Hawks Urged to Add ‘Franchise Player' After Playoffs Loss to Knicks
The Atlanta Hawks’ Game 6 blowout loss to the New York Knicks not only exposed a team playing badly, but it also revealed a need to address a bigger issue moving forward: the lack of a franchise player.
Many believed the Hawks could be this year’s version of last postseason’s Indiana Pacers, who made it all the way to the NBA Finals. However, Atlanta’s playoff story ended on Thursday evening, thanks to a 140-89 thrashing at the hands of a much better New York Knicks team.
One has to give credit to the Knicks, who came out surging early, and won with huge contributions from OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. They also held Atlanta to a 38 percent field goal rate, and their defensive pressure helped frustrate the Hawks into 19 turnovers.
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According to former Hawks player Jeff Teague, the answer is simple: Atlanta lost its franchise player when it traded away multi-time All-Star Trae Young to the Washington Wizards this past season.
However, Teague’s suggestion about who the Hawks need to fill the void is quite surprising, given their roster and offseason situation.
“Let’s be for real, we lost our franchise player this year, he got traded. Our franchise player got traded at the deadline and still made the playoffs. Now we need a new franchise player. So, AJ Dybantsa. We need AJ Dybantsa, we deserve AJ Dybantsa,” Teague said during the “Club 520 Podcast.”
Based on Teague’s comments, the team needs to rebuild around a new superstar, courtesy of the NBA Draft, and there is actually a possibility he could see this vision play out.
As it stands, the Hawks are in the NBA Draft lottery and hold nearly a seven percent chance of landing the top spot. That’s where they’d need to be to get Dybantsa, who many believe is the best possible player available as No. 1 pick.
Potentially stacking things in favor of moving up are their trade odds and other picks. They have a 30 percent chance to land in the top four picks of the order.
The Hawks also hold the No. 23 pick in the first round, per ESPN’s report, and No. 57 in the second round. Even if they didn’t land that top pick through the way the lottery plays out, they seem to have enough picks and players to make a deal happen to trade up.
However, time will tell if this is a move the team wants to make, or if they’ll await their lottery fate and go with a strong pick at the spot they get. They reached the postseason even without Young or Porzingis on their roster, thanks to free-agent signings and trades.
They may be banking on the continued emergence of Jalen Johnson as a rising star in the league, along with their trade with the Golden State Warriors to add the talented Jonathan Kuminga to the roster. However, adding a player such as Dybantsa would be a huge step forward for the franchise to really contend in the NBA.
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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 1:42 PM.