While Just One Preseason Game, The Atlanta Hawks Flashed Their Upside Last Night

The Atlanta Hawks won their first preseason game last night and there plenty of things for Hawks fans to be excited about last night

Oct 8, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) in action against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Whatever Major Sports League it might be, it is usually foolish to overreact to anything that happens in the preseason. We see it year after year with teams that make highlight plays and look exciting when the games don't really count, but then fall flat on their faces when the actual games start being played.

But it is hard to argue against the idea that last night's game was pretty close to perfect for the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta was one of the most interesting teams coming into the NBA season and were a bit of a mystery. They had traded away Dejounte Murray and had a lot of unknown young players on their roster for the upcoming season, most win projections had the Hawks in the mid to low thirties heading into the season and most seemed pessimistic about the Hawks' chances to win a lot of games this year.

I am not saying those projections are necessarily wrong, but last night showed the Hawks have potential to be a really fun team and much better than people expect.

Zaccharie Risacher was the least talked about No.1 pick maybe ever, but he showed last night why the Atlanta Hawks spent the top pick in the draft on him. He scored 18 points on 7-9 shooting and looked very comfortable for a rookie playing in his first game. He displayed his length and versatility last night and it was pretty close to a perfect debut for Risacher. Will he play like this every night? Of course not, but the fact he showed this kind of upside right away has to be encouraging.

"Yeah, I hate that this was not the first game of the season where it counts for real because that was a hell of a performance and a hell of a start. I wanted him to feel like how he felt tonight like there is no pressure on him, he can go out there and be himself and he played like he did tonight. He shot the ball really well and has a great feel for the game and can make the right reads, obviously, he is going to make some turnovers and make some mistakes, but he is going to have a hell of a career."

After the game, Hawks point guard Trae Young had plenty of praise for Risacher:

It was not just Risacher though. Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Vit Krejci, and Kobe Bufkin shined in their roles last night. Each player is expected to play a role on the Hawks this year (some bigger than others), but it was a great night for all of them.

Daniels is known as an elite defender, but his offense has been a question mark. While it is just one game, he showed his flashes on that end of the court and he played well starting alongside Young. He finished with 14 points on 5-8 shooting and he was tasked with guarding Tyrese Haliburton. Daniels is one of the most important players on the Hawks this season and he showed the things that have Hawks fans excited about his potential.

One of the big question marks the Hawks had coming into the year was who the backup point guard was going to be. Kobe Bufkin showed flashes last year, but was injured and did not get a chance to play much last season. Last night, Bufkin showed that he might be up to the task this season. He finished with nine points and four assists in nearly 22 minutes and he looked comfortable leading the offense with Trae Young off the floor. In the past two seasons, Dejounte Murray led the offense with Young off the floor, but of course, Murray is gone. It is just one performance, but Bufkin showed a lot of promise last night when he was running the offense.

Hawks head coach Quin Snyder spoke about Bufkin last night after the game:

"You know, there was a few possessions You know where we really moved the ball and he was part of Initiating the possession and getting us an advantage and then we kept playing kept playing you know and that that was good to see. I mean, it's, for us, when we have different guys, we can get a critical mass of guys on the floor that are passing the ball and spacing and continuing to play, the probability that everybody does it goes up. And as soon as we get, you know, two, three guys that aren't doing that, it becomes very difficult for the rest of the group to do that. So, when Kobe comes in and he's passing the ball ahead and doing some of those things offensively, you know, he really can't access. And maybe the best thing that I thought he did tonight was he defended, you know, to see him get up and get up to court. That's something that's gonna be, you know, we'll be able to see that some on film tomorrow where we just, we had breakdowns. They put a lot of pressure on you. You have to guard your man in space a lot of times. But the times that you are able to help, you need to be there. You need to be there, and we weren't always there, but I thought Kobe's ball pressure in particular really gave us a lift."

The most exciting thing though is the one that is seemingly flying under the radar due to how the others performed.

Jalen Johnson looked excellent and like he was ready to be the No. 2 option on the team. He displayed excellent chemistry with Young and he looked in control the entire time he played. Johnson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in only 22 minutes. After taking a massive leap last year, another one could be in store for Johnson.

I have written before this offseason that for the Hawks to overperform their projections, the young players (Johnson, Risacher, Daniels, Bufkin, Krejci, and Okongwu) are going to have to show progress and take on bigger roles. There are going to be bad games and bumps in the road for all of them this year, but last night showed this team could be really fun and might just be better than you think.