Atlanta Hawks logo draws high marks from Grantland

The Atlanta Hawks will look much different on the court next season and no I'm not talking about the absence of DeMarre Carroll. The team underwent a complete rebranding earlier this summer with new uniforms and an updated logo.

The new uniforms have drawn mostly praise, but Grantland's Zach Lowe today put the new logo to the test with his definitive league wide rankings. Atlanta's new logo just missed the Top 10 coming in at No. 11 although Lowe points out that is elite territory.

The write up talks a bit about the redesign and includes quotes from the team's chief creative officer Peter Sorckoff on how they altered the original Pac Man logo and the thinking behind the "Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club."

They sharpened the beak, added a little cleft around its chin, and tilted its head downward, so that the bird looks like it’s swooping down on prey. "We did this thinking about Bud’s [Mike Budenholzer’s] style of play, and he’s all about attack, attack, attack," Sorckoff says.

Budenholzer had some degree of say-so on the biggest change: the "Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club" ringing the hawk. The team was concerned about aping European soccer, but Budenholzer liked the idea that the franchise was larger than any particular group of players. Higher-ups also wanted an inclusive message after a racism scandal engulfed both ownership and the front office one year ago.

The Hawks come in behind some of the usual suspects. The Chicago Bulls are in the top spot and followed by the Charlotte Hornets. Milwaukee, Toronto and Philadelphia all recently unveiled redesigned logos and rank inside the Top 10. On a personal note, I am a big fan of the Sixers' dribbling Ben Franklin, but I don't see anything appealing about a green deer. Then again, I'm pretty sure I am biased on the subject.

That aside, its a fun list and its another sign that the 2016 season is just around the corner.