The Atlanta Hawks franchise is a professional basketball team that plays in the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is based in Atlanta and its home stadium is the State Farm Arena, a venue that the franchise shares with the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA. The arena was once known as Philips Arena.
The team has a pretty long history, dating all the way back to 1946 and the creation of the Buffalo Bisons, who were based, at that time, in Buffalo, New York. Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris owned the Buffalo-based franchise, which was a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). This start in Buffalo would mark the start of a transient sports franchise.
After just 38 days of residency in Buffalo, the team relocated to Moline, Illinois and rebranded as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. When the merger between the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and NBL occurred, they joined the newly created NBA. They then employed Red Auerbach as their coach. Auerbach, who was famous for his victory cigars, has been called one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA, which would make him one of the greatest basketball coaches ever.
After just two years as a member of the NBA, in 1951, they relocated yet again to Milwaukee and became known as the Milwaukee Hawks. Four years later, they moved yet again, this time to St. Louis, and became the St Louis Hawks. It was here that they won their one and only NBA championship title, which came in 1958. By that time, Auerbach had moved on to coach the Boston Celtics, the team that St. Louis defeated in the 1958 NBA Finals.
The Hawks also managed to reach the NBA Finals in 1957, 1960, and 1961 but they lost each of these series to Boston. It wasn’t until 1968, that the St. Louis Hawks moved again, but this time to Atlanta. This is when Kerner sold the team to Thomas Cousins and Carl Sanders (former Governor of Georgia) and the team became the Atlanta Hawks, the franchise name that contemporary basketball fans will recognize.
Behind the Sacramento Kings, the Atlanta Hawks is the team with the second-longest drought when it comes to title failures. They have not claimed an NBA title since the 1958 title, which is now 65 years ago as the 2023/24 NBA season approaches. The team also failed to make it past the second round of the NBA playoffs for 48 years, a streak they finally managed to break in 2015. Yet, they did enjoy an impressive streak of ten straight playoff appearances earlier this century.
To date, the team has won 12 Division Titles. However, they have yet to win any Eastern Conference titles. Furthermore, no basketball fan remembers a team when the Atlanta Hawks won the NBA championship. After all, their solo title came when they were the St. Louis Hawks. There may be some elderly fans that remember that title victory.
Interesting Fact
The Atlanta Hawks were originally founded as the Buffalo Bisons in 1946. However, this wasn’t the only team of that name founded in that year. 1946 was also the same year that the Buffalo Bisons football team was founded. That made Buffalo one town with two sports teams of the same name. “Bisons” was a common name for sports teams in Buffalo.
Atlanta Hawks: Management and Coaching
Owner: Tony Ressler
President: Travis Schlenk
General Manager: Landry Fields
Head Coach: Quin Snyder
Atlanta Hawks 2023 NBA Draft Picks
The Atlanta Hawks selected shooting guard Kobe Bufkin with the 15th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Atlanta also had a second-round pick, Seth Lundy. He is another shooting guard. The Hawks were also active in the trade market in the week involving the NBA Draft. They traded John Collins for Rudy Gay and a future pick from the Utah Jazz.
Atlanta Hawks Season Preview NBA 2023/24
The Atlanta Hawks have a strong trio in place with Trae Young, Clint Capela, and Dejounte Murray. There is a question as to direction with the Atlanta Hawks. The June trade of John Collins did not immediately bolster their roster. It did create cap space but getting Rudy Gay in exchange for Collins is a loss in terms of expected on-court results. Gay has pure talent but he can only be considered to be at the tail end of his career. Furthermore, getting a second-round pick in a future draft doesn’t directly improve the lineup right now.
Murray, Capela, and Young did not form a deadly trio last season as Atlanta’s back offices had hoped. The Hawks are coming off of a 7th-placed regular-season finish in the Eastern Conference and a first-round post-season exit. Those looking for a better result this upcoming season are banking on Quin Syder doing a better job than McMillan. Snyder went 10-11 in 21 regular season games so there isn’t a ton of room for optimism. The Hawks have not done bad as a drafting team this century so perhaps something can be expected out of the players they took on June 22nd.
