NBA Fantasy Basketball | Atlanta Hawks Preview 2025-26 | Top Picks Galore!
The Atlanta Hawks, they have made plenty of moves in the off season to try and give themselves a chance in the 2526 season. And we’re going to talk through where the value comes in in fantasy basketball this season. Let’s get into it. Welcome back to Ball Logic, your one-stop shop for all things fantasy basketball. I’m your host, Bro, and I’m with Horse in the studio tonight, mate. We’re uh talking about the Atlanta Hawks, and wasn’t it an interesting season last year that they’ve come in, and I think everybody was expecting a little bit more from them. Yeah, I think so. We’re talking the likes of Trey Young and Jaylen Johnson Capella before he moved to the bench and inevitably ona Okongu. Sorry, I will get that pronunciation right as we go. He came on and started the back end of the year and he provided some good fantasy value for those that picked him up off waiverss. But um yeah, with the likes of Dyson Daniels coming on, he was just incredible. Got to give the man from Bendigo a shout out. Absolutely. He was huge and I think his brother Dash just played his first game for the Boomers I think from memory the other night. So he is unreal. Yeah, good on him. Uh mate, what were it been? Obviously last year as an Atlanta fan myself uh felt a little bit disappointed with the finish. I think we finished ninth. We got blown out in the playin and uh that that was pretty much the end of our season. We finished with a 4042 record which look to to be fair I think is an underperformance based on what the roster what we’re looking at with that roster from last year. I think Trey Young obviously is is asking for more help wasn’t he and and they’ve given that to him this year. Uh they’ve they’ve brought in Chrisaps Pzingis which is probably one of the bigger moves in the off season so far. They’ve also acquired Luke Kennard and Nikil Alexander Walker. I think they’ve made three really good moves here to to really strengthen the depth of this roster. Uh what are your thoughts on these three guys? We’ll jump into them in in a bit more depth soon, but what do you think on the signings? Really really like the Chrisap’s addition to the Atlanta Hawks. So you’ve got a 7 foot three pick and popper or pick and roller to the rim to help out Trey. That’s his game. You know, I struggle to see where Luke Canard’s going to fit in here. So that’s an interesting ad. But I really like Nikil Alexander Walker, the big up point guard from Minnesota. gave the Timberwolves some really good minutes off the bench last year. And I think now that Kobe Buffin hasn’t come on the way that they thought they would, they’ve got a genuine backup point guard now that can run the floor, I guess, while Trey’s having those minutes on the bench. There’s definitely some question marks around Kobe Buffin. I think he he bowled out to be fair to him in the summer league this year. He put up some really nice stat lines. So maybe there’s some hope there for him. But um from a fantasy basketball perspective, we’ve got a lot of really good options in this team. And the problem is when you put a lot of top 40, top 50 guys in the one starting lineup, a couple of them are going to suffer. So, we’re probably going to have to talk about a couple of guys that might be sliding this year. But, we’ll also be talking through some value. We’ll give you our top picks or our top guns, the first three round guys that we’re going to be focusing on. We’ll talk about the mid round value and where maybe the breakout is going to appear in Atlanta and also those late round sleepers that you love to get cuz at the end of the day, horse, it’s the late round guys that win your leagues, isn’t it? It’s not your first round pick. It’s usually your 12th. 100%. 100%. Now, we see that if you go to your minus one values, we’ve got Trey Young, Jaylen Johnson, and Dyson Daniels up near the pointy end. You know, these guys given last year’s form, they could all be all make a case to be picked in the first two rounds. And you’re bringing in someone like Porzingis. You made a very good point before we came on air that they can’t keep up this level of production. Someone is going to miss out. So, we’ve done a little bit of homework to think who we think is going to be the ones who are going to continue to pop off and those that may go by the wayside or may regress a little bit this year. Yeah, that’s right. Uh, how do you before we do that, mate, how do you think they’re going to go? How do you think they finished this season? I think I reckon they can nudge 45 to 46 wins. I think they can be a uh playoff team. Do I think they’re going all the way? Probably not. But I definitely see an improvement in the Atlanta Hawks this year. And I see a big spike in fantasy value for Trey Young. Is he going to be top five? Probably not. But is he going to make his way into the end of the first round? Probably. Yeah, he’s a usually a first round pick nearly every year. Kind of early second, late first, I think, is where you’re probably going to get Trey. And I don’t know whether you’re going to see too much of a change this year for Trey Young personally. Uh especially in initial drafts anyway. But I mean that East that Eastern Conference is wide open now. Boston Celtics lost J. They’ve just lost Jason Tatum. He’s pretty much gone for the year. They’ve traded away all their their assets really, haven’t they? They’ve gone full