Just like that, the preseason is over for the Atlanta Hawks.
The preseason began with a bumpy game against the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Hawks were able to win their last four, including last night's win over the Dallas Mavericks. Last night's game vs Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks was the first time that the Hawks had their starters and main rotation active for a game (except for Mouhamed Gueye) during the preseason and while it was not perfect, there was little doubt about who the most talented team on the court was.
Here is how each player graded out in last night's win.
Starters
CJ McCollum: D+
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: A
Dyson Daniels: C-
Jalen Johnson: A
Onyeka Okongwu: C-
The Hawks had two clear standout performances vs Dallas on Friday night and the rest of the starters were uneven.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker had perhaps the best night of any starter, finishing with 25 points and shooting 6-10 from three while also guarding Kyrie Irving on the other end of the court. There have been questions around whether or not Alexander-Walker's shooting numbers from last season were real and he has shown during the preseason that he is going to have another big year for Atlanta. Alexander-Walker had the best plus/minus of the starters, finishing with a +21 in his nearly 27 minutes played.
In the three preseason games that Jalen Johnson played, he looked like a star player in two of them, including last night's win. He finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds on an efficient 5-for-10 shooting night. He controlled the glass for Atlanta and pushed the pace in transition. He was also fantastic at getting to the free-throw line and converting those attempts, finishing 9-11 at the line.
Onyeka Okongwu was not spectacular, but he was far from a disaster in this game and it was the only time where he was outplayed by another center on the team. He finished the night with six points, four rebounds, and four assists while also being a +11 when on the court.
Dyson Daniels did a lot of things that go unnoticed on the stat sheet, but he did not put up spectacular numbers, scoring eight points on 3-for-7 shooting and also getting four rebounds and three assists.
Of the starters, I thought that CJ McCollum had the toughest night amongst them. He shot 2-for-11 from the field, including 2-for-8 from three, and finished with seven points and four assists.
Bench
Lu Dort: B
Aaron Wiggins: A
Kingston Flemings: B+
Jock Landale: A
I thought the Hawks bench was the star of the show last night in Dallas.
After a tough start to the preseason, Aaron Wiggins looked like the player the Hawks thought they were getting from Oklahoma City and last night was his best performance. He was a team best +33 in his minutes and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, shooting 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-9 from three. If this is the kind of player that Wiggins can be on most nights for Atlanta, he could be in for the best year of his career.
Landale had a fantastic night as well, by far his best of the preseason. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists, as well as three made threes. This was the kind of player that Landale was towards the end of the season and the Hawks hope to get this kind of production out of him.
This was yet another good performance for Kingston Flemings. Whether he had the ball in his hands or not, he was in the right position at all times and helping set up his teammates in different ways. He continues to look like he belongs on the court each and every night and finished with 10 points, six assists, and four rebounds last night.
This was the first time that Dort got to play alongside the entire rotation and it was the kind of game that Hawks fans should come to expect from Dort. He played really good defense and scored eight points and pulled in four rebounds on the offensive end.
Late in the fourth quarter, Quin Snyder opted to put in Corey Kispert, Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, RayJ Dennis, and Keshon Gilbert, but they did not play long enough to really get a grade.
The Hawks begin their 2026-2027 season next Wednesday vs the Orlando Magic.
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