Before the season, the Atlanta Hawks were a trendy sleeper pick to win the Eastern Conference. Since the All-Star break, they’ve finally lived up to the preseason hype.

The Hawks started slowly and dealt with injury issues and an unhappy star player in Trae Young. After retooling the team in January and February, the Hawks are a conference-best 18-3 since the break with the NBA’s second-best defense after an emphatic 130-101 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. 

CJ McCollum was an underrated addition to the Hawks

When the Hawks moved Young to the Washington Wizards, the trade looked like a salary dump to ditch Young’s expensive contract for 2026-27. However, the 34-year-old guard has been an ideal replacement for Young, providing 18.7 points and 3.8 assists per game while taking a secondary offensive role to Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson. McCollum isn’t a great defender, but he’s still a huge improvement on Young.

Since McCollum joined the starting lineup for good on Feb. 22, the Hawks are 17-2 with the NBA’s No. 2 defense and No. 3 offense. Dyson Daniels has an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.1 since the break, while deadline additions Jock Landale, Jonathan Kuminga (12 points Wednesday) and Gabe Vincent have all contributed off the Hawks’ suddenly deep bench.