Atlanta, GA

Will the Atlanta Hawks Be Buyers At The NBA Trade Deadline?

Published

3 hours ago

December 16, 2024

Will the Atlanta Hawks Be Buyers At The NBA Trade Deadline?

At this point last season, Atlanta was the talk of the league, but for the wrong reasons. All of the chatter around the Hawks was around the trade deadline and what they would do with the pairing of Dejounte Murray and Trae Young, as well as the rest of the team. Now, things have changed.

The Atlanta Hawks battled the Milwaukee Bucks all the way to the final whistle in Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal, but they came up just short in the 108-100 loss and now their run in the NBA Cup is over. Atlanta will go back to the regular season and hope to continue their climb in the Eastern Conference Standings. Despite the loss, there is plenty to like from what the Hawks showed. It was not just the NBA Cup though. Atlanta has won seven of their last nine games and is positioning themselves to possibly make a run to the top of the Eastern Conference. The Hawks have some time off before they take the court again on Thursday vs the Spurs.

Currently, Atlanta is in 7th in the East, but they are only 2.5 games back of third place. Can Atlanta climb that high? That is going to be worth watching the rest of the season and I think they could if they stay healthy and figure some things out on offense

With this surprising run of success for the Hawks, will that make them buyers at the trade deadline? Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley had the Hawks being buyers as one of his bold predictions for the trade deadline:

“Before this season even started, it felt like the end of the road for this iteration of the Hawks. At the very least, they seemed likely to move out their remaining high-dollar vets and start shaping things around the young quartet of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and top pick Zaccharie Risacher—with or without Trae Young.

Maybe things will still play out that way, as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported Atlanta “will listen” should teams “being calling about their veterans.” With the Hawks showing perhaps more fight than expected, though, maybe this roster has a longer leash than anticipated. Maybe there’s even some incentive for the front office to make some win-now moves with eyes on snagging one of the East’s top-six seeds.

If nothing else, it feels like Young is extending his stay with the only NBA franchise he’s known. He has never been more productive as a passer, and as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst relayed in the same piece, he is “becoming better” with his “leadership and relationship-building skills.”

If the Hawks now plan on keeping Young, then they could go search for ways to bring him more support. Instead of outright dumping the likes of Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr., maybe they use those salaries and some non-premium trade assets (i.e., not their own future firsts) to bring in some support stoppers, shooters and secondary shot-creators.

They probably haven’t shown enough to justify big-game hunting, but targeted trades for reasonably priced role players could be in the works, particularly if the front office feels this group has a legitimate chance of avoiding the play-in tournament.”

It will be interesting to see how the Hawks handle the deadline. If they feel like they can grab a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference, do they become buyers and try to make a run? Or do they stand pat and let this group see what happens? Atlanta is a young team with guys like Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, and Jalen Johnson being the cornerstones for the franchise and they may just want to see how these guys continue to improve. Unless there is a great deal out there that benefits not only the Hawks for this season but the future as well, I think Atlanta may just sit tight at the deadline. The next month or so will be vital for the Hawks to figure this out.

Additional Links:

Updated Eastern Conference Standings: Atlanta Remains In Hunt For Top-Six Seed After NBA Cup Run

NBA Analyst Poses Tough Question About Hawks No. 1 Pick Zaccharie Risacher

Key Takeaways From the Atlanta Hawks NBA Cup Run

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Atlanta, GA

Falcons at Raiders: How to watch, odds, expert picks as Atlanta vies for playoff bid

Published

11 hours ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Falcons at Raiders: How to watch, odds, expert picks as Atlanta vies for playoff bid

Life looked peachy for the Atlanta Falcons three weeks ago. With a two-game lead in the NFC South and the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay after a season sweep, the playoffs felt certain. But after dropping the division lead to the Buccaneers during a four-game losing streak, the heat is on the Falcons and quarterback Kirk Cousins to save their season when Atlanta travels to face the Las Vegas Raiders. Atlanta is favored by more than a field goal in the second matchup of Monday night’s doubleheader.

How to watch Falcons at Raiders

The downfall of Cousins accelerated Atlanta’s spiral into mediocrity. The veteran signal-caller hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass during Atlanta’s losing streak — the longest such drought of his career — while throwing eight of his league-high 15 interceptions over that span. If Cousins struggles to find a rhythm against one of the league’s worst teams, calls will grow louder for Atlanta to make a change to first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.

