The Hawks’ biggest question is the same one hanging over several teams in this ESPN roundup: was last season real, or just a blip?
Atlanta surged after January, then ran into the eventual champion Knicks and got bounced in the first round. Even so, the Hawks gave New York two of its three playoff losses, and they finished the regular season on a 19-4 run with a plus-13.9 average point differential after committing to CJ McCollum in the starting lineup. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon pointed out that the Hawks’ 51-point loss in their elimination game was not the kind of finish being referenced, but the late stretch still mattered.
Now the roster has changed again. The Hawks added Lu Dort, a former NBA champion with the Thunder, along with Aaron Wiggins in trades, and drafted Kingston Flemings in the lottery.
McCollum will likely move to the bench because of Dort’s arrival. Atlanta also looks set up to be active either at the trade deadline or next summer, when the team could have about $45 million in salary cap space.
Charlotte is in a different spot, but the same basic debate applies: how much of last season can actually carry over?
The Hornets dealt LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves and Miles Bridges to the Suns, so the group will look and feel different right away. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Charlotte has been careful about how it has built, and that ownership and the front office have tried to avoid the usual mistakes teams make when they chase the middle. The Hornets reached that middle last season, but the organization clearly decided Ball and Bridges, both on expensive deals and due for extensions soon, were not part of the next step.
Charlotte did bring in veterans Naz Reid, Grayson Allen and Dennis Schroder to support newly established cornerstones Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. Even so, Windhorst noted that Miller still needs an extension that works for both sides, and Knueppel’s moderate hamstring injury will keep him out of all of training camp and the start of the season. In a crowded Eastern Conference, simply getting back to the play-in may not be simple.
Boston’s situation is stranger still. The Celtics just posted a terrific regular season while Jayson Tatum was sidelined for most of it after Achilles surgery, and Jaylen Brown pushed himself into the NBA MVP conversation while carrying the load. Then Boston traded Brown to the Sixers, leaving the spotlight squarely on Tatum.
Vincent Goodwill wrote that Tatum made a point of getting back on the floor before last season ended, showing that the Achilles injury would not keep him off the court. The short-term results, though, were uneven. His regular-season percentages dipped across the board, and he missed Game 7 of the Celtics’ first-round series because of left knee discomfort.
That sets up the central Boston question now: can Tatum do what Brown just did?
Goodwill said trading Brown was a full endorsement of Tatum’s ability to take the throttle while the team retools to get back to championship status. The remaining issue is the one that matters most: “But is Tatum fully recovered from the injury and ready to assume control?”
In Other News...
Kon Knueppels Camp Update Leaves Hornets With An Early Concern
Kon Knueppels first Hornets training camp has opened with a familiar kind of offseason caution, as the rookie wing continues working back from a left hamstring injury. The good news is the pain is gone, and the focus now is on rebuilding strength as Charlotte begins sorting out its rotation and getting a look at how Knueppel fits into the mix.
The concern, though, is less about discomfort and more about timing. Charlotte has already ruled him out of all four preseason games, and the team plans to take another look during the first week of the regular season, leaving his status for opening night very much up in the air as camp gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Just Added Two Names Worth Watching In Camp
The Hawks used one of their latest camp moves to add a little more depth and flexibility, signing forward Cameron Corhen and guard Kobe Johnson to fill two open spots on a 21-man training camp roster. Both additions point to the usual late-summer roster churn around the league, where non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deals can give teams a closer look at young players while keeping the path open to the G League if the NBA spot does not stick.
Johnson already has familiar ground in the organization as a returning rights player for the College Park Skyhawks, while Corhen arrives as an undrafted forward out of Pittsburgh trying to carve out a role. Elsewhere in the same wave of transactions, Miami added Lester Quinones on an Exhibit 10 deal and Detroit waived Bryson Warren with an eye toward its G League affiliate, underscoring how many of these camp moves are really about the long game rather than the immediate roster. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Still Face A Brandon Miller Decision That Could Reshape Plans
Brandon Millers next contract has become one of the most important items on the Hornets offseason to-do list, even with training camp and the new season drawing closer. Charlotte has not signed the young wing to a rookie-scale extension, leaving his long-term status tied to the kind of decision that can shape how a rebuilding team budgets, plans, and prioritizes its core pieces.
The Hornets still have a window to work through the details, but the clock is moving and the stakes are clear for a franchise trying to build around its young talent. Millers development has already made him a central figure in Charlottes future, and what happens on his deal will ripple into how the team approaches the year ahead and the seasons beyond it. [Read more 🡒]