For a franchise that lost 57 games, there is a remarkable air of optimism in the locker room and the front office of the Atlanta Hawks.

	The Hawks had little to celebrate last season, but figure that will change this year.

"Who would have thought we would lose more games than we did last year and be able to feel good about our future," general manager Pete Babcock says.

How good?

"We have a chance to stage one of the biggest one-season turnarounds in the history of the NBA."

Babcock has been under such intense scrutiny the past two years. Some press members and friends around the league thought that a recent press conference was to announce his departure from the franchise.

In fact, Babcock has redeemed his standing in town after the Isaiah Rider fiasco that called him to public accounting along with team president Stan Kasten.

Babcock, a man who always takes full responsibility, now can state that he was the one who brought hometown hero Shareef Abdur-Rahim back to the area where he was a two-time Georgia Mr. Basketball. And he did it only four months after he acquired centers Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed and forward Toni Kukoc in a deal for Dikembe Mutombo.

	Abdur-Rahim

He drafted Jason Terry, who became the Hawks' leading scorer at age 23, gambled on youngsters like Dion Glover and DerMarr Johnson, who can become terrific players, fetched Chris Crawford out of the second round four years ago, Hanno Mottola out of the second round last June.

To a man, Hawks players are convinced they will enter a new world when they go to training camp in October. They are among the youngest teams in the league and the most athletic. They have holes to fill, but they also are built for the new way to play now that most restrictions on playing defense have been removed.

Here's why a Hawks fan can feel good about his team:

Abdur-Rahim, a 6-9 swing forward, is for the foreseeable future, the best player to come out of the draft, which is essentially what he cost. The Hawks got him from Memphis for the No. 3 pick, Lorenzen Wright and Brevin Knight. "Had we used our pick we would have hoped to get a player who might some day be as good as Shareef," Babcock said. A 20-point, eight-rebound a game guy for five years, Abdur-Rahim won't be 24 until December.

	Ratliff

Ratliff is the most mobile center in the game, an all-star who roams the baseline and recovers to protect the lane with astonishing speed. "You don't know how good he is until you see him every night," Orlando's Doc Rivers said. "He's much quicker than Dikembe and he can make the 15-footer (jump shot)."

Kukoc is a throwback, a long, world-class swing forward who is as dangerous passing as he is shooting. In five of 17 games with the Hawks he recorded double figure assists. He had two triple-doubles, averaged nearly 20 points. Doctors are optimistic that the two procedures to cure his plantar fasciatis will also ease his lower back problem. If Kukoc can play 30 minutes a night in good health the Hawks have conduit for their offense.

Terry is becoming a terrific spot up shooter, the sort of zone buster every team will require. He is quick off the dribble. Like Kukoc, he is a fine passer off the dribble when his own path is blocked. Unlike Kukoc, he looks to shoot first, pass later. That's how his coaches want it. And another year of maturity and added strength in the weight room, will work wonders.

Young big men like Mottola and Cal Bowdler can shoot from outside. Chris Crawford, who battled injuries last season, is an explosive combination forward. Johnson is 20 and Glover 22. Mohammed at 23 has only begun to show his toughness and low post skills and has a new five-year contract to grow on.

On top of that, the Hawks have stocked two first-round picks (from Houston and Indiana) as a result of their draft-night maneuvering. "These are picks we can combine with players if we feel there is another deal that will moves us up again," Babcock said.

Potentially, the Hawks have an all-star at every position except the point, where they will go with former Sonic Emanual Davis, 6-5, and Jazz backup Jacques Vaughn. They got Davis for defense because he can cover shooting guards who would dominate Terry. Vaughn can get the Hawks into a running game, probably as the backup.

Could the Hawks have done better? "Maybe," one insider said. "But we would have been forced to break up the front line we worked so hard to build. We want to give this group a chance."

Besides, at this point the Hawks don't want a dominant point guard. They want to run their offense through the creative Kukoc, who has two years remaining on his contract, and through Terry, who will also play some point. Lon Kruger doesn't want to stop the ball.

Kruger and his staff did a terrific job keeping their players at a high competitive level. There were the inevitable blowouts but in the main they competed every night.

But teams lose 57 times for good reason. The Hawks were painfully young, fragmented, awful defenders. They suffered through a horrific series of injuries that saw players on the injured list or disabled for lengthy periods 18 times. Injuries are events beyond the control of the basketball staff, but there were matters that could be resolved.

Babcock and Kruger appear to have done that.

If things fall into place the turnaround can be even more amazing than the great recovery of 1985-86 when the Hawks went from 34 victories to 50 in the span of a season and won the Central Division title. They may not make a move that strong, but this is a team with strong playoff credentials.

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.