The Atlanta Hawks are heading toward training camp with more questions about fit than flash.
That’s by design. While the Eastern Conference has been busy reshaping itself, Atlanta stayed away from the big-swing trades and leaned into a different plan: player development, the draft, smaller moves, and bringing back much of the group that found success after the All-Star Break last season. The front office made its choice, and now the real work starts.
The biggest thing to watch when camp opens is how all the new pieces settle into place.
Atlanta added Kingston Flemings with the No. 8 pick, Zuby Ejiofor at No. 23, and Henri Veesaar at No. 52.
The team also re-signed CJ McCollum and Jock Landale, traded for Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Ryan Nembhard, guaranteed Buddy Hield’s deal for the coming season, and picked up the $2.4 million team option for Mouhamed Gueye. That’s a lot of movement, even if none of it came with the thunder of a blockbuster.
The key issue is simple: who plays where?
Will Atlanta stick with the starting five of McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu after how well that group performed last season? Does Dort crack the lineup?
Is Flemings ready for a major role right away? Can Wiggins move from being the 10th or 11th man off the bench in Oklahoma City into something bigger in Atlanta?
And what kind of minutes are the rookies actually going to see?
Those questions don’t end at the opening tip. They’re going to shape the Hawks’ season.
There are a few real rotation battles worth tracking, even if this isn’t the kind of camp that’s loaded with hard-nosed competition at every spot.
The first one is backup point guard. McCollum and Alexander-Walker are the likely starting guards, but neither is a pure point.
That’s part of why Atlanta took Flemings at No. 8, and he looks like the favorite to handle the reserve lead-guard minutes that Gabe Vincent played late last season. Still, he won’t have the job handed to him.
Ryan Nembhard, acquired from the Dallas Mavericks, is in the mix after a solid season as an undrafted player in Dallas. If Flemings needs more time, Nembhard gives the Hawks a player with NBA experience, even if his size remains a concern on defense.
Power forward is another spot to monitor. Jalen Johnson is going to soak up plenty of those minutes, but the Hawks still need to figure out who, if anyone, can push into the rotation behind him.
Mouhamed Gueye, Asa Newell, and Zuby Ejiofor are the names here. Gueye has the edge in experience, but his foot injury will keep him out of training camp and the preseason.
That opens the door for Newell and Ejiofor to make a case.
Then there’s the third center spot, which matters more than it might first appear. If Landale or Okongwu misses time, Atlanta has to know who steps into the backup center role.
Veesaar or Ejiofor? That answer isn’t settled yet.
Before the offseason, Onsi Saleh made it clear that the biggest jump for this team had to come from internal growth, not a massive star chase. That approach is now under the microscope because the East has gotten stronger around Atlanta. If the Hawks are going to keep pace, their core has to keep moving forward.
That means real leaps, not just small steps. If Jalen Johnson can go from being a third-team All-NBA player to a first-team All-NBA player, the entire outlook changes.
Maybe that’s a big ask, but it’s the kind of jump that would reshape the ceiling. The same goes for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who already won Most Improved Player and could push toward All-Star territory.
Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu are in that conversation too.
Of course, development in the NBA doesn’t follow a clean line. Some players rise fast, some stall, and some never quite get there.
Atlanta has chosen to bet on its own growth curve. Training camp is where that bet starts to get tested.
If it works, the Hawks can climb. If it doesn’t, they risk slipping back toward the play-in grind.
In Other News...
Hawks Just Reshaped Quin Snyders Staff In A Way Fans Will Feel
The Hawks continued their offseason reshaping with a fresh round of staff additions around Quin Snyder, announcing Jason Love as an assistant coach and Sergi Oliva as a basketball strategy and development advisor. Those moves come amid a broader staff shuffle that has also included Bryson Grahams move to the Bulls, Kyle Korvers departure, promotions for Peter Dinwiddie and Maxwell Kupchak, and Ronald Nored leaving for the head coaching job at Butler.
Ettore Messina also joins the mix as a coaching consultant, giving Snyder another experienced basketball mind in the room as Atlanta works through a changing organizational structure. Onsi Saleh and Snyder both received contract extensions as part of the overhaul, with Saleh also taking over as President of Basketball Operations, a sign the Hawks want more continuity even as the supporting cast around the bench and front office keeps evolving. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks May Need One Midseason Swing If The Offense Stalls
Atlanta entered the 2026-27 season with a familiar look in the starting five and a bench that got a little deeper thanks to Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and the return of Jock Landale. In a loaded Eastern Conference, though, that kind of continuity can cut both ways. The Hawks are betting that their core can hold its ground, even as a number of rivals spent the offseason trying to separate themselves with bigger swings and more dramatic upgrades.
If the offense ends up needing a jolt by midseason, Brandon Ingram is the sort of name that would make sense on Atlantas radar. He brings the kind of scoring wing presence that can change a game when possessions get sticky, and his contract situation gives any interested team a clearer path to weighing the cost. For now, the Hawks are still in the prove-it phase, but a quiet first half could quickly turn the trade deadline into a more aggressive search for help. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Face A Starting Lineup Debate That Could Reshape The Rotation
Atlantas roster reshuffle has turned the starting five into one of the more interesting questions of the upcoming season, with the team weighing how best to balance offense, defense and fit around a newly crowded backcourt. The collection of CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels and Lu Dort gives the Hawks plenty of lineup combinations to sort through, and the right answer may depend on whether they want to lean into scoring punch or build a group that can hold up better on the other end.
Lu Dort stands out as the most natural candidate to crack the opening group because of what he brings on the perimeter and the experience he has in bigger games, but any change like that comes with ripple effects. If the Hawks decide to prioritize defense at the top of the rotation, it could force another established guard into a different role and reshape the second unit in a way that changes the balance of the entire bench. [Read more 🡒]