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DK Nation will be going through all 30 teams ahead of the season, looking at how the roster shapes up for the 2022-23 campaign. Here we take a look at the Atlanta Hawks, who hope their backcourt stars can find chemistry together and create the foundation for a long window of contention.
Atlanta Hawks 2022-23 Outlook
Key additions: Dejounte Murray, AJ Griffin, Justin Holiday
The big fish here is Murray, who comes in as a two-way star in the making. He’s going to cover for Trae Young defensively and take some pressure off him on the offensive end. Griffin and Holiday should slot in as competent role players.
Key departures: Kevin Huerter
Losing Huerter isn’t fun for the Hawks but they got a future first-round pick back for him. Atlanta has enough shooting with Young, De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic to part ways with the former Maryland combo guard.
Season expectations
Making the playoffs is likely the the minimum expectation this year in Atlanta. The Hawks probably want to win a playoff series to show some progress.
Projected starting lineup
Young, Murray and Hunter will take care of the perimeter spots, while John Collins and Clint Capela man the interior. The Hawks could also go small and play Bogdanovic instead of Capela.
Fantasy basketball player to watch: Dejounte Murray
Last season, Murray averaged a whopping 21.1 points, 9.2 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game. He’s not going to have the same opportunities in Atlanta with Young taking a lot of shots. Distributing to the Hawks’ other perimeter threats should keep his assist number up but the points and rebounds and likely to fall off a bit. Beware of that before taking Murray high in fantasy basketball drafts.