Starting 5: PG: C.J. McCollum SG: Nickeil Alexander-Walker SF: Dyson Daniels PF: Jalen Johnson C: Onyeka Okongwu

Bench: Kingston Flemings, Aaron Wiggins, Buddy Hield, Corey Kispert, Zaccharie Risacher, Jarred Vanderbilt, Asa Newell, Jock Landale

The Hawks will play a very drive and kick heavy offense. With C.J. McCollum, Nickeil, and Jalen Johnson being able to collapse defenses the Hawks can play a 5-out offense and have spacers to get open three point looks. They will be quite fast tempo since they are one of the most athletic teams in the NBA. Kingston Flemings will sometimes take backup ball-handling duties off the bench. Jarred Vanderbilt and Asa Newell can be utilized as versatile, athletic, stretch bigs. Jock Landale will be center to get rebounds and space the floor. The rest of the bench is spacers and low volume iso scorers who can bring an offensive punch.

The Hawks will play a suffocating, athletic, switchheavy defense. Both Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker can play elite on-ball defense. Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu are both very mobile and can sometimes switch onto guards. C.J. McCollum will be put on a non-threatening offensive player, so he can conserve energy for offense. Kingston Flemings is an elite on-ball defender that can guard the other team’s best guard off the bench. Aaron Wiggins and Zaccharie Risacher are great team defenders who can be serviceable off the bench. Jarred Vanderbilt and Asa Newell are elite athletic weak-side rim protectors.

Projected Wins: 43 The Hawks have no doubt gotten better. However, so has the rest of the East. A lot of the Hawks wins came from a winning streak at the end of the season. You can’t depend on an another one. They also didn’t address their biggest need in rim protection. While they got two guys who can protect the rim in Henri Veesaar and Zuby Ejiofor, they probably won’t get much playtime till the end of the season. The Hawks will probably be a play-in team.