Hawks’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker has eyes set on one goal for second half of season

The Atlanta Hawks are not the same team that they were to start the season. There have been many changes due to injuries and trades, but they’ve still found a way not lose track of the season. The core set of players have been available for the most part, and have led the Hawks to where they are before the All-Star break.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is one of the players who has been a constant for the Hawks, and his career year has been huge for what they’ve done. Alexander-Walker is coming from a team that made the Western Conference Finals two seasons in a row, and there’s no doubt he wants that same success with the Hawks.

When asked what his goals were for the remainder of the season, Alexander-Walker kept it simple.

“Try to make the playoffs,” Alexander-Walker said. “If we can avoid the Play-In, I know that’s where we’ve been for the past few years, and try to secure a seed and hopefully make a run. We’re building, and we have guys like [Jalen Johnson] who’s playing phenomenal. Dyson [Daniels] is figuring it out and making shots now, and myself and CJ [McCollum] are slowly building together with that communication that we have.

The Hawks made several moves at the trade deadline, adding five new players. They acquired Jock Landale from the Utah Jazz, traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Golden State Warriors for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, and traded Luke Kennard to the Los Angeles Lakers for Gabe Vincent.

“Adding guys like Jock [Landale], Buddy [Hield], and Jonathan [Kuminga], it’s going to be exciting just to see how they come in,” Alexander-Walker said. “As we all kind of get rolling, the goal is to make the playoffs and try to make a run. I want to win, and I want to compete.”

The Hawks are currently the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, but are just a few games from climbing up the standings. At the same time, they’re also a few games from sliding out of the Play-In, so it will be important for them to stay on their Ps and Qs in the second half of the season.

Luckily for the Hawks, they have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league, but it won’t mean much if they don’t go out and win those games. The hope is that with the new guys coming to the team, they can establish chemistry early and go on a run.

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