The NBA offseason has entered its quiet period. With the Summer Olympics now over and Team USA having won gold, the NBA has released its 2024-25 schedule and the countdown is now on until training camp begins and the season approaches. It’s a good time to take a look at how each team performed this offseason and how they stack up in their respective conferences and the league.
The Hawks are a team that has mixed feelings about them and what they did this offseason. Atlanta won the draft lottery and then selected French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the first pick and they traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, EJ Liddell, Cody Zeller and two first-round picks. They then traded Liddell to Phoenix for David Roddy. The Hawks have dealt with the trade rumors surrounding Trae Young and now have an interesting team that is better suited to maximizing his skills and improving the two biggest weaknesses of last year’s Hawks, which were size and defense.
However, when it came to ranking the off-season teams, The AthleticDavid Aldridge ranked the Hawks as the 25th best in the NBA this offseason. Here’s the criteria Aldridge used and what he had to say about the Hawks:
“The ranking is based on a single question: how much better is a team heading into next season than it was at the end of last season?”
At least Atlanta rebuilt some of the draft capital spent to acquire Murray from the Spurs in 2022 by getting two future first-rounders and several depth players from the Pels. But the bottom line is this: Where does this team go with Trae Young as its franchise player? Winning the lottery and taking Risacher provided an unexpected offseason bonus, but even that was tainted by Alex Sarr’s reluctance to work out with Atlanta before the draft. Ice Trae is just 26, in his prime, and has two years left on his contract before his player option comes up. You can’t go full tank mode while he’s on the roster; he’s too talented. But it feels like a franchise going in circles.”
I would say Atalanta has improved this season while admitting they are not a Finals contender. The addition of Risacher and Daniels should improve the defense and integrate better with Trae Young. Jalen Johnson and Oneyka Okongwu are candidates to take a leap forward this year, not to mention that Bogdan Bogdanovic, Larry Nance, Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter bring depth and versatility to the Hawks that they didn’t have last year.
Dan Favale, analyst at Bleacher Report gave a reason why the Hawks shouldn’t be overlooked this season and he mentioned the versatility of their roster:
“Determining an exact direction for the Atlanta Hawks remains somewhat difficult.
They have Trae Young and don’t control their own first-round pick until 2029, so they have every reason to go all-in. At the same time, the roster is set up to rely on a handful of developing prospects, including first-round pick Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels, and, to some extent, Kobe Bufkin (backup point guard minutes seem wide open).
That’s to say nothing of players like Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson, who could benefit from extensions. Both are safe bets. Neither, however, is a finished product.
All of this adds up to a team with immediate expectations that could experience (a lot of) growing pains. I’m in for all of that, provided head coach Quin Snyder capitalizes on the versatility of the roster at his disposal.
Okongwu, Johnson and Larry Nance Jr. allow the Hawks to trim their roster without trimming their game. Risacher has fantastic size at 6’1″ and should be extremely versatile on offense with his transition craftiness and half-court movement. De’Andre Hunter is another 6’1″ body and improved his shooting last season. David Roddy is 6’4″ but plays like he’s 6’1″ for better or worse.
Hopefully Atlanta gets creative around Young. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing him alongside Daniels, Johnson, Risacher and Nance. The floor spacing could get tight, in which case Hunter could be slotted into one of the other positions. But the defensive intensity and malleability would be very entertaining.
The Hawks haven’t had the best offseason in the NBA, but I think they’ve improved in some areas and have a team that makes more sense. Let’s see if that leads to more wins.
