The Atlanta Hawks are entering the first full season of the post-Trae Young era with heightened expectations. After dealing their star point guard away last season, they've also moved on from 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and brought in role players Aaron Wiggins, Ryan Nembhard and Luguentz Dort to strengthen their depth. CJ McCollum, the hero of their two first-round playoff wins against the eventual champion New York Knicks, is back as well, with Kingston Flemings, the No. 8 pick in the 2026 draft, backing him up.
ESPN's staff of experts is looking back at the offseason and taking an early look at the 2026-27 season for all 30 teams, with 30 pieces -- one for every team -- rolling out each weekday through Sept. 18. We're answering the biggest looming questions, evaluating X factors and much more for all 30 teams.
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Offseason at a glance Key additions: Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Kingston Flemings, Devin Carter, Ryan Nembhard, Zuby Ejiofor, Henri Veesaar Key retentions: CJ McCollum, Jock Landale Key subtractions: Zaccharie Risacher, Jonathan Kuminga, Gabe Vincent, Keaton Wallace
Atlanta continued to move forward from the Trae Young trade last season by being opportunistic this offseason. The Hawks acquired Dort and Wiggins in separate trades from the Oklahoma City Thunder to add more help around emerging star Jalen Johnson. The Hawks also kept McCollum on a one-year, $21 million deal and drafted Flemings eighth overall. Atlanta is loaded with young wings looking to take a step forward under Quin Snyder like Nickeil Alexander-Walker did last season in winning Most Improved Player. -- Ohm Youngmisuk
Zach Kram's offseason grade: A-
Depending on how coach Quin Snyder structures his rotation, the Hawks might not have added a single starter this offseason -- although they did well to re-sign CJ McCollum to a solid one-year deal -- so their short-term ceiling still relies on Jalen Johnson's development into a star.
They made fairly dramatic upgrades to their bench, however, to meaningfully raise their floor. They acquired Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Devin Carter in salary dump trades, as well as Ryan Nembhard to help stabilize the backcourt. -- Kram
What we learned over the past few months
From Ben Golliver's offseason lessons piece: Zaccharie Risacher was the biggest draft miss in years.
Evidently, Onsi Saleh, who was promoted to general manager last summer, had seen enough. The 46-win Hawks were better with Risacher off the court last season, and he seemingly lacks the burst, playmaking and takeover mentality to develop into a lead scoring option. While the 2024 draft was regarded as weak at the time, Risacher ranks 20th in his class by career win shares and has been outperformed by Stephon Castle and several other lottery picks, plus a few players drafted 20-plus spots after him, including Baylor Scheierman, Kyle Filipowski and Oso Ighodaro.