Hawks Rotation Questions Ahead of Opening Night

A 6-foot-3 guard, Wallace plays hard and gives great effort every time he takes the floor. His biggest strength comes on the defensive side of the ball, as he hounds ball-handlers with physical, point-of-attack defense. Indeed, he collected 28 steals in the 31 games he played last season.

On the flip side, Wallace’s offensive game is limited, especially when factoring in his role as a lead guard. He often misses passing reads in transition or when operating as the ball handler in pick-and-roll.

For example, in the play above, Wallace gave the ball to Kennard up top to reset the possession and missed a cutting Jalen Johnson for an easy dunk. He also shot 32.9% on 2.6 3-pointers attempted per game.

The Hawks played Wallace with the key contributors in two preseason contests before converting his contract. With Atlanta lacking a designated backup point guard, could Wallace be in store for a small, consistent role? It is certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Frontcourt Questions Arise With 8-Man Rotation

Johnson, Okongwu, and Kristaps Porziņģis form one of, if not, the best frontcourt trios in the league. Not many teams have the skillsets all three players bring to the table combined. Throughout the preseason, Snyder was comfortable playing any combination of these three players.

Surprisingly, Mo Gueye and Vít Krejčí, who looked to be slotted in as the ninth and tenth guys, played little to no minutes with the key contributors. With that being said, if Snyder plans on giving all 96 frontcourt minutes to Johnson, Porziņģis, and Okongwu, he’s playing a dangerous game.

Porziņģis has only reached the 60-game mark three times in his nine-year career. Two of those came in his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Keeping this in perspective, the star center has suffered consistent lower-body injuries throughout his NBA tenure, limiting his durability. Yet, the Hawks need Porziņģis healthy if they are to make a deep playoff run. If Gueye doesn’t play regularly, even a small role, the Latvian center could be in store for a risky 30-minute-per-game role.

In the same vein, Johnson has suffered two freak injuries over the last couple of seasons. In 2023-24, he fractured his wrist and was out for a month. The next season, Johnson sustained a season-ending injury, this time a torn labrum. While not as concerning as Porziņģis’ setbacks, he’s yet to hit the 65-game mark in his young career. If he can avoid any unlucky injuries, the 23-year-old forward is poised to take another lead this season.