Hawks Rule Out 9 Players for Preseason Game Against Thunder

The Atlanta Hawks will be without nine players Monday night when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at State Farm Arena.

Six of the nine are out for rest: Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum, Onyeka Okongwu, and Aaron Wiggins.

Keshon Gilbert is out with left patella tendinitis. Mouhamed Gueye is out with a fractured left foot, and Henri Veesaar is out with a torn right ACL.

The 7 p.m. ET game on Atlanta News First is the last home date of the preseason for the Hawks, who come in at 2-1.

The Memphis Grizzlies beat them 132-123 in the Oct. 5 opener. Since then, Atlanta has won 123-116 at San Antonio and won again Saturday at the Indiana Pacers.

At least one regular starter has sat in every preseason game so far.

McCollum rested in the opener. Johnson sat in San Antonio. On Saturday, it was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who is not on Monday's list.

Dort sat out the first two games and made his Atlanta debut in Indianapolis, starting in Alexander-Walker's spot.

He finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists in 24 minutes and went 1-of-4 from 3-point range. In that game, Johnson had 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 25 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting.

Dort's first start for Atlanta came in the spot of a player he has known since high school.

"It's amazing. Obviously, Nickeil is one of my closest friends," Dort told reporter Clemente Almanza this summer. "Played on the same team with Nickeil in high school and against him our whole life, obviously. When I got the call and I knew I was heading there, I hit him right away. I was really happy."

"He's helped me out throughout this whole transition and with their style of play," Dort continued. "I'm glad that I got a guy like him on my team now."

Monday is Oklahoma City's first game against Dort and Wiggins since trading both this summer, but neither will play.

The Thunder sent Wiggins to Atlanta earlier in the offseason for two second-round picks.

Dort followed on July 19 in a three-team trade that also involved the Dallas Mavericks. Atlanta got Ryan Nembhard in the deal too. Zaccharie Risacher went to Dallas.

Oklahoma City's return was three more second-rounders, Chicago's in 2027 by way of Dallas and Atlanta's own in 2031 and 2032.

Oklahoma City is 0-2 after losing 116-110 to the New Orleans Pelicans and 128-126 to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Thunder are expected to have nine players available in Atlanta, all rookies or players on two-way and Exhibit 10 contracts. They host Indiana on Tuesday.

Veesaar's injury came in a Sept. 15 workout. The Hawks announced the diagnosis Sept. 21, and the 7-footer is scheduled for surgery in October and expected to miss the 2026-27 season.

The Los Angeles Clippers drafted him 52nd overall in June and traded him to Atlanta the same day for the 57th pick, Narcisse Ngoy, and cash. He averaged 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in 31 games at North Carolina last season.

Gueye fractured his left foot in a July 8 workout and had surgery at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex six days later. The team set a re-evaluation window of three to four months.

He played a career-high 77 games last season, averaging 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.3 minutes, and is in the final year of his four-year contract.

Gilbert, who is on a two-way contract, played in the opener and missed Thursday's game in San Antonio.

Asa Newell, in his second training camp with Atlanta, led the Hawks with 16 points in San Antonio.

Kingston Flemings, the eighth overall pick in June, started the opener and had 15 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals in 20 minutes off the bench against the Spurs.

The Hawks close the preseason Friday at the Mavericks, with tip-off at 8 p.m. ET at American Airlines Center.

The regular season opens Oct. 21 at the Orlando Magic, and the home opener is Oct. 24 against the Houston Rockets.