At this point in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, all 30 teams are undefeated, and all 30 teams have reasons to be optimistic. The Hawks are no different in that regard, but at the same time, they have good cause to have a rosy outlook for the months ahead.
The first reason to be optimistic is the continuity. The Hawks return four of their five starters, their five most important bench players, and 12 players overall.
At the core of it all, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray come back for a second season together. The Hawks are a bit different in that they are built around a pair of point guards, but in their first season, Trae and Dejounte became the second set of teammates in NBA history to average at least 20.0 PPG and 6.0 APG in a single season (min. 70 games played), joining Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the 1991-92 Chicago Bulls.
Newcomer and 14-year NBA veteran Patty Mills, himself a point guard, likes what he sees.
Patty Mills: "We've made that clear that we're not like any other NBA team, and I think we're unapologetic in that way. We are who we are; we have our identity. It's about piecing all those things together.
So we've practiced a ton of this, knowing what looks we can get, but I think what is going to make that even better is our ability to play defense and get stops to be able to run out there the other way.
But at the end of the day, what we've been working on is the ball being able to fly around because of the amount of ball handlers that we have. It keeps everyone engaged in the game and being able to make decisions and in the right play. It really has been a hell of a first week of training camp."
The continuity also applies to the head coach.
After getting an on-the-fly 21 games, a play-in win, and a competitive first-round series against Boston, to get a feel for his new roster at the end of last season, Head Coach Quin Snyder returns with a chance to build from the ground up with his new staff: with a full summer, a full training camp and a full preseason to get ready for the 82-game slate.
Two-way guard Trent Forrest may know Snyder better than any other Hawk. He spent his first two NBA seasons in Utah under Snyder. He was here when Snyder was hired last season, and he will begin his fourth season with Snyder as head coach in a couple of weeks.
Forrest likes what he has seen as Snyder installs his new offense.
Trent Forrest: "I'm just picking up what he's implementing now, which has been a little different from how it was in Utah a little bit. But for the most part, just being able to lead in a sense, because I know most of the stuff already, but being able to help everybody, but also just being able to run it fluently and efficiently. And I feel like those are the biggest things he's been on me about. I feel like what he's doing now, it gives you a lot more options and I feel like it's gonna be way harder to guard than in Utah. We were hard to guard in Utah, too. But I feel like it's even better than it was then. So, I honestly can't wait to see how it's going to work and I feel like we have the right team, right players to really score a lot of points and make it hard for teams."
Added to that continuity is a bit of good health. Guards Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu have both noted that they are pleased to be healthy after being limited in the training camps of some past seasons. And like Forrest, Bogdanovic and second-year guard AJ Griffin are getting good vibes from what they have seen of Snyder's system.
Bogdan Bogdanovic: "First of all, Quin is a great person. He didn't come in last season and say, 'I'm going to set my system right away. I'm gonna change everything.' He kind of learned about us: what we like, what we do. Last season, we almost ran everything from the last season from Nate's offense. Now it's like working on (these things): our schemes, our set plays, and getting into the season and improving from it. It's kind of solving the puzzle with the good pieces, and it's easier to solve it. You know what I'm saying? Like it's easier to add pieces around when you have a good base. So I think that that's the difference."
AJ Griffin: "One thing I know with the new actions that we have, I feel like it's just easy to play all of them, whether you're the guy with the ball or the guy coming off the wide screens or the quick actions like the auto we have, they're pretty easy to read. I feel like you're able to flow. It's not just one action but all the actions come together as one. So I think that is why the shots are there, because it gives the offense multiple options."
Despite the fact that the Hawks return a large number of players, perhaps the most noticeable change is that the team has added two veteran leaders in Mills and guard Wesley Matthews, who will both begin their 15th NBA seasons later this month.
Trae Young gave Matthews high praise, comparing him to one of his favorite teammates from earlier in his career.
Trae Young: "The first day I met Wesley, he gave me Solomon Hill vibes. If y'all know him, know that I still talk to Solo now. He is one of the closest vets that I've had.
You hear (Wesley) every day. He's talking. He has been around the game for a minute, so you trust what he speaks and what he says. The first day that he saw me, he told me that he's got my back. And that is something that when I see Solo, that's the first thing that I think of when I think of him. Just having Wesley around is going to be great, not only for me but for the younger guys, too."
For his part, Matthews says that he wants his leadership style to be organic, but that the work has already begun.
Wesley Matthews: "I think (Patty and I) get that buy-in (from younger teammates) because we bring a level of camaraderie, a level of chemistry that you don't necessarily know how to do as a young guy.
We come from different walks of life, different states, different cities, different, everything to bring everybody together like, 'Hey, let's go to dinner.'
And it's not, 'Let's go to dinner.' It's 'We are all going to dinner. This is what time the dinner is going to be, and the cars are gonna be out front.'
I'm thankful for Quin and Trae and Dejounte and Clint – all the guys who have been here who allow myself and Patty to be those vets because you can't just come in and be like, 'This is what we're gonna do.'
It has to be a cohesion and that's what has been happening. I think you're going to see this chemistry take off – and chemistry wins games in the NBA.
I was on a Bucks team that won 58 games last year, and we didn't do it all because we were the best team that night. There were times when other teams were better than us that night, but we were the tightest team. We were friends, we were going to fight for each other and, you know, that's what I feel here."
The leadership of a player like Matthews might be most important for rookies like Kobe Bufkin.
Kobe Bufkin: "Every day it's something (for a piece of advice), and (Matthews) tries not to bombard you, but you always welcome it.
Many people don't know that he was actually undrafted. So he worked his a-s-s off to get to this point and to be here for so long. His work ethic alone is something that you have got to pay attention to."
The Hawks do have one unanswered question entering the season: Who will be the starting power forward? The issue is less of a question mark and more of a matter of picking one option from a number of good ones, according to General Manager Landry Fields.
Landry Fields: "You look at guys like Saddiq Bey and Jalen Johnson and De'Andre (Hunter), and those guys that can kind of play the 3 and the 4. However it shapes up from a lineup rotational standpoint, we'll see.
But I really liked the progression of Jalen, especially defensively, in the last season. He really gave us a lot of hope this year where it's like, 'OK, can you put him in (as a power forward) – whether he's starting or not – and add in some of those elements defensively as well as his playmaking ability?' We're excited for his growth this year."
When the Hawks roll with Bey at power forward this season, they will benefit from his tremendous shooting and offensive rebounding. When Johnson gets slotted in, they get a boost in defense, defensive rebounding, and transition offense. Of course, regardless of who starts, both will figure quite prominently in the playing rotation.
Jalen Johnson: "I like all of these guys. They are fun to play with, fun to be around. I'm excited. Whatever the lineup is starting these preseason games, I'm excited just to be playing basketball. That's really what it comes down to. Honestly, all that starting stuff, I'm not worried about it. Every year, it has just been about me playing. That's the main goal. As long as I'm out there on the court at some point in time, I'm happy, I'm satisfied."
All signs point to the Hawks having a great and constructive season, a sentiment summed up best by Dejounte.
Dejounte Murray: "It’s great and it’s going to be great. You can just feel the energy, and when I say the energy, you can just feel the consistency that we’re trying to build. It was kind of hard (for Snyder) last year because he came in February, so it was almost impossible – great things don’t happen overnight. It has been great since the summer all the way to now. Like I said, it’s going be a great year, and we’re excited."