Hawks 2017-18 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions
The Atlanta Hawks have reached the postseason 10 consecutive years, but that streak seems likely to come to an end in the 2017-18 campaign.
The Hawks clearly made the decision to rebuild this offseason. Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. departed in free agency. Dwight Howard was traded. That left the Hawks without three of their four leading scorers from last season and their two top rebounders in Howard and Millsap.
And so the team heads into next season built around Dennis Schroder. While Schroder has shown promise in his young career, well, if he's your best player, the postseason probably isn't in your future. Indeed, the Hawks will have plenty of minutes to offer their young core of Taurean Prince, DeAndre' Bembry, John Collins and Tyler Dorsey.
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That group will be surrounded by a cast of solid if unspectacular veterans that includes Kent Bazemore, Mike Muscala, Miles Plumlee, Dewayne Dedmon and Marco Belinelli. So the Hawks won't be pushovers—especially in the diluted Eastern Conference—but a playoff run is hard to imagine.
2017-18 Details
Season Opener: Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Dallas Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET)
Championship Odds: 500-1 (via OddsShark)
Full Schedule: NBA.com
Key Matchups
Miami Heat: Oct. 23, Dec. 18, April 3, April 4
In the Southeast Division, it seems safe to project the Washington Wizards as the cream of the crop and the Orlando Magic as one of the poorer groups in the Eastern Conference. So that will leave the games against the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets as important matchups for the Hawks in their pursuit of a playoff push.
We'll start with the Heat, who had a solid offseason after retaining Dion Waiters in free agency, signing Kelly Olynyk and drafting Bam Adebayo (who was excellent in the summer league). Add in veterans Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic and the return of Justise Winslow, and the Heat should at least match last year's 41-41 record.
That will make them one of the Hawks' primary competitors if the Hawks exceed expectations and hang around the postseason race. The teams split the season series last year, 2-2. The Heat will like their chances to improve on that mark this season.
Charlotte Hornets: Oct. 20, Jan. 26, Jan. 31, March 15
The contests against the Hornets will have the added intrigue of seeing Howard face the Hawks after his one season with the team. And they also added rookie Malik Monk, who should add instant offense off the bench and give the team another perimeter threat to pair with Kemba Walker.
Add in wings Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and the Hornets should be among the clump of teams fighting for one of the lower playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets won the season series last year, 3-2. They should hold the advantage again in 2017-18.
Projection
The Hawks are not going to match last season's 43-39 mark. They likely will have their first losing season since 2013-14.
But the 2017-18 campaign will still be an interesting one for Hawks fans. How will Schroder handle being the man? Can Prince and Bembry take big steps forward in their sophomore campaigns? Will Collins continue the impressive game he showed off in the summer league? If Atlanta struggles, will the team turn into sellers and deal away veterans for draft assets?
For the past two seasons, the Hawks were stuck in NBA purgatory: They weren't good enough to truly compete for a title, and they weren't bad enough to add potential superstars in the draft. This year, they are closer to the latter, and with some solid young players already in the fold, the rebuilding process shouldn't be a long and played out process in Atlanta.
But at least this season, Hawks fans will have to focus on promise more than they focus on results. The losses likely will be plentiful.
Record Prediction: 30-52
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.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
