The Atlanta Hawks are down to the final day before tipping off their season on the road against the Orlando Magic, and the first injury report of the year is already clear on two absences.
Mouhamed Gueye and Henri Veesaar will both miss tomorrow’s game. Gueye, dealing with a fractured left foot, is still working his way back after suffering the injury over the summer.
He missed training camp and the preseason, and there has not been a recent update on where he stands. Veesaar, meanwhile, is out with a torn right ACL and will miss his entire rookie season after hurting it in a workout in September.
Gueye’s absence matters for Atlanta’s frontcourt depth. When he’s healthy, he profiles as a backup power forward who can help on the defensive end.
With him unavailable, the Hawks will lean on Asa Newell, Dorian Finney-Smith and Zuby Ejiofor behind him, though none of those three are expected to be part of the regular rotation. Newell’s defensive issues create a tough matchup with Jock Landale, Finney-Smith logged very little preseason action, and Ejiofor is being used as the team’s third center.
Atlanta knows Orlando well, but the matchup does come with one notable change: the coach. The Magic moved on from Jahmal Mosley after last season and brought in San Antonio assistant Sean Sweeney to run the team, even though the roster itself didn’t change this offseason.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder had praise for Sweeney when asked about the Magic yesterday:
"Well, you know, you have Sean Sweeney, their coach, is a really good coach. 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 different ways.
So I'm sure that'll be reflected in how they play as well."
The Eastern Conference is shaping up to be difficult, and getting back to the playoffs won’t come easy. For Atlanta, opening the season with a win would be a strong first step.
In Other News...
Hawks Get A Chance To Answer Last Year's Orlando Frustration
Last spring, the Hawks learned how thin the margins can be in a playoff chase when Jock Landale went down against Orlando and never made it back in time for the first-round series with the Knicks. Atlanta never quite had the size or physical edge it wanted in that matchup, and the absence of a useful frontcourt piece lingered as one of those what-ifs that can hang around long after the season ends.
Now the schedule has brought the Magic back into view, and Landale is in a far better spot heading into the rematch. He has looked much more comfortable in preseason and is expected to be available, giving Atlanta a chance to see whether a healthier, more physical rotation can help it answer some of the frustration that started in that game last year. [Read more 🡒]
Lu Dort Faces An Early Hawks Test That Really Matters
The season opener against Orlando already carries a little extra weight for Atlanta, not just because it is a divisional game, but because the Magic are one of the few early opponents whose playoff outlook looks close to the Hawks'. For Lu Dort, it is also a first real chance to show how quickly he can slot into Atlanta's plans after being brought in for the kind of rugged, position-versatile defense that can travel in any matchup.
Dort's value should be obvious right away against Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, two Orlando pieces the Hawks will need to deal with over the course of the night. The bigger question is how smoothly everything fits around him, because Atlanta has reasons to want Dort on the floor and reasons to keep an eye on what happens when his offensive game is part of the equation in a game where every possession matters. [Read more 🡒]
Nickeil Alexander-Walker Opens With A Chance To Burn Orlando Again
The Hawks are getting a familiar opening-night test, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker will have a chance to pick up right where he left off against Orlando. Atlanta starts the 2026-27 season against a Magic team that he handled well a year ago, when his rise into Most Improved Player territory helped establish him as one of the leagues more uncomfortable matchups for Orlando.
The bigger wrinkle is that the Magic are bringing back most of the same core, which makes this feel less like a fresh scouting report and more like a continuation of an old problem. The coaching change from Jamahl Mosley to Sean Sweeney adds a new voice on the sideline, but Atlanta still has reason to expect the same type of physical, familiar opener, with Alexander-Walker again positioned to set the tone early. [Read more 🡒]