I began this countdown in earnest last time out with a look at a quintet of players who just made the list of the 25 best Hawks of the last 25 seasons.
Today, we’re looking at some more important sixth men, long tenured culture setters, and playoff performers. Remember, longevity matters. So, spoiler alert: there will be no one-year wonders appearing on this list, with all apologies to Dyson Daniels and others.
Postseason contributions loom large in this list, with the 2008, 2015 and 2021 postseason
runs at the forefront of our collective memories.
Let’s dive right into number 20 on the list:
No. 20: Zaza Pachulia (2005-13)
I lied when I said cult favorites didn’t matter for this list. This guy was every Hawks’ fan favorite Georgian from another Georgia.
Pachulia’s on court contributions were relatively modest, but he was there from the start of the rebuild to contributing to consistent playoff teams. But most importantly, he became an important heart and soul to the team for nearly a decade.
He came to Atlanta after two seasons of reserve center play in Orlando and Milwaukee but became the primary starter the next two seasons with the Hawks. After the Hawks drafted Al Horford, he shifted to being a key backup big man. Eventually he appeared in 556 games for the Hawks, 14th most in franchise history, while averaging 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game.
His toughness at the center position is the stuff of legends, and Pachulia was never one to back down from a challenge — even if the person on the other end was one Kevin Garnett.
For the perennial underdogs Hawks, Zaza was always there to remind you “nothing easy.”
No. 19: Lou Williams (2012-14, 2021-22)
LouWill hails from south Gwinnett County, and coincidentally he ended up the Hawks in two distinct stints during his career. He jumped straight from high school to the NBA in the 2005 NBA Draft, one of the last to take that route prior to the rule change in 2006, and unlike Jamal Crawford, he quickly settled into his role as a sixth man microwave scorer for the Philadelphia 76ers.
He found his way to the Hawks the first time while the franchise had just transitioned away from the Joe Johnson era, and he put up 11.9 points and 3.5 assists per game on 41/35/86 shooting in 99 games from 2012-2014.
But Williams doesn’t make this list if he didn’t return to Atlanta for two more seasons to close out his NBA career. The Hawks flipped Rajon Rondo for Lou Williams at the 2021 trade deadline, and with Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter suffering from injuries in the second half of the season, the Hawks leaned into their high-powered perimeter offense to surge to crazy heights under new coach Nate McMillan.
He averaged 10.0 points and 3.4 assists per game in 24 regular season games for the Hawks that season, but his biggest contributions came in the postseason against his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Hawks down 26 in the third quarter in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Williams teamed up with Trae Young in the backcourt for roughly the final 15 minutes of the game to hit timely bucket after timely bucket. We all remember how that game and series ended.
No. 18: Onyeka Okongwu (2020-present)
The story of Onyeka Okongwu is still being written along with two other players on this list. He was drafted sixth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft with hopes of him becoming a versatile, modern center. And in his fifth season in the NBA, he’s now really tapping into those rare skills.
He spent the first 4.5 seasons of his career as maybe the best backup center in the league behind Clint Capela. He’s always been an elite finisher around the rim and physically strong enough to battle with the Giannis Antetokuonmpos of the league. But after taking over for Capela in the starting lineup this season, he posted averages of 15.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in 40 starts. Even more intriguing has been him canning 36% of his threes on 2.4 attempts per game as part of an efficient 65% true shooting percentage.
He’s always going to have to continue to prove on the court that he plays bigger than his listed height. And with the 7’2” Kristaps Porzingis on board along with a rebuilt reserve of big men, maybe Okongwu can now pass off bigger assignments to his teammates while still being a small ball mismatch. But the sky remains the limit for the high lottery draft pick.
No. 17: Dennis Schröder (2013-18)
Schröder may ultimately end up the Basketball Hall of Fame largely due to his incredible international basketball career. Recently, he helped lead Germany to a 9-0 record in EuroBasket 2025 including an 88-83 final against Türkiye, and he was named both EuroBasket MVP and grabbed a spot on the All-Tournament First Team. This came just two years after he led Germany to victory in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and earned FIBA World Cup MVP.
But his Hawks career had some real ups and downs since being drafted 17th overall in 2013. He came in as the backup to Jeff Teague but worked hard to earn his keep as the leader of the 2014-15 bench mob that became vital to the 60-win team that year. In both 2014-15 and 2015-16, he received Sixth Man of the Year votes.
In the summer of 2016, Jeff Teague was traded to Indiana for a pick that became Taurean Prince — something that opened up the starting point guard spot for Schröder. Over the next two seasons, he averaged 18.6 points, 6.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.
But as Dennis’ production increased, the Hawks’ success decreased. And so, the writing was on the wall when the coach Mike Budenholzer left after a 24-58 season, the Hawks earned a top five draft pick, and they used it to bring in a certain dynamic one-and-done guard from the University of Oklahoma. Schröder would be traded to the NBA team in that same state that very offseason.
No. 16: Kevin Huerter (2018-22)
One single performance in the biggest moment pushed Huerter up this list a few spots.
Kevin Huerter was drafted with one of three Atlanta draft picks in the 2018 NBA Draft, and he very quickly outplayed his 19th overall selection. At 6’7”, he could handle, create, and shoot as a secondary player to Trae Young. The nicknames quickly followed — whether it was Red Velvet or K’Von, he was quickly a social media favorite during every offensive outburst.
For a wing department depleted by injury in 2020-21, he was the only consistent, stabilizing force. But his biggest claim to fame came after the Hawks had just blown their opportunity to finish out the Philadelphia 76ers on their home court in Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Heading into the deciding game of the series, who would step up and have a memorable performance? No one but the affable redhead himself.
We’ll always have Game 7 Kevin.