Regardless of Atlanta’s situation under center, running back Bijan Robinson should get plenty of touches. During Cousins’ struggles, Robinson has 20-plus carries in three of the last four games as he closes in on 1,000 yards for the season.

Keeping quarterbacks and running backs healthy remains an issue for Las Vegas, which is on an NFL-high nine-game losing streak. If Aidan O’Connell (questionable) is sidelined, third-string quarterback Desmond Ridder gets a revenge-game opportunity against the team he started for last season. The Raiders’ abysmal running back committee remains last in the NFL in yards per game.

Against a below-average Atlanta defense with the NFL’s fewest sacks, rookie tight end Brock Bowers will be the focal point for Las Vegas. Second in the NFL with 87 catches, Bowers surpassed Sam LaPorta’s single-season rookie tight end receptions record during Week 14.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Las Vegas Raiders odds

Expert picks for Falcons vs. Raiders

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Atlanta, GA

New plaque honors metro Atlanta city’s unique place in music history

Published

18 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

New plaque honors metro Atlanta city’s unique place in music history

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A metro Atlanta city is honoring its place in music history.

The city of Doraville unveiled a new plaque today to mark the 50th anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd recording its hit song “Free Bird.”

The band recorded the song inside Studio One, a historic recording studio that once stood in the heart of Doraville.

The studio is no longer in operation, but Doraville residents say its influence lives on in the music industry and that the plaque was long overdue.

“This place was like magic in the 70s and everybody just kinda forgot about it,” said one attendee. “When I tell people that ‘Free Bird’ was recorded here they’re like ‘What? What are you talking about? Why isn’t there a thing?’ And I’m like ‘Exactly,’” said.

After the unveiling, a reception was held inside the Doraville digital studio, along with a live performance in honor of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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Atlanta, GA

Key Takeaways From the Atlanta Hawks NBA Cup Run

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Key Takeaways From the Atlanta Hawks NBA Cup Run

The Atlanta Hawks battled the Milwaukee Bucks all the way to the final whistle in yesterday’s NBA Cup semifinal, but they came up just short in the 108-100 loss and now their run in the NBA Cup is over. Atlanta will go back to the regular season and hope to continue their climb in the Eastern Conference Standings. Despite the loss, there is plenty to like from what the Hawks showed.

While it is not 100% a playoff atmosphere, the NBA Cup is as close as you are going to get to playoff-type games in the regular season. Why is that important? Because this group has not played in those kinds of games yet together. That is one takeaway from their NBA Cup run, but what are some others?

1. Trae Young still shows up in big games

Young has not been very efficient this season in terms of shooting, but he leads the league in assists and has been effective in other ways. The bigger the game though, the better Young played and that has to be comforting for the Hawks to know that he can still do things like that. Young has had plenty of big game moments before in the playoffs, including the 2021 run to the Eastern Conference and the game winning shot in Boston in 2023. Again, NBA Cup games are not playoff games, but they are as close as you are going to get in the regular season. Young was awesome against the Knicks on Wednesday and awesome against Milwaukee yesterday, showing he can still step up in the biggest of games.

2. Atlanta can win with its defense

The Hawks defense has been much better this season and it was the main reason they won several games in the NBA Cup. Despite the loss yesterday, Atlanta held Milwaukee to 108 points and in the previous game vs the Knicks, they held them to 100 points. While the offense is still figuring things out, it is nice to know that Atlanta can lean on its defense while they do that.

3. The Hawks have three-point shooting problems

This was one of the concerns with the Hawks coming into the season and even in their wins, the shooting woes from three-point range showed. The Hawks have been able to shoot well at the rim and on other shots, but Milwaukee was able to take that part of their game away yesterday and when you combine that with poor three-point shooting, you get a loss. The Hawks are 24th in the NBA in three-point percentage after yesterday’s game.

4. The bench remains one of the NBA’s best

Atlanta has one of the best three man bench units in the league with De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Onyeka Okongwu. While finding that 9th guy has been a bit of a challenge, Atlanta has been able to beat teams with the trio of Hunter, Bogdanovic, and Okongwu and having that kind of depth is going to be crucial for Atlanta later this season.

Additional Links:

RECAP: Atlanta’s NBA Cup Run Ends in 110-102 Semifinals Loss to Milwaukee

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