The Atlanta Hawks embark on a four-game Western Conference road trip a different team than the one that began 2026.
Atlanta’s first game is at the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, two days after trading four-time all-star Trae Young in a blockbuster move. Should the trade be officially announced before the game, the Hawks will face Denver with CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert on the roster instead of the player who was the building block for the franchise for the past seven seasons and the Hawks’ all-time leader in assists (4,837) and 3-pointers (1,295).
McCollum, who is familiar with the Nuggets from his days with Portland, is averaging 18.8 points in 35 games this season.
Young played just 10 games for Atlanta this season, averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists, but he was appreciated by Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye
“When I first got here, he was one of the first guys that texted me, welcoming me to the city, gave me a lot of advice,” Gueye said. “Obviously, playing with Trae, as a big, is like a dream come true. I love him as a guy, I love him as a teammate. … An Atlanta legend.”
With Young sidelined for most of the season, Jalen Johnson (23.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists per game) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (20.4 points) have led the way for the Hawks. Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 17.1 points but has played in just 17 games this season and just five since Nov. 25. He is averaging just over 19 minutes a game since returning from an illness that kept him out for two weeks.
The 7-foot-2 Porzingis could be effective against Denver, which is without center Nikola Jokic (left knee) and his backup Jonas Valanciunas (calf) as well as small forward Cam Johnson (knee). The Nuggets are coming off a 3-4 road trip that head coach David Adelman said was “very, very successful,” with the three wins coming against teams in the top five of the Eastern Conference.
Adelman made that assessment after Denver won at Boston on Wednesday night, two nights after beating Philadelphia despite not having six of its top seven scorers. The Nuggets used small lineups against the Sixers and Celtics but employed a switching defense to battle against bigger players.
Denver rode the play of Jamal Murray, who had a career-high 17 assists on Wednesday night, topping his previous high of 16 set against Brooklyn on Sunday. Murray is averaging 26 points, 11.5 assists and 6.8 rebounds in his four games since Jokic went down on the second game of the road trip.
“It’s just a balance. Not just without Jok, but with everyone that’s out, just creating for other guys, and if it doesn’t work, creating again,” Murray said after Wednesday’s game. “And at the same time, with the mentality that I can’t be too passive, I’ve got to also be aggressive. But I can’t be too aggressive. I’ve got to get my teammates the ball.”
He is averaging a career-high 25.3 points a game, second only to Jokic (29.6 points), and Aaron Gordon is third at 18.4 points and has played in two games in his return from a hamstring injury.
–Field Level Media
