This is the next question in a series of roundtable questions I’m asking the staff here at Peachtree Hoops about the Hawks this upcoming season. The previous roundtable can be found here. Today’s question:
what is your boldest take for the Hawks in 2025-26?
Wes: The Hawks finish top 10 in both offense and defense this season. The franchise hasn’t accomplished this since 2014-15. I think they finally have the pieces to do it, which should put them on the fringe of the top five in net rating for this upcoming season.
I shouldn’t have to sell you too hard on a top 10 finish on offense. The Hawks accomplished this in every season between 2020-21 and 2022-23 and were on pace to do so in 2023-24 until Trae Young tore a finger ligament late in the season. Last year was the transition year, but with Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and others here now, I think the offense hums.
Other than Trae Young and Keaton Wallace, every player is at least 6’5”, and the roster is littered with great athletes with impressive measurables. The Hawks also stocked up on reserve big men between Mo Gueye, Asa Newell, and N’Faly Dante, so even if injuries hit, they have the bulk and rim deterrence to play consistently tough defense from game 1 to game 82.
Chase: Trae Young finishes top five in MVP voting. He’s led the league in assists per game and has already taken this team to the Eastern Conference Finals. There’s no doubt he has the talent. His numbers speak for themselves, and while he still needs to improve his efficiency, this year he’s set up with arguably the most talented group of teammates he’s ever had. With the Hawks’ predicted success, the league will be forced to take notice and Trae Young will be seen as the player Hawks fans know him to be.
Graham: I’ll preface my ‘bold’ take with this: I try to be fair and objective as much as I can and try remove bias from my writing. That being said, I think this team – if everything clicks – can go to the NBA Finals this season. I think you can make a fairly solid case for it now.
Everything is in place that you could possibly hope for. There’s never been this level of defense around/behind Young, never this much overall talent around him, nor this level of passing around him to take the pressure off him to run everything and hope to survive the non-Trae minutes. The roster is deeper in quality with a mix of developing youth that should be able to contribute, and experience. Outside of what’s going on with the Hawks, the East is considerably weaker this year. Boston are limited in what they can achieve without Tatum, Haliburton is out for the season, the Sixers are injury prone, etc. The main barriers to the Finals include the Cavaliers, Knicks, potentially Magic and Bucks – none of those teams should be considered out of the Hawks’ grasp at this moment, and certainly teams the Hawks wouldn’t fear in the postseason.
I can just see all of this working. I see the defense around and behind Young working well, I see players like Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher improving this season, I see the Hawks having enough ball-handling and creation around Young to ease the playmaking and scoring load, and perhaps with all of that – plus the ingenuity of Quin Snyder – it can unlock more out of Young. All of this is ‘In best case scenario,’ but I can see it working.
But it also has to work this season. If the Hawks can’t make it work this season, I don’t think it’s outrageous to believe that it’s just not going to happen for this iteration of the Hawks with Young as the star leader. They could run it back next season but would their best chance have passed them by as other teams re-arm/get their guys back? They’re young enough that it could be done, but they may not get an opportunity like this again with this current iteration of the Trae Young-Hawks. I believe in it, and I think they have everything in place to make it happen.
Malik: My boldest take is that the Hawks finish as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Hassan: I’ve got three bold predictions for you. First, I think Trae Young becomes the third player in NBA history to average 12+ assists per game this season – joining Magic Johnson and John Stockton. Young averaged 11.6 dimes per game last season, and has increased his assists average in each season of his career. This season, given Atlanta’s new additions as well as the pace that this team is expected to play at, he should have an ample amount of opportunities to rack up assists.
Second, Zaccharie Risacher cements his status as the player with the highest ceiling in the 2024 draft class. Risacher started off slowly last season, but still managed to finish second in Rookie of the Year voting (though he only received 5 first-place votes) after averaging 14.9 points on 51.8% shooting from the field and 42.1% from three (5.1 attempts per game) over the final 35 games of the season. After spending the summer working on his game and competing in Eurobasket with the French national team, Risacher appears poised for a year-two leap.
This season, if he can play with more force on both ends, improve his scoring and passing ability off the drive, and continue to shoot the ball at a high rate, the sky is the limit for him as a player. I’m excited to see what he does in year two.
Third, and the spiciest of the three, I think that by January, the Hawks will have engaged the Milwaukee Bucks in trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo is 30 years old with two years left on his contract and has made it clear that he intends to compete for a championship for as long as he is in his prime, either in Milwaukee or elsewhere. Even after sacrificing Damian Lillard to free up the cap room to trade for Myles Turner, Milwaukee’s roster still has more than a few holes – especially on the wing and in the playmaking department – and I’d say their chances of competing for a championship this season are slim-to-none.
While it’s a little complicated with the protections, Atlanta has part-ownership over Milwaukee’s 2026 and 2028 first-round picks as well as a few picks of their own to include in a potential deal. They also have a burgeoning young star (who happens to be from Milwaukee) in Jalen Johnson. The ingredients are there for the Hawks to cobble together an extremely enticing offer if Milwaukee’s season goes sideways.
There are a lot of factors at play here, but if the situation and price are right, Atlanta could emerge as a destination for Giannis.
