Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of SI.com’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
No team had a more interesting offseason than the Hawks, whose pricey acquisitions instantly took them from being a young, cute rebuilding club with upside to one with real playoff expectations.
That accelerated benchmark, which almost certainly played a role in coach Lloyd Pierce’s firing last week, is still within reach.