Peachtree Hoops: Hawks not among teams picked for top-four seed in NBA GM survey

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The NBA season is just a couple of weeks away, so tis the season of top 100 lists and league surveys. John Schuhmann of NBA.com has complied the responses of 50 questions from all NBA GMs ahead of another season. No Atlanta Hawks fan should be shocked that the results are not particularly friendly to their favorite NBA franchise.

The Hawks were not among six teams that received votes in regards to earning a top-four seed for the postseason. Trae Young was ranked the fourth best point guard (two spots up from last season) in the NBA, behind Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and Chris Paul.

The one positive in the piece for the Hawks was that AJ Griffin was voted as the third biggest steal of the 2022 NBA Draft where he was selected at No. 16. Griffin is a sharp-shooting wing who will hopefully develop into a two-way threat for the Hawks on the second unit as his career unfolds.

The Hawks have seemingly graduated the “best young core” conversation as they were not one of the five teams to receive votes for that honor. Trae Young and John Collins have both moved on to their second contracts, so it is indeed in time to take the training wheels off and stop labeling them as a younger, inexperienced group.

Stay tuned over the next couple of days as the Hawks kick off their preseason action Thursday afternoon at 12 pm ET from Abu Dhabi for their preseason opener vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.

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