Many Hawks fans were frustrated when Jock Landale was re-signed to a one-year, $14 million deal, presumably locking in their center room for the 2026-27 season, but now it's looking like a genius move.
While there's no legitimate star-caliber player on the roster holding down the paint, they have a more-than serviceable unit of Onyeka Okongwu, Henri Veesaar, and of course, Landale. There was once a dream they'd be able to pry Walker Kessler away from the Utah Jazz, but another team out West got to him before they could.
Maybe it's a good thing. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, "The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030 ... Kessler will sign a massive four-year, $130 million deal with the Lakers."
There was no way the Hawks should've given up that much
The idea of Kessler in a Hawks uniform was intriguing for obvious reasons. In their first-round meeting with the eventual champion New York Knicks, they were bullied down low, signaling the need for a rapid improvement to their center room.
The only way they were going to be able to get Kessler, though, was going to be from either offering more money to him than the Jazz would like to match - which would result in them being unable to re-sign CJ McCollum and Jock Landale - or outbid any potential suitors in a sign-and-trade.
The Hawks aren't nearly as desperate for a frontcourt fix than a team like the Lakers, who have been in dire need of a consistent center since acquiring Luka Doncic before the 2025 trade deadline.
Los Angeles didn't have much leverage in this situation, and ended up paying Kessler more than his expected value on the market, as well as parting with most of the tradable draft picks they had left.
Atlanta staying the course is calculated; not complacent
If the Kessler signing doesn't work out, or he gets injured once more, it could backfire quickly on them. The Hawks, however, know what they're getting out of their rotation bigs.
If Landale was healthy for any of the Knicks series, who knows? Maybe, they could've pushed it to seven games. It's a real shame that he got hurt just before the postseason began, and it gave the Hawks more reason to bring him back, as the chip on his shoulder is bigger than ever.
Atlanta is likely going to enter the season with a center tandem that many teams would dream of having on their roster. It's up to them to utilize them the best they can.
Sometimes, staying put is the most logical direction, as an overpay for Kessler would've probably done more harm than good for a franchise on the come-up.
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