Preseason Preview: Atlanta Hawks

Preseason Preview: Atlanta Hawks

What’s good y’all and welcome to another preseason preview video. In today’s video, we’re going to be going over the Atlanta Hawks. In case this is your first preseason preview video of mine that you’re seeing, basically what I do is go over the off season and kind of give a little recap there and then look into the future and try to see what we can expect in this upcoming season. This isn’t the first team I’ve covered and it definitely will not be the last. I’m going to be covering all 30 NBA teams. So, you don’t want to miss out. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. But, let’s just jump right into it. But the reason you guys are all here and is to talk about the Atlanta Hawks. Last season was a little bit interesting cuz they ended off the season at the eighth seed going 40 and 42, but they ended up losing both playin games to completely miss the playoffs as a whole. They lost to the Orlando Magic in the first one and then to the Miami Heat in the second one. And that’s obviously a very disappointing way to finish the season, especially when the Atlanta Hawks have been kind of hovering in this playin area for the last few seasons now. Usually they sneak into that playoffs. Uh but you know, they they really have been kind of capped out at that the last few years. This year though, I think things could change. They’ve had a very productive off season, and I don’t want to get too ahead of myself cuz we’re going to talk about it in this video, but something tells me this will be the year they finally break away from that playin tournament. But let’s get into their actual off seasonason. And I want to start by talking about the guys that they lost. Uh is first off is Clint Capella. I know he’s been kind of the staple around here in Atlanta for the last few seasons. Been holding down that center position. He was a free agent this year and he signed a new contract with the Houston Rockets. He is going back to Houston. Shout out to Clink Capella. Uh obviously it’s been you know rumored for the last few years that like Onka Kong Wu would eventually take that starting spot and he started a few games this season as well. Uh you know especially more towards that second half of the season and I do think that he is a starting caliber center. I do think that there’s some other moves that the Hawks made that makes Clink Capella a little bit more expendable which we’ll get to in a second. All around though I do like Clinkapella. I think he’s a great rebounder, great pick and roll guy with Trey Young as a lob threat. Just one of those lowmaintenance centers. I’m sure Atlanta Hawks fans, you guys liked him when he was here because he does his job and doesn’t complain. That’s all you really want from your center and I’m sure he’s going to do more of that in Houston. The other guy that they also lost out on is Garrison Matthews. He is currently still sitting in free agency at the time of recording this video, but he played about 50 games for the Hawks last year. last few seasons he’s been, you know, kind of towards the back end of that Hawks rotation, brings a lot of three-point shooting. Uh, and again, with the guys that they brought in, I don’t think the Atlanta Hawks will be missing him too much. And that’s a perfect segue to talk about the guys the Hawks added this off season because I think they added a lot of highquality players. Starting off with the biggest name, that is of course Chris Stops Porzingis. They went out and traded for Chris Stops. They traded away George’s Niang and a 2031 second round pick to the Boston Celtics. And then they also traded away Terrence man to the Brooklyn Nets in order to make the money match up. And they brought in Chris Porzingis. I will say I I really do like this move because at the absolute worst, Christophs is an expiring contract and they can just kind of clear off some money off their books and move on from there. But at the best, they’re getting a 3 and D center uh that could stretch the floor for Trey Young. The first time he will ever be alongside a stretch five, which I think could add a really big dynamic to his pick and roll that’s already so lethal. Christophs will be able to be that lob threat for Trey Young or also like I mentioned pop out to the three and just give him a wide open paint. I also like the rim protection that that Christopheringis brings. Uh, but the one thing though, like I said, that that’s at the max, at the best this trade could be. Uh, I’m a little hesitant though because last time we saw Chris Ops Porzingis was in the playoffs and he looked absolutely atrocious. I’m a Knicks fan, as most of you guys do know. Uh, so I saw it firsthand against my Knicks when he was with Boston last year in the playoffs. Uh, he was a net negative. He wasn’t able to really move out there. He didn’t look like uh he was conditioned enough. I know they’ve been saying he’s been dealing with some type of mystery illness. I’m hoping that that gets cleared up and throughout this whole off seasonason of rest and everything, he could be back and better. Uh but again, yeah, last time we saw Porzingis, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt though and say that he’s going to be better than what he was in last year’s playoffs. Uh again, it’s a little bit weird when you’re talking about a mystery illness that doctors don’t know about and hasn’t even like I I don’t know the full details. I don’t think anyone knows the full details of this uh illness. Regardless though, hopefully he’s healed up, healthy, and ready to go because a healthy Chris Stops next to Trey Young and the rest of these guys, I think could be fantastic. The off season doesn’t stop there though for the