Atlanta Hawks Season Preview
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What is the biggest storyline that Hawks fans are most excited about this season?
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Good morning and welcome to The Athletic NBA Daily. Coming up, we're talking about the Atlanta Hawks.
Good morning, everybody. That was a really bad caca. It was worse than the schedule release one. I loved the schedule release from the Hawks, by the way.
So
good. They won the
best
that I saw. Joining us here to talk about the Hawks is our good friend, Lauren Williams, who covers them for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lauren, how's it going? It's
good. It's good. We are here. We are ready to talk Hawks. Lots of things happened to them over the offseason or rather they did a lot of things in the offseason. So let's do it.
They certainly did. Yeah, they did revamp their roster. I guess, you know, kind of looking forward into into next season. What is the thing that fans are looking forward to the most about this Hawks team?
Well, if I'm thinking from like a Hawks fans perspective, it's probably they want to be better than what they were last season and potentially be a team that goes beyond the first round of the playoffs or excuse me for the first round of the playoffs. Realistically, I don't know if they're going to be a team that goes beyond the first round of the playoffs solely because of how deep the East is. I mean, you cover the Raptors or rather you're in Toronto, so you're probably a little bit excited or feeling the excitement around Kawhi Leonard being potentially back. And I feel like that puts quite a bit of strain. on the rest of the Eastern Conference. And then obviously the king himself, LeBron James, with the 76ers, you know, that makes it deeper.
Obviously, Tyrese Halliburton coming back for the Pacers. So there's just a lot happening in the East that it'll be interesting to see how quickly the Hawks can get everything together and position themselves.
Yeah. And look, like you mentioned, the Eastern Conference is revamped. This Hawks team is is what I would say somewhat revamped to, you know, they got 46 wins last year, ended
up being the
sixth seed, really pushed the defending champion, now defending champion New York Knicks in the first round. And it was also, you know, after the Trey Young trade, it was the first full effort in the Jalen Johnson show like that. This is now his team. This is now his franchise. And this team revolves around him as the the son of everything. Right. The creation piece for every single piece out there. And they also revamped their roster with three Oklahoma City Thunder players.
Yeah. You know, in
Aaron Wiggins, in Lou Dort.
How do the Hawks’ offseason moves set their floor and ceiling for 2024‑25?
And they were able to really just add defensive pieces that match what this group likes to do. So from a stylistic standpoint, what do you think we can expect from this Hawks group?
I think that this is going to be a defense that likely wears opponents down. There's going to have to be a lot of energy expended trying to figure out how to counteract the different lineups that Quinn Snyder might be able to sort of throw out there, whether that's with Nikhil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, CJ McCollum, Jalen Johnson, and Anika Okongun, that starting five. And then, you know, it's kind of... going to come at you when you add in Lou Dort and Aaron Wiggins and potentially Ryan Nembhard in the mix. So they have a lot of different options that they can throw your way. And that's not to mention, you know, what could potentially come with Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, who they both drafted in the draft this past June.
So, yeah, Zuby Ejiofor is a monster, and I don't know how much playing time he'll get simply because he's a rookie. But if he does get a lot of playing time, it's because of his defense and just how immovable he is when it comes to being in the post.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the biggest storyline that Hawks fans are most excited about this season?
0:00–3:18
2
How do the Hawks’ offseason moves set their floor and ceiling for 2024‑25?
3:18–8:20
3
Who could be the X‑Factor that pushes Atlanta past the first round?
8:20–12:40
4
What are the expectations for the team’s top player and the best rookie?
12:40–16:00
5
What crystal‑ball predictions do the hosts have for wins, awards and playoff depth?
16:00–19:30
6
How will the Hawks’ defensive versatility shape their half‑court offense?
19:30–22:25
7
Which players are likely to win Most Improved Player or Sixth Man honors?
22:25–25:01
8
What final takeaways and season outlook do the hosts leave listeners with?
25:01–27:27