Atlanta Hawks projected as seventh seed in East by ESPN

The NBA season is still a couple of months away, but the Worldwide Leader in Sports is looking ahead to what will happen once the campaign tips off. In a recent edition of their “Summer Forecast”, ESPN projected the records of each team in the Eastern Conference, and in doing so, they assigned the Atlanta Hawks to a 42-40 record that resulted in the seventh seed.

Because there was no context and/or write-up assigned to this, it leaves the ranking open to interpretation, but ESPN uses a 200+ member panel to come up with this ranking, so it seems to be a pretty good barometer on where the public stands on the team. With a healthy Al Horford last season, the Atlanta Hawks were in position for homecourt advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and on paper, the team should be improved after the additions of Kent Bazemore, Thabo Sefolosha and first-round draft pick Adreian Payne.

With that said, the Eastern Conference should be markedly better this season, with roster improvements for teams like the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers (obviously), and Charlotte Hornets. It is definitely possible that a 42-win projection undervalues the Hawks, but that would be nothing new on a national scale, and the management team of Steve Koonin, Danny Ferry and Mike Budenholzer have a lot of work to do on the national perception of the franchise.

What do you think of this projection for the Hawks? Let the folks at ATL All Day know in the comments!