Most of the noise around Atlanta still comes with a side of doubt. The Hawks have added pieces and filled obvious needs, but the conversation outside the city keeps circling back to the same question: are they ready for something bigger?
Three early signs will tell the story.
The first is simple enough to say and hard enough to fake: grit. Atlanta’s youth has been the main thing working against it, and that is exactly why the Lu Dort signing matters so much. His championship pedigree gives the Hawks something they have needed through this culture shift.
If Jalen Johnson and the rest of the group are serious about pushing toward their ultimate goal, they need veterans around them. Dort is the biggest offseason addition, but Aaron Wiggins should matter too. Together, they give Atlanta’s young core a stronger backbone and bring playoff experience that can steady the group when the pressure spikes.
That kind of toughness will be tested all year. The Hawks already gave the Knicks a useful preview, but the 2027 Playoffs will bring a different level of adversity.
As this core matures, the road only gets harder, which is why the team has to show resilience night after night. They did that at times last season, including the comeback 110-109 win over the Knicks in the playoffs.
But everyone also remembers how that series ended, and the Hawks know the league does too.
The second sign is whether the bench can hold up. Atlanta’s starting group looked cohesive after the All-Star break last season, so the second unit has to do its part. The Hawks finished the 2025-26 season 11th in bench points, and now that group has been reshaped by a wave of draft picks.
Kingston Flemings is the one who jumps out first. The lottery pick doesn’t carry himself like a typical 19-year-old, and his background has given him a different kind of edge than most 6’4 point guards.
That showed up in Summer League, where he ran the offense like a true floor general. Atlanta will need that presence as he directs the second unit.
He’ll have help from Wiggins, Zuby Ejiofor, Asa Newell and Henri Veesaar. Newell already showed some toughness during his rookie season, and he has looked noticeably bigger in recent pictures. He also gives the rookies a steady voice as they settle into the regular season.
On paper, this is a bench built around youth again. But Veesaar and Ejiofor are both 22 and bring useful size and energy.
That should matter against the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, three teams with star power in the frontcourt and the ability to run five-out lineups. Veesaar can match that style, and Ejiofor turned heads in Las Vegas in July with his three-point shooting.
Then there’s the piece that could change the ceiling for the whole team: Dyson Daniels’ jumper. Daniels shot 34.0% from three in the 2024-25 season, then saw that number fall all the way to 18.8% last season. That drop brought plenty of criticism, especially after he signed a $100 million extension.
Daniels has heard all of it, and he’s spent the summer working, as seen on social media. If he becomes a dependable outside shooter this year, Atlanta’s spacing gets a lot cleaner.
The rest of the starters can already shoot. Daniels is the one who can push that group to the next level if the shot comes around.
In Other News...
Kingston Flemings Gives Hawks Fans A Reason To Dream Bigger
Kingston Flemings has already given Hawks fans a reason to look past the usual rookie patience plan. The freshman point guard arrived with consensus All-American honors from his lone college season, and Atlanta spent the No. 8 pick on a player whose resume fits a well-worn NBA pattern: young lead guards who were good enough early to stand out in college often bring skills that translate quickly once they reach the pros.
For a franchise that has been searching for more certainty at the position, that matters. Flemings enters with the kind of background that suggests he should not need a long runway to make an impression, and the history of freshman point guards who have turned that first wave of success into impactful NBA careers only adds to the optimism around him. The Hawks are banking on that track record, even if the real answer will come on the court. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Caught In A Jonathan Kuminga Trade Standoff That Wont Budge
Jonathan Kumingas name keeps surfacing in trade talk, but the path to moving him has not gotten any cleaner. The Los Angeles Lakers have explored a sign-and-trade idea built around Jarred Vanderbilt and draft picks, a package that would give them a swing at adding the young forward while reshaping the rest of their roster in the process. For the Hawks, it is the kind of domino chain that matters because any move involving extra players and picks can ripple across the leagues already tight roster math.
The problem is that the deal has not found a landing spot, and the obstacles are the sort that stop conversations cold. Other teams have not been eager to absorb Vanderbilts contract, and Atlanta is among the clubs dealing with its own roster-limit squeeze, which only makes the mechanics harder to solve. Until someone figures out how to clear the space, the standoff hangs there, unresolved and very much still a front-office headache. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Offseason Changes Face An Early Test Atlanta Fans Will Feel
The Hawks do not have much time to settle into the new season before a stiff early measuring stick arrives, and Atlanta will already have plenty to sort through when it sees Houston in back-to-back games. The offseason reshaping in Atlanta was made with matchups like this in mind, the kind that can show whether the roster changes have actually tightened up the team enough to hang with one of the Wests tougher opponents.
There is real incentive here beyond a good early result. Atlanta wants to put last seasons struggles in the rearview and prove the new-look group can handle a demanding schedule without stumbling out of the gate, especially against a team that exposed them in both meetings a year ago. If the Hawks can turn these games into something more competitive, it would say plenty about where this group stands before the calendar gets crowded. [Read more 🡒]