If there is one defined “positional need” on the current Atlanta Hawks roster, it is at the backup center position. Atlanta does have other roster decisions to make, including whether to re-sign Caris LeVert and how to invest at the backup point guard spot, but the 2024-25 season ended with a glaring roster hole behind Onyeka Okongwu.
Admittedly, last season’s weakness was caused by injury. Both Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr. were sidelined for the final two months and, with do-it-all power forward Jalen Johnson already out, options were quite limited. Still, Capela and Nance Jr. are free agents and, other than some flashes from Mo Gueye in the back half of the year, there aren’t ready-made replacements for them.
On Twitter, fans are already hashing out possibilities and scouting NBA Draft prospects the Hawks could use to fill this hole.
Today, we’ll take a glance at Atlanta’s pathways to bolster the frontcourt, remembering that it is a key need as the 2025-26 campaign looms.
Adding from the outside
The most attractive, and perhaps the most likely, option for the Hawks to fill the center minutes behind Onyeka Okongwu is an external acquisition. Atlanta could add either in free agency or via trade, and while the presence of Okongwu as a cost-controlled starting center does give the Hawks freedom, they have a need for stability behind him.
Trades are, of course, very difficult to project, though the Hawks do have mid-tier salary and two different trade exceptions to widen the scope of potential targets. From a free agent standpoint, Atlanta could look at Steven Adams or Brook Lopez on the high-end, perhaps by using the mid-level exception. The Hawks could also target Luke Kornet or Day'Ron Sharpe (restricted) if the price is right.
Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr.
Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr. combined to play more than 1,600 minutes for the Hawks in 2024-25, with the majority of those minutes coming at center. In fact, the backup center problem didn't really exist for Atlanta until both Capela and Nance Jr. suffered what turned out to be season-ending injuries in February.
With that said, both veteran big men are hitting unrestricted free agency this summer. There is nothing stopping the Hawks from engaging either or both in contract negotiations, but there is mixed intel on the likelihood of either returning. The consensus reporting points to Nance Jr. being more likely to return, albeit at reduced cost, but it is also fair to note that he would not be an ideal No. 2 center behind Onyeka Okongwu, rather slotting into a utility big man role in a preferred world.
Capela should command considerable interest elsewhere, even if he (rightly) lost his starting job to Onyeka Okongwu midseason. Gone is the player that anchored Atlanta's defense in impressive fashion earlier this decade, but Capela is, at the very least, a quality backup center who will have options this summer.
The incumbent options for the Atlanta Hawks
At present, the Hawks have 11 players under team control, including three players who can plausibly fill center minutes. Of course, one of those is starting center Onyeka Okongwu, and this is a piece about backup center options, so he'll move to the side.
After that, 22-year-old big man Mo Gueye was primarily a power forward option for the Hawks this season, but he flashed to the center position down the stretch amid Atlanta's injury woes. Gueye does have immense defensive talent and the length required to play center in the NBA, though he currently excels more as a help defender. Historically, Atlanta has viewed him more as a 4 than a 5, but that could change.
Another big is Dom Barlow, who has a cheap team option that the Hawks must decide on by June 29. Barlow was on a Two-Way contract for much of the season and, while he does have intriguing offensive talent, it would be a leap to project him for the No. 2 center job in 2025-26. The appeal of Barlow is primarily through the lens of development and a bargain contract that can mature in a positive direction.