Ranking the Atlanta Hawks 2024 Summer League Games, Including Matchups Against Alex Sarr and Bronny James

Which Hawks Summer League Games Will be the Most Anticipated?

Jun 28, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks first overall draft pick Zaccharie Risacher poses for a photo with general manager Landry Fields at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

After the NBA Draft is over and free agency has settled down, basketball fans will be gearing up for Summer League and ready to see some of their favorite team's young talent. For the Atlanta Hawks, this will be the first chance to see this year's No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher in action. Risacher is going to be on the Hawks Summer League Roster, which has not yet officially been announced. Not only Risacher, but last year's first round pick Kobe Bufkin, Nikola Djurisic, and Mo Gueye are players that have been confirmed to be on the Hawks Summer League Roster.

Reminder: that players that have been confirmed to play on the Hawks Summer League roster are:
Zacch Risacher
Kobe Bufkin
Nikola Djurisic
Mo Gueye
Dylan Windler

We MAY (no guarantees) learn the rest of this roster later this week or over the weekend. https://t.co/LwFYherZGB

— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) July 2, 2024

Atlanta is set to face off against the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Chicago Bulls this summer. Every one of those games has intrigue and players to watch, but which one is going to be the most anticipated?

4. vs Chicago Bulls (July 19th, 6:00 p.m. est, NBATV)

This was a pretty easy call. Out of the four summer league games for the Hawks, this by far has the least appeal. There is going to be one key thing to watch in this game though and that is the matchup between Risacher and Bulls first round pick Matas Buzelis. Before the draft, Buzelis sat down with Shams Charania and had this to say about a matchup with Risacher:

Potential top-5 NBA pick Matas Buzelis sits down with @Stadium: “I respect Zach (Risacher) as a player…He just doesn’t want to see me. I’m just going to keep it real with everybody.”

On “disrespect” of Ignite shutdown; Franz Wagner, PG, Andrei Kirilenko, Jaden McDaniels; more: pic.twitter.com/nZpLsoCkVp

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 25, 2024

This will be an interesting showdown between two of the draft's most talented players and a good way to cap off Summer League.

3. Hawks vs Spurs (July 14th, 8:00 p.m est, ESPN2)

The Hawks and the Spurs are two teams linked because of the Dejounte Murray trade and the fact that San Antonio has the Hawks picks for the next three years. San Antonio also has a lot of young talent and while Victor Wembanyama is not going to play in this game, this year's No. 4 pick Stephon Castle should be and a showdown between two top four picks is going to be must see.

2. Hawks vs Lakers (July 17th, 9:30 p.m. est, ESPN)

All eyes are going to be on the Lakers this summer and for one reason. It will be the NBA debut of Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. There are going to be a lot of eyes on Bronny this summer and he will get a chance to face Risacher and the Hawks.

1. Hawks vs Wizards (July 12th, 9:30 p.m. est, ESPN)

The first game of the Hawks Summer League Schedule might be the best one. The teams with the top two picks in the draft this year will face off in what should be one of the best matchups of Summer League. A lot was made about Alex Sarr reportedly preferring to play for the Wizards instead of the Hawks and now Sarr will face Atlanta for the first time. There is likely to be a lot of overreaction to this game, especially if one player outperforms the other, but that is the nature of Summer League and seeing the young players for the first time.