Atlanta Hawks Trade Risacher for Lu Dort as the Retool Gets Real

Two years ago, Zaccharie Risacher was the No. 1 overall pick and the presumptive face of whatever the Atlanta Hawks were becoming. As of this weekend, he's a Dallas Maverick. The biggest Atlanta Hawks news of the week is that the front office decided it would rather have Lu Dort's forearms on the wing than keep waiting on a 21-year-old's jumper. The three-team deal that sent Risacher to Dallas and brought Dort and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta capped a seven-day stretch that also included the end of Summer League, a stalemate in the Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade talks, and a broadcast deal that puts every locally televised Hawks game on free TV. For a franchise that traded Trae Young in January, it's starting to look less like a teardown and more like a plan.

The Trade: Risacher Out, Lu Dort In

The deal, reported July 19, breaks down like this: Atlanta receives Dort and young guard Ryan Nembhard, Dallas gets Risacher, and Oklahoma City collects three future second-round picks — a 2027 Bulls pick via Dallas, plus the more favorable of Atlanta's 2031 and 2032 seconds in packages with Houston and the Lakers. The Thunder had picked up Dort's $17.7 million player option and then flipped him to duck the second apron, which is how one of the league's premier perimeter defenders — an All-Defensive First Team pick in 2025 — became available for spare change.

From Atlanta's side, the logic is straightforward. The Hawks added a proven defensive wing without touching a single first-round pick, and Dort's expiring deal joins CJ McCollum's and Jock Landale's to give the front office more than $50 million in expiring salary to dangle at the trade deadline, with a projected $40 million-plus in cap space next summer. The cost was admitting the Risacher pick didn't work here. His production slid in year two, the wing rotation got crowded, and Dallas gets to run the buy-low experiment next to Cooper Flagg instead. Giving up on a former No. 1 pick after two seasons stings, but the roster around him changed so drastically since June 2024 that the fit had already dissolved.

The Kuminga Standoff Drags On

The other unresolved thread in Atlanta Hawks news this week is Jonathan Kuminga, who remains in free-agent limbo. Atlanta declined his $24.3 million team option in June, and reporting on July 20 said the Lakers and Hawks remain far apart in sign-and-trade talks. The Lakers' framework has centered on Jarred Vanderbilt, a 2032 first-round pick swap and multiple second-rounders, but per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Atlanta has been resistant to taking Vanderbilt back at all and would prefer a multi-team construction that routes him elsewhere. Kuminga, for his part, is reportedly looking for more than the two-year, $20 million range Los Angeles first floated. The Cavaliers have also been connected to him. Complicating everything: the Dort trade filled out Atlanta's roster, so the realistic outcomes are a sign-and-trade that returns something useful or watching Kuminga walk for nothing. Neither side seems in a hurry, which usually means the market hasn't produced a number anyone loves.

Summer League Wrap: Hot Start, Then Bubble Wrap

Las Vegas Summer League ended this week, and the Hawks' version of it came in two acts. Act one was legitimately fun: after going 2-1 in Salt Lake City, Atlanta ripped off three straight wins in Vegas, including a 102-90 dismantling of the Celtics on July 14 in which Kobe Johnson poured in 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting with 7 rebounds. Johnson led the team at 19.3 points per game in Vegas and was the breakout of the whole trip. Act two was the sound of bubble wrap: with a semifinal berth within reach, the Hawks rested Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Asa Newell against Memphis on July 17 — no injuries, just caution — lost that one, then dropped the July 19 finale to Washington to finish 3-2 in Vegas while the Warriors went on to beat the Grizzlies for the title.

The rookie report card still reads well. Flemings, the No. 8 pick, averaged 7.0 points and 6.5 assists through his first two Vegas games, and the playmaking and defensive effort looked NBA-ready even while the three-point shot wobbled. Ejiofor, the No. 23 pick out of St. John's, put up 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while hitting 43 percent from deep and defending multiple positions. Second-rounder Henri Veesaar was the surprise, scoring 13.3 points per game on 60 percent shooting — including a 20-point night against Boston — before a rough 1-of-8 finale reminded everyone why he's ticketed for heavy G League time. All three signed their rookie deals at the start of the month, with Flemings' contract worth roughly $33 million over four years.

How the Atlanta Hawks Got Here

None of this week makes sense without the season that preceded it. Atlanta shipped Trae Young to Washington on January 9 for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, then sent Kristaps Porzingis to Golden State at the February deadline in the deal that brought Kuminga in. The remade roster still finished 46-36, won the Southeast Division and grabbed the East's No. 6 seed, with Jalen Johnson earning his first All-Star nod along the way. The playoffs were less kind: the Knicks won the first-round series 4-2, and after Atlanta stole Games 2 and 3 by a combined two points, New York slammed the door with a 140-89 humiliation in Game 6. Johnson led the Hawks at 19.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the series, and McCollum added 19.2, but the offense managed barely 100 a night against a team averaging nearly 118.

The front office clearly saw enough to stay the course. Quin Snyder signed a multiyear extension on June 8, McCollum re-upped on a one-year, $21 million deal, and Landale returned on a one-year contract after averaging 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds as a reserve. Earlier in the offseason the Hawks also added wing Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City and guard Devin Carter from Sacramento in separate trades — depth moves that now look like the supporting cast for a defense-first identity built around Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and, as of this week, Dort.

Every Hawks Game on Free TV

The week's other headline was off the court entirely. On July 16, the Hawks announced a partnership with Gray Media that puts all 66 non-nationally televised games from the 2026-27 season on free broadcast television — Atlanta News First (WANF) and the Peachtree Sports Network in the metro, plus Gray stations reaching Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah. The deal replaces the FanDuel Sports Network arrangement and keeps streaming access through YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream and Fubo. Team president Andrew Saltzman framed it as a play for reach, engagement and accessibility, and it's hard to argue: for a team trying to sell a new era without its franchise point guard, letting the entire state watch for free is smart business.

What's Next on the Atlanta Hawks Calendar

The offseason now downshifts into the quiet stretch, but a few items remain on the docket:

• Kuminga resolution — sign-and-trade, a multi-team deal, or a walk-away. This is the last major roster domino.
• Schedule release — the NBA typically unveils the full slate in August, which will reveal opening night and the marquee dates.
• Training camp — the roster that reports in the fall will feature three rookies, Dort, and a frontcourt hierarchy worth watching.

Step back from the week and the shape of the thing is visible. The Atlanta Hawks are betting that a top-ten-caliber defense around Jalen Johnson, Daniels and Dort — plus a mountain of expiring money and a clean cap sheet next July — beats slow-cooking lottery tickets. Whether that gets them past the Knicks tier of the East is a question for spring. But after a week in which they moved a former No. 1 pick, wrapped a promising Summer League and put every game on free TV, nobody can accuse this front office of drifting. The retool has a direction now. It's up and pressing 94 feet.