Hawks are playoff team with Porziņģis, now GM Saleh can make them contenders

“We feel pretty good about our position right now,” Saleh said Friday.

He’s right to feel optimistic. The Hawks have good, experienced players at positions one through five and the ability to add to that group this summer.

The Hawks still need a backup point guard and a scorer and playmaker for the second unit. They also could use at least one more experienced big man to make a serious playoff run.

If Saleh gets enough of those moves right, then the Hawks should finally break free from their pattern of mediocrity. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2021 and missed the playoffs the past two seasons. An improved roster and better injury luck should be enough for the Hawks to move way up in the weakened East.

Two of the East’s top four teams in this year’s playoffs will be missing their best players for long stretches of next season. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton could miss the entire season after they suffered Achilles tendon tears during this year’s playoffs. Milwaukee’s championship window might be closed after Damian Lillard had Achilles surgery in May.

That’s three contending teams in the East that likely will take a step back. The Hawks won 40 games this past season and nearly made the playoffs despite a long list of injuries to key players. There’s an opening for them to become a top-four seed next season.

“I don’t look at other teams,” Saleh said. “I just focus on the Atlanta Hawks. I’m not worried about being a specific (playoff) seed. This place is going to be great, and it’s going to be great for a long time. That’s the vision here.”

Saleh will need to get some important decisions right to make that vision a reality.

Porziņģis and Trae Young both will be in the final year of their contracts in 2025-26 (Young has a player option for 2026-27). Saleh will have to decide whether to offer them contract extensions. The Hawks would take a step back if either or both of those players departed without a comparable return in trades, which would be unlikely.

Those matters will be resolved later. Right now, the Hawks have the makings of a very good team for 2025-26.

Porziņģis and All-Star point guard Young lead the pack. Guard Dyson Daniels and forward Jalen Johnson made big jumps last season and still have room for growth. Onyeka Okongwu was solid as the starting center over the second half of last season.

There’s talent, but not much experience, beyond those five. Zaccharie Risacher, last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, had a promising rookie season. The Hawks discovered that they have some depth when injuries forced fringe players into the rotation last season. Now it’s time for upgrades.

The Hawks need another big man. They traded Georges Niang and two incumbents, Clint Capela and Larry Nance, are set to become free agents.

Adding frontcourt depth should be on Saleh’s list because Porziņģis and Johnson have spent a lot of time on the injured list over the past two seasons. It’s unlikely the Hawks can make a deep playoff run if they are counting on second-year forward Mouhamed Gueye and rookie Asa Newell to play important minutes for long stretches of the season.

Another priority for the Hawks is re-signing wing Caris LeVert, who is eligible to become a free agent. He proved to be a good fit as a crafty scorer and solid defender off the bench after the Hawks traded for him in February. The Hawks have an advantage with free-agent bids for LeVert because they can offer him a contract with a first-year salary that’s more than any of the salary-cap exceptions.

The Hawks didn’t have a true backup point guard last season. It was projected to be combo guard Kobe Bufkin, their first-round draft pick in 2023, but it was announced in December that he would have shoulder surgery. Bufkin missed 47 games with injuries during his rookie season. The Hawks need an experienced, reliable option to run the second team.

Saleh has several ways to acquire players under the rules of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

The Hawks can use salary-cap exceptions to sign free agents to contracts with first-year salaries of $14.1 million (nontaxpayer mid-level), $5.1 million (biannual) or the veteran minimum (up to $4 million, depending on experience). The Hawks also have trade exceptions they can use to acquire players with salaries that are significantly higher than those they send out.

Saleh already made a splash when he acquired Porziņģis for a package that included Niang and Terance Mann. Porziņģis not only is the best player by far of the three, he’s also the best player that’s ever been paired with Young. Porziņģis will provide needed size, shooting and rim protection.

Before that deal was executed, Saleh was asked what the Hawks can offer to free agents.

“I think we have a clear competitive advantage with our city of Atlanta,” he said. “But you have to have a foundation, and stability within the organization to get that. Players care about that stuff.

“I think people just think it’s just big market or whatnot, but there are guys that end up going to (Oklahoma City) because it made sense for them. And now they are NBA champions. That is what we are getting to, building and controlling what we can control.”

The next day, Saleh agreed to the trade for Porziņģis. That made the Hawks a more attractive destination for free agents who want to win. They should be a playoff team in 2025-26. They can make a run once they get there if Saleh makes more good moves this summer.