Terance Mann laughs off final moments with Hawks as organization quickly moves on

Terance Mann’s final and, for many fans, most enduring moment with the Atlanta Hawks came near the end of their season-ending loss to the Miami Heat in the second round of the Play-In Tournament. More than two months later, Mann is still defending himself over it.

The Hawks trailed the Heat by 7 points with roughly three minutes to go in overtime. Mann, working off the ball, ran into Heat guard Davion Mitchell and received an offensive foul, turning the ball over.

Miami scored on the ensuing possession. Mann was subbed out soon after.

While reacting to a blooper reel on X of a possession by the Hawks to commemorate the randomness of the 2024-25 season, Mann, whose role in the trade cannot go through until July 6, was presented with a clip of the play by a fan in the comments.

“This is crazy,” Mann posted on X on June 27. “I was just tryna get to the corner [laughing emoji].”

The Hawks lost that game 123-114.

It should be noted that while that turnover allowed the Heat to extend what had been a 5-point lead, the Hawks were able to whittle it back down to a 3-point margin with 1:55 to go in the contest.

The Hawks traded Mann to the Brooklyn Nets in their deal that yielded Boston Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis.

His exit elicited a mix of reactions from fans, including those pointing to that late sequence.

Hawks have already moved on from Terance Mann

Mann, 28, had several big games with the Hawks, who acquired the veteran in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers for Bogdan Bogdanovic ahead of the 2025 deadline. However, the end of his tenure and his overall impact on the team both speak to why he is now elsewhere.

The Hawks have already moved on to their next chapter with the deal, but they have also already given Mann’s jersey number away.

Rookie first-round pick Asa Newell (No. 23 overall) will rock the No. 14 Mann donned last year.

It is a popular number in Hawks franchise history, where only three other digits – 12 (47 players), 10 (29 players), and 15 (26 players), the latter of which will fall once Newell steps on the floor for the first time.

The Hawks essentially swapped Mann’s three-year, $47 million contract, along with Georges Niang and final year of his three-year, $25.5 million pact for Porzingis.

The 7-foot-2 big man is on an expiring two-year, $60 million deal.

Moving Mann has left the Hawks navigating a significant need in the backcourt, where their only in-house options are 2023 first-round pick Kobe Bufkin, a combo guard who has missed more games than he has played, and Vit Krejci, who is promising but not a traditional table-setter.

Mann’s tenure with the Hawks may not have gone as anyone would have hoped, but his absence will be felt unless the Hawks address it this offseason with free agency looming.