Atlanta has a deep roster. It's a great thing, considering they haven't had the best injury luck to begin the season.
Well, taking it even further back, before the year began, Mo Gueye was ruled to miss at least the first few months of the season, and Henri Veesaar - Atlanta's second-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft - tore his ACL. He's likely going to miss the entire season.
Now that the offseason's a thing of the past, the injury report has remained crowded. Both Jalen Johnson and Jock Landale have missed time. Others have been forced to step up, and for the most part, they've delivered. Especially Corey Kispert.
Atlanta's needed efficiency, and he's brought exactly that
The Hawks' offense through nine games has been impossible to describe.
Certain factors - like positional matchups, size disadvantages and unfamiliar stomping grounds - have held them back in their pursuit of a highly-effective offense. Their biggest issue, however, has been their overreliance on outside shooting.
In a way - they live by the three, and die by the three. Kispert has chosen the former.
Atlanta expected more out of the 27-year-old forward when they acquired him as part of January's controversial Trae Young-Washington trade. They figured, at the very least, they were getting a hyper-efficient three-point shooter with a strong finishing ability and elite positional size.
By the end of last season, though, he was out of the rotation. Considering his limitations on the defensive end, if the outside shot wasn't perfect, there wasn't much reason for him to be playing nightly minutes in a playoff setting.
The thing is, though, his outside shot has been about as close to perfect as possible this season.
Although a limited sample size, through five games played, Kispert is shooting exactly 60% from beyond the arc. Incredible efficiency from deep.
His unique advantage was on full display in victory over Wizards
An outside shooting specialist's size doesn't always present itself as a factor towards deciding a contest, but against Washington, Kispert's did.
Upon checking in for the first time, he immediately went to work offensively, taking advantage of Trae Young's known weakness on the opposite side.
He used his size to create quality looks and continued what has slowly become an undeniable early-season trend. Kispert's shooting the ball very well, and if he continues to be a standout from beyond the perimeter, Coach Snyder may have no other choice than to keep playing him.
Even when Johnson and company are back.
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