3. Atlanta Hawks
Another Atlanta franchise whose season has been plagued by injuries. Trae Young's early struggles shooting the ball have left Atlanta as a team capable of losing to anyone in the East. Still, we've seen this Hawks team catch fire with Young at the helm before. It is on the table it happens again with a young group of wings who will get healthy eventually and give this roster a chance to compete in a bad Eastern Conference.
After the Celtics who do you trust in the East? While we are a long way from believing this team can compete for anything of note it isn't a hot take to believe they could be a top six seed. Looking at the early struggles from teams expected to challenge the Celtics there doesn't appear to be anyone standing in Atlanta's way.
An early win over the Knicks while missing key starters was a sign of the team's potential. If the first overall pick begins to consistently contribute and Trae Young is able to be more efficient it will be easy to buy in. Still, there isn't a path for Atlanta past a Boston team that looks primed to become back-to-back champions.