As NBA free agency looms, a new report has emerged about Atlanta Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu, and the level that the team’s front office values him.
“I have heard that at the 2025 trade deadline, the Lakers offered the ‘Mark Williams package’ for Walker Kessler, Jalen Duren and Onyeka Okongwu,” Lakers reporter Jovan Buha said on Buha’s Block during a live stream last Wednesday night. “All three of those teams [Utah, Detroit, and Atlanta] respectively rejected that offer. That was Dalton Knecht, the Lakers [2031] first round pick, and a pick swap. The Lakers’ best offer is still that, essentially.”
Los Angeles, a franchise that is hungry for contention with Luka Doncic’s prime and LeBron James’ latter years, is in desperate need of a center. In their five-game defeat to Minnesota in the first round, the taller, physically imposing Timberwolves picked them apart inside. First-year coach JJ Redick went centerless time after time. It was painfully obvious what the Lakers’ biggest need was heading into this offseason.
For the Hawks, Okongwu is a foundational piece of their future alongside Trae Young and company. He’s coming off of a career-best average of 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season, while staying healthy and playing 74 of 82 games.
In years past, the 24-year-old big man out of USC served as the backup to Clint Capela, more often than not. 2024 brought an uptick in minutes and role on the team. His presence as a feisty, yet undersized, center gave Atlanta flexibility in lineups. Being a solid, switchable defender as well as an athletic offensive player paired perfectly with Trae Young.
Hawks getting the bigger picture
In the bigger picture, centers like Okongwu are in vogue across the league. Minnesota made a conference finals push just two years ago with a giant frontline of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Cleveland won 64 games en route to the top seed in the Eastern Conference this past season with anchors like Jarrett Allen and Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley. After the 2010s era pushed for smaller, quicker lineups to rule the day (a la Golden State), the mid-2020s are starting to be defined by physical play inside the paint.
Bigger is better, at least for now. Atlanta is following suit.
Not accepting a trade that would’ve netted them a high-upside shooter like Knecht means more than just a vote of confidence in Okongwu, however. It’s also a sign that general manager Onsi Saleh feels that the team is slowly building toward something special. Making a win-now move like trading for Kristaps Porzingis was the epitome of that.
Instead of betting on a one-way player like Knecht and future draft capital (when Los Angeles may still be contending with Doncic), Atlanta is looking to keep climbing with what they already have: a valuable two-way piece.
The Hawks have a clear plan, and Okongwu is at the center of it. Literally.