tank. We’ll talk about them in another episode, but Indiana Pacers also lose Tyres Hallebertton. So, I mean, there there’s some opportunity in the Eastern Conference this year to really make a push. So, the the Hawks, I’m sure, are going to be wanting to compete deep into uh finals, playoffs territory this year. I think they’re probably going to do maybe a little bit better than that. I’m I’m going to say that they’re going to get 48 to 50 wins this year. Um, which which look to be fair, it’s probably going to be good enough for maybe fourth to sixth uh in the conference. I I definitely don’t see them being a better team than the Cavaliers. I don’t see them being a better team than the Knicks, but I think, you know, to be fair, there’s there’s opportunity there for them uh to to slide up, especially with Milwaukee also losing uh well, trading away Dame Lillard, I should say. So, there there’s a there’s a lot going on here in the East. Um, but mate, let’s let’s rip into things. Uh let’s let’s have a chat about the top guns. The guys in the top three rounds we think are going to be those top 36 guys. Your top guns. All right, let’s let’s rip into them. Trey Young’s the obvious one, mate. To kick things off, he finished with a rank of 18 last year. Uh 30 point well, sorry, I should say 24 points per game, 11.6 assists. He was the assist leader last year. My question for you is can he get better? And I think there’s a little bit of a gap there. 41% from the floor is is pretty ordinary. So, I think there’s maybe the efficiency can can bump him up a couple of spots. What are your thoughts? Yeah, I think you’ve nailed it. When we’re talking about Trey Young, yes, he’s big on points. Yes, he’s big on assists. He takes a lot of threes, but I think with the addition of Nikil Alexander Walker, as we said at the top of the show, it probably means that he plays one or two minutes less, which means he’s not going to be as fatigued taking these shots. His decision- making is going to be better. And in this case, I think less means more. And my personal take on fantasy, if you’re picking a round one guy, the best form of ability is availability. And Trey Young, 76 games last year, that’s exactly what you want from a top 12 pick. It’s It’s very rare that he misses games, isn’t it? So, I think it was two years ago he did miss a few more than normal, but yeah, 76 you’ll take every every day of the week, that’s for sure. Um, I’ve got him around the 1011 mark on my draft board. Uh, I I don’t I don’t think I’m as keen on him as Matx is. I think Matrix has him at seven, but yeah, I think late first round, early second round. If he drops into the second round and you’re early and he’s still there on the board, you’ve got to take him. Uh, what are your thoughts, mate, on on Jaylen Johnson and Dyson Daniels are the next two guys. And it’s it’s interesting, isn’t it? Because Dyson Daniels finished the 21st best player last year, averaging three steals per game, and I think there’s only one other player that’s ever done that in NBA history. Uh, Jaylen Johnson finished the 19th best player. I I don’t know whether either of these guys can keep it up just due to the fact that Chris Bazinga coming in. and he’s going to demand usage in this team. And I think that something has to give. And uh I have a feeling we’re going to and I’m not saying these guys slide that far. Maybe Dyson Daniel slides a little bit more. Jaylen Johnson I think is still a second to third round pick, but I don’t think they can keep up that kind of production. No, I don’t think so. And while we’re talking 21 for a yearly rank is awesome for Dice. I still think he can keep that top 50 value, especially with the way that he is on defense. But you’re bringing in the players that we said at the top of the show. Porzingis, Alexander Walker, Canard, Caris Levert loves using or loves the usage, does a lot of things when he gets the ball. So with a full preseason behind him as well, that means less touches for Dice on the offensive end, which unfortunately means his offensive numbers may hurt a little bit. But even on defense, three steals is just unheard of. That’s going to come back a little bit. What can we expect? Two maybe. Yeah. Like he just loves getting his hands in the cookie jar, doesn’t he? Yeah, he does. My question is how can you keep that up? Like if he has two backto-back seasons of three plus steals, that is unheard of. Like I I just genuinely think he is great, but I also think that teams are now going to work him out. Teams are going to plan to keep the ball away from him. And look, you know, yeah, he had that breakout season this year where they he caught them off guard a lot of the time. Um they didn’t think he could keep it up and he clearly can. So now the teams are going to have to kind of work against that and work out a way to get him out of the game defensively. Uh Jaylen Johnson, I think I’ve got late 20s at the moment and I think Dice I’m a little bit outside the top 50 now cuz I just don’t think he can keep up that one the usage uh with Pzingis coming into the team but also Nikil Alexander Walker on the bench there. I think he’s going to demand some minutes. Uh Buffin, Luke Canard, these guys are going to see some court time too. So I just wonder whether he’s going to have to guard the best player Dice. He’s going to get 32 34 minutes a game, but is the production offensively going to come when he’s got all of these firecrackers