Do we have a legitimate sleeper emerging in the Eastern Conference?
Perhaps.
The Atlanta Hawks (41-32 straight up, 40-33 against the spread) have won 14 of their last 15 games after winning 130-129 at Detroit in overtime as two-point road underdogs last night. It was their third straight win both SU and ATS since they had their 11-game winning streak snapped at Houston last Friday night.
Jalen Johnson produced 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds against the Pistons. CJ McCollum finished with 27 points, five assists, four rebounds and one steal, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 21 points, four boards and three assists.
Dyson Daniels hit 8-of-14 field-goal attempts and stuffed the box score with 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Although he was limited to 24 minutes of playing time before fouling out, Onyeka Okongwu was also in double figures with 11 points, as he buried 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point land.
By the way, Okongwu is the only Atlanta player remaining from the team that advanced to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. Since that breakout season that seemingly indicated a bright future with Trae Young leading the way, the Hawks have been relegated to four straight appearances in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament.
Going into Thursday’s games, Atlanta was in fifth place in the East with a one-half game edge over Toronto, a one-game advantage over Philadelphia and a two-game lead on Miami. With nine games remaining, they trail Cleveland by four games for fourth place in the conference.
During its 15-game surge, Atlanta has cashed tickets at a frenetic 13-2 ATS clip.
What’s been the key to this turnaround for the Hawks? Well, we have to start with the savvy work of General Manager Onsi Saleh, who was promoted to GM on April 21, 2025, after Landry Fields was fired.
Saleh got to work fast re-shaping Atlanta’s roster. He signed Alexander-Walker to an offer sheet that Minnesota didn’t match, and NAW has shined with his new squad.
The 27-year-old Alexander-Walker is enjoying a career-best season, averaging 20.4 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He’s also been a major upgrade for the Hawks’ perimeter defense.
Saleh’s biggest decision was moving Trae Young, the franchise cornerstone. Young is one of the best players in franchise history and the team’s woes certainly weren’t all on him. However, with Johnson emerging as one of the NBA’s Top-10 players (if that’s still debatable, it won’t be for much longer), it was time for a new leading dog.
Young’s market value wasn’t what it once was, but Saleh was still able to acquire McCollum and Corey Kispert in the trade. The 34-year-old McCollum may be past this prime, but he’s still playing at an extremely high level.
In 33 games and 17 starts since his acquisition, McCollum has played an average of 28.4 minutes per game (his lowest amount of playing time since his rookie and sophomore campaigns). Nevertheless, the Lehigh product is still producing 18.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.4 RPG.
Kispert has been a solid bench piece to date. In 33 games while logging an average of 19.0 MPG, the former Gonzaga star is averaging 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 APG. Kispert has hit 46.2 percent of his field-goal attempts, 35.3 percent of his treys and 81.6 percent of his free throws.
Saleh made other trades as well, shipping away Vit Krejci, oft-injured Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard in moves that netted Jock Landale, Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
In his debut for the Hawks, Landale buried 10-of-14 FGAs and 5-of-8 treys, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots in a 121-119 win over Utah. He doesn’t get that many minutes on a nightly basis, though.
Landale has played 18.9 MPG in 21 appearances for Atlanta, averaging 8.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 APG. He’s hit 50.0 percent of his FGAs and 37.3 percent of his launches from 3-point range.
The 23-year-old Kuminga has been limited to nine games with the Hawks due to knee issues, but he’s played in each of the club’s last six contests. He’s scored at least 16 points in five of nine games, including a 27-point effort in his franchise debut.
The 33-year-old Hield has been riding the bench but if injuries become an issue, it’s not a bad thing to have a bucket maker like the Oklahoma product available. Hield has averaged 14.5 PPG during his 10-year career, draining 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers and 85.6 percent of his free throws.
As for the 24-year-old Johnson, he was deservingly selected to his first All-Star game appearance. In 64 games, he’s averaging 22.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.3 SPG.
The 25-year-old Okungwu has added another wrinkle to his game in his sixth season, knocking down 37.7 percent from 3-point territory. He’s averaging 15.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 BPG. Okungwu’s minutes (30.9 MPG), points, assists, steals and 3-point accuracy are career-best numbers.
We certainly can’t forget about the 23-year-old Daniels, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year last season. He’s averaging 11.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.9 SPG. Daniels has made a career-high 51.8 percent of his FGAs.
Finally, there’s the 20-year-old Zaccharie Risacher, who was the #1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-8 forward has been up and down in his second year, but he just had 16, 17 and 11 points in a three-game stretch before being limited to two points in only nine minutes at Detroit. Risacher was a first-team All-Rookie selection last season.
Whether Atlanta makes noise in the postseason or not remains to be seen, but this late-season push has optimism for the future extremely high for this franchise that’s never appeared in the NBA Finals. Making that future even brighter is the unprotected lottery pick (via New Orleans in the trade for Dejounte Murray) the Hawks have in the 2026 NBA Draft.
FanDuel has Atlanta with 400/1 odds to win the 2026 NBA Finals. Those are the 17th-shortest odds on the board, so oddsmakers clearly aren’t convinced that this team is a true contender. The Hawks have 80/1 odds to win the East.