The Atlanta Hawks will have one major decision once opening night roles around: CJ McCollum or Lu Dort in the starting five. McCollum slid into the starting five after the Hawks acquired him last season, taking over primary ball handling duties, but that doesn't mean he has to retain that role to start the new season.
The first game of the preseason gave no answers to the question. Dort and McCollum both sat out the game, with rookie Kingston Flemings starting with the other four usual starters.
McCollum and Dort will provide two very different looks to opponents when mixed in the other four starters. Last seasons starting five of McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu obviously worked well.
Of five man lineups that played more than 15 games together, those five were were the third highest scoring lineup at 34.8 points per game (and 123.1 points per 100 possessions).
The combination of that five pushes Daniels and Alexander-Walker in wing players in the Hawks offense. While not a problem for NAW, who excelled the entire season, Daniels shooting struggles make him a sub-par off ball player. The Hawks were still able to scheme around it, though, and were obviously effective.
The Hawks offense wasn't as good without McCollum last season, and they need to remember that
Switching out Dort for McCollum will change the offensive responsibilities for Alexander-Walker and Daniels. While McCollum works best as a primary ball-handler, Dort is purely and off-ball player and provides a different look.
That would push ball-handling responsibilities back to NAW and Daniels. That would certainly boost Daniels' offensive effectiveness, who has shown he is a good facilitator, but it may not help the entire lineup.
Last season, the five man lineup of Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Johnson, Okongwu, and Zaccharie Risacher was the 17th best five-man lineup (with over 15 games played) at 25.9 points per game ( and 117.9 points per 100 possessions), but that's an almost 10 point drop from the lineup with McCollum.
While Dort is not Risacher, that should give some perspective as to how the lineup works with a true wing and not a true primary ball-handler.
It makes sense to have McCollum come off the bench. The Hawks don't have a proven scorer on the bench without him, and that could be very helpful to boost the offensive effectiveness through the entire game. Last season should show that the starting five is most effective with him in it, though.
While Dort would upgrade the defense to the starting five, putting three elite defenders in there, offensively it's too much of a step back. For the most success this season, McCollum needs to start the season in the starting five.
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