The Atlanta Hawks are entering what is an incredibly pivotal offseason after yet again falling flat when it mattered most. Back-to-back losses doomed Atlanta's hopes of making the first round and left the team sitting home since the first week of the NBA postseason. This drives home both the number of injuries the roster was dealing with and how incredibly flat the team was down the stretch. A big piece of this is due to not having enough scoring around Trae Young.
It doesn't help matters that Jalen Johnson can't seem to stay healthy. This, along with a clear lack of veteran leadership, has doomed the Hawks in recent seasons. With this in mind, the Hawks have two clear goals to accomplish in finding a second scoring option alongside Trae and adding more veterans to the bench. This was a defining trait of a Hawks team that made a surprise playoff run in the 2021 season. Somehow, the team failed to learn this simple lesson and parted ways with the majority of its veteran leadership over the next two years.
Former Hawks Center Al Horford Should Finish His Career Where It Began
One of the few positives of the Boston Celtics winning it all a season ago was Horford finally winning a ring. It was earned with the veteran playing a shockingly impactful role at this late stage of his career. The center was defending and rebounding at a high level and was vital to Boston's championship run. With this in mind, the Hawks would be wise to give the veteran a chance to finish out his career in the city where he started his career.
Horford is poised to hit free agency and will have a large market if he wants his career to continue. There is no better landing spot than in Atlanta filling the void that Clint Capela's pending free agency departure will leave. While it isn't a move that pushes the Hawks to the top of the conference, it unquestionably makes the team better.
It fills a leadership void and gives the veteran a chance to help a young team turn a corner. This is exactly the role Horford excelled at in Boston. While the Celtics might have had more promising talent, the Hawks do have great young pieces that should be more than capable of making a playoff run. Leaving a clear fit for Horford and giving Atlanta a clear free agency target.