Atlanta Hawks Offseason Moves: The New Birds
Everything Atlanta did in 500 words or less.
Offseason capsules for all 30 teams with thoughts on the good and the bad.
TL;DR Atlanta Hawks
Traded Georges Niang and Terance Mann1 for Kristaps Porzingis
Signed Nickeil Alexander-Walker (4 years, $62M)
Signed Luke Kennard (1 year, $11M)
Landed the Pels’ 2026 first-rounder or a better Bucks one because the Pelicans are insane.
Drafted Asa Newell.
Did well.
LOSSES: THEY, TOO, DO NOT HAVE TO PRETEND GEORGES NIANG IS GOOD ANYMORE
THE TRAE PART: IF YOU SURROUND A SMURF WITH 15 BATTLE DEMONS, DOES THE SMURF GET SMUSHED?
OFFSEASON RATING: QUELLING THE QUIN QUEST
Give me a minute on the Trae part of this.
Additions:
NAW is obviously a great get. To get him at just over $15 AAV is terrific. It’s less about the individual player value, though, and more about what NAW can unlock for them.
NAW’s not a volume elite shooter, but did shoot 38 percent last season and 39 percent the year before.
He’s one of those defenders who will just ruin your day from time to time if you’re the primary ballhandler for the opponent.
Kennard is a great shooter, obviously, and honestly probably deserved more minutes than he got in Memphis, even if he has certain matchups he can’t play in the playoffs. He shot 43.3 percent from three.
If Porzingis is not dying from whatever “Contagion”/”Outbreak”/Insert Zombie Movie Virus here disease he picked up last year and can actually play, his rim protection alone will move them closer to what they want to be.
The bigger thing than the on-paper adjustments is the way they can build lineups.
Dyson Daniels with NAW, Jalen Johnson, and Kristaps Porzingis is a suddenly terrifying defensive combo. Even when Porzingis is inevitably out, Onyeka Okongwu is ready as a smallball replacement. Mouhamed Gueye and Zaccharie Risacher will be even better.
The Hawks started to look like a Quin Snyder team last year. Now the roster matches.
Losses:
Trading Georges Niang alone is addition by subtraction. No offense to the guy, but he’s just good enough to put the ball in his hands sometimes and just bad enough to make a mess of it.
Mann is good. He’s a serviceable wing with some bounce and shooting. He’s going to pop back up on a playoff team as a guy who helps a contender at some point.
Larry Nance is a really fun and helpful player in concept, but just rarely available enough to help. They are better off with more time for the young guys.
The pick expenditure is fine.
THE TRAE PART
Then there’s Trae. The Hawks never seem sure if they want Trae to retire a Hawk or are just waiting for a team to make a dumb offer for him.
When people describe Trae negatively, it’s an overreaction and does his work as an offensive engine a disservice.
When they talk about him positively, they overlook his defensive shortcomings (which he’s tried at times to mitigate) and how hard it is to succeed with an isocentric system, regardless of what OKC just pulled off.
I don’t know if this version is what optimizes or maximizes Trae.
To me, the Hawks built a versatile, good-shooting series of weapons around a terrifying defensive structure… and also have Trae Young. And that can work.
The Thunder built a versatile, good-shooting series of weapons around a terrifying defensive structure… and also had Shai. Shai’s a way better defender and player than Trae, but the model is similar.
If Trae plays differently, this team can win the East.2 But I don’t know if I buy into the idea of a full Trae team as a conference contender.
THE GOOD BITS
NAW and Dyson Daniels making life miserable for anyone who tries guard-guard screens with them
Okongu short-roll dimes to Gueye
Trae and Porzingis pick-and-pop
Porzingis-Jalen big-to-big passing
OFFSEASON RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atlanta managed to add more defense around Trae without sacrificing and in fact complimenting their offense. I’m sad for Onyeka Okongwu who finally managed to earn the starting minutes only to land KP in front of him. This is a much more Quin Snyder team now, and that’s a good thing. They’ll be the trendy team a lot of analysts gravitate toward.
And a future Cavs’ second-round pick
Because anyone can win the East.
The Hawks somehow managed to take a step back from contention from the ECF run and got Jalen Johnson to emerge as a potential franchise. Building around Jalen helps mitigate some of Trae’s issues as he’s ultimately less important and you can let him shine as you have another franchise star. That and there’s a rabid pack of animals on the perimeter and those guys can shoot. Pretty underrated job by their FO to take a step back and avoid purgatory. Build a core that fixes the last issue AND find a franchise player that also keeps them young and up and coming. I can’t remember the last team in any sport that did this.
Hawks are a weird team. Not in a bad way or even a good way but just weird in the state they exist in sports. There’s typically four stages of fandom and then purgatory as the end state at which all paths lead
Building/Rebuilding: less about wins and losses more about getting good draft position and young guys playing well. Think the Tennessee Titans. If you got vets sell them off for pieces that will
Help when the team is ready to be good. This is fun for the diehards because process matters more than anything else.
Young up and coming team: Wins are exciting. Losses are learning opportunities. You know you’re not ready to contend. Your best players are still not in their final form and there’s young players to dream on in the future. The most fun time to be a fan of the team. Wins are great and provide proof of concept but the losses don’t hurt as bad because you know you’re not ready yet, and after all how will you get there if you don’t have the directions? 2016-2018 (maybe 19) Denver Nuggets.
Contention: Casuals show up here. Wins are good, but losses hurt more than wins feel good. Most stressful time to be a fan. Heightened expectations, must win scenario but on the other hand you CAN win if you’re here. Your star players have arrived and the only thing left to do is win the damn thing. Think modern Bills, Ravens.
Championship glory days: the most rewarding stage. Wins/losses don’t really matter. You’re champions, maybe a dynasty. Won multiple and getting ring chasers keeping the band together for another run. Florida Panthers are the example.
Thing is, it’s typically a linear progression and if the progression is non linear the next stage is purgatory where the team is aimless and directionless if they either don’t advance, stay in one stage too long, or take a step back.