The Hawks are finally back on the floor Monday night, 158 days after a painful home postseason loss to the eventual champions sent them into the long wait for another shot.
The regular season is still a couple of weeks away, but preseason is where the first real clues start to show. Summer league can keep the offseason from dragging too badly, though most of the attention there belongs to high-profile first- and second-year players.
Preseason is different. This is where the full roster starts to show how it fits together.
That matters for Atlanta, especially with one of its division rivals already making noise.
Miami opened its preseason by looking exactly like the kind of team people were eager to talk about all summer. The Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 129-105 and checked off just about everything they wanted in their debut. Their outside shooting looked sharp right away, and the depth that had been talked up all offseason showed up on the court.
The Raptors were close to full strength, with the exception of Kawhi Leonard, their newest addition. Even with that context, Miami’s showing was hard to ignore. It was a strong start for a team carrying a lot of hype, and it didn’t take long for the conversation around Giannis Antetokounmpo in Erik Spoelstra’s system to pick up around the league.
Of course, it’s still preseason. Small sample sizes can fool everybody. But if the Heat stay healthy, they have the kind of roster that can force the rest of the league to pay attention.
Atlanta hasn’t made the kind of offseason splash Miami did, but the Hawks did respond to their own postseason disappointment. Monday gives them their first chance to start shaping the conversation on their terms.
Respect has to be earned. Atlanta isn’t in the same place as Miami until it proves it can win consistently, and one preseason won’t change that.
Still, it has to begin somewhere. A little momentum heading into the regular season would help the Hawks’ image plenty, and that chance is right there in front of them.
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Hawks Could Have A Rare Shot At A Star Next Summer
New Yorks extension talks with Karl-Anthony Towns have become one of the more interesting front-office threads to monitor, especially with both sides still searching for common ground. The Knicks have put a four-year deal on the table, and while the number is substantial, it does not get all the way to the max Towns can sign. That leaves the door open for more back-and-forth, with his next decision carrying real weight for more than just his current team.
For Atlanta, the intrigue is obvious. The Hawks have spent plenty of time hunting for a true difference-maker to reshape the roster, and next summer could present a rare chance if Towns reaches free agency and the finances line up. There is still a long way to go before that becomes a real pursuit, but it is exactly the kind of scenario that can change the market for a team looking to accelerate its timeline. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Opening Night Debate Comes Down To One Risky CJ McCollum Call
The Hawks opening night puzzle is not about talent so much as fit, and it has them weighing two very different ways to shape the first unit. CJ McCollum gives Atlanta a proven primary ball-handler who can steady possessions and create offense, while Lu Dort brings a cleaner off-ball wing profile that changes the look of the lineup around him.
What makes the decision tricky is that the numbers from past lineup combinations point in one direction, even as the roster construction suggests another. Atlanta could still choose to keep McCollum on the bench to juice scoring depth, but doing so would mean passing on the version of the starting five that seemed to function best when he was on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Suddenly Have A New Playoff Angle Against The Sixers
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Embiid still changes everything for Philadelphia when he is healthy, but the margin for error behind him keeps getting thinner, and that matters in a postseason series where every matchup gets squeezed. The Hawks have their own frontcourt questions to answer, too, which is why internal development there remains so important if they want to turn this into a real advantage. If Atlanta can keep building up that area of the roster, the Sixers may find themselves a little more vulnerable than they expected in a head-to-head matchup. [Read more 🡒]