Why an NBA Scout Sees the Hawks As a Team With a ‘Ceiling’ in the Eastern Conference

Editor’s Note: For the upcoming Sports Illustrated 2026–27 basketball preview magazine that will hit newsstands in October, SI spoke to anonymous scouts around the NBA about all 30 teams.

Believe it or not, the Hawks had the most wins against the eventual champion Knicks in the playoffs last year.

CJ McCollum’s heroics gave Atlanta a 2–1 lead in the first round before New York took care of business in six games. From there, the champs’ only loss on the way to the title came in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Spurs.

Despite the missed upset opportunity, it was a strong season for the Hawks who earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 46–36 record after the franchise pivoted away from Trae Young to fully build around Jalen Johnson. Johnson has only gotten better and officially arrived last season with his first All-Star nod and third team All-NBA honors after he averaged 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.

He does it all and has fully taken the keys to the franchise with Young’s departure last season. The scary part? He’s only 24 and isn’t done improving.

“Johnson is the one guy they have with room to improve, but he's going to need players around him,” an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. “I mean, he can do everything. He is a heck of a player, and he had a great year. He definitely has upside and can get to another level. Him getting to another level is just improving each of the things he does, because he does everything just so good. He can be a little bit better of a shooter, be a little bit better of a driver. All those things will keep getting better. I don't see him changing into a different player because he's pretty much an all-around player on both sides of the ball. So it's figuring out what pieces around him fit.”

McCollum arrived through the Young trade and was huge as a scorer for Atlanta—both in the regular season and the playoffs. Nickeil Alexander-Walker signed with the Hawks last season and thrived in his first year with the team. He more than doubled his scoring output from the year before with 20.8 points per game as a member of the Hawks and received the Most Improved Player award for the huge leap.

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However, the biggest question for Atlanta moving forward is whether the roster is enough to truly make some noise in the suddenly loaded East. Despite some nice additions over the offseason, the Hawks will mostly run it back with the same roster as an aging McCollum has a lot of responsibility to continue on as a lead scoring threat.

“Atlanta is a team with a ceiling,” the scout said, “McCollum was obviously really, really good in the playoffs, but he tailed off in the second half of every game because he's older. You're asking him to carry that team. I don’t think he can do that.

“Alexander-Walker, I like him as a scorer, but I don't think he's the guy as a scorer. I think he's more of a Jordan Clarkson off-the-bench scorer. So you're asking more from him than what he's probably able to deliver. Especially if you are trying to be a championship team.

“I just think you need more out of pretty much every position. They were up 2–1 on the Knicks but New York was better at every position. Literally every position. There wasn't one that I was like, ‘Oh, they're better than them in that position.’”

Offseason recap

Who’s in: Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kingston Flemings (draft), Zuby Ejiofor (draft)
Who’s out: Jonathan Kuminga, Zaccharie Risacher, Buddy Hield

Over the summer, the Hawks benefitted from the Thunder’s salary-shedding moves as they acquired Dort and Wiggins for a relatively small price. Wiggins came in for two second-round picks, while Atlanta sent 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas in the Dort trade.

Risacher isn’t at the same talent level as your typical top pick, but he had a strong rookie season before he took a small step back in a slightly decreased role last season. He’s a solid three-point shooter with good length who brings the Mavericks upside for a productive NBA wing moving forward. However, the Hawks didn’t see him as a player that could give the franchise what it needed right now and got better immediately with Dort—another strong perimeter defender alongside Dyson Daniels and Alexander-Walker.

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“Dort will help them. I mean, I don't think Dort's going to be who he was in OKC because of the talent around him. But I see what [the Hawks] are trying to do,” the anonymous scout said to SI. “They have built a roster of really physical, tough, defensive wings. They will be tough to score on the perimeter. They are going to have to be because they don’t have a rim protector. And in today's game, with how everybody is quick off the ball and dribble and drives, it's hard to keep guys in front of you the whole time.”

Atlanta added upside plays in the draft as the franchise owned the Pelicans’ first-round pick after the Derik Queen trade from the 2025 draft. The New Orleans pick fell at No. 8, which Atlanta used to select Houston guard Kingston Flemings. He brings another ballhandler who can facilitate, a need for the Hawks around Johnson after Young’s departure. He may not be ready right away, but he could provide a microwave scorer and playmaker off the bench as a rookie. St. John’s big man Zuby Ejiofor arrived as a first-round pick, too, which brings a rim protector to a team that sorely needs it.

SI’s prediction for the 2026-27 Hawks

Record: 39–43 | Predicting the 2026–27 NBA Standings: Which Teams Will Rise, Fall and Surprise?

The Hawks made the right call last year by moving away from Young. The team was a lot better without its longtime franchise point guard and turned into a playoff team around its young star and supporting cast. Atlanta surprised last season and Johnson is a star, but the Hawks will need to figure out how to stay afloat in a much-improved conference. They could be a victim of the splashy offseasons from Philadelphia, Toronto and Miami, plus the return of Tyrese Haliburton for Indiana. The Hawks should be in the play-in tournament range at the very least, though, where anything could happen.

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