The Atlanta Hawks were already staring at a tougher road in the East. Now it just got a little steeper.
For a while, the conference picture looked pretty clear. The West was loaded with stars like SGA, Wemby, Luka, Jokic, LeBron, Ant, KD and more, while the East was supposed to be the side trying to catch up.
Then the New York Knicks went and won it all, and the ripple effect hit the whole conference. Now the East has tightened up so much that it may even be more talented than the West.
That matters a lot for a Hawks team that’s trying to climb. The path was never going to be easy, but the teams around them are making the ascent even more crowded.
The latest shake-up came Wednesday evening, when Peyton Watson was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Watson, the 23-year-old forward who just put together a semi-breakout season with the Denver Nuggets, is not on the level of LeBron James or, likely, Kawhi Leonard.
But he still changes the equation. He fills a major positional need for Cleveland, and that makes the Cavaliers look less vulnerable than they did before.
That’s the part that stings for Atlanta. There had been some real talk about whether the Hawks, as currently built, could jump the Cavaliers in the standings after what was already a more active offseason.
That possibility still exists. But it doesn’t look nearly as clean now.
The East is piling up contenders fast. The Knicks, Celtics, 76ers, Cavaliers, Pacers, Raptors and Hawks all have a legitimate shot to represent the conference in the 2027 NBA Finals, and this season could turn into a weekly grind between heavyweights. The West, by contrast, looks like it may be headed toward a race involving just two teams: the Thunder or Spurs.
Atlanta and Cleveland are a perfect example of how tight things are getting. Last season, the two teams split four meetings, two wins apiece. That kind of balance could show up again this year, because both rosters have improved on paper.
And it’s not just about one matchup. Every time a competitive East team runs into another, it has the feel of a top-tier game. Both the Hawks and Cavs had their weaknesses exposed by the same opponent in the postseason, and that team eventually went on to win it all.
So yes, the Hawks are still climbing. The problem is everybody else in their lane is climbing too.
In Other News...
Hawks Still Have One Big Jonathan Kuminga Question Hanging Over Them
Jonathan Kuminga is still sitting in free agency late in the process, and the ripple effects are worth watching for a Hawks team that has kept an eye on the market around him. Cleveland had been seen as a possible landing spot, but the Cavaliers trade for Peyton Watson addressed a similar kind of positional need and may have changed their calculus. Meanwhile, the Lakers are widely viewed as the front-runner, though their path to Kuminga would require a sign-and-trade because of cap constraints.
For Atlanta, the important part is that the board is not settled yet. Other teams could still jump in, and Kuminga remains one of the more intriguing names left on the market because his next move still depends on how the rest of the free-agent picture unfolds. Even with the leading suitors starting to take shape, there is still enough uncertainty here to keep the Hawks watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Johnson Faces The Question That Will Define The Hawks Season
Jalen Johnson entered last season as the Hawks new centerpiece after the Trae Young trade, and he answered the job with an All-Star debut and a place on the All-NBA team. For a team trying to reset around a younger core, that kind of leap gave Atlanta a real foundation, one built less on splash and more on the hope that Johnson could grow into the player who defines the next era.
The playoff series against the Knicks, though, left a more complicated picture, because the questions around Johnson were no longer about talent but about whether his game would travel when the stakes rose. Atlantas offseason reflected that same patience, with the front office opting to keep building gradually through youth and veteran additions rather than chase an instant co-star, leaving Johnson at the center of a plan that still needs proof. [Read more 🡒]