Three Things NBA Preview: Atlanta Hawks
As I detailed a couple weeks ago, I’m once again re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts for each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Sept. 1-5: Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Sept. 8-12: Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL)
- Sept. 15-19: Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS)
- Sept. 22-26: Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA)
- Oct. 6-10: Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS)
So without further ado, let's get to the Atlanta Hawks, who lost in the play-in tournament and then had one of the most eventful offseasons in the NBA.
New faces, new places
As mentioned, the Hawks did a whole lot of wheeling and dealing this offseason:
- Traded their first-round pick (No. 13) to New Orleans for No. 23 and a 2026 unprotected first courtesy of either the Pelicans or Bucks
- Drafted Asa Newell
- Traded Georges Niang, Terance Mann, and the rights to Drake Powell for Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick
- Signed Nickeil Alexander-Walker (4 years, $62M)
- Signed Luke Kennard (1 year, $11M)
- Traded Clint Capela, David Roddy, and Daeqwon Plowden for cash and a second-round pick
So, there are a lot of new faces in this rotation. And this team should be damn good because they're there, assuming they can stay healthy. (And Kristaps looked good in Eurobasket, which is encouraging.)
Porzingis gives Trae Young the kind of big man he's never really had before. He can both roll and (especially) pop on pick and rolls. He can short roll and post up from the nail. Over the last several years, he's become a reliable post-up option even in pure isolation situations and has even become a better passer on those plays than he was earlier in his career. And most importantly, he does all that and he protects the rim. That'll allow him to play either alongside Onyeka Okongwu or on his own.
I'm interested to see whether he starts or comes off the bench so the Hawks can manage his minutes. I think I might be interested in doing that and letting him dominate against second units, rather than taxing him with a starter's workload.
It's admittedly tricky, though. He's shown that he's amenable to coming off the bench in certain situations, but he hasn't been asked to do it full time. And there's no Al Horford who would be starting over him. Okongwu is good but he's not the same type of elder statesman and possible/probable future Hall-of-Famer. (Remember, Horford also has the two college titles on one of the best teams ever in addition to all his NBA accomplishments.) Either way, he's a fantastic addition.
Alexander-Walker is as well. Imagine him and Dyson Daniels harassing ball-handlers up and down the floor. My god, that is going to be annoying. He's also turned himself into a plus shooter over the years, which, along with Porzingis, gives the Hawks much more in that department than they've had in recent seasons. Putting more shooters around Trae and Jalen Johnson and Okongwu is always going to be a desirable way to line things up.
NAW also gives the Hawks backcourt flexibility. He can play with Trae or play solo. He can play with or without Kennard. Kennard probably can't play with Trae except against very specific lineups, but he's another guy who brings shooting to the table and he can play with NAW or Daniels to co-handle the backup point guard duties. There are just so many different ways the Hawks can play this year because they acquired all these guys.