Current Atlanta Hawks Players Under Contracts
- Trae Young
- Clint Capela
- De’Andre Hunter
- Bodgan Bogdanovic
- Dejounte Murray
- Onyeka Okongwu
- Rudy Gay
- A.J. Griffin
- Saddiq Bey
- Jalen Johnson
- Bruno Fernando
- Garrison Matthews
- Vit Krejci
- Tyrese Martin
Atlanta Hawks Free Agency Players 2023
- The Atlanta Hawks do not have any significant free agents as of late June 2023.
Previous Atlanta Hawks Draft Selections Since 2000
Year Round Pick Player Pos Age Pre-Draft Team
2023 1 15 Kobe Bufkin SG 19 Michigan
2022 1 16 A.J. Griffin SF 19 Duke
2021 1 20 Jalen Johnson SF 19 Duke
2020 1 6 Onyeka Okongwu PF 19 USC
2020 2 50 Skylar Mays PG 23 LSU
2019 1 8 Jaxson Hayes PF 19 Texas
2019 2 10 Cam Reddish G 19 Duke
2019 2 35 Didi Louzada SF 19 Franca (Brazil)
2018 1 3 Luka Doncic SF 19 Real Madrid (Spain)
2018 1 19 Kevin Huerter SF 19 Maryland
2018 1 30 Omari Spellman PF 20 Villanova
2018 2 34 Devonte Graham PG 23 Kansas
2017 1 19 John Collins PF 19 Wake Forest
2017 2 41 Tyler Dorsey SG 21 Oregon
2017 2 60 Alpha Kaba PF 21 KK Mega Bemax
2016 1 21 DeAndre’ Bembry GF 21 Saint Joseph’s
2016 2 44 Isaia Cordinier G 19 Denain ASC Voltaire
2016 2 54 Kay Felder PG 21 Oakland
2015 1 15 Kelly Oubre Jr SF 19 Kansas
2015 2 50 Markus Eriksson GF 21 BAXI Manresa
2015 2 59 Dimitrios Agravanis F 20 Olympiacos
2014 1 15 Adreian Payne C 23 Michigan State
2014 2 43 Edy Tavares C 22 Gran Canaria
2013 1 17 Dennis Schroder PG 19 Basketball Lowen (Ger)
2013 1 18 Shane Larkin PG 20 Miami (Fl)
2013 2 47 Raulzinho Neto PG 21 Acunsa GBC
2013 2 50 James Ennis GF 22 Long Beach State
2012 1 23 John Jenkins SG 21 Vanderbilt
2012 2 43 Mike Scott PF 23 Virginia
2011 2 48 Keith Benson C 22 Oakland
2010 1 24 Damion James SF 22 Texas
2010 2 53 Pape Sy SF 22 STB Le Havre
2009 1 19 Jeff Teague PG 21 Wake Forest
2009 2 49 Sergii Gladyr G 20 MBC Mykolaiv (Ukraine)
2007 1 3 Al Horford FC 21 Florida
2007 1 11 Acie Law SG 22 Texas A&M
2006 1 5 Shelden Williams PF 22 Duke
2006 2 33 Solomon Jones C 21 South Florida
2005 1 2 Marvin Williams SF 19 North Carolina
2005 2 31 Salim Stoudamire G 22 Arizona
2005 2 59 Cenk Akyol G 18 Andolu Efes (Turkey)
2004 1 6 Josh Childress SF 21 Stanford
2004 1 17 Josh Smith PF 18 Oak Hill Academy
2004 2 34 Donta Smith GF 20 Southeastern Illinois
2004 2 42 Viktor Sanikidze F 18 JDA Dijon Basket (Fr)
2003 1 21 Boris Diaw PF 21 Pau Orthez (France)
2003 2 37 Travis Hanson GF 25 Brigham Young
2002 1 36 David Andersen F 22 Virtus Bologna (Italy)
2001 1 3 Pau Gasol FC 20 Barca Spain
2001 2 33 Terence Morris F 22 Maryland
2000 1 6 DeMarr Johnson G 20 Cincinnati
2000 2 40 Hanno Mottola FC 23 Utah
2000 2 57 Scoonie Penn G 23 Ohio State
Atlanta Hawks Draft Picks FAQs
Who is the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks?
Nate McMillan is no longer the head coach. Quin Snyder took over the duties part way through the 2022/23 NBA season.
