The Atlanta Hawks 5-Man Lineup That Is Working
This lineup could serve as a first glimpse of a successful future for the Hawks.
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The NBA All-Star break came at a great time for the Atlanta Hawks. The club limped into the break on a three-game losing streak. Two of those three losses came against the Charlotte Hornets, who have now passed the Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks seem destined for yet another quick Play-In exit this spring, but we have a long way to go before we talk about the Hawks losing in Charlotte 138-111 to end their season, or something along those lines.
Let’s stay positive: the Hawks have a five-man lineup that is working. In 139 possessions together, the five-man lineup of CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Oneyka Okongwu is +25.1. It’s the best lineup that Atlanta has trotted out this season that has played more than 100 possessions together. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, I suppose, as the aforementioned five are also Atlanta’s five-best players right now. This lineup, working without a true point guard, already has me thinking about next season.
In May 2024, nearly two years ago now, the Atlanta Hawks caught a break from the Basketball Gods when they won the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery. Or at least it felt that way at the time. Second-year wing Zaccharie Risacher is a fine player. It seems likely that he will play in the NBA for many years to come. He’s already a league-average shooter from deep, which is obviously important for his career trajectory. However, he has an 18 percent usage rate, and 93 percent of his threes have been assisted this season. He doesn’t get to the free-throw line often. He’s near the bottom in the League in AST%. However, in the two lineups where he has played a combined 881 possessions this season, both units have a positive plus/minus. Oddly enough, the lineup Atlanta needed to play its best this season – Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu – didn’t work as they were a -22.1 on the floor together in their brief 93 possessions.
McCollum, whom the Hawks acquired in the trade that sent Trae Young to Washington, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The veteran guard will be 35 to start next season, so I wonder if he and Atlanta agree to a new deal that keeps him here for another year or two. He is not the same player he was in Portland, but he has his moments, like that first quarter against Minnesota a few nights ago. On a team that doesn’t feature many shot-creators, McCollum has been valuable in his brief time in an Atlanta uniform. Retaining McCollum could be important for general manager Onsi Saleh this offseason, as the veteran has fit in nicely and should be featured as a first-guy-off-the-bench player next season. This is especially true if that five-man lineup continues to show well over the Hawks’ remaining schedule.
The Hawks could find themselves with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft once again. The New Orleans Pelicans likely won’t have the worst record in the NBA, as the Sacramento Kings have lost fourteen straight games. Given where things stood just a few short weeks ago, the Hawks still maintain a great chance at picking within the top-4 in the 2026 NBA Draft. If the ping pong balls deliver for Atlanta in that fashion, the Hawks will be in a fantastic position to land one of Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Tennessee’s Nate Ament, or even Houston’s Kingston Flemings.
If the Basketball Gods are kind, the Hawks will pick somewhere in the top-4 in the 2026 NBA Draft. With Johnson, Daniels, Alexander-Walker, and Okongwu, you feel good about those four on the floor together in crunch time. They should each be considered part of your immediate core. Alexander-Walker has made a huge jump in his expanded role in Atlanta, and it’s fair to explore what he might look like paired with a high-usage backcourt mate like Peterson or Dybantsa.
Risacher, Corey Kispert, Mouhamed Gueye, and Asa Newell project as helpful rotation pieces next season. The Hawks will need to add another big man in the offseason. McCollum as a third guard would be really nice, depending on who the Hawks land in the lottery this summer. Wilson, Ament, or Boozer are not the cleanest fits next to Johnson. Maybe Illinois’ sharpshooter Keaton Wagler is an option for Atlanta.
The more I write about it and the more I think about it, the case for Ament to be No. 3 on Atlanta’s board after Peterson and Dybantasa works. Daniels and Ament would be a great 1-2 punch for Atlanta’s perimeter defense. Ament doesn’t have to be a four to thrive in Atlanta. He has shown a lot more playmaking over the last month in Knoxville, too. A young core of Johnson, Ament, and Daniels is compelling. If Peterson or Dybantsa are there when Atlanta is on the clock, they are the pick. However, I think the cleanest Johnson-Daniels core pairing after that pivots to Ament.There is some Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown logic to a long-term pairing of Johnson and Ament.
It’s exciting, though. That Peterson or Dybantsa could wind up in Atlanta. The five-man unit of Peterson-NAW-Daniels-Johnson-Okongwu is extremely fascinating. Same if you insert Dybantsa in for Peterson. Those are your home-run scenarios. After that, it doesn’t get dicey, but it does get complicated. Boozer would be tempting at the No. 3 slot, but I don’t like the long-term fit next to Johnson and Johnson projects as a multi-time All-Star in Atlanta. You already have your Star Duke Forward. You need either a high-usage guard that can defend or a long wing who can defend multiple positions and join Daniels in establishing a higher floor defensively for head coach Quinn Snyder’s team next season.
The NBA season is not over – we’re just on a brief break. The Pelicans could catch the Kings or Wizards at the bottom of the standings. The Milwaukee Bucks could shock us all and do the same. Most importantly, the Hawks’ five-man unit’s success with McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Johnson, and Okongwu could serve as a continued reminder of how good and how fun the Hawks could be with Peterson or Dybantsa in that spot next season.