With the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, and Asa Newell thus far this offseason, the Atlanta Hawks face a champagne problem: who should begin the season in the starting lineup?
Four Hawks are clear-cut starters - perennial All-Star talent Trae Young, 2025 All-Defensive First Team member and Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels, rising star Jalen Johnson, and the floor-spacing titan Kristaps Porzingis. The murkier waters lie in having to decide which Hawk will slide into that coveted 5th starting spot.
The two remaining starters from last campaign for Atlanta most likely to vie for such a spot this season are rising star Zaccharie Risacher and tantalizing big man Onyeka Okongwu. Opting for Risacher would favor a spaced offense, while choosing Okongwu would allow for supplementary rim protection and a dynamic rim presence on offense.
Ultimately, this choice rests squarely in the hands of Quin Snyder.
Snyder has long opted for a single-big lineup, dating back to his time as head coach for the Utah Jazz between 2014 and 2022. The Gobert-Mitchell Jazz were a force to be reckoned with - on the defensive end of the floor, the strategy of containing drives with the looming presence of the Stifle Tower proved to be effective year after year. On offense, utilizing Gobert in pick-and-roll scenarios was a reliable way to generate easy looks.
In addition to the historical precedent set by Snyder, the argument for Risacher is bolstered through his shooting metrics in the latter half of his rookie season. Prior to the beginning of the 2025 calendar year, Risacher sank a worrisome 28.9% of his attempts from deep. This unfortunate trend reversed in the new year, where he not only shot 40.1% from range, but also raised his scoring average from 10.8 PPG in 2024 to 14.0 PPG in 2025.
A strong case can be made for Risacher to be the Hawks' final starter on opening night - however, the league has been moving in another direction of late - utilizing the intimidating double-big lineup.
The double-big theory and the argument for Okongwu
In recent years, teams have found success spanning deep into the postseason utilizing the double-big lineup. Minnesota ran Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert together to take down the defending champion Denver Nuggets in 2024; Oklahoma City paired Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren together to lock down their interior; Boston combined Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis at times to space the floor en route to a 2024 NBA Title.
Outside of the broader league-wide trend of going big, the idea of pairing Okongwu alongside Porzingis is favorable in a number of ways. First, the presence of Okongwu as a help-side rim protector would take a significant physical toll off the weary shoulders of The Unicorn. Porzingis' injury history is well-documented, and the Celtics often utilized a dual-big approach of their own to mitigate this physical load for the star big man.
The pairing of Horford and Porzingis was resoundingly successful last year - not only did the presence of this duo achieve a net rating of +10.0 in 420 minutes played, but they also significantly raised the Celtics' ability in two critical aspects - rebounding and pace. While a rebounding improvement is certainly to be expected (71.7 DREB% with neither Horford or Porzingis or only one present to 76.6 DREB% with both on the court), the increase in pace while running two aging big men is almost paradoxical.
The Celtics were penultimately the slowest-paced team in the league last year (96.59), but with Horford and Porzingis on the court together (101.09), they would have been ranked the 5th fastest-paced team in the league. The ability of the two bigs to snag defensive rebounds and ignite the break would likely be mirrored in lineups containing Okongwu and Porzingis next year for the Hawks.
Ultimately, Quin Snyder must decide between favoring floor spacing and sticking to his 1-big lineup roots by choosing Risacher, or taking a risk based on advanced metrics and a broader league-wide trend of size that favors the double-big lineup of Okongwu and Porzingis. It's a high-stakes decision, and one that I certainly do not envy.