2013-14 Finish: 49-33

Season Highlight:

The Hawks went from being a likely playoff contender, to being a borderline playoff team, to finally evolving into the big 3 lead Championship chasers they were after the Dwight trade at the deadline. Their highlight is undoubtedly the 15-2 run that saw them go from a 34-31 record to their final 49-33, grabbing 6^th seed, then sweeping through the Celtics in round 1, taking out the ever dominant Cavs 4-2 in round 2, before pushing the 76ers to the brink in a 7 game conference finals. From near .500 team to near finalists in the blink of an eye!

Season Lowlight:

Honestly, was there really much of a lowlight for the Hawks and Ryan in his first season? Sure, they opened the season going 1-7…which possibly even makes their above highlight even more remarkable (1-7, then a 48-26 record, all the way to the Conference finals?!), but this was before the team had the enventual balance Ryan’s moves gave. Arguably their biggest “lowlight” was the trading away of eventual Rookie of the Year, Marcus Smart, but even then he would have been buried in the Hawks rotation and wouldn’t have had the opportunity Orlando gave him that lead to the award. Plus, it netted them Reke and Warren who then helped net Paul…and they got Gobert. Hard to fault, still, ey.

Best Trade:

Hawks receive: Dwight Howard, Matt Barnes, Lance Thomas and Travis Wear.
Hawks send: Channing Frye, Patrick Patterson, Al-farouq Aminu, Jordan Adams, Jon Leuer, Rasual Butler, Rights to Semaj Christon and Minnesota 2015 1^st.

Yes, after all the moves the Hawks had made, they were still languishing at 34-31 before Dwight made his debut and they went supernova. And to cap that off, they only gave up a handful of role players and a late lottery pick for their game changer. Cha Ching.

Worst Trade:

Hawks Receive: Nate Wolters and 5 GM Points.
Hawks Send: Rights to Tibor Pleiss.

When this deal…a nothing deal, is your worst deal, you’ve kicked some ass. Sure not all of Ryan’s moves are the types of moves everyone likes, or even I would like, but then maybe I don’t his foresight? Regardless, looking back, you can’t really fault the bigger moves made and so this small deal that saw Wolters never suit up for the Hawks before going overseas (for now at least), while the 7’2 German (despite the Hawks already holding their own giant in Gobert) looks set to come to the league.

Other Notable Trades:

Hawks Receive: Dwyane Wade
Hawks Send: Avery Bradley, Timofey Mozgov, Kelly Olynyk, Glenn Robinson III and a 2^nd round pick.

A lot of depth going out, but they get their franchise type guard who can lead them provided he stays healthy…and he did!

Hawks Receive: Darius Miller and Rights to Semaj Christon.
Hawks Send: Darrell Arthur.

Cost cutting. Required.

Hawks Receive: Tyreke Evans, Channing Frye, Rudy Gobert, TJ Warren and Orlando 2015 1^st (turned into Pick 2!).
Hawks Send: Chris Bosh, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Nazr Mohammed and 10 GM Points.

Bosh/Wade/Lowry wasn’t getting it done, so he got a different crew. Decent return for the Allstar big man and Orlando did nicely too getting what they wanted including the eventual Rookie of the Year.

Hawks Receive: Chris Paul, Jordan Adams and Minnesota 2015 1^st.
Hawks Send: Kyle Lowry, Tyreke Evans, TJ Warren and Atlanta 2015 1^st.

The ultimate floor general for some genuine stars whom produce nicely, but weren’t quite getting the job done according to Ryan. Minny turned CP3 into multiple assets too which is always nice.

Hawks Receive: JJ Redick, Taj Gibson and Devyn Marble.
Hawks Send: Al Jefferson and Robert Covington.

Al wasn’t fully working and Covington was inefficient off the bench as a rookie. Gets the seasoned vets to come in and give consistent results night in and night out in the key roles.

Hawks Receive: Justice Winslow and Rights to Dario Saric.
Hawks Send: D’Angelo Russell.

