Hawks officially finalize their 15-man roster with long-awaited signing

The Atlanta Hawks have officially signed Caleb Houstan, a player who was reported to have signed with the team over a month ago.

Houstan is the perfect bench forward option for this team, bringing knockdown shooting ability to a frontcourt that lacked it last season. As a bench forward backing up the duo of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, Houstan shot 40% from downtown on 2.8 attempts per game last season.

The Hawks identified shooting as their major weakness entering this offseason, and they have acquired some of the best shooters in the league to aid their star core. Houstan, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kennard are some of the best shooters in the league in their respective roles, providing spacing for the elite slashing threats already on the squad.

Houstan was a former five-star prospect who has specialized his game since entering the NBA. He is a member of the long-lost three-point specialist archetype, impacting the game through his spark plug shooting and defensive effort. With Kennard, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kobe Bufkin, and one of Atlanta's elite centers, Houstan rounds out a quietly powerful bench lineup.

Atlanta has a roster built for playoff success

Atlanta has finalized their 15-man roster with this deal. The roster revolves around Trae Young, of course, who is one of the league's most outstanding offensive creators. Supporting him on that end is Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, and Kristaps Porzingis. On the other end, Dyson Daniels is the perfect guard partner for Young, and Porzingis, Onyeka Okongwu, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are excellent defenders to cover the rest of the floor.

The Hawks have assembled one of the league's best 8-man rotations with the depth to replenish their rotation if injury strikes. Atlanta will always be a strong offensive team with Young on the court. His incredible combination of scoring and playmaking ability elevates the team around him, as shown through his league-high 11.6 assists per game last season.

Jalen Johnson is the perfect offensive weapon to complement Young. Johnson is a dominant force in the paint, shooting 71.4% in the restricted area. Working alongside Young in the pick and roll or attacking off dribble penetration from Young, Johnson has quickly become one of the NBA's best young playmaking frontcourt players. While this is a niche role, players of this archetype tend to be key players in playoff runs.

Dyson Daniels was one of the league's best stories last season, earning the Most Improved Player award after a heroic season that earned him the runner-up spot in the Defensive Player of theYear race. There are many defensive specialists in the league, but Daniels' ability to fight through screens makes him unique.

The Hawks are quiet contenders to win the Eastern Conference this season. Anything can happen in the dogfight that is the NBA regular season, but expect Atlanta to overperform in the postseason.