Key Takeaways From Day Three Of Atlanta Hawks Training Camp

Training camp rolled on for the Atlanta Hawks yesterday in Nashville, and they are going to begin day four today. There are only four days until the Hawks play their first preseason game and less than three weeks until Atlanta gets their season going.

Atlanta is currently working on integrating the new additions to the team (Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Kingston Flemings, and Zuby Ejiofor) into the returning crop of players that they have and that is not always the easiest thing. But that is what training camp is for and here are our biggest takeaways from day three.

1. On mixing the new guys in with the returning players

This is one of the top things that head coach Quin Snyder is working on during camp and so far, so good for the Hawks. Snyder talked at length about the subject yesterday, including what Dort and Wiggins can bring to the team:

"Yeah, it's crucial. And I think some of it you can make assumptions and you should on the front end and then you need to see guys play together. See how those combinations work. Even someone like Jock, who we got right after All-Star break. He was unfortunately injured, so we didn't have him. The rookies, Lu, Aaron, so we do have a lot of new guys. We like what they can do, can bring. I think there's been an immediate connectivity where you have a chemistry from them as people and players. And from that point, you continue to build, and we'll see that."

How quickly these players can find roles will be key to a quick start for the Hawks, who open with the Magic, Hornets, and Rockets in their first three games.

2. Nickeil Alexander-Walker talks short-term and long-term vision for the team

The Hawks are a team that has goals of getting back to the post-season, but the focus right now is getting better in the short term so that they can achieve those goals. Yesterday, Nickeil Alexander-Walker talked about those and how to balance that:

"Just continue to get better, I think. Sometimes they coexist, you know, can't get too long without the other. And the day-to-day stuff is what leads to the long-term stuff. So I think it's simpler almost to start day-to-day, continue to get better, take care of your body, don't get too far ahead of yourself. And, you know, when you, for me, in my experience, when you're able to just focus on the task at hand,pay attention to the noise, what other teams are doing, what media's saying, expectations, good or bad, and you're just kind of like in this environment here with the team, group of guys, bonding, you don't really realize how far along you can get. And I think that's more the goal because alternatively you stumble on the success."

3. Jalen Johnson talks about the team's mindset entering camp

For the first time in his career, Jalen Johnson is going to enter the season as the face of the franchise for the Atlanta Hawks. Johnson got a taste of what that is like when the Hawks traded Trae Young in January and he was able to lead the Hawks to the playoffs. When asked yesterday about the team's mindset at the beginning of camp, here is what Johnson had to say:

"I think it's just everybody's mindset. Everybody's mindset individually, you and collectively. Most importantly, I think everybody's coming in with the mindset that it starts right now. Obviously, it started, everybody was kind of here in Atlanta early, so just us picking up where we left off with the same intensity. I was just telling somebody over there, like, it's my sixth training camp, and this has by far been the most high intensity, like most competitive one I've been in so far. So it's exciting that all the guys are coming in with that mindset and just hope to keep building up with it."

4. Aaron Wiggins talks his transition from the Thunder

Aaron Wiggins is used to winning and has been one of the NBA's best success stories. After being picked near the end of the draft in 2021, Wiggins played a vital role off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder as a versatile defender and three-point shooter. Wiggins does have former Thunder teammate Lu Dort to help him along with his transition in Atlanta and Wiggins talked a bit about how smooth the transition has been to Atlanta:

" It's truthfully been a very smooth transition. These guys have a similar just kind of way about themselves in terms of, you know, the relationships that they already have, hanging out with each other outside of, you know, basketball, different conversations. And, I mean, we've done some activities outside of, you know, being together on the court that has continued to kind of build a relationship and bring us together. So it's been fun. The energy you can see, you know, amongst the team is youthful, and it's fun to be fun."

Add us as a preferred source on Google