by Nathan Dolliger 

Building a Young Core 

Even though the Hawks missed the playoffs for the last three years, their journey to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals began during the 2017 Draft when they selected forward John Collins. Collins has been a huge piece for the Hawks since they drafted him and has helped improve the team. The next summer, in 2018, the hawks drafted Luca Doncic in the first round. Later on in the draft, they traded Doncic for the Dallas Mavericks selection, Trae Young. Young has made a huge impact on the Hawks since he joined and has improved his game every year. In the 2019 Draft, they selected Deandre Hunter, and Cam Reddish(via Mavericks) in the first round.  

Prior to Season 

Outside of drafting young talent, the Hawks also acquired big parts of their big season via trades and free agent signings during the offseason. Their first big acquisition was trading for center Clint Capela. During the 2020-21 season, Capela led the league in rebounding with 14.3 rebounds per game. Next, the Hawks signed Bogdan Bogdonavic to a multi-year deal. Bogdanovic averaged 16 points per game and had a 43.8 three-point shooting percentage. The last big acquisition the Hawks made prior to the season starting was signing Danillo Gallinari to a multi-year deal.  

Coach Nate McMillan 

The Hawks started off the season with head coach Lloyd Pierce. Pierce had been the coach since 2019 and had a 49-100 record with the Hawks going into the 2020-21 season. Coach Pierce coached the first 34 games of the season as the Hawks had a 14-20 record. As they were below .500 halfway into the season, the Hawks brought in Nate McMillan to be the head coach. When Coach McMillan took over, the Hawks won their next eight games in a row. He led them to the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 27-11 record since he became the Coach.