The Atlanta Hawks are a franchise in transition.

Trae Young is gone. It’s the end of an era. The Hawks will move forward with new pieces as they try to forge a new identity. It starts now.

Here are five key areas to keep an eye on as Atlanta comes out of the All-Star break.

Young wasn’t the only major player the Hawks moved. They traded Kristaps Porziņģis for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.

Kuminga’s career has been a bit of a roller coaster. He has seen his minutes and usage wax and wane in the Bay. This year, he’s averaging 12.1 points in 23.8 minutes per game, with a 23.9% usage percentage.

Will any of those numbers increase in Atlanta? Jalen Johnson is solidified as one of the team’s starting forwards. Can Kuminga challenge Zaccharie Risacher for a larger role?

Speaking of Risacher…

Had Risacher been picked in the middle of the first round, we’d be talking about how surprisingly solid he’s been. Unfortunately, he was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

By that standard, he has been underwhelming.

Risacher is averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 35.2% from deep in his sophomore campaign. His defense has been solid, but teams rarely select a player first overall for solid defense alone. Risacher has to give Atlanta more offensively. Even if he catches fire from deep, he would be progressing toward a high-end 3-and-D role.

That said, at least his shooting is somewhat reliable.

Daniels has been running point for the Hawks this year. It makes some sense. He’s a reliable enough ball-handler and a crafty passer, as indicated by his 6.2 assists per game.

The problem?

He can’t shoot — at least not yet.

Daniels is shooting 13.3% from three in 2025-26. For a lead ball-handler, that won’t cut it. He attempts only 1.4 per game, meaning he has made just 10 threes for the Hawks this season.

Some guards make that many in a single night.

As talented as Daniels is, that lack of spacing puts the Hawks behind the curve in today’s math-driven game. If he can approach 30% from beyond the arc for the rest of the season, it would make a meaningful difference.

Let’s shift to a (mostly) positive note.

You can point to plenty of shortcomings with this team, but you can’t accuse it of being unwilling to share the ball. Atlanta’s 70.6% assist percentage ranks second in the league behind the Utah Jazz.

Granted, no one wants to share company with the 2025-26 Jazz. Offensive motion does not guarantee offensive success. Still, it behooves Atlanta to keep the ball moving. Can they sustain that level of playmaking?

They’re losing a lot of assists from Young. Still, beyond Daniels, Johnson averages an impressive 8.2 assists per contest. The Hawks have a surplus of playmaking. Can they translate that into efficient production?

Should they?

Here’s the bottom line: The Atlanta Hawks are not going to win the 2025-26 NBA championship. If they find themselves slipping outside the play-in picture, it could be time to pull the plug.

Fans will bristle at the idea of “tanking.” Fair enough. That said, with little else to play for, why shouldn’t the Hawks prioritize draft position?

Darryn Peterson could revolutionize this team. Even if the Hawks don’t get that lucky, there is an excess of talented prospects in this draft class.

If things don’t turn around soon, Atlanta may need to start thinking about next year.

That would mark the true beginning of a new era.