Atlanta Hawks Get Low Grade From ESPN Analyst For Their Offseason

What grade should Atlanta get for the offseason that they have had?

Jul 12, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) dribbles the ball against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the offseason, the Atlanta Hawks were going to be one of the top teams to watch. There were questions about the backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounate Murray, they won the draft lottery and got the No. 1 pick, and other roster decisions were going to have to be made.

The Hawks took Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick, as well as selecting Nikola Durisic in the second round. Durisic suffered a foot injury and is going to be out for some time and Risacher played in two games in Summer League. It was a solid two games for Risacher and he showed that he could be an instant contributor this season.

The other big move the Hawks made was trading Dejounte Murray to New Orleans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller and two first round picks. They Hawks look like they are reloading around Young and getting an excellent defender like Daniels is going to be a huge boost for the Hawks, as they have not had someone like that around Young during his time in Atlanta. It seems like the Hawks have done a good job of adding needed size and defense this offseason, which was a goal.

When given a grade for their offseason by ESPN though, the Hawks did not receive a high grade. ESPN NBA analyst Kevin Pelton gave the Hawks a C+ for their offseason:

"Breaking up the Dejounte Murray-Trae Young pairing was the right call, but the final Murray deal wasn't as constructive as initially thought. To avoid triggering a first-apron hard cap for the New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta completed the deal July 6 and took back Cody Zeller via sign-and-trade. That prevented the Hawks from making injured forward Saddiq Bey a restricted free agent. Atlanta got nothing in return when Bey signed with the Washington Wizards.

If the Hawks are right that No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher was the best player in a draft without a consensus top choice, their offseason will look far better. It's too early to say after an uneven NBA summer league debut for Risacher."

I think what the Hawks got in the Murray trade makes their offseason better than a C+. Daniels is already one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA and if his shooting improves, he could be one of the most impactful additions any team made this offseason. It is too early to say what Risacher will do this season, but he has a chance to provide the Hawks with shooting and defense. He is not going to be asked to be the primary guy and that is only going to benefit him and how he impacts the Hawks in year one.

The other thing not mentioned here is the draft picks the Hawks got in return for Murray, most notably an unprotected Lakers pick in 2025. Now, I don't think the Lakers are going to be one of the worst teams in the league this year, but they have not added to their team while most teams in the Western Confernece got better. It is not crazy to think the Hawks could get a lottery pick from the Lakers in 2025.

Atlanta has not had the best offseason of any team in the NBA, but I also think they have added good pieces to their roster that should help fix some of their biggest weaknesses they had last year.