Hawks. They also were very active in free agency. They went out and signed Nquille Alexander Walker to a 4-year $62 million contract. That’s about $15.5 million per year for uh Nquille. And I really do like this trade too because uh in my eyes essentially it’s another version of Dyson Daniels. And last year we saw Dyson Daniels. He was the perfect match alongside a guy like Trey Young to add that defense, that size, the length. He can handle the ball a little bit to take some of that pressure off of Trey Young. Uh and I think Nikil Alexander Walker does a lot of those things as well. I think he is a little bit more reliable as a three-point shooter. Even though, you know, he isn’t the greatest three-point shooter, I think he can knock it down on those catch and shoot kickouts from Trey Young. Uh, and I think that he’s going to be perfect off their bench just adding more defense, uh, and adding more ball handling, which are two things that they definitely needed. They also signed Luke Canard to a one-year 1 million contract. He is going to add a lot of the three-point shooting that they need. I mentioned Garrison Matthews kind of brought some of that. Uh but I in my eyes they haven’t had a high high like top tier level shooter uh since they traded away Kevin Herurder a few years ago and I think Luke Canard is going to work exactly how we saw Kevin Herder work just being that movement shooter coming off screens of course the catch and shoot and relocations uh from Trey Young having so much of the defense focused on him. We all know he’s one of the best passers in the in the league. he’ll be able to kick him out and again just kind of stretch that floor, make it a little bit easier on offense for everyone. And last but not least, they also added a player from the draft with the 23rd overall pick. They drafted Asa Newell. Uh, and I really like this pick for them because I feel like it’s kind of a high upside. I’ve mentioned before I’m not much of a college basketball guy, but once they get drafted, that’s when I kind of do a deep dive. And Asa Newell I really like because he has great length and great athleticism. And I feel like those are two things that you definitely want as a wing next to Trey Young. Uh you know, he’s incredible at finishing at the rim, whether that’s a lob or a putback off offensive rebounds or just cutting to the basket. His athleticism makes him really great at finishing those kind of plays. And in college last year, he only shot 29% from three, but when you look at his jumper, it looks like there’s something there. I know three-point shooting is really important in today’s NBA. Uh, I think he would be able to develop a three-point shot. Don’t expect it right away. Uh, but give it some time and I think he could be a all-around complete versatile wing. Now that we recap the offseason, let’s take a look at a potential rotation we could be seeing this year. Starting lineup, we have Trey Young, Dyson Daniels, Zachary Rishet, Jaylen Johnson, and Chris Hops Porzingis. And then off the bench, we have Nquille Alexander Walker, Luke Canard, Vit Ky, Asa Newell, and Onka Okongu. I feel like the Atlanta Hawks have a very clear and direct plan when it comes to building a roster around Trey Young. Uh really it started last year, I think, but this year with the roster taking more form, I feel like it’s even clearer. Uh and that is they want to surround Trey Young with guys that have at least one of the three following qualities. That is athleticism, defending, and shooting. If you don’t have one of these three things, you will not be on this Atlanta Hawks roster. Uh, and looking at this rotation, I feel like that is very clear. I just want to go down each of those categories and just kind of show you what I mean. Some of these players definitely fit in more than one of these categories, but like I said, at least all of them kind of fit into one. Starting off with the athlete category, uh, I mean, obviously every NBA player is going to be athletic, but it seems like the Atlanta Hawks really stress that, especially in their bigs and their wings. Uh because guys like Ono Aang Wu, Jaylen Johnson, Zachary Reese, Asa Newell, all of these guys are really high quality athletes. And I think this is a big plus because Trey Young being such a great passer, he’s real quick to kick it up and get the ball out in transition or those lob threats, back door cuts, all of it. You know, Trey Young really is great at surveying the the court and when you’re open, he will dot it to you. and having that athleticism just makes it even easier to capitalize and finish that play. Uh then you move on to defending. I mean this is even broader because you have guys like Dyson Daniels, Nquille Alexander Walker, Asa Newu I think has upside as a defender but you know he’s just a rookie so I don’t want to put too much pressure on him yet. Zachary Rishet showed a lot of promise in his rookie season being a defender. Uh Jaylen Johnson defends his ass off. On Aangu, I may have mentioned him already. I don’t know if I did or not, but he defends. Christopheringis is a great shot blocker. Uh, you know, we all know, it’s no secret that Trey Young himself is a smaller guard and not a great defender at all. Even though he has made strides, he’s better than what he once was, he still isn’t a good defender. So, surrounding him with other great defenders definitely mitigates that, how much it it affects you. You know, obviously when it comes to playoff time and stuff, everyone is just going to find the the easiest matchup, putting you in a pick and roll, make you work, all of that. But having this infrastructure around him at pretty much all positions, I definitely think helps him a lot and again is clear that that’s the direction they