The Atlanta Hawks sent Trae Young to Washington in January for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert, and pretty much everyone penciled them in for a lottery spot. Instead, the Hawks are sitting at 44-33 as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference with five games to play, having won 17 of their last 19.

Quin Snyder gave everybody a job and held them to it — Alexander-Walker, McCollum, and Jonathan Kuminga all locked into defined roles, and the whole thing clicked. Jalen Johnson has emerged as the engine, averaging 22.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game, nearly putting up a triple-double every time out. He came two assists short of his 14th triple-double of the season in Wednesday's 130-101 blowout win over the Orlando Magic.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 32 points in that win and has now hit the 32-point mark five times this season, averaging 20.6 points per game across 74 appearances. Dyson Daniels is doing a little bit of everything. Kuminga fits. Atlanta beat Boston 112-102 not long ago to extend their home win streak to 13 straight games at State Farm Arena.

They're a game and a half up on both Philadelphia and Toronto with five to go, and the fifth seed is theirs to lose.

Most teams that blow up around a franchise player crater. These Hawks didn't. A trade that looked like a white flag in January has turned into one of the stranger success stories of the season.

How are you feeling about the Hawks' playoff ceiling at this point, and did the front office deserve more credit for this trade than they got?