The Atlanta Hawks have wrapped up their preseason and are heading full speed towards the regular season opener next Wednesday vs the Brooklyn Nets.
Coming into the year, the Hawks are a tricky team to predict as far as final record goes. There are some that think the Hawks could surprise the NBA this year and compete for a top six spot, while others think they will struggle to make the play-in tournament. For that reason, they are going to be one of the most interesting teams across the league.
For preseason predictions, it is probably not a hot take to say that Trae Young will be the team’s MVP this year and that Zaccharie Risacher will be their top rookie. That is exactly what Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes thinks ahead of the upcoming season:
MVP: Trae Young
“If Young isn’t the Atlanta Hawks’ most valuable player, it’ll mean something seismic happened during the year. Options could include another injury (Young played just 54 games in 2023-24) or perhaps even an in-season trade.
Young remains Atlanta’s offensive engine, and this team will continue to define itself on that end of the floor. He’s been good for at least 25.0 points and 9.0 assists per game in each of the last five seasons. If the Hawks manage to improve on last year’s lottery finish, it’ll be because Young stays healthy and returns to form as a premier shot-maker and shot-creator.”
Rookie of the Year: Zaccharie Risacher
“As is the case with Young, something will have gone wrong if Risacher, the top pick in the 2024 draft, isn’t the best rookie on his team.
Though his biggest contributions may come as a supplementary role player who defends, keeps the ball moving and relies on setups to score from the perimeter, Risacher still stands to make a big impact at a critical wing position.”
I actually disagree with the first part about Young. If he is not the team’s MVP, that could mean that Jalen Johnson made a bigger leap than expected.
Johnson had a huge breakout season a year ago that might have resulted in him winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award if he had been able to meet the 65-game threshold to be eligible for it. By the looks of it this preseason, Johnson is coming for that award and maybe more than that.
Johnson played in three of the Hawks four preseason and averaged 16.9 PPG in 23 minutes per game on 69% shooting and 87% shooting from three, as well as 7.3 RPG. Now of course that kind of three point shooting can’t be expected this season, but it just goes to show how impressive that Johnson has been this preseason.
Now he was not perfect. He did average four turnovers per game (way too high) and I would like to see his assist numbers go up and see him become more of a second creator next to Trae Young, but that is nitpicking. Johnson looks awesome heading into the season and that should have Hawks fans excited.
It is not hyperbole to suggest that Risacher was the least talked about No. 1 pick in recent memory. He was not the leader in rookie of the year odds and was not getting a lot of buzz heading into the preseason. He changed that in the two games that he played this preseason.
In two games, Risacher averaged 16 PPG, 5 RPG, and 1.7 APG on 60% shooting and 44% from three. He had a 129.4 Offensive Rating and was second on the team this preseason amongst qualified Hawks in PER (player efficiency rating) with a 23.2 PER, behind only Jalen Johnson.
Whether he is coming off the bench or in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, this was the exact kind of preseason you wanted to see from him.
Additional Links:
Atlanta Hawks Basketball: Biggest Takeaways From The Preseason
Hawks Superstar Gets Surprising Placement In New ESPN Top 100
