All-Star Jalen Johnson (left) and Kia NBA Most Improved Player Nickeil Alexander-Walker look to lead the Hawks.
Offseason Recap
• Last Season: 46-36 (6th in East, lost in First Round)
• Key Additions: Luguentz Dort, Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor, Ryan Nembhard, Henri Veesaar, Aaron Wiggins
• Every Hawks move this offseason
Season Outlook
The Hawks are deep and defensive minded, especially on the perimeter with Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dort. Jalen Johnson earned his first All-Star appearance and first All-NBA selection last season, averaging 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.2 steals. Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player with his breakout season, posting 20.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game with efficient shooting (45.9 FG%, 39.9 3P%, 90.2 FT%). Veteran point guard CJ McCollum averaged 18.7 points last season, giving the Hawks three players who hover around 20 points per game.
If the starting lineup includes McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu (15.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.1 apg), it means Dort, Wiggins, Jock Landale, Ejiofor, Flemings, Asa Newell, Buddy Hield, Corey Kispert and Ryan Nembhard give Hawks coach Quin Snyder options depending on opponent and matchups.
Snyder likes a defense that forces turnovers, leading to transition offense, and he wants his team to attempt nearly 40 3-pointers per game.
There is room for improvement – the Hawks ranked 14th in offensive efficiency and 10th in defensive efficiency. And don’t forget, the Hawks had a 2-1 series lead against the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.
Breakout Candidate: Aaron Wiggins
Wiggins was a valuable contributor to Oklahoma City’s 2025 championship and 2026 Western Conference Finals appearance. But in his five seasons with the Thunder, he never played more than 24.2 minutes per game and that was his rookie season in 2021-22. He has averaged double figures in points just once (12.0 ppg in 2024-25). Even with the Hawks’ depth, they look forward to Wiggins’ contributions, especially offensively. For his career, he is a 48.7% shooter from the field and 38% on 3s. With more opportunities, Wiggins should be in a position to increase his scoring and help the Hawks, who were a good 3-point shooting team last season but in need of better efficiency.
1 Number To Know
11.0 – The Hawks were 11.0 points per 100 possessions better after the All-Star break (plus-9.7, 4th) than they were before the break (minus-1.3, 19th) last season. That was the biggest post-break improvement for any team in the last 27 years.
The Hawks didn’t add any young players or future draft picks when they traded Trae Young, but CJ McCollum made them a much better team in the present. They went 27-14 with McCollum in the lineup, climbing from ninth to sixth place in the Eastern Conference over the last two months of the regular season.
They did have a soft schedule down the stretch; Only eight of the Hawks’ 20 post-break wins came against teams that finished the season with winning records. But they also had more playoff wins against the Knicks (2) than the champs’ other three postseason opponents combined (1).
— John Schuhmann
5 Must-See Matchups
• Oct. 21: Hawks vs. Magic — The Southeast Division is deep with at least four teams believing they are playoff teams. Last season, the top four teams were separated by three games, and this game is between the teams that finished 1-2 in the Southeast.
• Nov. 29: Hawks vs. Knicks — This is a rematch of a 2026 first-round playoff series, a series in which the Hawks had a 1-0 and 2-1 series lead, and it did not look like the Knicks were a championship team. The Knicks won the next three games in the series and had just one more loss in the next three rounds on their way to the title.
• Feb. 1: Wizards vs. Hawks — Another divisional game, and this marks former Hawks guard Trae Young’s first return to Atlanta for a game since the Hawks traded him to Washington last season.
• Feb. 8: Heat vs. Hawks — These two teams are expected to compete for the top spot in the division, and this contest falls just before the Feb. 11 trade deadline.
• April 4: Hawks vs. 76ers — This game against Philadelphia and its star-studded lineup will be the eighth road game in 11 contests for the Hawks as the regular season nears its conclusion.
> Complete Regular Season Schedule
Preseason Storylines
With Atlanta’s depth, Hawks coach Quin Snyder has decisions to make – first, determine a starting lineup and then figure out his rotation. Last season, the Hawks were 20-10 and had a plus-20.3 net rating with McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Johnson and Okongwu on the court. However, they didn’t have Dort or Wiggins. Snyder will need to find out who performs best in the starting lineup and who is most comfortable coming in as a reserve.
Flemings, the lottery pick, is worth watching in the preseason to see how he develops and learns from the veteran McCollum. Also, the backup power forward spot behind Johnson has competition between Mouhamed Gueye, Asa Newell and Ejiofor, another rookie.
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
