For the exact reason you gave. The league concluded that ridding itself of the cancerous Atlanta Spirit Group was worth the consequence of losing the Atlanta market. All things being equal, the league undoubtedly wants to be in Atlanta, as there's a gigantic geographic hole in their national footprint without it.
The big hurdles to Atlanta 3.0, of course, are (1) finding an owner willing to give this market its first ever legitimate chance to succeed, and (2) the league's need to own up to the fact that it broke its farcical covenant to fight for the fans in every market. There are more than enough hockey fans here for this market to thrive, but most are deeply disillusioned with how the relocation played out. During the final years, most sat on their wallets because ASG's end game of eviction was obvious. Yet the league did nothing at all because of its preoccupation of saving face in Glendale.