The Hawks didn’t blow up their roster this offseason, but they changed enough around the edges that the minutes picture is suddenly a lot murkier. Atlanta mostly kept the group that finished 20-6 after the All-Star Break last season, added three draft picks, and then used Oklahoma City’s financial squeeze to land Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins for a handful of second-round picks. The result is a deeper roster, and one that should be tougher and more physical than the one the Hawks had at the end of last season.
That kind of shuffle always creates winners and losers. In Atlanta, a couple of returning players are staring at very different paths.
The clearest opening is at backup power forward behind Jalen Johnson. Mouhamed Gueye, Asa Newell, and rookie Zuby Ejiofor are the names in the mix, and each brings something different. All three have a real chance to carve out minutes there.
Gueye entered the offseason as the favorite for that job, but a foot injury this summer could keep him sidelined until the start of the season or even longer. That opens the door wider for the others. Ejiofor is the rookie in the group, while Newell spent most of last season in the G League before flashing real offensive ability when he got a look with the Hawks.
Newell’s biggest test is on the other end. He has already said defense is an area he needs to improve, and that’s the part that will decide whether Quin Snyder trusts him enough to keep him on the floor. He is not projecting as an elite defender, but he does need to become dependable enough to stay playable.
No one is expecting Newell to jump into a 30-minute role, but he does have a path to becoming a real part of the rotation.
The other end of the spectrum belongs to Corey Kispert. Even when the Hawks were short on depth down the stretch last season, he still had trouble getting on the court because of his defense. And when his three-point shot - his calling card - wasn’t falling at a high enough rate, the case for playing him got even weaker, especially in the playoffs.
Now Atlanta has even more wing depth after adding Dort and Wiggins. Even with Zaccharie Risacher gone, it’s hard to see Kispert getting anything more than a deep reserve role, assuming he’s still on the roster when the season starts.
There may be nights when the Hawks need a jolt of shooting and turn to him. But heading into this season, Kispert looks like a player on the fringe, while Newell has a real chance to push his way into the mix.
In Other News...
Hawks Just Made Their Development Pipeline Plan Harder To Ignore
The Hawks are tightening the link between Atlanta and College Park in a way that is hard to miss. Ryan Silverstein has been named general manager of the College Park Skyhawks while continuing in his role as the teams vice president of cap strategy and player personnel, a setup that keeps front office priorities and G League development on the same track. It is the kind of move that suggests the organization wants a clearer pipeline, not just more bodies moving up and down between rosters.
Sanjay Lumpkin and Reggis Onwukamuche are also part of that larger structure, taking over as the Skyhawks head coach and associate head coach while remaining assistants with the Hawks. The staff shuffle does not stop there, either, with Aaron Evans moving up to pro scout and Steve Klei shifting into a full-time assistant coaching role. For a team trying to build depth and continuity, the message is pretty plain: the development side is being treated like an extension of the main bench, and the next step in that plan is the part everyone will watch. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Have A Front Office Edge Fans Should Value Right Now
The NBAs punishment of the Clippers over salary-cap circumvention tied to Kawhi Leonard was a stark reminder of how costly front-office missteps can become, and why organizations spend so much time trying to stay on the right side of the leagues rules. For the Hawks, it also serves as a useful backdrop for the value of Onsi Saleh, whose role in basketball operations has given Atlanta a leader steeped in the salary cap, the CBA and the legal side of team building.
That matters because the Hawks are trying to improve the roster without boxing themselves into a corner later, a balance that is easier talked about than executed. Salehs experience gives Atlanta a built-in edge in that process, with the kind of judgment that helps a team chase upgrades while still protecting future flexibility, which is exactly the sort of discipline front offices get judged on when the league starts handing out real consequences. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Season May Come Down To One Debate Fans Know Well
The Hawks enter the season with the kind of roster that invites both optimism and second-guessing, which is usually where the conversation around this team starts anyway. Their offseason changes gave them more ways to build around the core, and the shape of the roster suggests there is at least a plausible path to meaningful progress if the returners take another step and the new pieces settle in quickly.
For Atlanta, the real issue is whether the gains are enough to patch the familiar weak spots that have tripped them up before. There is a version of this season where the group looks more connected and much harder to defend, but there is also a familiar floor if the same problems linger and the new additions do not move the needle the way the front office needs them to. [Read more 🡒]