The Atlanta Hawks will not be a part of the NBA playoff field for the second straight season.
After three straight trips that peaked in the first with an Eastern Conference Finals, followed by back-to-back first-round exits and four straight Play-In Tournament appearances, the Hawks hit the offseason facing an uncomfortably familiar question: What comes next?
Here are a trio of moves the Hawks can – and should – make this offseason that can get them back to the playoffs.
Find a Rim Protector
Draft Target: Khaman Maluach
Veteran Target: Jaxson Hayes
This general move would solve a few issues for the Hawks beyond the obvious. The Hawks went from averaging 5.2 blocks per game to 4.9 BPG following the trade deadline, largely due to a combination of personnel changes, many of which were determined by injuries.
Already a small team, the Hawks switched from Clint Capela to the slightly smaller Onyeka Okongwu, who is better offensively than his teammate but also a worse paint defender.
Ideally, the Hawks would come away from the 2025 NBA Draft with Duke’s Khaman Maluach.
However, he could go in the top 10, and the best the Hawks can hope for is to land the No. 13 overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. If Mauluach slides – there is some uncertainty about the status of his visa – he could be a savvy addition for a Hawks team well-versed in stash plays.
At 7-2 and possessing a fitting disposition, Maluach would allow the Hawks to flirt with big lineups featuring Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Zaccharie Risacher.
Maluach averaged 1.3 blocks per game in 2024.
The Hawks will not have cap space this offseason barring work to free some. That would entail moving off some key pieces, which cannot be ruled out. Assuming they are still viewing this as a building season, though, pursuing a veteran option like Jaxson Hayes could be feasible.
He is coming off a two-year, $4.6 million pact, has experience as a starter and off the bench, and is an athletic rim-runner, the likes of which should complement Trae Young on both ends.
It is difficult to sustain transition offense, especially when you struggle to get stops.
Adding one center could make life easier on their current group of wings, which are more difficult to find in free agency and the draft, and rarely become available in trades. The Hawks can focus their wing efforts elsewhere.
Add a sharpshooter
Draft Target: Kon Knueppel
Veteran Target: Malik Beasley
The Hawks have been a team that relied heavily on the three-ball, as have Quin Snyder’s groups in the past. This season, though, the Hawks were a middling team, ranking 15th in attempts and 18th in efficiency.
Adding a Duke’s Kon Knueppel could take care of that.
He averaged 5.3 attempts per game and shot better than 40% from downtown during the 2024 campaign, and he is more than just a catch-and-shoot threat.
He has good size at 6-foot-6 and should be able to step into some sort of role right away. The Hawks were quick to go away from Garrison Mathews in the rotation as the season went on, and Vit Krejci’s role is more multi-faceted.
Knueppel projects as a fit with many different groupings next season if he lands in Atlanta.
Conversely, if catch-and-shoot is what the Hawks want, Malik Beasley should be a prime target if the Detroit Pistons let him hit the open market. He is on a one-year, $6 million pact, so he and Hayes could be a quasi-package deal.
They could cost less than the full non-taxpayer MLE (projected at $14.1 million, per Spotrac) combined.
Adding a rim protector and sharpshooter would leave the Hawks with one last glaring need.
Solve Backup PG
Draft Target: Boogie Fland
Veteran Target: Tyus Jones
This one could have easily been “get healthy,” but dumb luck plays too big of a role to count on “addressing” it in any tangible way. Instead, the Hawks must finally settle their point guard spot behind Young.
Hawks assistant coach Mike Brey cited settling their young players down and getting Young going as two keys in the second half against the Heat in the Play-In.
Drafting Boogie Fland in the second round out of Arkansas could be a solution.
Fland is not regarded as a starting point guard prospect, but he does possess many of the traits teams often look for out of scoring options at that position off the bench. He would also be a bargain outside of the first round.
A veteran PG like Tyus Jones can help alleviate concerns on both fronts.
Jones could serve as a savvy table setter on the second unit and when Young needs a break, especially when the four-time All-Star does not have it going offensively, as was the case against the Heat.
Young still boasted the fourth-highest on-off differential among players with at least 2700 minutes in 2024-25, per Cleaning The Glass.
The Hawks could also have more confidence in their current prospects.
Kobe Bufkin missed most of his second season with injuries and 2024 second-round pick Nikola Djurisic never signed with the Hawks, spending his season with the College Park Skyhawks after rehabbing from a toe injury.
With Young supported on the playmaking front by Daniels and Johnson, the Hawks do not necessarily need another ball-dominant guard.
They need someone they can rely on, though.