Hopes are high for the Atlanta Hawks for the upcoming season; the Hawks arguably have the most improved roster over the offseason following the additions of Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard. Atlanta is clearly on an upward trajectory, and the players they added fit so seamlessly within their Trae Young-led nascent core that is poised to take the next step in their march towards playoff contention.
Last year, the Hawks were certified giant-killers in the Eastern Conference when they had their whole squad available. But the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson put such a damper on the Hawks' contending plans that they ended up missing the playoffs altogether.
This season, however, it will be inexcusable for them to make the playoffs — especially when some pundits even have them rated as a team that could make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
But with their roster improvements come a need for some of their players to sacrifice. Be it touches, or a more prominent role in the rotation, some Hawks players are going to have to make room for their big acquisitions this offseason, all for the greater good of the team.
With that said, these are a few Hawks players who could be in danger of a demotion with regards to their spot in the rotation.
Is Zaccharie Risacher going to be part of the Hawks' closing lineup?
The Hawks drafted Risacher first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft for his sweet shooting stroke and prototypical wing size. He's the kind of 3-and-D player on the wing that any team with contending aspirations would want to have, and in a weak draft class, he was deemed the best option for the Hawks to take with the top pick of the draft.
Risacher suited up in 75 games last year and started in 73 of those games, which means that one would have to think that he'll remain a nailed-on starter for the Hawks heading into the new campaign especially when De'Andre Hunter is long gone.
However, this is calling into question whether Risacher would develop enough to the point where he also becomes an invaluable member of the Hawks' closing lineup. He did give way often come end of games, and it's telling that he only averaged 24.6 minutes per contest even though he started most of the games he played in.
With Nickeil Alexander-Walker now on the roster, Risacher's closing lineup spot could once again be under siege. Head coach Quin Snyder loves himself rangy, defensively-stout wings who can come up huge in huge moments, and Alexander-Walker, during his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, showed that he's more than capable of stepping up when the team calls upon him.
Alexander-Walker became part of critical small-ball lineups for the Timberwolves, and he was one of the players Minnesota called upon to defend the likes of Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — two premier postseason performers.
The arrival of Alexander-Walker will not be bumping Risacher off the starting lineup, that much is certain. But Risacher has to work on his consistency on both ends of the floor, as well as his decision-making off the bounce, for him to become a much more indispensable part of the Hawks' best lineups.
Risacher did not provide much production off the bounce during his rookie year, and he remains overly reliant on his teammates' ability to set him up to get his buckets.
Of course, Risacher can easily get better; he's only 20 years of age and he already averaged 12.6 points per game on 46/36/71 shooting splits. This suggests that, as he matures, he could become more of a self-sufficient scoring force. And at 6'8″, he's already shown flashes of being a disruptive defensive presence, averaging 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks a game last year.
At the end of the day, it's easy to bet on Risacher passing all the tests he'll be facing in his sophomore season with flying colors.
Onyeka Okongwu will be reacquainted with the bench
Towards the end of the 2024-25 season, it looked like Onyeka Okongwu was finally going to make the Hawks' starting center spot his. He did have to wait out his moment, with Clint Capela remaining very productive through his first four seasons in the NBA. He responded with a career-best year; in 74 games (40 starts), he averaged 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists to go along with 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest.
Okongwu is not the biggest center at 6'8″, but he provides swiss-army knife utility with the way he can move his feet on the perimeter. He can also function in dribble-handoff sets, and overall, he is a reasonable, much more youthful upgrade over Capela, who's now with the Houston Rockets in a bench role.
But the Hawks simply could not commit their center position to Okongwu and Okongwu alone. How could they if the opportunity to acquire Porzingis for cheap presented itself the way it did? All the Hawks had to give up to acquire Porzingis, one of the best stretch centers in the NBA and an NBA champion, were Terance Mann, Georges Niang, and the 22nd overall pick of this year's draft (Drake Powell) — making him such a worthwhile buy-low candidate.
Porzingis does have a worrying medical history, and he did have a mysterious illness hamper his performance in a big way during the 2025 NBA playoffs. But considering how he's the ideal fit alongside the highflying, rim-attacking Johnson due to his three-point marksmanship and outstanding rim protection, the Hawks were always going to make that trade — demoting Okongwu yet again in the process.
Okongwu, of course, may not have to do much to earn starts throughout the 2025-26 campaign. Porzingis is surely going to miss a few games here and there, and the Hawks have a very capable option to start in his absence in Okongwu. Nonetheless, one would have to wonder whether or not Okongwu is content to keep being shoved to the side in favor of flashier veteran options.
But as the old adage goes, winning solves everything. As long as it benefits the Hawks, Okongwu has to be content backing up Porzingis and aiding in the Hawks' quest to emerge as the new Eastern Conference powerhouse.