around him? I’m just not sure it is. So, um, mate, what are your thoughts on Chrisaps Pzingis? Because this is an interesting one. I’m not quite sure where he fits in in terms of does he play power forward minutes, does he play majority center minutes and share that role with a Kong Woo. How do you think this all plays out? I think he plays a center spot. I think Aong Wu goes back to the bench. You’ve got Jaylen Johnson that’ll play the three or the four. that’ll be sort of switched or changed in between Risha Shear and himself. Dyson Daniels, Trey Young, that’s probably your starting five there. But Porzingis, pick and roll, pick and pop. He’s an elite rim protector. I I Yeah, I’ve got high hopes for Atlanta this year. And that’s it’s just awesome. Like, as a as a neutral fan, I do have a soft spot for the Hawks. NBA 2K 2022 premieres. Thank you very much. But they’re just they’ve got offense everywhere. And now with him, they’ve got defense. So with Trey Young’s defensive liabilities, yeah, uh Trey Young gets 1.2 steals per game, which is great for fantasy. Defensive wise on a NBA scale, he’s not great. But now that he’s got Porzingis behind him, an elite shot blocker, this is going to help their defensive structures as well. End of the third round, I think, is probably a good spot that you’re going to get Pzingis. And I think I’d be more than happy if he fell to the end of the third round and I could pick him up either early fourth or late third. I’d take I’d take him in that spot. Um I think there’s good upside for him. And yes, maybe minutes are going to be down a tiny bit. Uh you know, maybe job sharing 30 to 32 minutes potentially. He played 33 to 34 minutes I think it was last year in Boston. So do you think they reduce his minutes in order to get more games out of him? Yeah, potentially. I I think obviously when you go and uh I mean they didn’t really have to pay too much to get him to be fair. Um you know I reckon it could have been the fleece of the century but when you when you look at longevity it’s very rare to see him play out a full season get 60 plus games. So yeah I think they will probably with a Kong Woo there who does a great job. Um I think that yeah he’s going to be needed a little bit less I guess. So yeah um but that might help his efficiency. So we’ll we’ll see how that all plays out. But yeah, a guy and those four guys I’d probably be happy to take in the first three rounds. Dice Daniels probably a little bit lower. But let’s let’s move into the guys that we think are going to be those breakout candidates in the mid round. Your opportunity. Now I guess there’s a big gap, isn’t there, between these top four guys and then the rest, isn’t there? like it’s a Kongwu finished as the 70 I think 78th player 74th best player last year had a 13 n and two and a half assists per game one steal and one block so you know did a fair bit and had games where he went or stretches of games where he went on runs um minutes wise he played 27.9 minutes a game last year with Clint Capella in and out of this team no Capella now so it’s opened up those minutes but it has I feel like maybe breakout outwise. I think his game can improve. I’m just not quite sure opportunity knocks uh in this one. I’m just not quite sure whether it’s there for him. Yeah, totally agree with you, mate. And when we’re talking about those mid-tier Atlanta Hawks players that you’re looking at in your middle to late rounds, I’m not I’m not sure whether there’s anyone outside of a Kongwoo that I’m overly interested in. Maybe Nikil Alexander Walker right at the back end of your drafts, but yeah, there’s not too much value going on there. No, it’s not. When you look at the depth chart, we’ll have a chat about what we think the starting lineup’s going to look like and and what that rotation can look like very soon, but honestly, there is absolutely nobody in the mid-ranges. You’re going early on these guys. If you can get Dyson Daniels late, great. But, uh, yeah, Tong Woo probably around the 80 to 90 mark for me. I think I’ I’d be happy to take him around that mark. And obviously, we’re working on our draft boards at the moment and adjusting things as news comes out. So, keep an eye on that. That’ll be available in the Patreon. Uh, only $6 a month up until the end of this month. So you can get involved there uh with all the extra content that we have. Uh mate, let’s let’s have a chat about uh the best of the rest. Good tune by the way. Great tune. Um there’s a lot of rest when we talk about this team, right? And I’m not talking about them sitting on the pine. I’m just talking about the rest of the squad. Nikil Alexander Walker probably puts his hand up as a maybe a guy you’ll be able to get at the back end of your draft as a bit of a flyer. Um I’m a big fan of taking in maybe round 11, round 12. Uh a guy that I feel has upside that could fall into a bit better role than than what we think he would. For me, Nikquille is that guy. What are your thoughts on him? Yeah, I don’t mind him. Late late pick though. Yeah, I’m not going Yeah, like you 11th to 12th round. I guess you’ve been Atlanta Hawks man. I’m really interested in how the secondyear progression goes for Zachary Rishir. Last year nearly 25 minutes per game, 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and just at over one assist per game, 7 steals.5 blocks, 46% from the field. Is he going to take a bump now that he’s got Porzingis there and it’s going to