Predicting Where the Hawks Will Finish in the Eastern Conference Standings

With LeBron James' arrival back in the Eastern Conference as the newest member of the Philadelphia 76ers, the East is more competitive than it's been in a long time. There are really only three teams - the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls - who seem definitively out of the postseason race. Everyone else in the conference is either coming off a playoff berth or has added significant talent to help them get there.

The Atlanta Hawks were closer to the top of the conference - they earned the No. 6 seed and drew the eventual NBA champions, the New York Knicks, in the first round. While they lost, they did take two games off a team that went almost undefeated throughout the rest of the playoffs and only lost one game outside of the Atlanta series.

Winning 45+ games and clinching a top-six seed isn't anything to sneeze at. However, the path to do so is going to be significantly harder next season. The Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors added significant pieces to their roster in the summer in Giannis Antetokounmpo and, potentially, Kawhi Leonard. The Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons are all coming off seasons where they won 50+ games. Of course, the Knicks aren't going anywhere right after winning the championship.

That's even before mentioning the Indiana Pacers, who represented the East in the NBA Finals just one season ago, and an Orlando Magic team that nearly upset Detroit in the first round. Even the Charlotte Hornets, who've long been stuck in the conference's gutter, retooled their lineup by shipping out LaMelo Ball and adding even more spacing around Kon Knueppel in the form of Naz Reid, Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale. The perenially hopeless Washington Wizards just added the No. 1 overall pick in AJ Dybantsa to a starting lineup with Trae Young and Anthony Davis.

There's going to be very few easy games in the Eastern Conference next season, and the Hawks have their work cut out for them to make it back to the postseason. Fortunately, they haven't been idle, and the front office did some opportunistic moves to improve their roster. Even so, where do they rank among the rest of the conference?

Atlanta's First Half Will Be Stronger Than Expected

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, — Apr 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) controls the ball against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the third quarter of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

I do think that the Hawks played their best basketball after trading Trae Young and completely configuring the team around Jalen Johnson. Lu Dort will probably improve an admittedly weak perimeter defense, and I'm also a believer in both of the first-round picks that Atlanta added in Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor. While the rookies won't contribute immediately, I think the Hawks are set up to hit the ground running in 2026-27.

They have four of their five starters returning from last season and they play at a frenetic pace that opponents are going to struggle with initially. They're also a very young team in a conference that skews towards older rosters. Furthermore, many of the previous playoff teams from last season underwent major shifts in personnel that will take time to figure out. The Hawks don't have these problems and will be able to take advantage of that in November and December as other teams find their rhythm.

The Hawks Will Win 40+ Games, But Won't Eclipse 45 Wins

In my opinion, though, the Hawks needed to become a more dangerous half-court team, and they didn't make any moves that increase their ceiling for 2026-27 in that regard. Therefore, once the other teams in the conference begin to figure themselves out, the Hawks are probably going to hit some rough skids.

President of basketball operations Onsi Saleh likely isn't under any pressure to make huge improvements at the trade deadline either. While the Hawks need to take more steps towards respectability, this just isn't the year to start being aggressive unless several of the expected contenders for the East falter.

Relying on rookies to be swing pieces in their first season is always a recipe for disappointment, and it's why the Hawks signed CJ McCollum and Jock Landale back. That will certainly help, but they're not going to have enough firepower to hang with some of the best offenses in the NBA. Dort alone isn't going to make them a top-ten defense, and the regression in form that Jalen Johnson showed defensively will become worrying if he doesn't get back to his usual level on that end.

They're still a bit short on the high-end talent they need to win 45 or more games in a conference as competitive at this one. That will likely show up in the second half of the season.

The Hawks Will Advance In the Play-In Tournament As a No. 7 or No. 8 Seed

If Atlanta does fall within 40-45 games, they will almost certainly have to fight for their season in the play-in tournament. Fortunately, they should be well-equipped to make their way out of the tournament. They likely won't be going up against a Heat team that now has Giannis at its center. Miami is accustomed to making its way out of the play-in, so not having to play them unless Giannis gets injured for a long stretch should be massive for Atlanta's chances.

Even if they don't play Miami, they could easily play a 76ers team that fell victim to injuries or a Hornets team that figured out how to adjust to LaMelo Ball's departure. It's also possible that the Magic struggle to adjust to the system of new head coach Sean Sweeney initially, but start clicking at the end of the season and come into the play-in hot.

Regardless, I think the Hawks can put up a fight against anyone they'd encounter in a play-in game. Flemings and Ejiofor will hopefully be well-accustomed to NBA action by the end of the season and settled into their respective roles. Atlanta's perimeter defense is theoretically a force to be reckoned with, and the existing chemistry between Jalen Johnson, NAW, Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu gives them a leg up on most of their opponents.

Even if they lose the first game, I fully expect the Hawks to make their way out of the play-in. Once they get into the playoffs, anything can happen. However, in the regular season, I'd expect the Hawks to finish as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

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