At the NBA trade deadline, the Boston Celtics were 31-25 and chose to be aggressive, making several moves including the addition of Derrick White. The strategy proved to be an effective one as they find themselves tied with the Warriors in the NBA Finals. The Atlanta Hawks on the other hand, chose to stand pat at the deadline at 26-28—a decision that team CEO Steve Koonin regrets.
Joining Dukes & Bell on 92.9 The Game recently, Koonin expressed that the Hawks had a chance to make moves at the deadline but a recent seven-game winning streak may have played a role in keeping the roster intact on February 10th.
“That was a mistake. We won seven games in a row. We looked at each other, and there were two or three trades out on the table and if we had to do it again, we would’ve made them. Hindsight is 20/20 in everything,” he said.
This is not the first time that an integral member of the Hawks’ front office has been open and honest regarding the missteps taken by the team coming off a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21. Travis Schlenk joined the Morning Show after the season ended at the hands of the Miami Heat and shared his belief that it was mistake not to add to the roster prior to the season.
"We made the decision last year to run the same group back and we probably should have tried to upgrade as opposed to stay status quo," says Schlenk. "The way the season ended, we're going to try to upgrade the roster moving forward into next season," Schlenk said in early May.
Along with principal owner Tony Ressler, all parties seem to be on the same page entering this offseason with Koonin also telling 92.9 that the team is “open for business.” Getting a second scorer next to Trae Young while also improving on the defensive end of the court appear to be top two priorities for the Hawks over the next few months and significant roster turnover could take place to achieve those goals.