2024-25 NBA Season Preview: Atlanta Hawks

2024-25 NBA Season Preview: Atlanta Hawks

We are days away from the start of the 2024-25 NBA Season! To continue our preseason preview series, we will be diving into the Atlanta Hawks, who have been a play-in team each of the last three years! Let’s not waste any more time and jump into it!

What happened last year?

The Hawks have been perpetually mediocre since making the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2020-21 season. That didn’t change last year in the first full season under head coach Quin Snyder, finishing 36-46 with the 10th-worst adjusted NET Rating, per Dunks & Threes. Jalen Johnson was Atlanta’s most notable breakout performer, but there weren’t many silver linings for the No. 10 seed in the East with the NBA’s fourth-worst defense. 

Offseason Recap:

The biggest story of the Hawks’ offseason was leaping 10 spots to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft lottery. Instead of Alex Sarr and Donovan Clingan, the Hawks elected to draft French wing Zaccharie Risacher, a raw 3-and-D prospect who shot 38.7 percent from distance in his last season with JL Bourg-en Bresse (France). Though another big storyline was breaking up the Trae Young–Dejounte Murray backcourt, trading the latter to the New Orleans Pelicans for draft capital plus veteran forward Larry Nance Jr. and young guard Dyson Daniels, among others. Murray was involved in trade rumors throughout last offseason, so it wasn’t a surprising move. 

Projected Starting 5:

Trae Young, G – Young had only missed up to 11 games in a season until last year, when he missed 28 games. The three-time All-Star will be the offense’s focal point without Murray and will look to lead the NBA in assist percentage for the third time in four years. 

Dyson Daniels, G – Daniels is a more physical defender than Murray was, so he’ll be more complementary in that way. He’s also a good rebounder and playmaker for his position, but he’s going to need to improve his floor offensively over time.

De’Andre Hunter, F – Hunter still doesn’t have a clearly defined role with Atlanta, even though he currently profiles as arguably the team’s top 3-and-D wing. 

Jalen Johnson, F – Jalen Johnson broke out last season, averaging career-bests in points (16.0), rebounds (8.7), assists (3.6) and steals (1.2) after averaging just 12.6 minutes over his first two seasons. 

Clint Capela, C – Capela still isn’t a great fit with this team and could be traded by the time February rolls around. 

Notable Reserves:

Zaccharie Risacher, F – The No. 1 overall pick, Risacher was impressive during Summer and has continued to show growth in preseason. He could provide a bigger impact than we initially thought as a rookie.

Onyeka Okongwu, C – The 23-year-old is now entering his 5th season and is one of the NBA’s best backup big men. His health has been a concern, however, suffering a toe injury toward the end of April that limited most of his offseason.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, G – Bogdanovic bounced back after a down 2022-23, finishing top-5 in Sixth Man of the Year voting. He’s going to be very important for them off the bench this year.

Biggest X-Factor: Risacher’s development

I was not a fan of how Atlanta developed Hunter, but I will try to give Quin Snyder’s staff the benefit of the doubt with Risacher. His raw skillset was abnormal for a No. 1 pick, but you can tell that there’s something there. This is a multi-year project, but his development could be crucial for how this organization elects to build in future seasons.

Season Projection:

I have Atlanta as the No. 9 seed in the East, finishing as a play-in squad once again.

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