Quin Snyder: Hawks will need to be flexible, patient with new versatile roster
After several months off, the Hawks have reconvened to begin their 2025-26 NBA season.
The Hawks held their annual media day on Monday, before they open training camp Tuesday for their first practice with the old and new faces.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder opened the day’s media availability and emphasized the need for patience with the integration of center Kristaps Porzingis, as well as wings Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard.
But Snyder also highlighted the versatility that this season’s roster has.
“I think, our whole group, what does excite me is, I think we’ve got guys that are passionate and enthusiastic about doing the work, and that’s really what it’s going to take for us to get where we want to go,” Snyder said Monday.
“Overarching, with the roster, I think there’s a versatility that’s something (general manager) Onsi (Saleh) and I have talked about. (He) and his group have been able to achieve that, in a way that we haven’t had that before.”
With the additions of Porzingis, Alexander-Walker and Kennard, the Hawks can run several different combinations, depending on what the game calls for.
Snyder added that the players would have to be a little more nimble because of that.
“I think the biggest challenge with that is the balance between having continuity and having change on a game-to-game basis,” Snyder said. “For our team to be as good as I think we need to be and want to be, our players have to understand that every game is different.
“Not just from the standpoint that minutes might fluctuate or rotations are different, but every game is potentially going to require something different, of different players, but we do have the ability and have the versatility, I think, whether it be matchups or style, to play a few different ways, and we’ve got a group that, because there are so many new guys that create new combinations, that I think I mentioned earlier. I think I said that we have to be patient and understand this is a slow burn. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be urgent about, you know, focusing and pursuing that.”
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