After ending the 2021 season with a disappointing 4-1 series loss to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, The Atlanta Hawks were determined to add more star power to the roster by picking up All-Star guard Dejounte Murray in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.
Coming off the best season of his career in which he averaged 21/8/9 and showed off his defensive proficiency by leading the league in steals, the addition of the six-year vet from the University of Washington came with more questions than answers. How will he pair with a ball dominant player of Trae Young’s caliber? Will Trae be able to adjust to more off-ball play? Questions also surrounded the future of John Collins despite the contract extension the recently signed.
Well, the time has come for some of our questions to be answered. With the release of the 2022-2023 NBA schedule this week, most analysts have the Hawks over/under for wins at 46.5. Looking at the standings from last season, that would be good enough for possibly the 5th or 6th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, a vast improvement over the 9th seed they earned last season and would help them avoid the play-in tournament.
The season kicks off with three straight home games. An added bonus is that these are three WINNABLE games. The Houston Rockets (Oct. 19), Orlando Magic (Oct. 21) and the Charlotte Hornets (Oct. 23) are relatively young teams that the Hawks should have no problem beating.
The schedule gets a little tougher in late October before they run the gauntlet in November. Out of the fifteen games that month, seven are against teams that finished in the top four in the Eastern Conference last season. If we take a look back at the schedule from last season, the Hawks went on a brutal west coast road trip that knocked them off their trajectory a bit. They will have to make a statement this November.
Despite the bleak outlook of the schedule to close out the year, one big positive is that the Hawks have the fifth-easiest strength of schedule in the league. If they can make it through the holiday seasons healthy and Trae Young and Dejounte Murray turn into one of the most feared backcourts in the league, look for the Hawks to stake their claim as one of the premiere teams in the East.
