The Atlanta Hawks are once again one of the more fascinating teams heading into the offseason. They have questions in the front office and up and down the roster.
Former Memphis Grizzlies executive John Hollinger explained his belief on what the Hawks are planning to do, based on whispers around the league. It appears the Hawks have decided between Caris LeVert, Clint Capela, and Larry Nance Jr.
As many might expect at this point, Capela is indeed the anticipated odd man out.
However, Hollinger also gave frank assessments of Nance and starting center Onyeka Okongwu, relating him to the team’s offseason plans.
“I think they want to bring Nance back, yes. They liked having him in the locker room, they liked having him as a kind of fifth big,” Hollinger, now a senior writer for The Athletic, told host and NBA insider Zach Lowe on “The Zach Lowe Show” on May 22.
“I’m not sure if they’re bringing him back as a rotation guy. He can’t stay healthy enough to be a true rotation guy. They need another big 5 on that team. Okongwu was good in a lot of ways, but he’s 6’8.” Any time he’s matched up against [Karl-Anthony] Towns or one of these big 5s, he just kind of gets overwhelmed. They need somebody with true center size on that team.”
Hawks face harsh reality about Onyeka Okongwu
The Hawks list Okongwu at 6-foot-10 on their website, which drew attention before the season.
He is entering Year 2 of a four-year, $61.9 million contract, and the Hawks resisted overtures for him before making him their starter over Capela.
Nance arrived as part of the Hawks’ trade that sent Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2024 offseason. He struggled to see the floor early on and suffered what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury after being inserted into the rotation.
The Hawks quieted their defensive woes with Okongwu at the pivot to an extent.
Their net defensive efficiency differential ranked in the 98th percentile with Mouhamed Gueye next to Okongwu and the 25th without, per Cleaning The Glass.
They had 59th/37th percentile splits with Jalen Johnson. Capela’s future was seemingly sealed by the switch to Okongwu in the starting lineup, as the former rebounding champion has long been expected to seek greater opportunities in unrestricted free agency this offseason.
That would leave LeVert as the biggest question mark, but he has already said how he feels.
“We’ll see. I love this situation that I’m in right now. I love this team,” LeVert told HoopsHype’s Scotto in an interview published in March. “I feel pretty comfortable here. Like I always tell them, I’d love to re-sign here. My focus right now is the rest of the season and making the playoffs. It’s definitely something I’d want.”
Both Lowe and Hollinger noted that the Hawks will have flexibility to upgrade their center rotation even if they bring back LeVert and Nance.
Whether or not the Hawks would take that to the extreme and look to add a potential starting-caliber big man – either via trade, free agency, or even the 2025 NBA Draft – to at least push the former No. 6 overall pick (2020), Okongwu, remains to be seen.