help them on the offensive end? Or does this mean he’s not going to get as much as the ball now? It’s hard, isn’t it, to see, you know, that there was so much hope with the number one pick last year that he was good in patches, but just didn’t really show what he should have um to to solidify some game time in this team. Obviously, Jaylen Johnson went down and that opened the door for him last year to to get those extra minutes. And I don’t know whether he took those opportunities like he should have. Um his efficiency was incredibly poor, but he is a rookie, so you can forgive him for that. Most rookies are pretty inefficient. Um yeah, the yeah, the blocks and steals are great. Defensive end probably could have little been a little bit better. I’m just not I feel like maybe he’s a threes guy uh that can snag a board and a steal every now and again, but I just don’t really know if there’s enough value to be thinking about him in your first 10 12 rounds of of fantasy basketball in only 71% from the line as well. Yeah, it’s just a lot of okay stuff that just really doesn’t wow me. I need him to fall into 25 to 28 minute kind of role to to even think about him in the top 168 this year. Um and coming back to Nikil Alexander Walker, I mean it was 234th last year. Played 25 minutes a game off the bench for uh Minnesota. Only nine points a game, three assists, uh sorry, three rebounds, two assists, half a block, half a steal, 43.8% from the floor. So, it didn’t really blow anybody away last year off the bench. Um, so yeah, for me, I’m I’m not overly not overly keen unless the opportunity is there. And I just feel like this starting five for Atlanta are really going to take 34 to 36 minutes for the majority. So, it’s tough to see where the opportunity is going to come from, mate. Uh, what do you reckon in terms of starting five? Uh, predicted starting five to wrap up the Atlanta Hawks, mate. How do you think they’re going to line up? Yeah, I reckon it’s going to be Trey Young, Jaylen Johnson, Dyson, Daniels, Chris, Pingis, and then who are we throwing in there with them? Aongu probably comes off the bench, doesn’t he? Do they put Rish Rishia in? Sorry, in with the starters. I don’t think so. No. Yeah. So, I’d probably say that the my starting lineup would be Trey Young, Dyson Daniels, Jaylen Johnson, uh, and then maybe or or it could be Risha at three, Johnson at four, Pisingus at five. I think there’s a chance that could happen. Uh or we do see on Yakarong we start everyone slides Risha back to the bench. What are your thoughts there? That would be my first impression with the Luke Canard addition. Very like for me that’s puzzling. That’s probably the one that sort of sticks out as the one that makes the least amount of sense for Atlanta. They’ve got a shooter in Garrison Matthews. They’ve effectively just brought in another Garrison Matthews and Luke Canard. How do you think this is going to go? Do you think Luke Canard starts and he’s, you know, he’s the one running off Marines and shooting threes also a bit like Duncan Robinson or how does this work? Uh, I think Luke Canard probably plays that kind of firecracker 10 to 12 minute role that when he’s needed, I actually don’t see him, unless they punt Kobe Buffin in this second unit. I don’t see where he can fit in and I I’d probably say he’s a guy maybe that plays behind Nikil Alexander Walker potentially. Um I mean we haven’t even talked about Asanu who they acquired in the draft this year in the 20 with the 23rd pick which I think is a really good spot for them. Um that’s good. Yeah. And Muhammad Ga he will probably back up at center there if Aongu gets those minutes at the five. There’s a lot of moving parts still, I think, but I think I’m going to back in um you know, dominant minutes from the the five best players on the court. And then Rissa is probably the six man in this instance where he would fit in if if they decide they want to go with a Congu off the bench. Um I think Aongu I prefer a Kongu off the bench if I’m completely honest. I think he does a really good job in that in that position. Um and then Pzingis has the ability to slide to four. Johnson has the ability to slide to three to enable that as well and still have their best five players on the court. So, we’ve got a lot of flexibility with those three, four, and five minutes, I think, with Risha off the bench for sure. Uh, that’ll that’ll wrap us up, mate. Atlanta Hawks done and dusted. Plenty of value. Plenty of top picks across the board. I think you’re probably only going to end up with one or two of these solid guys in your draft. I think they’ll be taken relatively early. It just depends on how early you’re willing to take these guys. But, yeah, lots of value across the board. A couple of sleepers there to keep an eye on at the back end of your drafts. We’ll be back for more team previews. We’ll be covering all 30 of the NBA teams across the league over the next 6 weeks. So stay tuned for those to keep an eye out for your favorite team. Hit the subscribe and like button. And if you want, subscribe to the Patreon where we’ve got heaps of exclusive content and our draft boards dropping very soon. Thanks for watching, guys. We’ll see you on the next one.
Join Braino and Horse as they talk through the Atlanta Hawks ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season. Who’s hot? Who’s not? And where does the value lie?
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