Could the treaty have defined a larger heavy cruiser?

What alternative to Hawkins could have set the heavy-cruiser baseline?

A heavier Hawkins or a later treaty choice could have created a larger heavy-cruiser category, but there was no obvious contemporary alternative under construction.

Hawkins was the relevant cruiser then under construction, while the Omahas were smaller. A heavier Hawkins design or a later treaty decision could have established a different heavy-cruiser threshold. About 15,000 tons, roughly half again the Hawkins baseline, is offered as a plausible alternative category. Treaty categories were shaped by available ships and diplomacy rather than by an inevitable technical taxonomy.