The Atlanta Hawks didn’t exactly dominate the headlines on draft night. They made two first-round picks in Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, plus a second-round trade-up for Henri Veesaar, and the general reaction was something like: solid, boring, let’s see what happens. Nobody predicted this.
What’s happened in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City is the kind of thing that makes you check the calendar twice. The Hawks have looked legit. Not just winning games but looking like the team that knew what it was doing while everyone else was guessing. Flemings and Ejiofor have been the engine, and it’s gotten to the point where you have to ask if some of these hot takes are actually just reality in disguise.
Zuby Ejiofor Could Steal a Rotation Spot Before November
Ejiofor, the No. 23 pick out of St. John’s, has been a physical problem for everyone they’ve put in front of him. He’s not just banging around the paint. He’s stepping out and hitting threes. He’s grabbing rebounds like he’s mad at the rim. In a typical Summer League game, he put up 19 points and 15 boards, and that wasn’t even his best night.
The real story is on defense. Ejiofor doesn’t back down from anyone. He’s switching onto guards, holding his ground against bigger forwards, and generally playing like a guy who thinks he belongs. The Hawks have a frontcourt logjam, sure, but with Mouhamed Gueye expected to miss the start of the season, the door is open. It’s not crazy to think Ejiofor walks through it and takes real bench minutes in October.
Flemings Looks Like a Lottery Pick Who Fell Into the Right Spot
Kingston Flemings is not putting up gaudy scoring numbers. That’s fine. He’s playing like a 10-year vet who knows the game is about making everyone around him better. His vision is the thing that jumps out. He sees passes before they happen, and he’s willing to throw them. (There’s a clip floating around of him threading a no-look dime through traffic that’s getting passed around Hawks group chats like contraband.)
Coming out of the draft, the narrative on Flemings was that he was raw but explosive. The athleticism was obvious. The feel for the game was the question. So far, he’s answering it in real time. He’s not just running the offense. He’s controlling it. That’s rare for a rookie in July, and it’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder if he’ll force his way onto the floor sooner than expected.
This Hawks Rookie Class Might Be the Best in the League
It’s not just the two first-rounders. Henri Veesaar, who the Hawks traded up to grab in the second round, has been quietly excellent. In one half against the Jazz, he put up 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, finishing lobs and setting screens that made his guards’ lives easier. Veesaar was projected as a first-round talent who slipped, and he’s playing like a guy who remembers that. The Hawks’ front office looks smart for that move, at least for now.
Most teams are happy if one rookie shows up in Summer League. Atlanta has three. And they’re not just showing up. They’re playing together, complementing each other, and winning. The sample size is small, but the feeling around the league is that this Hawks draft class might be the one everyone else is chasing. Whether that holds into the regular season is another question, but for now, it’s a good problem to have.
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