

How can the Hawks turn their season around and potentiall make the playoffs?

Feb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots against the Charlotte Hornets in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Ahead of the trade deadline, the Hawks have lost three in a row heading into the All-Star break. Atlanta sits at 10th in the Eastern Conference and are 26-30 heading into the latter part of the season.

Hope is not lost however.

Look, I am not here to tell you that the Hawks are a contender or could make some sort of miracle run. It is pretty clear that they are looking ahead to the future, and that was evidenced by their activity at the trade deadline. The Hawks freed up some future space and acquired three second-round picks, but they did get worse at the deadline.

Still, this team could make the playoffs and there are two reasons they could still turn things around and make the most of the rest of the year.

1. Schedule Strength

Feb 11, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) back on defense against Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Hawks play one of the easiest schedules in the NBA the rest of the way.

According to tankathon, Atlanta has the fourth easiest schedule left in the NBA for the final 26 games. They still have a matchup against the Kings, three against the Nets, two against the Wizards, two against the Mavericks, two against the Bucks, and a home game against the Grizzlies. All of those teams are going to be actively tanking (they are right now) and the Hawks need to win most of, if not all of those games this season.

Another thing to add to this, they will play 16 of their final 26 games at home and they only have three back-to-backs the rest of the way. There is still a path to success for the Hawks if they can win the games against these tanking teams while also managing to pull some surprises.

2. Jonathan Kuminga

It is hard to pin down the kind of impact that Kuminga is going to have on the Hawks for the final 26 games, assuming he is back for all of them. He has talent and would give the Hawks some new things that could make them a better team.

This could also be a disaster. Kuminga is not a clean fit with the rest of this roster and while it might be worth the gamble considering how Kristaps Porzingis was not playing, 26 games is not much time to figure things out. Kuminga could be such a poor fit that the Hawks lose early in the play-in tournament and then faced with a big decision this summer on the former Warrior.

Or he could be a spark that helps the Hawks not only make the play-in tournament, but the playoffs. This deal has a lot of boom/bust potential and it will be fascinating to watch whenever Kuminga does return.