Onyeka Okongwu Has Been The Center of Attention For the Atlanta Hawks in 2025

Onyeka Okongwu has never suffered from a lack of talent. The Hawks took him with the sixth overall pick after an excellent freshman season at USC. His athleticism and coordination showed up on both ends of the court. However, it'd be fair to say that he has not exactly met expectations in Atlanta.

For most of his career, Okongwu has been a solid backup center with flashes of more. Injuries have certainly affected this, but it's also fair to say he hasn't been a definitively better option than stalwart starter Clint Capela for most of his Hawks tenure. His best season came in 2022-23, where he played in 80 games and posted per-36 minutes of 15.4 points and 11.2 rebounds to go with 2.1 blocks per game. His 2.8 blocks per 100 possessions was a top-five mark in the NBA and he showed signs of growth with his jumper.

Before this season, I was optimistic that Okongwu could take another step. I wrote the following:

"Assuming that he's able to come back fully healthy, I would expect Okongwu to take another step this year. He already posted career-highs in three-point percentage, free-throw percentage and assists. Part of that could be symptomatic of a small sample size, but I do think he showed progress on offense. His playmaking looked better as he showed a real proficiency for finding cutters. His scoring at the rim continues to be efficient (74% in 2023-24) and he has the strength to get to the basket. He will struggle against true seven-footers to exert his strength, but he's a strong play finisher in most matchups."

However, that optimism was tempered by the viewpoint that he did need to deliver on the promise the Hawks saw in him when they signed him to a long-term deal. In the same article, I said this:

"In terms of his role in 2024-25, it needs to be obvious that he is the best candidate for the starting center job. As good as Capela has been for Atlanta in the past, Okongwu is the younger, more mobile option with a higher ceiling. The five-man lineup of Bogdanovic - Young - Okongwu - Bey - Johnson recorded a+13.7 net rating last year,which provides some credence to the idea that Okongwu is a better fit alongside Young and Johnson. The Hawks need to be a better defense in 2024-25 and Okongwu has the most versatility as a defender of any of the Hawks' options at center."

For most of this season, Okongwu did not answer that mandate. His size was still an issue in matchups against seven-footers, his shot did not take a significant leap forward and he continued to be an afterthought on offense. He showed his defensive versatility at times, but he never really threatened to take the starting job away from Capela. Even though Capela likely will not be back with the Hawks next season, it looked like Okongwu wasn't the long-term answer at the 5 up until January 14th against the Suns.

In that game, he became the first Atlanta Hawk to ever record a 20 point, 20-rebound game off the bench (22 points and 21 rebounds). Phoenix's center rotation has been dreadful for most of the season, so this could have been dismissed as the product of a weakened roster. Against smaller lineups, Okongwu is fully capable of dominating as a rebounder, scorer and defender due to his 6'10 frame and overall mobility.

However, he followed that effort up with two straight double-doubles against Chicago (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Boston (19 points, 13 rebounds). He has also looked better as a playmaker, recording 7 assists against the Bulls and six against the Suns. Passing has been a weak point in Okongwu's game even when he was at USC, so it's worth noting this uptick in playmaking. Even though it's over a small sample size, there's been some progress in Okongwu's ability to get teammates involved and carve out a significant role in the offense. It adds an entire new dimension to Atlanta's offensive approach if Okongwu can be relied upon as a complementary playmaker and scoring option.

Once again, the small sample size can be deceiving and all of those teams have centers who struggle on defense. It still merits recognition that he's averaging 18.3 points, 15.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 blocks on 60.6/75/70.6 shooting splits in those three games. I do not expect those numbers to hold up, but it's at least interesting that Atlanta has been so successful in this recent stretch because of his production.

Unfortunately, I do not think there's enough data to say that he should immediately become the unquestioned starting center. His defensive numbers are still down from the 2022-23 campaign and dspite having a career-high usage percentage of 17.3%, he's currently shooting at a career-worst TS% of 60%. The season-long trend of his poor shooting cannot be waived away by three games and the only real size disadvantage he's faced is from Luke Kornet. That being said, he is easily playing the best basketball of his career right now.

In terms of what this means for the rest of the season, fans should be interesting in seeing how things look against teams that employ a skilled seven-footer or a strong defensive anchor. Tomorrow's game against the Knicks could provide some perspective on that. Karl-Anthony Towns has been stellar for New York and Okongwu's ability to defend on the perimeter is extremely helpful against the sharpshooting center. If Towns misses the game due to a thumb injury that held him out in the Knicks' last game, the Hawks play another talented center duo in their game against the Pistons on Wednesday. Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart are both excellent challenges to see if this version of Okongwu is persistent.

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