Zuby Ejiofor has already found the perfect mentor for his rookie season in Atlanta

When the Atlanta Hawks lost to the New York Knicks by more than 50 points in their season-ending game six loss in the first round of the NBA playoffs, it was not just a skill gap that existed between the two franchises.

There was also a toughness and physicality gap that was very apparent.

The Knicks had the obvious size advantage over the Hawks, but it was more than that. Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby were pushing around everyone and letting Atlanta know how far they had to go until they could get to their level.

Well, the Hawks have made attempts at closing that gap this offseason. New York is still better on paper to be perfectly clear, but the Hawks want to integrate more toughness to this team and they did that by trading for one of the league's most physical defenders, Lu Dort, and drafting the toughest and most physical player in the 2026 NBA Draft, Zuby Ejiofor.

While the two players might play different positions, Ejiofor has already found the perfect mentor in Dort.

"Obviously, you know, he was in OKC and stuff like that. You know, really physical, strong body for his size. I think we've somewhat kind of grew a relationship here and there, you know, since he's been here. And so it's, you know, pretty cool to, you know, experience. But, yeah, just sitting on the side, you know, just watching him and seeing how physical he is, you know, his communication levels, you know, throughout the entire, you know, defensive possessions. It's something that I'm, you know, just picking up on, you know, and not just Lu, but, you know, Nickeil (Alexander-Walker). You know, everybody, I think, you know, just has some sort of, you know, competitive spirit. on both sides of the ball, so it's really just cool to experience."

Dort is going to have a clear role on the Hawks and he will be one of the leaders in terms of minutes played and trying to form an identity.

While Hawks head coach Quin Snyder did not single out Dort or Ejiofor explicitly, he talked during training camp about how far ahead the defense was ahead of the offense and how Atlanta is trying to implement a certain culture:

"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."

Ejiofor might not be playing major minutes right away for the Hawks, but getting to be a a part of a team with Dort on it and going through training camp with a team that is trying to get back to the postseason by implementing a certain style of play is only going to make him better.

Both Dort and Ejiofor are undersized for their respective positions, but they can guard multiple spots. Whether it is scaling up to guard bigger playres or getting out on the perimeter to make life difficult for ball handlers, Ejiofor and Dort can do it. In fact, Preside of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh said on draft night it was one of the reasons that Atlanta was drawn to take Ejiofor, despite his lack of height:

"I mean, Zuby is, the guy's a beast. If you guys seen him play at St. John's, like, you're talking about a guy that switches one through five, can guard point guards, can guard bigs, can guard big wings. Like, it doesn't really matter. I think with him, it's like the high-level processing he has offensively is just like he makes the right play every single time. He's a really good passer for his size, giant wingspan, could do all that stuff.

Atlanta came into the offseason with a plan to make sure that they never lost the physicality battle in the playoffs like they have previously. Ejiofor is a part of that plan, for now and the future, and he has the perfect player to be learning those skills from.

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