The Atlanta Hawks travel to The Big Apple to play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

The Hawks are in full-on rebuild mode, as the core that set a franchise record in wins four years ago is long gone. In fact, the only remaining player from that core is Kent Bazemore, as it's all about the youngsters now. There are some pieces to be encouraged by though, with Trae Young and John Collins now in charge. What's disappointing about that is the fact that Collins will miss the opening week of the season, as he continues to nurse an ankle sprain. Even with the promising young pieces, it could be a long season for Atlanta fans. In fact, many experts have this team finishing dead-last in the league, as their projected win total is right around 20. That's unfortunate for such a proud franchise, but the up-and-coming Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in the exact same scenario less than a decade ago and look where they are now.

The Knicks have a million question marks coming into the season as well, with Kristaps Porzignis (knee) status being the most important. The star center and future of the franchise tore his ACL in February and there's some serious speculation on when he'll return. There are optimists saying he'll be back before the calendar turns and pessimists saying that he'll miss the entirety of the 2018-19 season. Either way, this is a devastating blow for this team and it's hard to see them competing for a playoff berth without him. It's time for some youngsters to step up, as Enes Kanter and Tim Hardaway Jr. are expected to run the show. Where they really need to find a weapon is at point guard, considering that position has been a merry-go-round for as long as fans can remember. It's between Trey Burke, Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay to grab that position and it's still impossible to predict which one it'll be. Apparently, New York has decided to start Burke and Ntilikina together, which should make for some fun discussion from the loud Knicks skeptics. Additions like Mario Hezonja and Kevin Knox also add to the intrigue of this team and it's one of the most fascinating teams to watch going into next year's critical offseason.

Atlanta won the three-game season series last year, despite the fact that two of the three games were decided by four points or fewer.