The Atlanta Hawks were very busy this summer.
In a story for Bleacher Report called "1 Word to Describe Every Team's 2026 NBA Offseason," NBA analyst Zach Buckley used the word "opportunistic" for the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks had a busy offseason. They signed CJ McCollum to an extension, re-signed Jock Landale, acquired Devin Carter from the Sacramento Kings, Aaron Wiggins and Lu Dort from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Ryan Nembhard from the Dallas Mavericks, declined Jonathan Kuminga's team option and drafted Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar in the 2026 draft.
"When opportunity knocked this summer, the Hawks answered it," Buckley wrote. "They started by smartly investing the No. 8 pick in Flemings, a two-way tone-setter, and extending the stay of CJ McCollum, an offensive stabilizer and crunch-time shot-maker. They finished by capitalizing on the Oklahoma City Thunder's need to cut costs and bought low on Dort, an All-Defensive first-teamer in 2024-25.
"Nothing was super-splashy, but it didn't need to be. Atlanta wet its toes as a feisty 46-win playoff participant last season, and this smart blend of external additions and talent retention should have moved it nearer to the deeper end of the contending pool."
The Hawks went 46-36 last season. They were the sixth seed in the 2026 Eastern Conference playoffs and lost to the New York Knicks in the first round in six games.
Atlanta was the only team in the 2026 playoffs to beat New York more than once.
In the post-Trae Young era, Jalen Johnson is the face of the Atlanta franchise. Johnson had a terrific 2025-26 season for the Hawks. He averaged 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field, 35.2% from beyond the arc and 78.8% from the free-throw line. The Duke product recorded 49 double-doubles and 13 triple-doubles in 72 games.
The 24-year-old Johnson made his first All-Star and All-NBA team last season. The swingman made the All-NBA third team.
Johnson enters next season with career averages of 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. All signs point toward the Wisconsin native making multiple All-Star and All-NBA teams.
Atlanta's core moving forward is Dort, Wiggins, McCollum, Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu. On paper, that looks really good.
"I don’t compare ourselves to others," McCollum told HoopsHype about the Hawks' future. "Right now, it’s about focusing on getting better individually and collectively. We can’t control how other teams look. You can control your approach to the game. Teams will get better and evolve.
"For us, it’s about focusing on improving our intangibles, understanding our schemes, and what Quin wants from us. Then, building on the momentum and experience that we had playing in the playoffs in a big environment on the road and in our home games. We played against a team that won the NBA Finals. All those things help you as you go into a new season."
