At last year’s trade deadline, the focus was on what kind of draft picks the Hawks could get. As this trade deadline approaches, there’s still some of that but also the sense that the Hawks have something going right now.
It doesn’t show in the standings, despite their 8-9 record since Dec. 18 with some quality victories. The Hawks are 12th in the Eastern Conference with a big gap to 11th-place Orlando, which just hammered the Hawks in their building. The Hawks will take more lumps during a seven-game, 14 -day trip that starts Wednesday in Chicago, goes West and ends in D.