Why the Atlanta Hawks are the most mid NBA team ever

According to Google, the definition of "mid" (in modern slang) is "average, mediocre, or underwhelming."

Well, the new definition may as well be the Atlanta Hawks.

To put it into perspective, here is how the Hawks have performed over specific stretches, as of March 2:

31-31 in 62 games, 45-45 in 90 games, 67-67 in 134 games, 174-174 in 348 games, 210-210 in 420 games, and so on…all the way up to 5,790 games.

Any sports fan will tell you that “purgatory” is the worst place your team could be. Too good to have a top draft pick, and not good enough to make the playoffs.

Going back to the 2020-21 season, the thought of the Hawks being a team stuck in NBA purgatory would've been shocking. They were two wins shy of an NBA Finals appearance.

However, in 2026, they are .500 and 10th in the Eastern Conference, for what feels like the fourth or fifth year in a row.

Why haven’t they been able to put it all together? Let’s go over some reasons.

Atlanta’s coaching downfall

After taking over for Lloyd Pierce, McMillan excelled as the Hawks' interim coach in 2020-21, going 27-11. From there, everything went downhill.

He went 43-39 in 2022 and 29-30 in 2023 before being fired.

McMillan took the Hawks to the playoffs in 2022 after winning in the play-in tournament, but could not advance past the Miami Heat.

Since Quin Snyder took over for McMillan, the Hawks have remained respectable, but haven’t taken the next step.

The Dejounte Murray trade

If you’re a Hawks fan, or even an NBA fan, you knew I’d be mentioning this trade.

On June 30, 2022, Atlanta agreed on a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, as well as big man Jock Landale.

In the trade, the Hawks sent Dejounte Murray, three first-round picks (two being unprotected) and a pick swap to San Antonio.

Murray was brought in to be the number two next to Trae Young; however, it did not work out. In 2023, Atlanta had a first-round exit again. A year later, Murray was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.

To Atlanta’s credit, they were able to get Dyson Daniels out of that trade, but the Murray experiment is still viewed as a big failure for the Hawks.

Failure in the draft

Part of building a contending team, and keeping that team a contender, is making good picks in the draft.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, that’s something they weren’t able to do in 2022 or 2023.

In both of those drafts, Atlanta selected two guards. They drafted A.J. Griffin out of Duke 16th overall in 2022 and took Kobe Bufkin from Michigan at No. 15 in 2023.

Instead of making impacts, both of those players were big-time busts and are no longer on the team.

Two drafts I will give them credit for are 2021 and 2024. In 2021, they took Duke’s Jalen Johnson in the first round, who has developed into a good player. In 2024, the year they won the lottery, they drafted French prospect Zaccharie Risacher, who has shown flashes but has yet to take the next step.

In 2025, they traded both of their first-round picks, Derik Queen and Drake Powell.

The end of the Trae Young era

Finally, we end with Atlanta’s front office swallowing its pride and trading the face of the franchise, Trae Young.

Young was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks fifth overall in 2018, then traded to Atlanta in a draft-night deal.

Despite being a liability on defense, Young was a phenomenal scorer. During his time with the Hawks, he averaged at least 20 points per game in every year besides his rookie season and this year.

However, that miracle 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run was the height of the Trae Young era, and Atlanta couldn’t realize that.

This season, they finally caved and traded Young to his preferred destination, the Washington Wizards, in exchange for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert.

What stands out about that? You guessed it, more vets.

Going forward

Atlanta does not control its own first-round pick until 2029. This year, they have the fortune of either receiving the New Orleans Pelicans' or Milwaukee Bucks' firsts, but are still feeling the negative effects of the Dejounte Murray trade. How they build the team going forward will be extremely crucial.

Adam Pietrzak is a fifth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email app5940@psu.edu