The Atlanta Hawks were one of the most active teams during the offseason. After a second-straight season where they missed the playoffs, the Hawks want to make certain changes to address their needs for next season. The organization is determined to build a competitive team around the young core of Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher. All-Star guard Trae Young is also still part of the team.
This summer, the Hawks saw a lot of players leave the team. Longtime starting center Clint Capela returned to the Houston Rockets, Caris LeVert joined the Detroit Pistons and Larry Nance Jr. rejoined the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kobe Bufkin, Terance Mann and Georges Niang were all part of separate trades.
In return, Atlanta secured a competent group of players to help the young core. Veteran star Kristaps Porzingis was part of a deal from the Boston Celtics. Luke Kennard and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were both key acquisitions for the front office during free agency.
With the moves they made, there’s a chance for them to return to the playoffs next season. Former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague is one of the believers in the new-look Atlanta Hawks team. In the latest episode of his show,” Club 520 Podcast,” Teague had a bold prediction that the Hawks will be part of the postseason for the 2025-26 campaign.
“The Hawks are going to make the playoffs, conference finals without a doubt… Have Porzingis spread, pause. He about to be lining up half-court shooting threes. Trae Young going to have all this room to operate… Porzingis? Bro, he in contract year, you know how this go. He ‘bout to play 70 games,” the one-time All-Star said.
Kristaps Porzingis is expected to perform well for the Atlanta Hawks
In the two seasons Porzingis was with the Boston Celtics, he’s dealt with various injuries. This resulted in him being limited to appearing in just 99 games. Last season, he only played in 42 games, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
This could affect his next contract. In his first season with the Atlanta Hawks, he’s expected to prove himself worthy of a good payday. He’s on the final year of his two-year, $60 million contract. Playing a sizeable number of games will give the Latvian star the boost he needs for his next contract.
There isn’t any issue with his performance. As seen last season, he was close to averaging 20 points. However, Porzingis has not been consistently accessible due to his health.
With a productive young core and an experienced co-star in Young, Porzingis is expected to have a great season ahead.
For more sports content:
Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at reignkarlmarcamurao@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
