{"id":146743,"date":"2025-06-24T23:34:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=146743"},"modified":"2025-06-24T23:34:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:34:05","slug":"examining-kristaps-porzingis-fit-with-the-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/24\/examining-kristaps-porzingis-fit-with-the-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is&#8217; Fit With The Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/22\/hawks-new-front-office-tested-early\/\" target=\"_self\">Atlanta Hawks&#8217; new front office<\/a> made their first big move. They traded <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/niangge01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Georges Niang<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mannte01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Terance Mann<\/a>, pick 22 in tomorrow night&#8217;s draft, and a second-round pick for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is <\/a>and a second-round pick. Porzi\u0146\u0123is who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2024, gives a big boost in the frontcourt on both ends. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, his rim protection and lethal outside shooting help the Hawks on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Boston, Atlanta and Brooklyn are finalizing a three-team trade that sends Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Hawks, Terance Mann and Atlanta&#39;s No. 22 pick to the Nets, and Georges Niang and a second-rounder to the Celtics. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1fcbIslyVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/1fcbIslyVF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1937644320070467798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Examining Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is&#8217; Fit With The Hawks<\/h2>\n<h3>Hawks Take a Calculated Risk in This Deal<\/h3>\n<p>When speaking about Porzi\u0146\u0123is, injury history takes center stage. The 7-foot-2-inch big man played 42 games last season due to ankle surgery and a long-term illness. He has only reached the 65-game mark in his 10-year career. However, Atlanta did not &#8220;give up the farm&#8221; to acquire the star center. Across the league, teams knew the Celtics wanted to shed salary to move out of the second apron. Atlanta took advantage of Boston&#8217;s position and acted opportunistically.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks still own the 13th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Furthermore, Niang and Mann were not key pieces for the future. The Hawks also free up money by getting off Mann&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/31607\/terance-mann\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three-year, $47 million<\/a> contract. Porzi\u0146\u0123is is owed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/17832\/kristaps-porzingis\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$30.7 million<\/a> in the 2025-26 season, but he enters free agency next summer. At 29 years old, as long as he can stay on the court, he can certainly give Atlanta similar production to his days in Boston. If the move does not pay off and Porzi\u0146\u0123is walks, the Hawks are still in a position to compete.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146770\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146770\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres.jpg\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-146770\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_22891264_168404824_lowres.jpg 1623w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146770\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 28, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) dribbles against Atlanta Hawks guard Garrison Mathews (25) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>What Role Does Porzi\u0146\u0123is Play in Atlanta?<\/h3>\n<p>Porzi\u0146\u0123is averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and shot 41.2% from deep on six attempts per game. His three-point shooting prowess certainly fits a Quin Snyder-led offense, which focuses on threes and shots at the rim. He and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> now form a deadly duo in the pick-and-pop scenario. When defenses play too aggressively to stop Young&#8217;s drives, he can kick it out to one of the best shooting bigs in the league. His rim protection at his size gives Atlanta exactly what it needs next to, or behind, a small center in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/okongon01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Onyeka Okongwu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After acquiring a star center, one might think it is easy for head coach Snyder to insert Porzi\u0146\u0123is as the starting five. However, this is not the case. Okongwu played the best basketball of his career, taking over the starting center position from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/capelca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clint Capela<\/a> on Jan. 20 this past season. This makes Porzi\u0146\u0123is&#8217; role less clear.<\/p>\n<p>Snyder has a lot of options. Porzi\u0146\u0123is&#8217; elite shooting could allow him to start next to Okongwu and move <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Johnson<\/a> to small forward. However, this means <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/risacza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaccharie Riasacher<\/a>, the 2024 first-overall pick, heads to the bench. If Porzi\u0146\u0123is replaces Okongwu, the latter goes back to a reserve after putting up career-best numbers. There is also a scenario in which the Latvian big man comes off the bench as a super substitution because Atlanta views Okongwu as a long-term starter. This move could help limit the load on Porzi\u0146\u0123is&#8217; knees and keep him healthier for a postseason run.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the role, Porzi\u0146\u0123is addresses much-needed frontcourt depth and shooting in Atlanta. With more flexibility, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/13\/hawks-nets-trade-rumors-nba-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">traded player exceptions<\/a>, cap space, and the 13th draft pick, this marks the start of an active offseason for the Hawks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featured image: \u00a9 Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Hawks&#8217; new front office made their first big move. They traded Georges Niang, Terance Mann, pick 22 in tomorrow night&#8217;s draft, and a second-round pick for Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is and a second-round pick. Porzi\u0146\u0123is who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2024, gives a big boost in the frontcourt on both ends. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5516,"featured_media":146771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1608,62,3],"tags":[49579,138,2830],"class_list":["post-146743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-2025-offseason","tag-kristaps-porzingis","tag-onyeka-okongwu"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146743"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146767,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146743\/revisions\/146767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}