The Atlanta Hawks are receiving some national praise for their moves this offseason.
The Atlanta Hawks have had a busy offseason.
In their first summer of the post-Trae Young era, they've had a chance to start assembling a roster around rising star Jalen Johnson, and the results have now received a high grade from ESPN's Zach Kram.
Kram gives the Hawks an "A-" for their offseason, noting that they raised their floor "meaningfully" with some "fairly dramatic upgrades to their bench."
According to Kram, Atlanta's short-term ceiling is still dependent on how far Johnson's development goes since the team might not have added any starters this offseason.
ESPN lists Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Kingston Flemings, Devin Carter, Ryan Nembhard, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar as the Hawks' key additions this offseason. It lists Zaccharie Risacher, Jonathan Kuminga, Gabe Vincent and Keaton Wallace as the team's key subtractions.
Atlanta also came to new deals with CJ McCollum and Jock Landale to keep them around.
Dort (a one-time All-Defense selectee and NBA champion with the Oklahoma City Thunder) should play a key role for Atlanta, even if he doesn't start. Wiggins (another key role player on that OKC title team) should also be able to make a rotational impact. Other newcomers like Flemings (a lottery pick in this year's draft) will also provide some new blood.
Those are all reasons to be optimistic, and although the Hawks did lose some rotation contributors this summer, they likely feel pretty good about the exchanges they made.
But taking a major step forward as a team may indeed come down to the play of Johnson, as Kram noted. Now that he's the clear centerpiece on the 2026-27 Hawks, he will need to rise to the occasion and continue his ascent into stardom.
Last season, Johnson turned heads by averaging 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from long range. It was a breakout campaign, and it led to him earning All-NBA recognition in addition to an All-Star bid.
If he can build off that production in the upcoming season and get some help from his supporting cast, Atlanta is going to have a chance to be a factor in the Eastern Conference after cracking the playoffs last season and pushing the New York Knicks to six games in the first round.
It's a good sign that the Hawks are getting national praise for their offseason, and hopefully, their moves will pay dividends.