Two hot talents are better than one? Plus, Winslow was his primary draft target and key positional need.


Best FA Signing:

Toss up between Al-farouq Aminu and Robert Covington. Aminu was probably the better immediate fit and role player for the team, but then Covington came along, busted out and he ended up trading him for 2015 1^st round pick. Teams can do a lot worse than getting either of these guys, and they were bargains too.


Worst FA Signing:

There was a reasonable cycle of small name guys to go through Atlanta, all of which made little or no impact. Possibly the worst signing then was their priciest signing, Jason Richardson. He took up the Hawks MLE of $2.7million, only to be bought out after playing in only 4 games to make salary room for more trades.

Star:

Dwyane Wade.

Wade was the most stable of players on the Hawks roster, suiting up in 58 games and starting all he played. Sure, a couple of others played only a handful more than he, but Wade also averaged a team leading 26.6 points on 47% shooting, with 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
 
Surprise:

Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard.

Wade while the star of the team, was also the big surprise. When Ryan made the trade for Dwyane a few people were sceptical due to his injury history, but surprise! He made it through the majority of the season and was fit and firing when it mattered most down the stretch.

Howard is no surprise to be a monster in the middle, but he sparked what was an incredible run to end the season and through the playoffs, and no one predicted he’d have that effect after he failed leading the Blazers. He averaged 15.2 points and 13.9 boards in the regular season and turned in a whopping +11.5 PER, some 7.4 higher than that of their star Wade.

Goat:

Chris Bosh.

The guy was the franchise player and on $20+ million a year, yet in the 11 games he played for the Hawks he only managed 7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 39% shooting. Good riddance!

Draft Report Card:

The Hawks didn’t hold their own pick, but they were holding the prized Orlando pick from the Chris Bosh trade. They never really considered moving this through the season, despite all their moves, and it ended up netting them Pick 2 in the draft. They promptly took D’Angelo Russell after Towns was off the board, and then worked the phones immediately as there were rumours that their real primary target was Justice Winslow to fill the small forward void. At pick 6, the Clippers saw an opportunity and took Winslow, packaging him with last years late lottery talent Dario Saric, and flipping them for D’Angelo Russell. The coup was complete, the Hawks had their man and they now also have a solid piece sitting overseas waiting for his NLL opportunity. Is there really that much difference between Russell and Winslow? Summer League play suggests not, but only time will tell. It was an A grade draft for the Hawks though, who also took euro-stash Luka Mitrovic late in the 2^nd round.

Looking to the Future:

The Hawks came within minutes of taking out the all powerful Eastern Conference title, and the team you saw go 26-7 with Dwight Howard healthy are all set to return with the added bonus of a top 10 draftee at their weakest position, in Justice Winslow. The Hawks look primed to go round again but even deeper than before, likely with a top 4 seed based on their end of season run, and with the exception of a potentially fragile DWade who is another year older, they’re players are all in their prime or younger. With Ryan at the helm making the moves and not afraid to pull the trigger, you can envision this team staying up near the top for a while to come as long as they can keep their luxury tax bill in check.

Upcoming Free Agents:

Dwyane Wade – The star of the team declined his $16 million Player Option and is rumoured to be looking for a 1 year, $20 million deal. We expect him to return.

Patrick Beverley – He’s a key piece off the bench, but missed the playoff run with injury. He’ll be a Restricted Free Agent, but his rumoured desires for a 4 year, $25 million deal might be too pricey for the Hawks.

Travis Wear – The Hawks declined his Team Option and he’ll be a UFA.

Henry Walker – He’s a UFA and remains unlikely to return.

John Lucas – He’ll likely attend training camp but isn’t expected to return.

Lance Thomas – Lance has expressed interest in returning on a 1 year deal around the $1.6 million mark, but it remains to be seen if the Hawks share his interest.

Reggie Williams – He’s a UFA and there’s an expectation he’s already gone.