The Atlanta Hawks don’t have to treat last season’s starting five like a locked-in formula.
That group - CJ McCollum, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu - was excellent over the final stretch, posting a +21.4 in 822 possessions, which landed in the 90th percentile per Cleaning the Glass. On paper, that kind of production makes the case pretty simple: bring it back and keep rolling. McCollum is back, and so are the rest of the pieces.
But there’s a catch. The Hawks got that run against a soft closing schedule over their final 26 games, with plenty of matchups against teams that were clearly playing for draft position. That doesn’t erase what Atlanta did, but it does leave room for a little more experimentation.
And this offseason, the Hawks did enough to make that possible. They re-signed McCollum and Jock Landale, added three rookies, and made trades for Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Ryan Nembhard.
So if Quin Snyder wants to play with different looks, there are at least a couple of paths worth considering.
One is the Lu Dort route.
That idea makes sense the second you remember what Dort has done as a starter over the last three seasons: 79 starts in 2023-2024, 71 in 2024-2025, and 69 last season. He’s not some wild fit-out-of-nowhere candidate. He’s a proven starter, and his defensive edge is obvious.
The question is how he meshes with Daniels. Daniels has more offensive game than he gets credit for, but he looks best when the floor is spaced around him.
Dort has had strong three-point shooting seasons before, but last season’s 34% from deep was a step back from his previous two years. If that shot is there, Atlanta could get a nasty perimeter defensive pairing without sacrificing too much.
If it isn’t, the fit gets tighter.
If Dort does start, the bench would still have some shape to it. A second unit with Alexander-Walker, Flemings, Landale, and Wiggins would still give the Hawks real depth, and it would put more on Alexander-Walker’s plate in a role that seems built for him.
That may not be the opening-night answer, but it’s absolutely on the table.
There’s also a different version of the same idea: what if McCollum is the one who moves to the bench?
The logic is pretty similar. McCollum and Alexander-Walker are both good guards, but neither one is a true point guard.
Atlanta’s bench also doesn’t have an obvious go-to scorer waiting in the wings. McCollum brought veteran poise and ball-handling when the Hawks needed it in the playoffs, but giving him the second unit could help the group function more cleanly, especially with Flemings in the backup point guard role.
The upside is obvious on defense. A group with Alexander-Walker, Daniels, and Dort would be a grind for opponents every night. That’s the kind of perimeter pressure that can wear teams down fast.
The same spacing concerns would follow, though. If Dort isn’t knocking down open threes, Daniels’ offensive value gets squeezed.
Starting lineups aren’t the whole story, and Snyder knows that. Still, Atlanta has more options now than it did a year ago, and that alone makes the rotation worth watching.
If the Hawks simply lean on the lineup that worked so well last season, there’s a clean argument for that. But with this much depth, they also have the chance to try something different.
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 Camp Will Decide Whether This New Roster Can Keep Up
Training camp is about to sort out a Hawks roster that looks meaningfully different, but still has plenty to prove before anyone can call it settled. Atlanta is leaning hard into internal development this fall, with a mix of draft picks Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar joining a group that also includes re-signed and newly acquired veterans such as CJ McCollum, Jock Landale, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Ryan Nembhard. In a loaded Eastern Conference, the emphasis is less on splashy roster reinvention and more on figuring out how quickly the pieces can fit together.
The biggest questions are the kinds that usually linger well into October: who starts, who comes off the bench, and which bigs can claim minutes at power forward and center. Atlanta will use camp to see how the new additions blend with the holdovers, and whether the roster has enough balance and depth to keep pace without a blockbuster move rescuing it later. For a team trying to climb in a hurry, the answers in camp could matter almost as much as the ones that come once the games begin. [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 🡒]