The Atlanta Hawks are going to tip off their season on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, and Atlanta is going to start a campaign to get back to the postseason, but this time with better results.
This offseason was a wild one in the Eastern Conference, but the Hawks chose a different path than the teams they will be competing with. They drafted three rookies, made trades for Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, and brought back CJ McCollum and Jock Landale to go along with the core four of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Will that result in a better season or will the Hawks still have work to do to build themselves into a contender?
With the season just one day away, here are three things I think about the Hawks and three things I know about the Hawks entering the season.
I think Jalen Johnson has another leap in him
Jalen Johnson has gotten better in each season of his NBA career and he turned into an All-Star and a Third-Team All-NBA selection. He is one of the best passing bigs in the NBA, a monster in transition, and a great defensive rebounder.
But Johnson ran into a brick wall called the New York Knicks in the postseason and he had a tough time with the physicality of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges guarding him. His transition game was slowed and he was forced to try and be a half-court scorer, which he struggled with in his first real playoff run as the No. 1 option.
But I think he is ready to bounce back from that experience and take another step as a scorer and ball-handler. The Hawks put this team together to see if Johnson has another step in him and I think he responds well.
I know the Hawks are a deeper team
The Hawks bench at the end of the season and in the postseason consisted of Jonathan Kuminga, Gabe Vincent, Jock Landale, and Mouhamed Gueye, but Landale got hurt, Vincent was a below average player, Kuminga was not a perfect fit, and Gueye was miscast as a center after Landale went down. It was a big reason they lost to the Knicks as bad as they did in some of those games, but they set out to fix that issue this offseason and the preseason has brought great results.
Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Kingston Flemings, and Landale are going to be the top four players for the Hawks off the bench this season and I think Gueye is going to join that mix when he gets back from injury. Is it the best bench in the NBA? That might be a stretch, but I think it is much better.
I think the Hawks have a big move up their sleeve
With the deals they have made, the contracts they have on their team, and the young talent they have, it feels like the Hawks are waiting for a big move to surface and they could strike.
Atlanta has CJ McCollum ($21 million), Dort ($17.7 million), Landale ($14 million), Dorian Finney-Smith ($14.1 million, non-guaranteed contract for 2027-2028), and Gueye add up to over $60 million in expiring deals. If the Hawks want to take a swing before the trade deadline, they have the ability to do so.
Or they could wait until the offseason to open up some cap space and add to their team that way. Either way, the Hawks are going to be mentioned for any big trades that could go down this season and that is something to keep in mind.
I know that the Eastern Conference got tougher around them
The Hawks went 20-6 down the stretch of the season and ended up making the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, avoiding the play-in tournament for the first time since 2021. They had one of the league's best starting lineups and defenses in that stretch and with the improved depth and another year of player development, they have every reason to believe that they will be back.
But it won't be easy. The Knicks are still the defending champions, Boston has another loaded roster, and Detroit is bringing back the majority of their 60-win team. Other teams such as Philly, Toronto, Miami, and Cleveland made big trades to try and improve their team. Washington is hoping that the combination of Trae Young and Anthony Davis can elevate their young talent and Indiana is welcoming back Tyrese Haliburton. Orlando has a new head coach to try and turn their talent into a contender.
This is going to be the best Eastern Conference in a long time and it will make life tough on the Hawks to get back to the playoffs.
I think the Hawks frontcourt depth and rim protection could be a weakness
I like the Hawks depth overall, but if they suffer any injuries to Landale or Dort, they might have some real problems.
Landale being hurt made the Hawks a worse team late in the season and the third center right now is rookie Zuby Ejiofor. Atlanta loves Ejiofor and the player that he can become, but that might be asking a lot of him if either Landale or Onyeka Okongwu gets hurt.
Dort is the Hawks primary backup at both forward positions, at least with Gueye still out, and if he were to miss any time while he is still injured, Atlanta will have to use Corey Kispert and Asa Newell, which will make things challenging on defense for the second unit.
Injuries happen in the NBA and they could make things difficult for Atlanta at those positions.
I know the Hawks will have one of the best perimeter defenses in the NBA
Defense was the calling card for this Hawks team late in the season and I think it is going to be yet again this season.
While there are questions about the trio of Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Lu Dort on offense, they are going to be a nightmare for opposing teams to handle on a night-to-night basis. Aaron Wiggins and Kingston Flemings are going to help with the defense, though they are not at that same level.
The Hawks might not be the Thunder or Spurs on defense, but they are going to be very good.
Add us as a preferred source on Google