One Atlanta Hawk Most Likely To Breakout In 2026-2027

The Atlanta Hawks were one of the biggest surprises in the NBA last season, especially after the All-Star Break. Atlanta entered the All-Star Break in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, but finished the season 20-6 and surged to 6th place in the East, where they would hand the Knicks two of their three losses in the playoffs.

A big reason for that big surge? Atlanta got breakout seasons from a number of different players.

Jalen Johnson had the best season of his career, earning an All-NBA spot and his first career All-Star appearance. Nickeil Alexander-Walker won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award. Onyeka Okongwu had the best shooting season of his career. Those three players, plus the continued development from Dyson Daniels gave the Hawks an exciting young core to build around.

If those four players continue to develop at a high level, Atlanta will continue to ascend in the Eastern Conference, but if they can continue developing players and getting breakout seasons from others, that is a huge plus.

So who could be in for a big breakout season?

Lookout for Aaron Wiggins

Aaron Wiggins Atlanta Hawks — Sep 28, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Aaron Wiggins (2) poses for a photo at media day. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Aaron Wiggins was a great success story for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Drafted in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft, Wiggins helped the Thunder go from a tanking team to winning the NBA championship in 2024-2025. Was he the main piece in doing so? No, but Wiggins was a versatile defender and good three-point shooter who was a valuable bench piece for the Thunder.

But he was more of a 9th or 10th man for Oklahoma City and I think he is going to be asked to take on a much bigger load for Atlanta as one of their top bench players and possibly one of their top ball handlers off the bench.

Atlanta only has one player that would be classified as a real point guard and that is Kingston Flemings. The Hawks have high hopes for Flemings and he is likely to be the backup point guard this season, but he is only a rookie and is going to have his struggles. Other bench players that the Hawks have don't have a lot of on-ball juice or creation, giving Wiggins a path to being able to lead the offense more or to have him as another secondary playmakers.

Wiggins is also a very sound defender, who can guard multiple positions, and is a career 38% three-point shooter. He can be used in different lineups with playmaking and creation or be used as the playmaker or creator. He did not have that kind of responsibility with the Thunder, but he is going to be either the 6th or 7th man for the Hawks.

I anticipate that Wiggins minutes are going to go up and that he is going to have a chance to set a new career high in assists per game. He is going to be given more responsibility than he ever had in OKC and he could reap the benefits of that.

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