What Is the Atlanta Hawks All-Time Starting Five?

With the offseason in full swing, let’s pose a question: Who are your Atlanta Hawks all-time starting five?

In the buildup to the preseason and regular season, both of which will be here before you know it, NBA TV released an interesting Atlanta Hawks graphic because it’s Hawks team day for the network.

The graphic poses an interesting question about the team’s best-ever starting five.

As you can see, the popular “build a team with X players” format is used here to create an all-time Atlanta Hawks starting five, which includes the four major players from the magical 60-win team of 2014-15 as well as notable Hawks Hall of Famers from years past.

So who would you put on the team’s all-time starting five?

For this writer, a team made up of Dominique Wilkins, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Dikembe Mutombo and Trae Young looks to have the perfect blend of athleticism, passing, defensive versatility and dynamic offensive play to give any team fits.

Though, this starting five would be lacking in shooting, Horford and Smith have both had their moments shooting the three-ball in their careers and ‘Nique is a proven scorer at all three levels – as well as the greatest Atlanta Hawks player in history.

Former All-Defensive Team selections Smith and Horford, who played together for multiple seasons in the late 2000s and early 2010s, would provide a terrific defensive core with Mutombo – one of the most fearsome shot-blockers and rebounders in Hawks history.

This all-time Atlanta Hawks starting unit would need a strong defensive core due to the team’s backcourt being Wilkins and Young, who are not the best point-of-attack defenders in the world.

Though Nique did produce a ton of steals (1245 in his Hawks career, second only to Mookie Blaylock per Basketball Reference), Young registered some of the worst defensive numbers in the league last year as a rookie – though his immense skill as an on-ball creator negated his inability to defend in space.

With Trae handling the ball and passing his brilliant teammates open alongside the ferocious athleticism of Nique and J-Smoove, this Hawks team would be a joy to behold.

Who would you have on your Atlanta Hawks all-time starting five? Let us know in the comments or on social media!