3 players Hawks must trade to take next step after embarrassing end to Knicks series

Story by

Story by
3 players Hawks must trade to take next step after embarrassing end to Knicks series

Randall Barnes, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, May 2, 2026 ·

6 min read

About Our Ads

3 players Hawks must trade to take next step after embarrassing end to Knicks series appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

Although the Atlanta Hawks had a phenomenal season by all accounts, the 51-point loss to the New York Knicks was egregious. It should cause a slight reset for the franchise. Throughout the final three games of the series against the Knicks, the Hawks simply were outclassed. They couldn't find a way to stop Karl-Anthony Towns when the offense ran through him out of the post or at the elbow, and they couldn't find ways to manufacture shots once the Knicks blitzed C.J. McCollum and packed the paint. As a result of this, Jalen Johnson couldn't get his usual drives to the basket.

The need for a scorer and a playmaker that can jump-start the offense was never more on full display than in the final leg of the series. And for the Hawks to get better, they have to make key moves that address their biggest issues in the offseason. If they truly want to be successful, Zaccharie Risacher , Gabe Vincent , and Corey Kispert should not be on the team next season.

Zaccharie Risacher

Ever since Risacher was drafted in 2024, I've been bullish about his potential. Risacher fell to the Hawks after current Wizards center Alex Sarr made it clear that he did not want to join the Hawks. Sarr would have been the better option for that Trae Young -led team, and he's turned into a fine professional. But there was an upside to Risacher that made the pick make sense. The league, now more than ever, favors long and agile forwards that can score at all three levels and keep their men in front of them on defense.

In his rookie season, Risacher showed an ability to be an effective catch-and-shoot player that stretches the floor and an emerging off-the-dribble game that can make him, at the very least, one of the most effective role players in the league. But it's clear that Zaccharie needs more development than typical number-one picks, and it doesn't seem as if Quin Snyder and the Hawks are willing to give that to him.

Just look at the games that Risacher played between his first two seasons. When he was first drafted, he played in 75 games and started in 73 of them. He averaged 12.6 points per game and shot 35% from three in 24 minutes per night. In the 2025-2026 season, he played 67 games, started only 46, and averaged 9.6 points per game, playing only 22 minutes per night. In the six-game series against the New York Knicks, he played only three games for an average of seven minutes per game and averaged 3.7 points per game.

No matter if Risacher is a number-one pick or not, it's clear that he is not going to see his full potential in Atlanta. More than anything, he deserves a clean slate. I firmly believe that Risacher can be a serviceable player. While he might not reach the highs of other recent number-one draft picks such as Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards , he can be a valuable player in this league for the right team. But Snyder has made it clear, by the way he slotted his rotation, that Risacher is simply not in the Hawks' plans for the future. So it would make sense to trade him to improve the team.

Gabe Vincent

Vincent had a resounding season during the Miami Heat 's improbable run to the NBA Finals as an eighth seed in the 2022-2023 season. In 22 games for the Heat, he averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 37% from three. His 2022-2023 playoffs were largely outliers to his production across the other seasons of his career, as he simply was not effective following his peak. He dealt with significant injury layoffs in his time with the Lakers , and even in the 2024-2025 season, when he played 72 games, he simply wasn't a winning player.

So it was puzzling when the Hawks let go of a serviceable three-point marksman in Luke Kennard to get Vincent. It appeared that the Vincent trade was part of a bigger move in the future, as Onsi Saleh's trade maneuverings seem to be a setup for future moves he plans to make. We saw Vincent get significant playing time in key spots for Atlanta, which ultimately hurt the team. The Hawks not having a traditional point guard after the Trae Young deal was not wise, and Vincent was the closest thing to a traditional point guard that Atlanta could get.

But Vincent just was not effective in the spots that he was given during the playoffs for the Hawks. While Vincent's value in the trade market probably isn't high, he absolutely needs to be a part of any trade package that the Hawks make in the offseason. The Hawks need to ensure they sign or trade for a pure point guard who can consistently knock down shots but also effectively orchestrate an offense in the half-court to help a Hawks team that looked listless and deflated in Game 6.

Corey Kispert

Corey Kispert was an additional player the Hawks were able to acquire in the Trae Young deal, alongside C.J. McCollum. There were certain points in the year when Kispert looked as if he would be a key rotation player off the bench for the Hawks, a three-point marksman who could raise the floor for the team after the trade of Luke Kennard. But his inconsistency, specifically against playoff teams, raises concerns about his future with the team.

He didn't play often in key games of the Knicks series, but in Games 2, 3, and 4 he scored only 7 points combined and didn't make a three-pointer. For a Hawks team that desperately needed players who could space the floor to stop the Knicks from packing the paint on Jalen Johnson, totally ignoring Dyson Daniels , or blitzing C.J. McCollum, Kispert's three-point shooting could certainly have helped the team. But even in the minutes that he was given in the garbage time of the three straight blowouts that the Knicks administered to the Hawks, he was unable to put up points.

Kispert is a talented player and the archetype of a player that other teams will certainly want in the league. He would be an attractive add-on in a trade package that could certainly improve the team.

The Hawks are almost there

In general, the Hawks are one step away from true contender status in the Eastern Conference. While Jalen Johnson did not have a great series, he will certainly improve with more big-game experience under his belt. Likewise, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker proved their worth throughout the series as key rotational pieces.

But there needs to be a drastic rehauling of the rest of the roster. Whether it's entering the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes or packaging Risacher, Kispert, and Vincent for better players, something needs to be done to fully vault the Hawks into permanent contention for the top six playoff spots in an increasingly competitive Eastern Conference.

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: