The Hawks have put together a strong enough start to make the next move feel obvious. At 7-5 and sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta has talent all over the floor, but the roster still looks like it’s missing one more difference-maker.
That’s the tension with this team right now. Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Onyeka Okongwu, Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor give the Hawks an exciting young core, and the ceiling is easy to see on a night-to-night basis. But even with that group, the sense remains that Atlanta needs another high-level player to really push into contender territory.
Johnson remains the biggest swing piece in the conversation. He was an All-NBA selection last season and the main reason the Hawks reached the playoffs against the Knicks.
Since that loss to New York, though, questions have followed him about whether he can truly be a No. 1 option in the NBA. His start to this season, even with three games missed, has not done much to quiet that discussion.
Daniels has been Atlanta’s most impactful player so far, even with the three-point shooting still a work in progress. Alexander-Walker has established himself as one of the league’s elite shooters and has developed into a strong scorer.
The rookies have been turning heads too, with Flemings and Ejiofor impressing early. Okongwu had some early struggles, but he has settled in and remains one of the better shooting bigs in the league.
That’s why the Hawks’ offseason additions keep coming back into the trade conversation. Atlanta gave one-year deals to CJ McCollum and Jock Landale, and also traded for Lu Dort and Dorian Finney-Smith. Since then, there has been speculation that the Hawks could bundle some combination of those four players, along with draft picks, to chase an upgrade.
The most obvious target would be a big man, but that’s where the market gets tricky. The kind of high-level center who would actually fit Atlanta and move the needle is extremely hard to find.
The dream names are Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, but the odds of either becoming available are close to zero. Karl-Anthony Towns was also a name in the mix before the season because of reported contract issues with the Knicks, but there is not a chance New York moves him during the season.
Another name that has surfaced around league analysts is Suns guard Devin Booker. Phoenix has stumbled out of the gate, and its future in terms of young talent and draft capital looks bleak. Booker would check some boxes for Atlanta, especially as a scorer, but his contract and the price tag in a trade would make any deal complicated.
For now, the Hawks’ trade chips have been uneven. McCollum, Dort, Landale and Finney-Smith have all had average to below-average starts, with Landale and Finney-Smith standing out on the wrong side of that.
Finney-Smith is not in the rotation at all, and his non-guaranteed deal for next season makes him functionally an expiring contract. On their own, those players may not be enough to land a major piece, but they do create financial flexibility for a team willing to move a big salary.
Draft picks would likely have to be part of the equation too.
Atlanta has enough to be dangerous in the East. What it still lacks is that one final piece, and the idea of using McCollum, Dort, Landale and Finney-Smith in a trade package is becoming harder to ignore with every game.
In Other News...
Hawks Let A Big Opportunity Slip Against The Lakers
Atlanta had an early opening against the Lakers, building an eight-point lead in the first quarter before the game tilted sharply the other way. Los Angeles settled in, took control and stretched the margin to as many as 20, with Luka Doncic steering the charge and coming close to a triple-double while the Hawks spent much of the night chasing the game.
For Atlanta, the frustration came from familiar trouble spots: turnovers and defensive breakdowns that made it hard to sustain any momentum. CJ McCollum was one of the few bright spots, giving the Hawks a lift off the bench with 21 points and crossing 17,000 career points, but it was not enough to keep a promising start from slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Have An Early Division Opportunity They Can't Waste
The early Southeast race has already given Atlanta a chance to separate itself, and the Hawks have taken advantage enough to sit atop the division in the opening stretch of the 2026-27 season. At 7-5, they have not exactly looked dominant, but the rest of the group has made the path a little clearer, with Miami digging out of an 0-4 start, Charlotte and Washington struggling to find their footing, and Orlando off to a rough 2-7 opening.
For Atlanta, the opportunity is obvious: bank wins now while the division is still sorting itself out. The Heat are starting to improve, which is a reminder that the margin for error will not stay this wide for long, and the Hawks cannot afford to treat an early lead like a cushion they can revisit later. In a division where several teams have already stumbled, the next few weeks could go a long way toward determining whether Atlanta is building something real or simply borrowing the top spot for the moment. [Read more 🡒]