By trading a former All-Star in Dejounte Murray, NBA fans largely wrote off the Atlanta Hawks from playoff contention. They had reasonable doubt, as head coach Quin Snyder had no longer a secondary star to back up their franchise centerpiece, Trae Young.
Conversely, the Hawks received more than enough in return from the New Orleans Pelicans to make up for the presence of a co-star. Former eighth overall pick Dyson Daniels has elevated Snyder’s game plan to new extremes with a prominent two-way mindset. Along with Daniels, Atlanta landed one of the league’s most athletically inclined big men, Larry Nance Jr.