The Hawks are making a push in the second half of the season for a playoff spot, and with recent moves ahead of the trade deadline, including trading Trae Young, they have a new roster and a new push forward.
Jalen Johnson, who earned his first All-Star selection, is just one of the key pieces who can help turn things around.
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The Hawks provided a medical update on newly acquired wing Jonathan Kuminga. On Wednesday, the team announced that Kuminga is progressing in his rehabilitation from a bone bruise in his left knee.
The team said it would re-evaluate Kuminga in one week and provide another update.
Kuminga sustained the injury while playing for the Warriors against the Mavericks in Dallas on Jan. 22. The 23-year-old forward looked to execute a transition play after a block by Moses Moody and pulled up on the offensive end after what appeared to be contact with a defensive player.
He limped to a courtside seat before exiting the game.
The Hawks acquired Kuminga, along with Buddy Hield, on Feb. 5 from the Warriors in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. Hield has since made his debut Feb. 9, while Kuminga's injury has kept him away from the action.
But the Hawks will try to take a good and long look at Kuminga to see how he fits into their long-term plans.
The Hawks return from the All-Star break Thursday with a matchup against the 76ers in Philadelphia.
The Hawks have waived forward Nikola Djurisic.
The team announced on Wednesday that it requested waivers for the wing, who had yet to make an appearance in a regular-season game this season. The move allows the Hawks to convert one of their two-way players to the open roster spots. The Hawks plan to use the open roster spot to convert wing Caleb Houstan, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The Hawks acquired Djurisic’s draft rights in the 2024 NBA Draft in a three-team trade with Miami and Houston on June 27, 2024. They sent former wing AJ Griffin to the Rockets in exchange for pick No. 44, and they then flipped it and attached cash for the pick in a deal with the Heat for the 43rd pick.
The Hawks eventually stashed Djurisic in the G League after a leg injury in the 2024 Summer League limited him. He then played in 32 total games, including three starts with the Skyhawks last season, averaging 10.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
They signed him to a standard contract using the second-round pick exception, which allowed them to for multiple years without needing the cap space to do so.
But now, the Hawks will move in a different direction with Houstan, who provides the team with even more shooting. Houstan has already appeared in 10 games this season with the Hawks, but the team would have only been able to make him active for a maximum of 50 games. Houstan has been active for 24 games.
This year, Houstan has spent much of the time with the Skyhawks, the team’s G league affiliate. Between the Tip-Off tournament and regular season, Houstan has averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 37.5% shooting in 30 games.
The Hawks already have plenty of depth on the wing, especially after the acquisitions of Corey Kispert, Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield. But the Hawks add yet another shooter with NBA experience to the roster after dealing both Luke Kennard and Vit Krejci to the Lakers and Trail Blazers, respectively.
The Hawks return to action on Thursday in Philadelphia against the 76ers.
The NBA fined Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye on Wednesday for his part in an on-court altercation with Timberwolves forward Naz Reid.
The league announced that it would fine Gueye and Reid $35,000 each for their confrontation during the Hawks matchup against the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Monday.
With 11:52 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 138-116 victory over the Hawks at Target Center, Gueye committed a defensive foul on Reid by pushing Reid from behind, which caused him to stumble after tripping over Hawks guard Gabe Vincent. After Reid stood up, he approached Gueye, and they aggressively grabbed each other’s jerseys.
Their confrontation cleared the benches of each team, with coaches and team security spilling out to separate them.
Both players received technical fouls and officials ejected them from the game.
Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher will participate in the Rising Stars games during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.
Risacher, in his second season, replaces Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell and will play on Team T-Mac in Friday night's event. It's the second straight season that Risacher will participate in the event, which includes first- and second-year players.
Mitchell has an abdominal strain, which will keep him out of the game.
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson has earned another nod from the NBA as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Johnson won the honor for games played from Feb. 2-8 after helping to lead the Hawks to a 2-1 record. In those three games, Johnson averaged 27.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 38.2 minutes of action. He shot 40% or better from 3 in two of the three games played last week.
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