The Atlanta Hawks head into the 2026-27 season with aspirations of growth. Last season was a major stepping stone to what Atlanta hopes to do with its team. After swapping Trae Young for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, the team went 26-15, climbing out of the play-in spots and up to the sixth seed.
The Hawks head into the new season with potentially the same starting lineup, but with additions of key role players Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, and re-signing Jock Landale, to help improve the bench.
What they currently have should hopefully be an improvement on last season's team, but a lot of teams around the Eastern Conference made major splashes, making an already hard conference more competitive.
Philadelphia made the biggest splash of the offseason, getting LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. Miami made a major addition too, trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Washington is looking to make a leap with Trae and Anthony Davis healthy, plus first overall pick AJ Dybansta is a star in the making. New York retained most of its championship roster that saw them win the Finals.
After months of mostly nothing, Cleveland resigned James Harden and completed the sign-and-trade of up-and-coming winger Peyton Watson. Finally, Toronto was able to complete the acquisition of Kawhi Leonard after the investigation into the Clippers wrapped up.
Atlanta didn't make a splash this offseason, but that doesn't prevent them from doing so in-season
The Hawks decided not to make the major splash like some of their Eastern Conference counterparts did, but that doesn't mean they won't be able to at the trade deadline. One player Atlanta should be keeping on its radar is the main name headed in the other direction in the Leonard trade: Brandon Ingram.
The 6'8'' winger is a high-end scorer that Atlanta could use if the offense isn't able to replicate last season's success. The Hawks played a great brand of team basketball under Quinn Snyder last season.
Led by Jalen Johnson and Most Improved Player Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Hawks' quick ball movement and high playmaking IQ from a lot of their starting five made them hard to stop. While the hopes are that a full offseason with the same key players should help the chemistry even more, there was also a whole offseason of tape to try to stop Snyder's offense.
Should the Hawks start to scuffle, Ingram is a player who will almost certainly be available at the deadline.
The 29-year-old scored 21.5 points per game, while adding 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 77 regular-season games. He did that on a 26.4 usage rate, the same as Jalen Johnson last season. While Ingram isn't the best defender, the Hawks have a lot of good defenders up and down the lineup that they could easily use to make up for any deficiency he could bring.
Ingram is known as one of the best midrange scorers in the NBA. Last season, he shot 49.5% of shots 8-16 feet away from the basket and 45.1% on shots 16-24 ft from the basket. His 5.6 attempts per game from 8-16 feet ranked fifth in the NBA last season, and 2.6 makes ranked sixth. It's a different skill set than Atlanta has at the moment. The closest Hawk in attempts from 8-16 feet per game was Johnson at 3.5.
Ingram has two years left on his contract, with the second being a player option. If Atlanta did want to acquire him, they wouldn't be stuck long term if they didn't want to be. He also may not cost as much in a trade with the situation the Clippers find themselves in.
The Hawks may not find themselves needing to do much to address the roster during the NBA season. Should they need to make a major upgrade and want a player who would offer a different look, Brandon Ingram is someone they should be keeping a close eye on.
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