The Hawks are BACK

The time has come everybody. Coming off of the shortest offseason in NBA history, the Atlanta Hawks are back at it Thursday night to start this highly anticipated 2021-22 season. And who else better to play than Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.

This is gonna be a good one. Obviously the biggest narrative leading up to tip-off is the matchup between Luka and our very own Trae Young. Three summers ago these two were traded for each other on draft night, and the debate about who won the trade has been continuous ever since, and unfortunately for these two, the comparisons most likely won’t be silenced until their careers are over or God forbid one of them end up on another team. In my opinion, I couldn’t be happier that Trae is our guy. Yes, Luka is a star but Trae Young is right up there with him and has proven that he can lead the Hawks to success. This is going to be his fourth year in the league and he’s already taken us to the Conference Finals and we were one win away from the big time. To wrap up the Luka/Trae talk: So far it seems like Trae has the upper hand and Thursday night will be a key point in the great debate.

This Hawks team goes much much deeper than just Trae Young though. We had a huge off season signing extensions for John Collins, Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams, Clint Capella, and Trae Young. These guys got PAID this summer which is absolutely a good move because they earned it. There were a lot of rumors about John Collins leaving to become the head huncho for another team but the Hawks GM proved that Collins is a key asset by giving him $125 million, and he’s worth every penny. Of all guys on this team John Collins is by far the most vocal leader and I expect to see him become one of the leagues top towards this year.

Besides the extensions, two other guys Im excited to see make their presence know across the league this year are Bogdan Bogdanovic and DeAndre Hunter. These are two young guys who dealt with injury’s last year and are now fully healthy and ready to go off. From my (and most Hawks fans) point of view these guys are future stars, but the rest of the league hasn’t fully recognized that just yet so this will be a big year for them to prove their value and show that they are legit.

There’s literally nobody on this team that I don’t trust on the court. People saw it in the playoffs last year and it’s time for us to really show that we have what it takes now that we’ve got more of a spotlight on us. It’s a pressure that we didn’t have before but I’m fully confident that our guys can handle whatever comes at us.

The East is looking a lot different this year so I really don't know what to expect from the other teams. All I know is that the 76'ers are an absolute train wreck and the process is over. Other than that though I see us being right up there with the Bucks and Nets in regards to the top teams in the East.

I’m not gonna guarantee an NBA Championship this year but I genuinely could see it happening. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the coaching, and now the fans of Atlanta need to show up get behind our guys. I’m hype man. This season is gonna be fun to watch. It all starts tomorrow!

Go Hawks.

peacenlove