The Atlanta Hawks are in the driver's seat for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season. While the Hawks missed an opportunity to seriously challenge for the Southeast Division title in a loss on Tuesday, it has been an objectively successful season for Atlanta, at least when compared to preseason expectations. Atlanta has already out-performed its over/under win total, even with Jalen Johnson sidelined for multiple months, and the Hawks are, at the very least, guaranteed a postseason berth.
In this space, we'll glance at three players in something of a status check about results, with two players on the upswing and another at least gently trending downward in the last few days.
Trending up: Onyeka Okongwu
The concept of "recency" is stretched a bit with the first set of statistics here, but bear with us. Okongwu took over as the full-time starting center for the Hawks back on MLK Day, and it was a massive shift after he operated in a backup role for the first 4.5 seasons of his NBA career. Over 38 games in the role, Okongwu is averaging 15.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, and he has also been quite efficient with 65.5 percent true shooting over that sample.
That is a wildly impressive run for the 24-year-old, who has answered a lot of questions in that period. Rebounding was an objective weakness for Okongwu until recently, but he has been a top-15 rebounder in the NBA over a half-season of action, and the team results are in line with that individual performance. He also may be peaking at the right time, with three 20-point double-doubles in the last four games, headlined by 30 points and 14 rebounds on Tuesday in Orlando.
Trending Down: Caris LeVert
To be fair to LeVert, much of his recent "downturn" can be traced to simple regression. In his first 14 games with the Hawks following a mid-season trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeVert averaged 16.4 points while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from 3-point range. Then, he missed two games in a row in mid-March and, since returning, LeVert is in a shooting slump.
He is shooting just 41.7 percent from the field and 26.5 percent (13-of-49) from 3-point range over the last ten games. On the positive side, his assists have ticked up a bit, but Atlanta does rely heavily on LeVert for offensive creation, either as a primary option when Trae Young is off the floor or as a secondary option when alongside Young.
Overall, LeVert has been totally fine in a Hawks uniform, but they need the best version (or at least something close) of LeVert when the lights get brighter in the postseason.
Trending Up: Zaccharie Risacher
The betting odds point to San Antonio's Stephon Castle as the favorite for 2024-25 Rookie of the Year, but Risacher has a very reasonable case in his own right. While he did not shoot the ball well to begin the season, the sample is fairly large now for Risacher as an emerging marksman.
In January, he shot 36.7 percent from 3-point distance. In February, that moved to 44.0 percent for the month. Since then, he's at 38.1 percent between March and April. There is far more to Risacher's game than 3-point shooting, but it is a weapon that the team needs badly, and he is also becoming more and more aggressive in hunting his shot. When combined with his length, acumen on defense, and intriguing ability as a finisher at the rim with both hands, there is a lot to love with Risacher.