Happy Halloween!
On Saturday evening, not only will the Atlanta Dream be competing in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals, but the Atlanta Hawks will continue their up-and-down early portion of the 2026-27 regular season. They'll be facing off against an opponent they've become strangely familiar with over the last couple of seasons.
The Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans have a detailed history with one another. Their paths will soon cross once more for a Halloween night battle. Both coming off of a much-needed victory, each franchise will be looking to build off of their unexpected momentum.
It's difficult to define a "trap game" in the NBA, considering the league-wide talent level, but this is about as close as it gets for Atlanta.
The Hawks are better than their foes on paper - but New Orleans has the storylines
It's almost formed into some sort of rivalry, for lack of a better term.
It all began in the 2024 offseason, when Atlanta's general manager at the time - Landry Fields - gave up on the Trae Young-Dejounte Murray experiment. They traded Murray to the Pelicans in exchange for Dyson Daniels and significant draft capital.
Since the controversial deal that many initially declared the Pelicans the winner of, Daniels has outplayed Murray. New Orleans' decision to part with their young guard hasn't aged as a great one, considering their current trajectory.
Still, it didn't generate as much buzz as the next time they completed a trade with the Hawks. During the 2025 NBA Draft, Atlanta was looking to trade down from their originally lottery-pick placement.
Luckily for them, they were able to work out a deal with the Pelicans, landing their late first-round pick that year, as well as their unprotected first-round pick in 2026 - which ultimately became Kingston Flemings.
New Orleans essentially traded both Asa Newell and Kingston Flemings for Derik Queen, and this Halloween, they'll all face each other with an extra layer of pressure.
It's a perfect time for a Queen statement performance, and the Hawks must watch out
After a solid rookie season, Queen has been in an inconsistent role for the Pelicans.
He always has motivation to play well against Atlanta, though, as they're technically the ones who traded him away on draft night.
His motivation to perform well, combined with Dejounte Murray's, should make for a fun Saturday night battle between the two cross-conference enemies.
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