ESPN: Atlanta Hawks Are 'All-In' On Building Around Their Young Core

While the veterans on the team get a ton of attention, the Atlanta Hawks have one of the best young cores in the NBA. Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, and Dyson Daniels have established themselves as long-term pieces to build around and if guys like Kobe Bufkin and Asa Newell show enough this season, that will only make things better. The blend between the Hawks' young core and the veterans on the team is why some think Atlanta will be among the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton placed every NBA team into an "All In Tier" that they made and they placed the Hawks in the tier of "All In Around Their Young Core", along with the Pistons, Grizzlies, Blazers, and Spurs:

"The Hawks got a huge boost to their future this summer when their draft night trade with the New Orleans Pelicans landed them a pick projected to land inside the top 10 in next year's draft, only adding to a core that includes last year's No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels, last season's most improved player.

Detroit saw Cade Cunningham, the 2021 No. 1 pick, take a massive step forward last season as the franchise won a playoff game for the first time since 2008. Now, the goal is to build on that success for Cunningham and a young core around him featuring Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren.

The Grizzlies, on the other hand, suffered a short-term setback by unloading Bane to Orlando for a collection of picks -- but one of them, probably Phoenix's 2026 first-rounder, has a lot of upside. The hope is that pick, plus this year's lottery selection, Cedric Coward, and franchise cornerstones Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., can allow this team to have a long runway.

The Trail Blazers now have a large collection of young talent -- Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen are all under 25 -- that they're hoping to grow with after acquiring veterans Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard this summer. It does remain unclear what shape the roster will take as that talent sorts itself out.

The Spurs, of course, have been at the heart of this category since the 2023 draft lottery when they won the right to select Victor Wembanyama. Since then, the Spurs have leaned on the big man to usher in a new era of excellence in San Antonio. The franchise has added to that group by drafting Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, and landing De'Aaron Fox via trade in the two-plus years since drafting Wembanyama."