NBA Rumors: There are three teams on the decline that will have to make future-defining decisions this offseason.
The NBA Playoffs started in early April, and the first round was a lot of fun to watch. Some series are still ongoing, while some series ended fairly quickly. So far, the play-in tournament has seen several teams suffer crushing defeats in the first round of the playoffs. This includes the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, and New Orleans Pelicans.
These teams are out early and face tough questions heading into the offseason. It's about what's next for our team and how we can increase our chances of winning. Let's take a look at each of these three teams and see their next steps as they look to improve on their performance this season.
The past three seasons have been tough for the Atlanta Hawks. After making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, they made some major changes to their roster to improve their defense, but these changes didn't work and the team is still at the same level as that season. Unable to replicate success. Since 2021, the Hawks have won just 48.8% of their regular season games, posting a record of 120-126. They also failed to make it past the first round.
After losing to the Chicago Bulls in this year's play-in tournament, rumors have been circulating that the Hawks will likely shake things up by trading either Dejounte Murray or Trae Young. This may come as a shock to some NBA fans, but unless something changes, the Hawks are in for another mediocre season.
If the Hawks trade Murray, they could gain draft capital in exchange for the 26-year-old guard, who recently signed a four-year, $114.1 million contract extension. They could probably make even more money by trading Young. The Hawks might even consider trading their franchise cornerstone, as it would give them a more valuable piece than moving Murray.
As a Hawks fan myself, I think the Hawks should either keep Trae Young and trade Dejounte Murray, or trade both. These two players don't match well. When both have played this season, the Hawks' net rating has been -5.71, which is truly awful. When Murray was on the floor without Trae, the Hawks' net rating was -0.78, a little better but still bad. Meanwhile, when Trey was on the floor without Murray, the Hawks had a net rating of 3.45.
It seems clear that if the Hawks are serious about becoming a competitive basketball team, they need to move on from Dejounte Murray. In this situation, they will need to improve their wing rotation, get more shooters, and improve their defense. It's easier said than done, but this is what they need to do to be a strong team in the playoffs.
But for the Hawks, tearing everything apart and trading most of their top players, including Trae Young, to get a ton of draft capital and cap space to give them an opportunity to start over and build from scratch. would also make sense. . Either decision is fine, but there is no way they can trade Trae Young and move forward with Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jaylen Johnson, and Clint Capela. That is a big mistake.