Onyeka Okongwu Articles - Page 2

The Atlanta Hawks may be better than expected heading into the 2024-25 season. The first step to improvement is being aware of the issue, and this offseason, they finally recognized that the pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray had run its course. For Young to succeed, he needs defensively-oriented players who can make their […]

The New Orleans Pelicans entered the 2023-24 NBA season with high hopes and a roster brimming with talent. The combination of young stars like Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, along with a solid supporting cast, had fans thinking about a deep playoff run. However, despite a promising start, the Pelicans found themselves ousted in the […]

The Atlanta Hawks have had a disappointing 2023-24 season, and now, it looks more likely that their season will end in the play-in tournament given the unfortunate developments they’ve had on the injury front. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, two of the Hawks’ most crucial frontcourt players, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu, will be […]

Barring the miraculous, the Atlanta Hawks’ 2023-24 season will be an undeniable failure. The lone motivating factor in this dreary campaign is the NBA Play-In Tournament, which the team is presently slotted in for as the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference. But the latest news threatens to even rip away that unsettling consolation […]

Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have had a struggle so far on the 2023-24 season, to say the least, as the team prepares to return from the All-Star break festivities. Young has been playing perhaps the best basketball of his career in recent months, rewarded with his efforts with a trip to Indiana for […]

The Atlanta Hawks have yet to recapture the magic from their Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021. Since then, Atlanta has endured a pair of disappointing first-round playoff exits. By the looks of how the 2023-24 NBA season is going so far, it does not seem like the Hawks are headed back to the spot […]

Onyeka Okongwu figures to be the future of the Atlanta Hawks frontcourt. After showing growth each of his first three seasons in the league, the Hawks have agreed to a four-year, $62 million contract extension with the young center, first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. 🚨 BREAKING: Onyeka Okongwu has agreed to a 4-year, $62 […]

We are less than two weeks away from the official tip-off of the 2023-24 NBA regular season. That means it is just about time for NBA fantasy enthusiasts to put on their GM hats and construct the team that will win them the bag in their respective leagues. Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo […]

The Hawks are in that weird NBA purgatory where no team wants to be. After making the Conference Finals just two seasons ago, they’ve failed to get near repeating that effort since, just sneaking into the playoffs through the play-in tournament two seasons in a row, only to be beaten relatively comfortably in the first […]

The Atlanta Hawks enter training camp this 2023-24 season with more question marks than answers. Ideally, the Hawks should be right up there with the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat in terms of being true title contenders in the Eastern Conference, especially after they made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 led by […]

The Atlanta Hawks cleared up some of the log-jam in their frontcourt this offseason when they traded John Collins to the Utah Jazz. Collins’ name had been in trade rumors for a while now and Hawks brass must have felt like it was time to pull the trigger. What the trade did was open up […]

Even before the beginning of the draft and free agency, the Golden State Warriors were all over the NBA headlines. Bob Myers has stepped down from his post, Draymond Green is an unrestricted free agent, and the Warriors acquired generational point guard Chris Paul. Jordan Poole was floating in trade rumors after his rocky 2022-23 […]

Is it time to trade John Collins? No matter what the Atlanta Hawks choose to do about Trae Young, trading Collins is a move that will help clear a logjam at forward, provide them with a more efficient floor-spacer at his position, and give them a more consistent defensive presence as well. Of course, the […]

Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder is a 10-year NBA veteran who’s brought his toughness and 3-and-D ability to seven different NBA teams. After the last two seasons of being a key starter on the Western Conference contender Suns, both the team and the player are ready to move on. The franchise has shut the 32-year-old […]

It almost feels like a foregone conclusion that John Collins will be traded by the Atlanta Hawks as the 2022 NBA Draft quickly approaches on Thursday night. The rumors have been swirling for quite some time and Collins’ teammate, Onyeka Okongwu, is clearly raising his eyebrows about all the talks: 🤨 — Onyeka Okongwu (@BigO21_) […]

The Atlanta Hawks went on one of the most surprising playoff runs last season when they took down the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers to react the Eastern Conference Finals. Many fans did not see it coming since their roster was filled with a plethora of role players along with one superstar in Trae […]

Onyeka Okongwu of the Atlanta Hawks recently was in the covid protocols with many of his other teammates. His experience was not what he was hoping for. Sarah Spencer who covers the Hawks for the AJC said in a recent interview with Okongwu that he had this to say about his covid experience, “COVID really […]

The Atlanta Hawks were a Cinderella story last season, blossoming into an elite team under Nate McMillan after the firing of Lloyd Pierce and then making a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling just short against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks are hoping to be even better in 2021-22, but they do […]

Last season’s sixth overall pick Onyeka Okongwu will be out for the next six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right shoulder labrum. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 20-year-old big man had surgery on Wednesday and will be missing the first few months of the 2021-2022 regular season for the Atlanta Hawks. […]

The Atlanta Hawks once again struggled last year, finishing in 14th place in the Eastern Conference at 20-47, which eliminated any chance of an invite to the Orlando bubble. However, Atlanta was arguably one of the most productive teams this offseason, managing to bring in a ton of impactful talent in Free Agency and via […]

The Atlanta Hawks have selected two-time California Mr. Basketball award winner Onyeka Okongwu with the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Sources: Atlanta is selecting Onyeka Okongwu with the No. 6 pick in the NBA Draft. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2020 A 6-foot-9, 245 pound forward who starred at the University […]

UPDATE: Onyeka Okongwu has a fractured toe, but it’s a minor injury and it shouldn’t impact his draft stock much, if at all, per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. He should be ready for the start of the season.  With the 2020 NBA Draft just hours away, it appears that highly touted prospect Onyeka Okongwu has sustained […]

While traditional big men are a dying breed in today’s fast-paced, spread-out game, there are still a number of skilled bigs making an impact in the NBA. Superstars like Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, and Bam Adebayo are just some of the best giants the NBA has welcomed through the draft over the […]

NBA Draft prospect Onyeka Okongwu’s game and projected ceiling have been compared by pundits to Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo. The 19-year-old American-Nigerian college star is certainly flattered by those projections and wishes he could one day achieve the same level of success that Bam is enjoying at the moment. Okongwu bared his admiration […]

The rebuilding Chicago Bulls are eyeing to snag former USC Trojan Onyeka Okongwu with the fourth pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft. The young big man drew comparisons with another promising front liner in the league in Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo. Via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports: “Perhaps no player has created more predraft […]

The silver lining in what was a horrendous 2019-20 campaign for the Warriors is that they have now placed themselves in a position to do really well in the upcoming draft. After finishing the season with a league-worst 15-50 record, the Dubs have the best odds of securing the first overall pick in the draft. […]

USC freshman Onyeka Okongwu has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, he announced in a message he shared on social media. “What a ride it’s been my first year at USC. My freshman campaign at the school has been nothing short of spectacular,” wrote Okongwu. “However, all good things must come to an end. I […]