The Atlanta Hawks close out their preseason tonight in Dallas, and there’s plenty worth watching even with the regular season only five days away.
Atlanta enters the final exhibition at 3-1 and has won three straight since its loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The next real test comes Wednesday against the Orlando Magic to open the 2026-2027 season, but first the Hawks have one more tune-up on the road.
The biggest question is who actually plays. With no injury reports before preseason games, the guessing starts early and rarely stops.
Atlanta has not had its full starting group together for a single preseason game, and in Monday’s win over Oklahoma City, the Hawks held out six of their top seven rotation players. That leaves Quin Snyder with a choice: give his starters some real run to sharpen things up, or once again lean on the bench and reserves to finish the preseason with a win.
Dallas has the same decision to make. The Mavericks could choose to play their starters, or they could simply try to get through the night healthy and move on to opening week.
One player worth tracking on the Dallas side is Zaccharie Risacher. Atlanta’s major offseason three-team deal with the Thunder and Mavericks sent the former No. 1 overall pick to Dallas, while the Hawks came away with Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard.
Risacher’s preseason has been uneven, and some of the same issues that followed him in Atlanta have shown up again. He is also battling for a meaningful spot in the Mavericks rotation, so even if Dallas holds out its starters, he should still get on the floor.
For Atlanta, Kobe Johnson has been one of the most impressive stories of the entire preseason. Hawks fans already know him from his time with the G League College Park Skyhawks last season, and he followed that with a strong summer league for Atlanta.
He still hasn’t played more than 10 minutes in any game, but he has made an impact every time out. Whether it has been defense, rebounding, or a noticeably improved three-point shot, Johnson has found ways to stand out.
A two-way contract would still be a long shot, but Johnson has given himself a real case with his preseason play. He should get plenty of opportunity tonight against Dallas.
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Hawks Sent An Early Rotation Message Fans Will Notice
The preseason finale against the Mavericks offered a useful glimpse at how the Hawks want to structure their second unit once the games start counting. Atlanta kept its starting five intact, but the bench pecking order was just as revealing, with Lu Dort leading the first wave off the sideline after his offseason arrival, then Aaron Wiggins, Jock Landale and rookie Kingston Flemings following in that order.
Flemings inclusion in that rotation was the part fans will notice most, especially with the Hawks looking to balance upside against experience behind their starters. The message was clear: this group is being sorted with an eye toward depth and flexibility, and the battle for minutes is already starting to take shape before the regular season opens. [Read more 🡒]
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Simmons said the remarks left him feeling abandoned during a difficult stretch, and he tied that sense of being singled out to his eventual decision to ask out of the organization. From there, his career took him to Brooklyn in a trade and later to Sacramento, but the fallout from that spring has continued to follow him, especially when the Hawks series comes back into view. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Enter Season With One Depth Concern Quin Snyder Can't Ignore
Atlantas preseason ended on a brighter note than it started, with four straight wins after an opening loss, and the Hawks did show signs of improved depth compared with a year ago. That matters for a team trying to build a cleaner, more stable rotation around Quin Snyder, especially with the regular season about to test how much of that preseason progress can carry over.
Even so, the roster still has some obvious pressure points, and the concern is less about the top of the lineup than what happens behind it. Small forward, power forward and center all look thin enough that an injury or two could force Atlanta into uncomfortable answers, which makes the early weeks a key measuring stick for how much trust Snyder can place in the bench and the back end of the frontcourt. [Read more 🡒]