The actions that will define Atlanta’s offense going forwards

Examining a few important actions for Atlanta’s offense through the first 25-ish games of the season

Having won seven out of their last eight games — including wins over Cleveland (twice), Milwaukee, and New York — the Atlanta Hawks are officially one of the hottest teams in the NBA with a chance to pick up another statement victory this afternoon in their NBA Cup semifinals tilt against the Bucks*.

*Which tips off (in Vegas!) today at 4:30 pm EST… get your popcorn ready

As we discussed last week, the Hawks primarily have their defense to thank for their recent run of form — ranking ninth in defensive rating (109.5) over their last eight games — however ahead today’s game against Milwaukee, I’d like to focus on their offense, which has curiously fallen short of expectations thus far.

Atlanta has scored just 111.3 points per 100 possessions on the season, which ranks just a hair below the league average and would be their worst (raw) offensive rating since the 2019-20 season*.

*Which is quite startling when you consider that the league-wide offensive rating has spiked over the past few seasons.

Though they’ve been slightly better over their last eight games (scoring 114.1 points per 100 possessions, 12th over that span, while also generating two more “wide open” looks per game), looking at the chart(s) below*, you can see that they’ve still underperformed relative to their locational eFG% in five out of their last six games, indicating that despite their winning ways, there still may be some untapped potential on the offensive side of the floor.

*numbers from cleaningtheglass, though I calculated the locational eFG% for each game myself. Locational eFG% is an indicator of the efficiency of a team’s shot profile.

Looking at the team’s shot profile from CTG (below), it’s evident that this gap between locational eFG% and actual eFG% comes down to their subpar shooting efficiency at the rim and from beyond the three-point line. And while it’s obviously not ideal for Atlanta to be shooting so poorly from both locations, these are still good (high value) shot attempts that the team should continue to hunt.

I spent the past week rewatching many of Atlanta’s offensive possessions from the past eight games, and my high-level takeaway is that (true to their locational eFG% and “wide open” FGA frequency) this team does indeed generate quality looks for themselves, and if they can just find a way to raise their shooting efficiency by a few ticks, an offensive boom could be on the way.

Today, I thought I’d shout-out a couple of important actions that caught my eye while digging into the film. As you’ll see, the Hawks might not always score on the possessions that I’ve highlighted, however the focus is on the actions that lead to the shot attempt, as the shots that they generate are typically good looks.

Let’s get into it.

De’Andre Hunter Screens

De’Andre Hunter’s ‘Sixth Man of the Year’ campaign has shown no sign of slowing down — with the 6th year forward topping the 20-point mark in each of the last five games, raising his points per game average to 19.6 through his first 15 games of the season*.

*first amongst all bench players this season!

While Hunter’s drives in the halfcourt (coupled with his improved handle, and shooting efficiency at the rim) have been a big part of his impressive early season play, some of my favorite Hunter possessions are the ones where the Hawks use him as a screener for the ball handler.

This is the action that led to Trae Young’s go-ahead three to beat the Lakers last week (first clip), and is one that has generally led to positive outcomes for Atlanta’s offense this year.

With Hunter shooting a blistering 44.6% from three this season, opposing defenses are forced to respect his shot a little more, giving him some extra gravity when running ghost screens, or pick-and-pops for Atlanta’s ball handlers.

In the play below from the NBA Cup game against Cleveland, Trae Young draws two to the ball, and quickly gets it back to Hunter at the top of the key, putting the Cavs in rotation. Dyson Daniels’ cut from the wing takes LeVert out of the picture, and Hunter swings the ball to the corner for an open Bogdanovic three. Even though he misses, this is a great look for Atlanta’s offense.

Other times, the Hawks will use this action to get Hunter going downhill so that he can make a play for himself or others.

Check out this possession from the Knicks game where he attacks off the catch then kicks to the corner*. Johnson makes a great play to save the errant pass, finding Capela, who dishes to Daniels for an easy score.

*Yes, the pass is slightly off target

In this next clip, Hunter just slips the screen and hammers home the finish over the rotating Christie*.

*P.S. LeBron is getting old

This action’s usage varies from game to game depending on Hunter’s matchup, however when it does get called, it typically nets positive results for Atlanta’s offense.

Off-Ball Trae

Folks, it’s finally happening. After years of turning into a statue without the ball in his hands, Trae Young is figuring out how to create scoring opportunities for both himself and others through his off-ball movement.

The play below from their game against Charlotte may look simple, but in reality, I nearly shed a tear watching it. Josh Green is overplaying the dribble hand-off (DHO) with Jalen Johnson — so Young cuts backdoor for the score. Yes!

In this next clip from the Cavs game on November 27, Young misses the pull-up bomb, but he deftly sneaks into paint after Capela secures the offensive board and hits the floater over Mobley.

Later on in the fourth quarter of that same game against Cleveland, Young fakes as if he’s pulling up for a deep three (getting Mitchell off balance), then cuts backdoor, freezing Mobley for the split second required for Jalen to fire off an open three and cut the Cavalier’s lead to four.

From the Knicks game a few nights ago, Young fakes as if he’s going into a DHO with Okongwu, then beats Bridges backdoor, and he nearly squeezes a pass through to Bogi in the corner (though it gets tipped out of bounds).

