The Atlanta Hawks’ unbeaten run in Las Vegas ended in a hurry, and the first quarter told the whole story.
Memphis came out with its regular Summer League edge while Atlanta sat most of its more talented players, and the Grizzlies turned that mismatch into a rough night for the Hawks. By the end of the opening period, Memphis was up 32-2. Atlanta didn’t score its first and only basket of the quarter until after Memphis had already sprinted to a 21-0 start.
It was the kind of start that lands hard no matter the setting. The Hawks have had some brutal opening quarters in recent months, and this one belonged in that conversation.
In Game 6 of their first-round series against the New York Knicks, Atlanta fell behind 40-15 after one quarter on the way to one of the worst blowouts in franchise history. Summer League and the playoffs are obviously different animals, but the feeling of getting buried early was familiar.
And Atlanta was short-handed in a big way. Kingston Flemings, Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, Jacob Toppin, RayJ Dennis, and Keshon Gilbert all sat out.
That’s three first-round picks, two players on current two-way deals, and one former two-way player out of the mix. In a Summer League game, that’s a lot of talent to leave on the sideline.
Memphis, meanwhile, kept rolling out players with real NBA ability, including Cedric Coward and Cameron Boozer. That made the gap even more obvious.
There was a reason for Atlanta’s approach. The Hawks had already played in the Salt Lake City Summer League before arriving in Las Vegas, and the priority now is keeping bodies fresh rather than piling on unnecessary mileage. Flemings, Ejiofor, and Newell are expected to matter for Atlanta this season, while Dennis and Gilbert are already under contract and likely headed for more G-League time.
So yes, the Hawks have liked what they’ve seen from that group. They also would have liked to keep competing and getting live reps. Instead, they walked away with a loss that started ugly and stayed that way.
In Other News...
Hawks Seem To Be Sending A Clear Message In Kuminga Talks
Jonathan Kumingas name keeps surfacing in trade chatter, and the latest wrinkle only adds to the sense that the market around him is more complicated than it looks. The Lakers have been mentioned as a possible landing spot, but their limited collection of trade assets has made any meaningful upgrade difficult to map out, especially with the front office still trying to find a path that fits both talent and flexibility.
Atlantas angle is the part worth watching. Sean Deveney reported that the Hawks are looking at the sign-and-trade landscape with a clear preference in mind, while the Lakers also recently added Ziaire Williams, a player with a similar profile to Kuminga, which naturally raises questions about how aggressive they still are in that pursuit. For a team like the Hawks, the message appears to be that they are not eager to settle for just any package, and that could shape where this conversation goes next. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks May Have Finally Fixed The Problem That Crushed Their Bench
Atlanta spent the offseason trying to do something every contender eventually has to do: make the second unit matter. Re-signing CJ McCollum, Jock Landale and Mouhamed Gueye gave the Hawks some continuity, while the draft haul of Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar added more youth and size to a bench that needed both. On top of that, the front office brought in Aaron Wiggins and Devin Carter through trades, giving the roster a different look and a few more ways to survive the non-star minutes.
The real hope is that the Hawks finally have enough guard play and scoring pop to keep the offense afloat when the starters sit. Flemings is part of that equation at backup point guard, and Wiggins is the kind of under-the-radar addition who can quietly change how a second unit functions. There is still room for the bench mix to shift before opening night, and the Hawks may not be done tinkering, but this is the clearest sign yet that they are trying to solve a problem that has lingered for too long. [Read more 🡒]