This past offseason, one of the major moves the Atlanta Hawks made was to trade for Kristaps Porzingis. With the Boston Celtics opting to shift focus in the wake of Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, the Hawks took advantage of the Celtics’ somewhat fire sale and added much-needed strength in the frontcourt. Kristaps Porzingis scored his first bucket in a Hawks jersey on Monday during the team’s preseason game against the Houston Rockets.

Kristaps Porzingis’ first bucket came off an inbounds pass from Trae Young early in the first quarter of the Hawks’ preseason game against the Rockets. Upon catching the pass, Porzingis squared up and banked in the midrange jumper.

With the Hawks looking to contend in the Eastern Conference this season, Porzingis was one of the major roster additions they brought in. Last year, Porzingis was limited Porzingis was limited down the stretch for the Celtics due to an undisclosed illness.

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He appeared in 42 games at a little over 28 minutes per game. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocked shots with splits of 48.3 percent shooting from the field, 41.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 80.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Porzingis appeared in 11 playoff games with the Celtics last season at just about 21 minutes. He averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 31.6 percent from the field, 15.4 percent from the three-point line and 68.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Porzingis played three seasons for the New York Knicks before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He played three and half seasons with the Mavericks before they traded him to the Washington Wizards. After two seasons with the Wizards, Porzingis was traded to the Celtics. Although he was injured during the 2024 playoffs, he suited up for both Game 1 and Game 5 of the NBA Finals as the Celtics went on to win their 18th championship in franchise history.