The Hawks Are Looking To Break an Important Decade-Long Streak This Season

The Atlanta Hawks are one of the more interesting young teams that are on many NBA fans' and analysts' radars. Last season, they were able to shock the NBA world not only with how they ended the season after making major moves around the new year but also during the playoffs.

During the postseason, the Hawks took the eventual champion New York Knicks six games, which was the longest series the Knicks had that postseason. The key to the Hawks' success this past season was their ability to get out on the fast break and push the pace, along with playing scrappy perimeter defense that led to easy offense.

What stands out most about the Hawks compared to most teams in the league is that multiple players can play different positions and stand out. Dyson Daniels made the All-Defensive Second Team, Nickeil Alexander-Walker won the Most Improved Player Award, and Jalen Johnson made the All-Star team and the All-NBA Third Team.

This past season alone showed that the Hawks have a good amount of promising potential, even with some of the other names that haven't been mentioned. This offseason, the Hawks have placed an emphasis on trying to continue the momentum they've built this past season by not making major changes.

There is one box that the Hawks could check off this season that seemingly no one is expecting them too.

While the Hawks have made five playoff appearances since the 2015-2016 season, they have not hosted a first-round series since then. The Hawks have been seeded 5-8 in those five appearances, but even in an Eastern Conference that is going to be tough, they could break that streak this season.

Making the Case for Atlanta as a Top-Four Seed

Apr 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) reacts in front of New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) after being fouled during the first 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

For me, the potential surprise for Atlanta this upcoming season would be them finishing as a top-three or four seed in the Eastern Conference. The reason is the amount of experienced talent now in the Eastern Conference compared to last season.

This offseason alone, the Indiana Pacers get Tyrese Haliburton back from injury, LeBron James and Jaylen Brown join the Philadelphia 76ers, Giannis Antetokounmpo joins the Miami Heat, and lastly, Kawhi Leonard returns to the Toronto Raptors to compete for another championship.

That doesn't include some of the other top teams that finished ahead of the Hawks in the standings last season. However, that does not mean Atlanta can't defy the odds and finish ahead of those teams, as we've seen other teams do in the past.

What it will ultimately come down to for Atlanta to achieve this goal would be improvement, consistency on both ends of the court, and health. While there haven't been many season predictions, the growing sentiment is that Atlanta will finish in the mid to high 40's in the win column but still end up in the Play-In Tournament.

That would look like somewhat of a regression to many, but if you look at where the Hawks came from and what's in the Eastern Conference, it's actually a solid year, but I still believe they will finish higher than that.

Add us as a preferred source on Google