The Atlanta Hawks finally made their biggest offseason swing, and it came in a three-team deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks that brought Luguentz Dort and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta.
To get them, the Hawks sent former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas and added a pair of second-round picks to the Thunder.
That trade now sits at the top of Atlanta’s offseason list.
- Trading for Dort and Nembhard
- Trading for Wiggins
- Drafting Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor, and Henri Veesaar
- Re-signing CJ McCollum
- Re-signing Jock Landale
- Picking up Mouhamed Gueye's $2.4 million team option
- Trading for Devin Carter and a second-round pick
- Guaranteeing Buddy Hield's contract for this season
The Hawks have been quiet since then, which has matched the general pace around the league at this point in the year. Atlanta still needs to trim its roster from 17 players to 15, but there’s no urgency to do that right now.
What makes the Dort move stand out is the combination of fit and price. He isn’t a flawless offensive answer, and there are real questions about how his game will mesh with some of Atlanta’s other key pieces, especially Dyson Daniels, if Dort can’t get his three-point shooting back to earlier levels.
Still, the defensive ceiling is hard to ignore. Dort, Daniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker give the Hawks a trio that should make life miserable for opposing offenses. That kind of perimeter pressure and disruptive defense is exactly the sort of thing Atlanta was missing.
The Hawks’ first-round playoff series against the Knicks made that weakness obvious. Atlanta lacked the physicality and edge to match New York’s tone, even if the roster did have tough players.
Dort changes that. He brings a level of force on defense that few players in the league can match, and he can even handle bigger matchups, which would let Daniels avoid taking on the opponent’s top scorer every night.
Nembhard also deserves a look here. If he’s still on the roster when training camp arrives, he could give Atlanta useful depth at point guard after showing flashes for Dallas.
There’s also another layer to Dort’s value: his contract. He’s on an expiring $17 million deal, and with other expiring money already on Atlanta’s books, he could be part of an in-season trade if the right star becomes available. That’s not the likeliest outcome, but it’s there.
If Dort gets back above 35% from three, the Hawks may have landed a very impactful player. Even if the shot never fully comes around, Atlanta still added toughness, physicality and tenacity for the cost of two second-round picks. That alone makes the move worth it.
In Other News...
Aaron Wiggins Could Be The Hawks Next Quiet Breakout
Aaron Wiggins arrives in Atlanta with a profile the Hawks have tended to appreciate: a low-drama addition who has already done real work for a contender and now gets a chance to show more of it. Acquired from Oklahoma City in the offseason, he comes off a season in which he was part of the Thunders championship run, and the move gives Atlanta another wing who should fit into Quin Snyders system without needing the ball to be the center of attention.
The appeal here is simple enough. Wiggins is expected to have a larger role with the Hawks, and Atlanta has built some of its recent reputation on helping players find extra layers to their games. If his scoring nudges up and his impact grows the way the team hopes, he could become one of those quiet additions that ends up mattering more than the name value suggested at the time. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Suddenly Face A Tough Mo Gueye Roster Decision
Atlantas frontcourt picture already had some moving parts after the Hawks brought in Jock Landale on a one-year deal early in free agency while Jonathan Kuminga remained unsigned. Now Mouhamed Gueye is part of the equation too, after Atlanta picked up his $2.4 million team option and kept him in the mix as a young developmental big for the coming season.
The problem is the Hawks may have to sort out that depth chart without him for a while, which only tightens the squeeze on a roster that is still not settled. Depending on how the rest of the summer unfolds, Gueyes place on the team could come under pressure as Atlanta works toward its final roster decisions and tries to balance present need with future upside. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Tied To Multi-Team Deal That Could Bring Future Value
The Lakers push to land Jonathan Kuminga has pulled Atlanta into the conversation as the league keeps sorting through the next layer of the offseason trade market. Los Angeles is eyeing Kuminga as a starting power forward and seems to have moved into the drivers seat after Cleveland turned its attention elsewhere, while the broader framework being discussed would also involve the Bulls and Nets in a four-team sign-and-trade that has not been confirmed.
For the Hawks, the intrigue is less about the headline name and more about the kind of future flexibility these multiteam talks can create if they keep advancing. Kuminga is reportedly not interested in settling for a one-year minimum deal, which makes a resolution more complicated and keeps the Lakers pressing to finalize something sooner rather than later, while Atlanta waits to see whether the talks produce a return worth the wait. [Read more 🡒]