The 2024–25 NBA Season is now approaching playoff territory, starting with the play-ins, and the Atlanta Hawks are among the eight teams playing in this mini-tournament of sorts to get to the big dance.
The Hawks, at the start of the season, looked poised to earn an outright playoff berth, but an injury to Jalen Johnson might have torpedoes Atlanta’s once-promising campaign. The Hawks also parted ways with Bogdan Bodanovic and De’Andre Hunter, two key pieces of their prolific bench, early in the season.
With all that, let’s take a look at how the Hawks’ fantasy roster looks ahead of their play-in date against the Orlando Magic:
Your Main Man: Trae Young
Young was spectacular for Atlanta all season long while playing 76 games—the most he’s played since the 2021–22 NBA Season. He was also quite productive, leading the league in assists at 11.6 dimes per game on top of 24.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals.
Young will again be counted on to help the Hawks survive the play-ins and make the postseason after missing it last year. Don’t be surprised if he goes into takeover mode and scores a ton of points while issuing more dimes as well.
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Surefire Studs: Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu
We put Daniels here after only a few games, and it turns out we were right about him. He really is a stud. At first, we put him here because of his stocks (steals + blocks), but he has proven he can give so much more. He averaged 3.0 steals—a league-best by far—and 0.7 blocks to put himself firmly in defense-related awards while also putting up 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. That’s a stud in real ball and fantasy!
With Johnson out for the season, Okongwu gets promoted here after posting per-game averages of 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks. That’s terrific production from a young big who will be counted on to anchor the Hawks’ interior in the play-ins—and in the postseason should Atlanta make it there.
Low Cost, High Value Picks: Caris LeVert, Zaccharie Risacher
The Hawks got LaVert in exchange for Hunter, and he has provided some spark off that Atlanta bench. He averaged 12.1 points in 64 games this season but is certainly capable of scoring 18–20 in any given game. He has also done a little bit of everything, posting averages of 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists to go along with 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks. These aren’t big numbers, but they can help build a winner in fantasy.
Risacher, meanwhile, had a rough start to the season but gradually picked it up—culminating in a 38-point explosion in the final week of the regular season. After a slow start, Risacher ended up averaging 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Again, these aren’t eye-popping numbers, but it should be good to know that you’re getting some decent value for this low-cost fantasy pick.
