The 2024 offseason was an eventful one for the Hawks, with its share of ups and downs. The team was forced to admit defeat on its backcourt pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, but got a pretty strong return when it shipped Murray to New Orleans. Atlanta also improbably won the draft lottery with the 10th-best odds, which is typically a huge boon for a franchise, but that lottery win occurred during a year without a consensus No. 1 prospect.
By the end of the summer, the Hawks were entering the 2024/25 season as a borderline playoff contender (oddsmakers projected them to be the ninth-best team in the Eastern Conference) and without control of their own 2025 first-round pick, which they'd sent to San Antonio years earlier in their original deal for Murray.
Being a non-contender that doesn't possess its own draft pick is, in many ways, a worst-case scenario for an NBA franchise. But while the Hawks ultimately did fall short of the playoffs, the path they took to get to that outcome - and the situation they find themselves in entering the 2025 offseason - provides more reasons for optimism than the franchise had a year ago.
Dyson Daniels, acquired from the Pelicans as part of the package for Murray, emerged as one of the NBA's very best perimeter defenders and took a significant step forward offensively at the same time, with new career highs in points (14.1) and assists (4.4) per game, as well as shooting percentage (49.3%) and three-point percentage (34.0%). Daniels nearly won two major end-of-season awards, taking home Most Improved Player honors while finishing as the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
Zaccharie Risacher, the prospect the Hawks settled on as their first overall pick last June, played rotation minutes from day one and finished the season strong, averaging 14.9 points per game on .518/.421/.716 shooting after returning from an adductor injury in late January. He was the second-place finisher in Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the All-Rookie First Team.
Onyeka Okongwu, the backup center behind veteran Clint Capela for the last few seasons, finally got the opportunity to take over the starting job in January and made the most of it, averaging a double-double (15.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG) with a .581/.362/.762 shooting line in his final 40 outings.
And while Jalen Johnson's season ended early due to a shoulder injury, the 23-year-old forward showed in the first half why the Hawks were willing to commit $150MM to him on a five-year rookie scale extension that will begin in 2025/26, averaging 18.9 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG on 50.0% shooting.
It's a promising young core, and Atlanta will have another opportunity to add to it later this month. Although they didn't have their own first-round pick at No. 14, the Hawks received Sacramento's first-rounder one spot higher at No. 13 to close the book on the Kevin Huerter trade the two teams made back in 2022. Atlanta will also control a second first-rounder this summer, having received the Lakers' 2025 pick from New Orleans in last year's Murray deal. That selection landed at No. 22.
Given all that went right during what could have been a demoralizing year in Atlanta, it was a little surprising that the Hawks dismissed general manager Landry Fields shortly after their season ended. The search for a new head of basketball operations is ongoing, though there have been rumors that the team may simply bring in a senior advisor to work with newly promoted GM Onsi Saleh, rather than hiring a president of basketball operations who would be above him in the front office hierarchy.
The Hawks' Offseason Plan
Whether it's Saleh or a new hire who ultimately has the final say on roster decisions, the Hawks will have a fair share of them to make this offseason, including what the future holds for Young.
Trae & Niang to Portland for Scoot, Ayton & a future 1st.
Draft Liam McNeeley, Cedric Coward or Noa Essengue at 13. Draft Hansen Yang or Joan Beringer at 22.
Trae can fill up the stat sheet but he’s not the type of player who is going to help you win a lot of games.
I’m sure a team like the Kings will take him though.