Atlanta Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. hasn’t said much about his new team since being traded in July. Many believe that he’s even one of the Hawks’ primary trade candidates, as his age (31) doesn’t appear to fit their timeline. However, the nine-year veteran has high hopes as they prepare for the 2024-24 season.
Hawks’ Larry Nance Jr. Confesses Hope For Upcoming Season
“I was thrilled to get out of the West, because that 1 through 6 —1 through 15 —there is brutal,” Nance tells ESPN’s The Hoop Collective.
“But if you look at the East, we got a number of teams that aren’t looking to make the playoffs or care more about their draft stock than wins, and we’re not one of those teams. So, hopefully, if we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll snag an 8-seed (or) snag a 7-seed, surprise some people.”
“No, we’re not (tanking),” Nance says, agreeing with Brian Windhorst. Windhorst aptly notes that the Hawks don’t have control of their own first round pick this season. As a result, there’s no benefit to them purposely or strategically losing games, as many teams do when jostling for draft position.
Can The Hawks Make The Playoffs?
The East’s landscape isn’t a pretty picture. At the bottom of the conference are the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors. Each of these teams are in a rebuild, and each won fewer than 33 games last season.
A couple of these franchises, namely the Pistons and Raptors, could improve dramatically next season. Detroit has added another lottery pick to their talented though ill-fitting young core and several key veterans this offseason. Toronto will have a full season with their remodeled Big 3. Nonetheless, there’s a legitimate reason to believe that the Hawks could at least challenge for a play-in spot.
Of course, that’s if Atlanta hasn’t regressed this offseason.
Offseason acquisitions like Nance, Dyson Daniels, and Zaccharie Risacher could pay dividends for them. Each of them projects to make a positive impact with their defense and versatility. However, they don’t offer the firepower of Dejounte Murray, who posted 22.5 points and 6.4 assists per game last season.
In fact, if Nance and Daniels’s 2023-24 scoring averages were combined, that number (11.5 points per game) would almost be half of Murray’s scoring production. That’s alarming, even if assuming Jalen Johnson will take the next step in his development. As a result, the Hawks will need a lot of internal improvement, and not just from Johnson.
De’Andre Hunter has to be a more assertive scorer. Clint Capela needs to become more active defensively and improve his ability to guard in space. Bogdan Bogdanovic can be more of a two-way playmaker. Trae Young should look to maintain his defensive intensity from last season and empower his teammates as scorers.
Larry’s Leadership
Nance, who was presumably brought in to play a leadership role, could help them do that. He’s not afraid to speak his mind about where or how a teammate can improve. However, some players aren’t going to listen to Nance just because he wants them to. He has to earn that respect.
“Funny enough, of 30 teams, I probably know three to four people —players —on each team,” Nance says. “But the Hawks, that was the one team that I know I have no prior previous relationships with anybody. So I’m going down there like, ‘How you doing? I’m Larry.’
We’ll see where it goes.”
