Three Positives and Three Negatives for the Atlanta Hawks Heading into the All-Star Break

From a holistic perspective, what are the things that have both gone right and wrong for the Hawks this season?

Rohan Raman | Feb 13, 2025

Feb 10, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) controls the ball in front of Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Atlanta Hawks

At the All-Star break, the Atlanta Hawks seem to be around where they usually are: the middle of the Eastern Conference. After their loss to the Knicks yesterday, they are sitting at the 9th seed and in contention for a play-in spot. There's still a good chance that Atlanta can make the postseason picture, but they'll have to play excellent basketball down the stretch to get there.

They'll also have to do it without two key components of their rotation. Yesterday, it was announced that both Vit Krejci and Larry Nance Jr. will be sidelined for multiple weeks with a lower back contusion and right knee injury, respectively. In terms of what this means for the Hawks in the short-term, it's potentially a big problem. Krejci has been a useful part of the rotation and stepped up as an occasional starter. He's having another excellent year as a shooter (38.7% on 3.4 attempts per game) and his absence places a bigger workload on Atlanta's already-limited shooting. He can fill in at either the shooting guard or small forward spots in case of an injury and it leaves Atlanta with one less option to bring in from the bench.

In terms of what this means for Atlanta's center rotation, it places a lot of emphasis on keeping Onyeka Okongwu and Clint Capela healthy. Should both of those players go down, Mo Gueye is in line to start at center. While Gueye has flashed some potential, it would be a pretty big workload for him to assume. Furthemore, Gueye isn't quite ready to be a full-time contributor for Atlanta just yet. He looked out of his depth against New York and Georges Niang ended up assuming the bulk of his minutes despite Gueye starting. If he's being re-evaluated in six weeks, that gives Nance a chance of returning to help Atlanta make a final push towards the playoffs. Ultimately, the Hawks may elect to keep Nance sidelined and let him heal. They'll likely have interest in re-signing him as a backup center next year and it would be good for him to be as healthy as possible before free agency.

Now that the Hawks have some time to rest, it's a good opportunity to look back on the season so far and discuss the positives - and negatives - of the season so far.

Positive: Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels can be real two-way contributors

Throughout most of the season, Risacher and Daniels have been instantly impactful on defense. "Impactful" doesn't even really do justice to what Daniels has been able to accomplish - he leads the NBA in steals while also putting up 13.9 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. Outside of Victor Wembenyama, there hasn't been a defender who has produced more of an obvious impact than him. He's a strong candidate for the All-Defense First Team this year and should be on the second team at bare minimum.

Daniels has been a much better offensive player as of late. After shooting close to 30% for a large portion of the season from deep, he's shooting 33% on the year and a staggering 52.9% from three-point range in his last 10 games. He's not a high-volume shooter, but defenses are starting to respect his shot. He's also shooting a career-high 68% on shots within 3 feet of the rim, indicating that he's made improvements as a finisher.

For a rookie wing, Risacher has surprisingly been a net neutral on defense. He doesn't produce a ton of highlights or make as many noteworthy plays as Daniels, but he plays his assingment well and moves his feet quickly to close off angles. He can get bullied by stronger players, but that doesn't happen nearly as much as it usually does with a 19 year-old wing. However, the very encouraging part of his rookie season has been the improvement he's shown on offense. Since December, he's shooting 37% from deep and upped his scoring to 12 points on league-average efficiency.

He's also showing some real upside as an off-ball threat. Last night against the Knicks, he had a beautiful three-pointer where he cut into the open space and confidently shot the three off the pass from Trae Young. The Hawks certainly raised some eyebrows when they took him at the top of the 2024 draft, but he's on his way towards proving them right.

Negative: Injuries, injuries and more injuries

This isn't necessarily something the Hawks can control, but they've had terrible injury luck throughout the year. Before he was traded, Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a significant chunk of games with a knee issue. Jalen Johnson and Kobe Bufkin are both out for the year with shoulder injuries. Larry Nance Jr. was sidelined for weeks with a hand injury before returning and suffering a knee injury. Clint Capela's missed time with back issues. Vit Krejci will now be out for multiple weeks with a back contusion.

Even the players who have remained in the lineup are banged up. Trae Young's dealt with right Achilles tendinitis all year. While it's not entirely the reason why he's having a down year as a shooter, it's certainly not doing him any favors. That burden has only increased with Johnson sidelined for the year.

Positive: Onyeka Okongwu can be a starting center in this league

It's taken a while, but Okongwu has shown clear positives this year that make him the clear frontrunner to start in the 2025-26 season. It shouldn't be a massive priority to bring Clint Capela back as insurance and that's due to the combination of athleticism. touch and passing Okongwu brings to the role.

Last night was an excellent display of what the Okongwu experience can be like. He had 21 points, 14 rebounds and five assists with two blocks on Karl-Anthony Towns. Now, that doesn't mean it was a banner game. His free throw shooting is still very inconsistent and he had clear struggles with that matchup. However, he's been a solid starter for Atlanta and offers more versatility on both ends of the court than Capela. He's been an excellent finisher in the paint and is starting to flash as a lob threat for Young. That chemistry should only grow as he gets more work as a starter.

He's far from an elite option, but he's proved that the Hawks shouldn't be interested in depleting their assets in order to make an upgrade at center.

Negative: Three-point shooting on both ends

The Hawks' three-point shooting is wildly inconsistent and extremely dependent on Trae Young's gravity. Things have been better since the trade deadline, but the Hawks still sit at 23rd in overall 3P% despite being 15th in attempts. That cannot continue if the Hawks want to make a real push towards the playoffs. Three-point shooting is the biggest variance factor in the NBA - it swings games to such an extreme extent.

Daniels and Risacher showing improvement from deep definitely helps these numbers, but it's a real question to see if those numbers are going to hold up over the course of the season. Furthermore, they also let other teams burn them from deep routinely. They're 28th in opponent 3P% and opponent FG%. It forces them to routinely win shootouts. That works much better with a healthy Jalen Johnson and better health in the second unit, as well as more shooting talent. It's a risky gamble for Atlanta at this stage. They are certainly down bodies, but that needs to be slightly better if the Hawks want to stay in games.

Positive: Their grittiness

Admittedly, this is tough to quantify, but the Hawks have shown a ton of determination and heart this season. Look no further than their wins over the Celtics, the buzzer-beater win in Utah and the effort they showed as recently against the Knicks. New York almost ended the game in regulation with a three-point lead and nine seconds on the clock. Instead, Dyson Daniels got a steal and hit one of his free throws before he grabbed his own rebound and gave Atlanta another chance. Young got fouled and sent the game to OT at the line.

This might be overblown, but even in a season where things have not gone according to plan, they are still very much fighting in every game. That matters from a culture sense and it should serve them well next year once they get more pieces and build out this team's foundation for the foreseeable future.

Negative: Getting outmatched by bigger lineups

When Jalen Johnson isn't on the court for Atlanta, it's far too easy for power forwards and centers who need to be accounted for offensively to take advantage of the Hawks' defense. It was on full display against the Knicks and it has been a problem all season. They're 27th in opponent points in the paint, barely better than the Washington Wizards. That comes down to multiple reasons, but one of the biggest ones is that they don't have a power forward who can handle the minutes without Jalen Johnson.

Georges Niang is a very useful offensive player when his shot is falling, but he really doesn't offer much on defense despite his 6'7 size. His athletic limitations make it hard for him to guard in space, so he isn't the solution to this problem. The Hawks really need to consider adding someone who offers a combination of size and athleticism to their power forward rotation to reduce their dependency on Johnson.

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