What to Watch for in Atlanta Hawks Preseason Opener vs Memphis

Preseason play begins tomorrow night for the Atlanta Hawks, and it will be the first time that fans will get to see this new-look team.

Last season, Atlanta went through a number of different personnel changes throughout the year, but the final version of the team they had put together went 20-6 to finish the season and ended up making the playoffs, while also avoiding the play-in tournament for the first time since 2021.

Most of that team is returning, but there are some new notable additions as well. Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Kingston Flemings, and Zuby Ejiofor are going to make their debuts with the team tomorrow night, and they are going to be major pieces for this team this season.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's game, what should Hawks fans be looking for against the Grizzlies?

1. New additions

As I alluded to earlier, the new additions to the team are going to be playing together for the first time.

Dort is expected to help the Hawks on the perimeter with their defense and physicality and also helping implement a winning and tough minded culture. Wiggins is going to be in a bigger role than he was with Oklahoma City and tomorrow night is going to be the first chance to see him with this team.

Flemings and Ejiofor are an exciting pair of rookies that bring a different skill set to the table, but what can they reasonably be expected to do as rookies? They could have bigger roles than you might think, but tomorrow night will be the first chance to see it.

2. Defense

The Hawks had one of the best defenses over the final stretch of the season, but there has been some skepticism about how real that actually was. The Hawks went out and acquired Dort, Wiggins, and Ejiofor to help their defense and their physical style of play.

Earlier in the week, Quin Snyder mentioned that the defense is ahead of the offense for the Hawks right now:

"Yeah, I think particularly early in the year, really the whole year, but your defense is usually ahead of your offense. And that's okay, as long as your defense is good. So that's been a point in Memphis for us, you know, really. since last year and so guys coming out and having that focus is really good and offensively we'll get to know each other even from the personnel standpoint more over time so it's good to see the effort and the focus and communication is a big part of defending too and that's for a group that we're really trying to meld to see that early is a good thing."

It is just the preseason, but tomorrow is the first chance to see how this Hawks defense looks.

3. Rotations

The starting lineup is likely going to remain the same, with CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu to be the starting five for the Hawks, but where do Dort, Wiggins, Flemings, and Jock Landale fit in?

Mouhamed Gueye is not likely to play in this game due to a foot injury, but Asa Newell, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Ejiofor are going to be competing for the backup power forward spot.

Speaking of Finney-Smith, he is the newest member of the Hawks, but what kind of role will he have? What about Corey Kispert?

Tomorrow night is not going to provide the definitive answers, but it will give us a slight sneak peek into what might be coming over the course of the season with this team.

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