What Are the Atlanta Hawks Doing?

The NBA is a league of riches.

And just like America, it’s controlled by the 1%.

Political joke. I think.

The point's valid, though. The NBA is very top-heavy.

Let’s not pretend the finals won’t be the same as the past two years.

For this reason, a lot of the league is left in limbo. There are maybe a handful of franchises that actually stand a chance against the likes of the Dubs and Cavs.

The Clippers, Spurs, Rockets, and Raptors are about the only real competitors to those personal All-Star squads in Oakland and Cleveland.

Not among them are the Atlanta Hawks.

Don’t get me wrong. The Hawks were once a top team in the East. I mean, they beat out the Cavs for the top seed in the 2015 playoffs. But those days are long gone.

In the off-season, Atlanta traded away Jeff Teague and let Al Horford escape during their disjointed drive to form a twin towers involving Dwight Howard. That dream ended when the Celtics swiped Horford out from under the Hawks' noses.

This left Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap as the only two remaining Hawks from their superb 2015 season, as DeMarre Carroll left two years ago to join the Raptors.

The ATL were a surprise with their strong start this season, but then the team quickly fell to earth.

Dudes looked like they'd be able to claw their way back into the playoff picture, but even if they do, there's really no real hope beyond a first- or second-round playoff appearance. While this is far from a terrible situation in today’s NBA, the Hawks decided to field offers for their top players. ie- Korver and Millsap.

People around the league first figured Atlanta was simply listening to offers, but the Hawks actually went and traded Korver. The move seemed to signal that the Hawks were entering a rebuilding phase.

The final piece of that puzzle involves the Hawks identifying the best package for the imminent-free agent Millsap.

Trading the ex-La Techster would give Atlanta the ability to realize at least one first-round pick, among other assets. However, the Hawks now seem content on keeping their leading scorer.

This decision makesabsolutetly no sense. If they were so bent on competing this season, why did they trade one of the top three-point shooters in league history? You're going to tell me they think Mike Dunleavy can help them improve?

Dude barely wants to be in a Hawks uniform.

Millsap does have a player option for next season, but it’s highly unlikely he'd would pass up a big pay day on the open market.

I'd also imagine he remembers how the Hawks tried to dump him last summer.

In all likelihood, Atlanta's just trying to tempt teams into buying thier star power forward at a premium price.

However, if this tactic proves true, you've gotta be wondering what the hell the Hawks are doing.