3 Things to Watch for in the Atlanta Hawks Preseason Opener
By Dallin Duffy
Previewing the Atlanta Hawks’ preseason matchup with the Orlando Magic.
The Atlanta Hawks are (finally) returning to play on Friday night, facing off with the Orlando Magic at State Farm Arena. It marks the end of the longest offseason in team history and while it is still preseason, it’ll be a hoot to see the squad out there again.
As with any exhibition game, neither team will be playing at 100 percent, but do expect to see stars like Trae Young, John Collins and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic suit up and play considerable minutes, especially given the Hawks have a handful of injuries.
Things to watch for:
1 – How the free agency signings fare
The Hawks had a splashy free agency, bringing in Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo who project to play a big role in 2020-21. They also signed Kris Dunn and SolomonHill and traded for Tony Snell who should all get solid minutes as well.
Dunn and Snell were both considered day to day on the Hawks’ initial injury report (as is rookie Onyeka Okongwu) and it’s unlikely they’ll play too much, if at all.
The others, however, should all get a decent run. It’ll be very interesting to see how they fare in the Hawks’ system and in particular, it’ll fun to see Bogdanovic next to Trae Young. That could very well be the team’s backcourt of the future.
2 – The fringe guys
While they are on the roster, there are a handful of players who still need to prove themselves: Brandon Goodwin, Bruno Fernando, Nathan Knight and Skylar Mays. The latter two are on two-way deals.
Because of the shortened offseason and lack of summer league, these guys got considerably less time to show they belong. The preseason could be their best place to show out. Although I do think big-name players like Young, Collins and Clint Capela will get a decent run, expect these four to log major minutes.
Mays, their second-round pick, is an especially fun one to watch as he was brilliant throughout his four-season career at LSU and has been heralded for his defense. If any of these four were to break fully into the regular-season rotation, it’d probably be him.
3 – The new jerseys
Lost in all the shuffle of drafting Onyeka Okongwu and singing big-name free agents are the Atlanta Hawks’ new jerseys.
While the photoshoots have been fun to see, this game will be the true debut of their fresh look, a look I and many others quite enjoy.
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The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic tip off at 7:00 EST on Friday, Dec. 12. What are you most excited to see?