Opening night is now less than a week away for the Atlanta Hawks. The preseason is winding down, and Atlanta is going to face the Orlando Magic in a big opening-night contest next Wednesday.
This preseason has been an interesting one for the Hawks. In each game, they have not had their full rotation of players, but there have still been plenty of lessons to take from each game, including the starting lineup.
While Atlanta has not been able to play their regular starters in every game, I don;t think that is going to affect how they approach next Wednesday. Atlanta had one of the best starting lineups around the league late last season and there is no real reason to make changes. But will the lineup still be as effective?
Opening night prediction
G- CJ McCollum
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
F- Dyson Daniels
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
As far as opening night goes, I would be pretty stunned if this is not the lineup. Is there a scenario where perhaps Lu Dort gets inserted into the starting lineup later in the season? Perhaps. This is also not a lock to be the closing lineup, as I will get to in a minute, but when Atlanta takes the floor against Orlando next Wednesday, this is the group I expect.
The biggest question for this starting lineup is the same one they failed to answer in the playoffs. Do they have enough half-court shot creation when things slow down? Atlanta is one of the best transition teams in the NBA and they love to play with pace, but when things slowed down against elite competition in the playoffs, the Hawks found life much more difficult, especially when the Knicks made it a mission to slow down CJ McCollum.
McCollum is the lead guard for Atlanta, but will he be as effective now that he is a year older? He shot the ball well in preseason and I still think he is valuable, but Atlanta can't afford to ask too much of him.
Alexander-Walker was one of the NBA's best stories last season, winning the NBA's Most Improved Player and turning into a real two-way player. Whenever a player emerges from nowhere to have that kind of season, there will be skeptics about whether or not it is replicable.
Daniels is one of the five best perimeter defenders in the NBA, but can he make enough three-point shots so that teams have to guard him as a legit threat. He is never going to be Steph Curry, but the Knicks did not respect him at all in the playoffs. He is valuable offensive player, but the floor shrinks when you have a non-shooter like that.
Johnson elevated his game to an All-NBA level last season, but did not make a good first impression for the playoffs. He has worked on his pull-up shooting this offseason, as well as tightening his handle. Can he be more than just an elite transition player and can he improve on defense?
Like Alexander-Walker, Okongwu had a surprise shooting season on high volume a year ago, but can he replicate it?
Closing Lineup
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Lu Dort
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
I think that either the Hawks will stay with their usual starting lineup to close out games, but if they want to put the most pressure on their opponent, subbing out McCollum for Dort is an option.
There are obvious concerns about Dort and Daniels being on the court together, but this could be one of the best defensive units in the NBA. They will make life miserble on opponents and if they can rely on NAW, Daniels and Johnson to set them up from a shot creation perspective, I think it will work.
Aaron Wiggins is a player who could work his way into some closing lineups on some nights. He has the floor spacing to do it and is a good enough perimeter defender to be out there, though he is not as good as Dort.
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