Quin Snyder Prepares Hawks for Sean Sweeney’s Magic Debut in Season Opener

The Atlanta Hawks open the regular season Wednesday at Kia Center against the Orlando Magic, who will play their first game under coach Sean Sweeney.

Tip-off is 7 p.m. ET. The game airs locally in Atlanta on Atlanta News First and Peachtree Sports Network.

Orlando hired Sweeney on June 1 as the 16th head coach in franchise history. He replaced Jamahl Mosley, whom the Magic dismissed May 4 after five seasons.

Sweeney is a first-time NBA head coach. Billy Donovan and Jeff Van Gundy were the other finalists for the job, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Sweeney spent last season as the San Antonio Spurs' associate head coach under Mitch Johnson, and he worked as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks from 2021 to 2025.

Orlando went 45-37 last season. The Detroit Pistons eliminated the Magic in seven games in the first round after Orlando led the series 3-1.

Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, and Wendell Carter Jr. all return, and Nikola Vučević signed a one-year deal for his second stint with the franchise. Moritz Wagner, Jett Howard, and Orlando Robinson are gone.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder is thinking about his own team this week, not Orlando's.

"Sean Sweeney, their coach, is a really good coach," Snyder said Monday. "And they're a really good team, and as you mentioned, excellent roster. Usually there's a balance of those things. I can't speak for them. I'm thinking about our team, but you try to play to your players' strengths."

"And at the same time, from a coaching standpoint, there's things that everybody's a little different and sees the game in different ways," Snyder continued. "So I'm sure that'll be reflected in how they play as well."

Atlanta went 4-1 in the preseason and closed it Friday with a 135-111 win at Dallas.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, and Jalen Johnson had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The Hawks went 46-36 last season. The New York Knicks eliminated them in six games in the first round after Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead.

Snyder said Monday the Hawks will start the season with the group that had continuity at the end of last season.

Atlanta's roster changed around that group over the summer.

The Hawks drafted Kingston Flemings, who makes his NBA debut Wednesday, eighth overall and Zuby Ejiofor 23rd and acquired Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Snyder called the preseason a little dicey, with health the priority.

"I think we processed the preseason and some of the things we felt like we did well, you want to build on, and other things that, as you get going more and more, you're gonna have to do better," Snyder explained. "So those things usually, to the extent you're working on them in practice, touching them and watching film. I think by and large, everybody's ready to get going."

Sweeney was part of a San Antonio staff that took the Spurs from 25th in defensive efficiency to third last season.

San Antonio reached the NBA Finals, where it faced the Knicks.

The Magic open at home for the third time in four seasons.

After Orlando, the Hawks host the Houston Rockets in their home opener Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.