want to go. And then the last category I mentioned was shooting. That’s where you see guys like Luke Canard included, Vicy. Uh Zachary Rishes I think is going to be a better three-point shooter this year. I think he looked very fluid with that. I mentioned Chris Sporzingis and the fact that he is going to be the first stretch five that uh Trey Young plays alongside. Trey Young himself is a shooter. You can include him in that. Uh, you know, so like I said, they really want those three qualities. And if you ask me, these three qualities are probably some of the most important in the NBA. And again, a lot of this rests on if Christopheringis is going to be his healthy self that we’re used to, that, you know, fringe allstar level player. Will he be playing like that? Uh, and up to that level hopefully. We all know what Trey Young brings us year in and year out. One of the best offensive players in the league. Uh, and then also Jaylen Johnson. I know he’s been dealing with injuries the last few seasons, but he’s also been getting better and better every single year that he’s on the court. Uh, so hopefully we get a healthy season from him as that, you know, playmaking kind of doit all wing where he’s super athletic and finishes, defends, rebounds. I love guys that impact the game in multiple ways and Jaylen Johnson impacts it in almost every way. And lastly, before we move on, I did want to give one shout out to a notable reserve on the Atlanta Hawks, and that is Mo Gay. Last year was his first real year of playing, like actual playing time. Uh the year before that, his rookie season, he only played like six games or something like that. Last year, he had a little bit more opportunity. And whenever I watched him on the court, uh I really liked what I saw. I don’t know if he will make the rotation. Obviously, as you guys saw, I I put Isa Newell as that backup power forward instead of a guy like Mo Gay, but I think he brings a lot of productive stuff to a team, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is in the rotation. I just really like his size, his athleticism. He’s very versatile defensively. You know, he’s fluid with his movement, even though he is so big at, I believe, like 611. Uh, you know, I think he he brings a lot of good stuff to the court. Uh, last year, I really enjoyed watching him. He just barely didn’t make my rotation here, but I do think he still deserves a shout out. So, shout out to Moay. And now it’s time to talk about the ceiling floor and my expectation for the Atlanta Hawks. Of course, as always, we’re going to start off with the ceiling. And this might be a little bit higher than a lot of the people that I’ve seen, but the ceiling for the Atlanta Hawks, I think they could be as good as the two seed. I think that it’s going to be pretty hard to be better than both the Cavs and the New York Knicks. I could see a world where they’re better than one of those two, but they’re both clearly the top two teams in the East in my eyes. Uh so I can’t really see a world where Atlanta’s the best team out east, but I think that if things break a certain way, they could definitely be up there at that two seed. Uh and then when you look at playoffs, obviously if they’re having such a successful regular season, you would think that success travels into the playoffs. Uh and in my eyes, they do. At their ceiling, I could see them being as far as the Eastern Conference Finals team. I don’t know if they’ll make a finals appearance and all of that, but I could definitely see them making a very deep playoff run. Then when you look at their floor, I can see them being as low as the eighth seed. Obviously, this would be more in a situation where Porzingis doesn’t look like himself or maybe Jaylen Johnson or someone else goes down with an injury. Uh obviously, you can’t really predict that too much, but uh at their floor, we’ve seen, like I mentioned at the beginning of the video, this is kind of where they’ve hovered around in that playin area. Uh, and at their floor, I could see them kind of just repeating that. Now, I know this last season they were the eighth seed and they lost both playing games. At their floor, I’m I’m going to throw that out the way cuz losing two playin games, I feel like is really really hard to do. Even though they just did that, I think at their floor they will make the playoffs and be a first round exit. And then when you look at my expectations for them, I was really really close to putting them at the three seed. I I ended up settling on saying my expectations are the fourth seed for them. Like I mentioned though, I do think that they are going to be one of the stronger teams out east. And then when you look at the playoffs, uh I do think like I mentioned with the Cavs and the Knicks being kind of in a tier in their own, I couldn’t expect them to make the conference finals. There’s definitely a world where I see it happening, but my expectations are that they’re going to be a very tough second round exit. What about you guys, though? Let me know in the comments below where you think the Atlanta Hawks will finish off this season. Let me know what seed and also how far in the playoffs you could see them going. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, make sure you leave it a like, subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. In the description, there’s links to all my social medias, so make sure you follow me on all those to keep up to date with me. Ketchup.

During my Preseason Preview series I will be covering all 30 NBA teams, recapping their offseason, assessing their roster, and predicting what to expect from them in this coming season. In this video, I cover the Atlanta Hawks.

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