Again, these plays might not seem like much, but they’re a massive step in the right direction for a player who tallied just 11 cuts all of last season.

While Young has used the threat of a DHO to set up a backdoor cut for himself (clips one and four above) – his teammates have also had success using a fake hand-off to Young to carve out driving lanes for themselves.

In this play from the game against the Bucks, Hunter fakes the DHO with Young, then drives and kicks to the corner for a (rare) Okongwu three-pointer.

This next play from the Knicks game is the same Hunter/Young “fake DHO” action as above. Hunter drives and kicks to the corner for a good looking ‘Bogi’ three.

Some other possessions involving ‘off-ball Trae’ that I’ve enjoyed this season have been the “Young-as-a-screener” possessions. This is something that Young is still getting acclimated to yet is steadily becoming a bigger part of the Hawks’ offense.

Against Charlotte, this action nets Risacher a wide open dunk in the halfcourt.

In this next clip from the game against New Orleans (and old pal, Dejounte Murray), Young sets an early shot clock screen for Dyson Daniels, resulting in a wide open driving lane for Daniels.

From the game against the Bucks, Young’s ghost screen gives way to a driving lane for Jalen Johnson, who takes two dribbles before throwing down a vicious slam over Lopez.

Of course, Young can still cut defenses to shreds running a simple 1-5 pick-and-roll with Capela or Okongwu — as evidenced by his third quarter flurry against the Knicks on Wednesday night — however given the Hawks’ shaky three-point shooting this season, Quin Snyder and his staff have had to be a bit more creative in order to maximize Young’s offensive impact.

Plays like the ones highlighted above help to create driving lanes for the Hawks’ offense, and they are a big part of the reason Young still leads the team (and ranks near the top of the league) in offensive on/off impact despite posting career-low marks in both usage rate and shooting efficiency.

Let’s hope off-ball Trae is here to stay!

Halfcourt Jalen

It’s obvious that Trae Young is still the head of the snake in Atlanta, and while De’Andre Hunter has certainly been excellent in his role as well, it’s not hyperbole to say that Jalen Johnson has been the most impressive Hawk this season. He’s averaging 19.8 points (on 50.3% shooting from the floor, 34.9% from three) 10.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while leading the team in overall on/off impact (per 100 possessions) thus far.

On offense, while Johnson’s sensational blend of athleticism and playmaking make him one of the league’s most dangerous weapons in transition (as you can glean from the two clips included below), the aspect of his game I’d like to focus on today is his ability to create for himself and others in the halfcourt.

Johnson has made significant strides as an offensive initiator this season. Check out this drive and kick from the Lakers game (with Hunter as the screener!) for an open ‘Bogi’ corner three.

Another possession from the Lakers game — Okongwu slips the screen, the Lakers blow the switch, and Johnson zips a pass to Okongwu for an easy two points.

This play from the Knicks game was drawn up during the end of quarter break, but the timing and placement of Johnson’s lob is perfect, and Okongwu hammers home the alley-oop.

This next clip isn’t a pick-and-roll ball handler possession per say, however you can see Milwaukee get their matchups confused after the Risacher cut (Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez are in the same spot). Johnson notices too, and immediately throws it to ‘Bogi’ in the opposite corner. Risacher relocates to the wing, and cans the open catch-and-shoot three off the feed from Bogdanovic. Good offense.

Last season, Atlanta used Johnson as the “screener” in the pick-and-roll more often than he was used as an initiator, and while they’ve upped his reps as a ball handler this season, it’s nice to see that they haven’t stopped using him as a roll man either.

The possessions where Johnson screens for Young or Bogdanovic in particular seem to result in positive outcomes for the Hawks — with the results ranging from explosive (first clip) to unselfish (second and third clips).

Johnson’s ability to get out and run in transition will always be the strongest part of his offensive game, however his growth as a playmaker in the halfcourt has been an extremely encouraging sign for the Hawks this season.

Roll-Man Dyson

Dyson Daniels has obviously made a name for himself with his play on the defensive end of the floor this season — and while his “box score” statistics of 13.5 points (44.7% shooting from the floor, 31.2% from three) and 3.3 assists per game won’t blow anybody away — the offensive possessions I’d like to highlight for him are the ones where Atlanta uses him as a screener for Trae Young.

With Daniels’ catch-and-shoot game still being a work in progress, this action nearly always brings two to the ball, and gives Daniels an opportunity to lean into his strengths on offense, operating in the paint where he can either drop in a floater or create a high value look for a teammate.

Check out this possession from the Cleveland game on November 27. Dyson sets a ghost screen for Young, the Cavs send two to the ball, Young quickly gets it to Daniels, who finds Risacher on the opposite wing for three.

From their NBA Cup game against the Cavs, Daniels gets a hockey assist by making the simple play off of the roll. Cleveland sends two to the ball, Daniels kicks it out to an open Jalen Johnson, who swings to Hunter for three.

Against the Lakers, the Young/Dyson pick-and-roll leads to a pretty Daniels’ floater over Anthony Davis.

Daniels’ defense alone makes him one of Atlanta’s most important players, and involving him in more actions like the ones highlighted above is one way to tap into some of his offensive value as he works to become more consistent from beyond the three-point arc.

All statistics and videos used in this article are from nba.com/stats, cleaningtheglass.com, dunksandthrees.com, basketball-reference.com or bball-index.com.