The One Player the Atlanta Hawks Can't Afford to Lose This Offseason

While the Atlanta Hawks came into the postseason without much expectation, there was one player who gave a hefty reminder to the rest of the basketball world about how good he actually is.

After a rollercoaster start to the season, the Atlanta Hawks had been looking like a team that was headed for a repeat of the last few seasons, until the unthinkable happened. The Hawks made a franchise-altering move when they traded away Atlanta fan favorite Trae Young, in a move that many labeled as for nothing.

In return, Atlanta received CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert with no draft picks. While this deal was clearly a move to get Young off the team as soon as possible, many thought it marked the end of the Hawks' season and the start of a rebuild.

McCollum's impact

However, McCollum and the Hawks would have something different in mind, as the team would finish with a 28-15 record after the trade. In contrast, things took some time to reach this point, specifically around the NBA All-Star Weekend. It nonetheless went in the right direction, as McCollum finished the season averaging 18.7 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.1 rebounds on shooting splits of 45% from the field, 35% from three-point range, and 75% from the free-throw line.

Come playoff time, however, this is when McCollum showed who he was and why people shouldn't have looked at the trade for him as a trade for nothing. Early in the playoff series against the New York Knicks, McCollum had established himself as the Hawks' go-to scoring option as they struggled to get the offense going consistently.

In game two, McCollum consistently found himself as the Hawks' main scorer, leading to a game-winning fadeaway shot. During this game, the Hawks found themselves down by 12 points going into the fourth quarter and would go on to win it on a heroic fourth-quarter performance by McCollum, who scored 6 points in the final 2 minutes.

McCollum would finish this game scoring 32 points, dishing out six assists, and playing relatively well on the defensive end with two steals and one block

This would lead into game three, as the Hawks had evened the series and stolen home court advantage. Early on, the Hawks had momentum and went up by as much as 18 points, and looked like they were running away with the series. However, the Knicks responded and went on to take the lead late before McCollum responded with another game-winning fadeaway shot.

At the end of this game, McCollum finished with 23 points, two steals, and two blocks, which further cemented him as the lead guy for this Atlanta squad.

CJ FOR THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/IUpbkUE9FP
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 24, 2026

The next three games didn't go as well as planned. Atlanta found a way to prove multiple people wrong and to put the world on notice of what's to come as a young, up-and-coming team in the Eastern Conference.

As for McCollum, he said something shortly after being traded that helped the Hawks' turnaround.

"I've lived a great life and made a lot of money, and I just wanna see you guys be successful. Your success is my success. I'm not trying to keep moving my family, so let's figure out how to win."

"I'm not trying to keep moving my family so let's figure out how to win" -- CJ McCollum talks about the real conversations the Hawks had to have internally to turn into a winning team pic.twitter.com/rBfaFykPeT
— TheOldManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) April 11, 2026

With the Hawks as young as they are, they need experienced veterans in their locker room who can teach them how to win and handle adversity.

As for McCollum, while he started the season on a non-playoff team and was traded to one, he has shown why he should be back in Atlanta next season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google