Just how good is this young Hawks core?

[Jamaaliver]

Young Core Rankings

Who has the brightest future in the NBA?



The league’s average age, weighted by minutes played, has been tied for the lowest figure ever three seasons running.

So with the 2022-23 season tipping off next week, let’s zoom in on the cream of the NBA’s young crop, with our annual Young Core Rankings. As usual, only players under the age of 25 are considered.

13. Atlanta Hawks

Stat ranking: 17th
Expert ranking: 6th
Last year's ranking: 1st

J. Kyle Mann: Coming off an incredible and unexpected playoff run in 2021, the Hawks—a team at the time buoyed by some key veterans but largely driven by youngsters—entered last season no. 1 on this list. It seemed foolish to underestimate them at that point, given what we’d seen. They decimated the Knicks in Round 1, shocked the Sixers in the conference semis, and then annoyed the eventual champion Bucks. They were ahead of schedule, and most prognosticators assumed they’d come in and pick up where they left off.

Didn’t exactly happen! They sputtered out of the gate and proceeded to win only two more games than the previous season, eventually flaming out in five games in the first round against Miami. Retooling led to some departures—they shipped away Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter—but this young core is still firmly among the best in the league, with the likes of Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter. (John Collins turned 25, so we’re not technically counting him.)

Health will be the diciest variable. If Onyeka Okongwu can piece together a complete season, I expect him to become one of the league’s most promising young defensive bigs. AJ Griffin was arguably the best shooting prospect in the 2022 draft (and has the widest base on his shot I think I’ve ever seen), but has an alarming injury history, including the “right foot discomfort” that kept him out of summer league and an ankle injury that bugged him in September.

The Ringer

[HMFFL]

The young Hawks need minutes and field goal attempts. We must evaluate what they can truly do any not just rely on practice and limited minutes in games. I hope Coach Nate provides them with more minutes, so we can see if they have a future with us, or if we should explore trade options.

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[Jamaaliver]

A year ago, Hawks young core was considered among the best in the NBA.

Now we have a single player considered among the league's best.

Huerter's gone. Cam is gone. Whew....

It'sa gonna be an interesting next few years.

Ranking the NBA's Top 25 Players Under 25

1. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
3. Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

4. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks



Age: 24

Please do not read too much into Trae Young's wonky shooting splits to start the season. On the heels of Dejounte Murray's arrival, he is attempting a role adaptation not yet undertaken by usage contemporaries such as Luka Dončić and James Harden. Young's average time of possession has dipped from last year, and the frequency with which he's attempting catch-and-fire threes has more than doubled.

This search for offensive diversification does nothing to diminish what's already known: that Young is one of the most lethal self-starters in existence.

The Atlanta Hawks offense has so routinely (and generally) imploded without him on the court because he props up everything. Defenses are on tilt before he crosses the timeline, because they have to be. His range boils down to: "If he has the ball, then he's within scoring distance."

Young might lean too heavily on boundless touch for stretches at a time, but it is not his crutch. He leverages limitless range and an unconditional green light into live-dribble anarchy. His floater is both sudden and, despite his standing 6'1", difficult to block. The attention he draws is the vehicle through which he tees up bunnies at the rim and in the corners. If this season's version of him features more off-ball movement and some screen-setting, the Trae Young vs. Ja Morant debate will resume in earnest.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

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[jayu70]

Musical Chairs with the young core. Out are Huerter and Cam. In are JJ and AJ, so far so good in their first 14 games, along with OO who almost feels like a vet.

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Team Age Breakdown:
23 and under
Krejci [22], Okongwu[21], Johnson[20], Griffin[19]

24 - 28
Young[24], Murray[26], Hunter[25], Collins[25], Capela[28], Martin[24], AHoliday[26]

29+
Bogi[30], Kaminsky[29], JHoliday[33]

[HMFFL]

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I'm curious to see if that will be the case. I believe it will be.

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[Jamaaliver]

Is AJ Griffin now the most promising young player (still on a rookie contract) in Atlanta?

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[Jamaaliver]

I'm jealous of how well other franchise's rebuild has gone compared to ours.

It really is a shame that O Spellman, D Hunter, Cam Reddish, K Huerter didn't pan out better for us.

That's the difference between us being a solid team vs being a future contender like Memphis -- built with homegrown talent.

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[D21]

I'm jealous of how well other franchise's rebuild has gone compared to ours.

It really is a shame that O Spellman, D Hunter, Cam Reddish, K Huerter didn't pan out better for us.

That's the difference between us being a solid team vs being a future contender like Memphis -- built with homegrown talent.

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Maybe because they decided here to mainly develop one guy other all the other, and this guy being a PG but scoring 40pts game and counting on that to win games is not the best thing to help develop the other players.
This team needed a better coach from Trae's first season

[HMFFL]

I'm jealous of how well other franchise's rebuild has gone compared to ours.

It really is a shame that O Spellman, D Hunter, Cam Reddish, K Huerter didn't pan out better for us.

That's the difference between us being a solid team vs being a future contender like Memphis -- built with homegrown talent.

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We do a poor job providing consistent minutes to our young players. As of right now we've wasted high lottery picks on talent that just appear to be role players.

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[Jamaaliver]

It's kinda hard for me to really embrace a new core when I never got to see what the previous core could grow into...

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