[2][3][4][5][6] In the off-season, the team signed free agent Matt Maloney, and re-signed Anthony Johnson after a brief stint with the Orlando Magic.
[7] Under new head coach Lon Kruger,[8][9][10] the Hawks got off to a bad start losing their first seven games, but then posted a 7–7 record in December.
[11][12][13][14] At mid-season, Dikembe Mutombo, who was selected for the 2001 NBA All-Star Game in Washington, D.C.,[15][16][17][18][19] was traded along with Roshown McLeod to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoč and Nazr Mohammed.
[25][26][27][28] Mutombo would later on be named Defensive Player of the Year with the 76ers,[29][30][31][32] who went on to lose in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
[33][34][35][36][37] The Hawks continued to struggle losing ten straight games between February and March, as they finished in seventh place in the Central Division with a 25–57 record.