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Feb 8, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives past Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) during the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Five on Five: Atlanta Hawks Versus Washington Wizards

Originally posted on Atlanta Hawks on SI | By Rohan Roman | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 7:44 AM ET

Many around the league and in the NBA media have lauded the Atlanta Hawks for the work they did this summer. They made aggressive moves and should be a vastly improved team. Things got started with the big three-team trade that landed the Hawks Kristaps Porzingis and they continued into the actual free agent period. Atlanta signed arguably the top free agent on the market when they inked former Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a four-year $62 million deal and then free agent sharpshooter Luke Kennard signed a one-year 11$ million deal.

At this time in the offseason, it's useful to see how the Hawks' expected starting lineup stacks up against the rest of the NBA. It makes the most sense to first compare them to their Eastern Conference counterparts before moving on to the West.

So, how does Atlanta's 2025-26 starting five compare to that of the Washington Wizards?

Point Guard: Trae Young vs Bub Carrington

Young is one of the best offensive engines in basketball and while Carrington certainly has potential, he's not anywhere close to the multi-time All-Star and All-NBA caliber force that Young is. This is pretty simple.

PG Advantage: Young

Shooting Guard: Dyson Daniels vs CJ McCollum/Tre Johnson

This is a case of defense vs offense, but I still think Daniels is a better option than either McCollum or Johnson. He led the NBA in steals last season and still averaged 14.1 points on 54.5 TS%. Both McCollum and Johnson, who the Wizards selected sixth overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, will likely be better shooters than Daniels and have more utility on offense. However, both are questionable defenders and can be targeted on that end of the floor. At only 22 years old, I feel confident Daniels can grow into being a more useful offensive player - he hit career-best shooting marks with Atlanta last season.

SG Advantage: Daniels

Small Forward: Bilal Coulibaly vs Zaccharie Risacher

In the battle of young French forwards, I strongly considered taking Risacher over Coulibaly. Bilal has a ton of upside, averaging 12.3 points, five rebounds and 3.4 assists in a major role for the Wizards last season and has special defensive tools. Coulibaly could be an All-Star level player in time if he's able to capitalize on his abilities as a facilitator. Risacher profiles as more of a plug-and-play role player who can't be relied upon to create his own offense, . The main differentiator between the two is whether Coulibaly's shooting numbers improve. After shooting 34.6% from deep on low volume, he shot 28% from deep last season on about the same amount of shots per game. That's a bit worrying, but I ultimately trust that he will eventually be a better player than Risacher.

SF Advantage: Coulibaly

Power Forward: Jalen Johnson vs Khris Middleton

If this was a comparison of who's had the better career, it'd be inarguably Middleton. However, the NBA champion forward isn't quite the same player who took over as Milwaukee's second option throughout their championship run. He gets injured frequently and lost a lot of the athleticism that made him a two-way force. Johnson is one of the most exciting young players in the NBA and hasn't hit anywhere close to his ceiling yet. In 2025-26, it's clearly Johnson.

PF Advantage: Johnson

Center: Alex Sarr vs Kristaps Porzingis/Onyeka Okongwu

Alex Sarr has plenty of time to develop into being a good center, but his rookie season wasn't exactly one that definitively showed he'd be a future star. His defensive abilities are considerable - he can guard on the perimeter and he's a great help defender. However, he lacks the strength to protect the rim and hasn't developed into enough of a scorer to offset that. While he could eventually become a capable shooter, he doesn't bring the two-way impact of someone like a healthy Porzingis. Despite his poor showing in EuroBasket yesterday, the larger sample size shows a dominant rim protector who can space the floor in Porzingis's game. Even Okongwu, who doesn't have the ceiling of Sarr, is currently a better center than Sarr due to his ability to be a solid rim protector and finish at the rim.

C Advantage: Porzingis/Okongwu