Which Atlanta Hawks lineups have worked best so far this season?

Atlanta Hawks lineups that have mostly worked this season

Let’s get this out of the way: Trae Young, as a player who plays a lot of minutes, can be found on both ends of the spectrum. But his value to this offense cannot be overstated. The Hawks offensive rating without him on the floor falls by a greater margin than it did last season when it was a widely acknowledged issue.

Even with Young this season, only four of the Hawks lineups (with 10-plus minutes) have a positive plus-minus.

Five sport negative plus-minuses and one is a push.

At the top of the ‘successes’ category is the typical starting lineup of Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, and Clint Capela. That group is plus-18 in 197 total minutes, is shooting 50.5 percent from the floor, and 44 percent from three.

Right behind them is the one-game starting lineup we saw last game with Bogdanovic and Hunter out. It featured Kevin Huerter and Solomon Hill as fill-in starters alongside Capela, Collins, and Young. It was effective. The Hawks lost the game but those five ended as a plus-11 on the evening and had the best efficiency of any of the matching our criteria, shooting 56 percent overall.

The next best thing Atlanta has had to offer has included Huerter, veteran Danilo Gallinari and a player Bleacher Report says has been the team’s biggest surprise so far, Cam Reddish.

This setup shot 48.3 percent but was still at 40 from deep.

Taking the place of Bogi, Capela, and Hunter on the floor, this group is plus-seven on the season and has been efficient; two things that have not exactly been commonplace when Reddish has been on the floor.

For all of the grief McMillan’s all-reserve lineups have received on the hole, it’s one of these groupings that finds itself as one of their most effective.

When Delon Wright, Solomon Hill, and Gorgui Dieng have joined Huerter and Reddish on the court, they are plus-five. Sure, it is a modest number and they only shot 34.2 percent from the floor.

But it’s counterintuitive to the perception of the bench’s performance so far this season. And, again, the Hawks haven’t had many of their groupings work out at all.

The ‘push’ lineup features Capela, Huerter, Hunter, Reddish, and veteran Lou Williams who has said this will likely be his final season.