Do Hawks Need To Change Leaders To Be Birds Of Prey?

After the game, Young would lament his team’s performance, pointing to their lack of continuity (h/t ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk).

“I don’t think there’s too many positives you can take from tonight,” Young said. “It’s embarrassing the way we started it. A lot of it comes from the preseason, obviously it carried over, we didn’t play all five of us. You could tell by the continuity we had out there, it wasn’t right.

There was a nugget of truth in that excuse, but it didn’t hold enough weight, and not just because the Hawks played better in the beginning of the game. Young not being used to playing with Porzingis isn’t the reason that he shot 5-14 from the field and 1-7 from 3. Porzingis not being used to playing with the Hawks isn’t the reason he shot 5-12 from the field.

Many of their errant shots were the byproduct of poor shot-selection. They missed some make-able shots as well, their touch just a bit off. That’s also the case for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who went 2-15 from the field and 1-5 from 3 in his debut. Luke Kennard is one of the best 3-point shooters in league history, but went just 1-5 from 3 himself.

Looking at their turnovers, only one was directly from miscommunication, as Kennard attempted a pass that Mo Gueye didn’t anticipate. Yet, by then, the Hawks were already down 22 points with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Power & Pace

From the Raptors side, their projected starters did get to work on their chemistry prior to the season. Indeed, it was evident in their shovel passes and pick-and-rolls with Jakob Poeltl how much they had worked together. Yet, their cohesiveness wasn’t so perfect that it’s why the Hawks allowed Toronto to score 138 points. Furthermore, Ingram didn’t play with Toronto at all in 2024-25, choosing to rehab his ankle injury after they traded for him.

Besides that, while Atlanta did look a bit out of sorts at times defensively, this same group looked like they could be a lockdown unit in the preseason.

The reason that Toronto was able to play so well offensively isn’t even because they took an abundance of easy shots. Yes, there was a certain level of connectivity they possessed. More importantly, they played with force. In fact, they outscored the Hawks by +30 points (86-56) in the paint. They played fast, outscoring the Hawks by +23 points in fastbreak points (34-11).

Following Jalen Johnson’s Lead

For years, Young has been Atlanta’s franchise star. However, looking at the way they were completely outclassed in the season opener raises a serious question: Should the Hawks follow Johnson’s lead instead of Young?

On Wednesday, Johnson was the team’s brightest spot offensively. In 35 minutes, he recorded 22 points and eight assists, going 7-13 from the field and 8-10 from the free-throw line.

In a sense, it’s ironic that he was matched up against Barnes, a point-forward who finished the game with 22 points and nine assists. Though Barnes isn’t the Raptors’ most refined scorer, he’s their most well-rounded player when factoring in both ends. Furthermore, he plays with the pace and force that defines their offensive attack. In essence, Toronto plays with his personality, making him the de facto on-court leader.

It sounds strange to say Atlanta should be taking a page out of their book. Yet, looking at the most recent chapters in their franchise history, it’s worth considering. After all, how much longer can the Hawks afford to run their offense through Young, an inefficient lead guard who loves the 3-ball more than it loves him? He’s a rarefied passer and has become more open to sharing the scoring load. Even so, they’re playing roulette by playing through him because they can’t truly trust him to make a shot when they need it, they just know he’ll score eventually.

As if that’s not problematic enough, Young will rarely if ever set the tone for the Hawks defensively. He cares to compete more at that end than in the past. Even so, no matter how big his heart gets, it won’t change his physical stature. At the end of the day, he’s 6-foot-1 guard and weighs 164 pounds. He has respectable short-area burst and straight-line speed but limited lateral agility and vertical explosiveness.

Moving forward, the Hawks may be better off utilizing Young as Johnson’s second-in-command, rather than the other way around. It’ll be a less-than-subtle change but one that could enhance their efficiency and evolve their identity.