Atlanta Hawks: Issuing challenges for every starter

On the eve of the Atlanta Hawks tipping off the 2021-22 NBA regular season, the league itself is already in full swing. 26 of the 30 NBA teams will have already played a game by the time the Hawks take the court. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will play their second game on the same night as the Hawks play their first.

The Bucks celebrated their championship in their opener. After taking them six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, there is only one thing that should be on their minds: earning a berth in the Finals themselves.

Some might say injures held them back last season. Others that the Bucks were simply a bad matchup for the upstart Hawks.

To that end, Head Coach Nate McMillan has stated their goal is to earn homecourt advantage in the postseason. They were the five-seed last year thanks to an end-of-season win by the New York led to the Knicks earning the four-seed. Atlanta would dispatch them in five games, but it was a physical battle there and the four they played in Philadelphia.

They still managed a 6-4 record on the road in the postseason but 1-2 in the ECF.

The Atlanta Hawks will all have to add to their games to take that next step

Players have also mentioned their goals for the season with several specifically mentioning the mid-range as a focus of the offseason.

That includes Kevin Huerter, the latest Hawks player to receive an extension when he signed a four-year, $65 million deal right before the deadline on Monday.

In that vein, we’ve got some challenges for the Hawks starters as they look to improve upon last years’ success. It won’t be easy as they won’t catch anybody off guard. And while their path to repeating their run could be simple enough, they will need to make some key improvements to take that next step.