The Atlanta Hawks added Jason Love, Ettore Messina and Sergi Oliva to Quin Snyder's coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.
The Atlanta Hawks hired Jason Love as an assistant coach on Sept. 16. The same team announcement named Ettore Messina a coaching consultant and Sergi Oliva a basketball strategy and development advisor on head coach Quin Snyder's staff.
Love, Messina, and Oliva Join Snyder's Staff
Love spent the last two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach/player development. Before Milwaukee, he spent five seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. He started there as a player development associate in 2019, moved to skill development coach in 2021, and became an assistant coach in 2023.
A Philadelphia native, Love played at Xavier from 2006 to 2010. His 108 career wins are a school record.
Messina won four EuroLeague championships, two with Virtus Bologna in 1998 and 2001 and two with CSKA Moscow in 2006 and 2008. Snyder worked as one of his assistants in Moscow. Messina also coached Italy to a silver medal at EuroBasket 1997.
He returns to the NBA through this role. He previously advised the Los Angeles Lakers during 2011-12 and served as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs from 2014 to 2019.
Oliva was an assistant on Snyder's Utah Jazz from 2020-2022. Portland then hired him as assistant GM, a role he held for four seasons, while also coaching the Rip City Remix in 2024-25.
Before Utah, Oliva spent six years with Philadelphia and finished there as vice president of strategy. He is from Gelida, Catalonia, and holds a Ph.D. in computational complexity from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
Hawks Offseason Moves
Snyder signed a multi-year extension in June after Atlanta went 46-36. The New York Knicks eliminated the Hawks in six games in the first round, after Atlanta had taken a 2-1 series lead. The Hawks had gone through the play-in tournament in each of the previous four seasons.
In June, Atlanta took Houston guard Kingston Flemings with the No. 8 pick. Zuby Ejiofor went to the Hawks at No. 23. The Hawks also acquired the draft rights to Henri Veesaar, the No. 52 pick, from the LA Clippers for the rights to the No. 57 pick and $1.5 million in cash.
CJ McCollum returned on a one-year, $21 million deal. Jock Landale re-signed for one year and $14.1 million, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
The first trade brought Aaron Wiggins from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Atlanta's own 2030 second-round pick and the less favorable of its and the Lakers' 2032 second-round picks. Wiggins is due $8.1 million in 2027-28, with a team option for the same amount in 2028-29.
On July 19, a three-team trade brought Luguentz Dort from Oklahoma City and Ryan Nembhard from the Dallas Mavericks. Zaccharie Risacher, the first overall pick in 2024, went to Dallas.
Dort appeared in 69 games for the Thunder last season. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists and shot 34.4% from 3-point range. He will wear No. 0 in Atlanta.
Devin Carter came from the Sacramento Kings, along with the Kings' 2033 second-round pick, for the draft rights to Alpha Kaba. Atlanta later waived him.
The Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets have also discussed a trade that would send Buddy Hield to Charlotte for Dorian Finney-Smith.
Hawks Starting Lineup
If the season started today, McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu would start. Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player last season. Daniels won the same award the season before.
Johnson made his first All-Star team in 2025-26. Okongwu made 38% of his 5.2 3-point attempts per game.
Even after waiving Carter, the Hawks have 16 players under contract, exceeding the regular-season limit by one.
The Hawks' season opener is Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center, with tip-off at 7 p.m. ET, and Charlotte is next on the schedule.
