Hawks open season Wednesday; here are 5 keys.

The Hawks once again retooled their roster in the offseason.

However, other teams in the Eastern Conference had some major adjustments as well. Although the Hawks have improved in many areas, they have some pretty grueling competition ahead of them.

They tip off the season on the road Wednesday night against the Magic in Orlando.

Here are five keys to the season.

Optimal spacing

The Hawks, on paper, have shooters up and down their roster. But historically, they haven’t gotten them to click at the same time.

Of course, shooters’ percentages will fluctuate during the season, but the Hawks will have to make sure they have good spacing habits to mitigate it.

During the exhibition season, the Hawks ranked among the top five teams in average points per game. But they rested in or near the bottom third of the league in their 3-point efficiency and field goal percentage.

Some of that comes down to them figuring out the styles of their new players, as well as the extended minutes of their younger players.

But with the games counting now, the Hawks will need some urgency in adapting to one another.

Stout defense

On the other side of the ball, the Hawks need to build off the defensive-minded attitude they had toward the end of the regular season. The Hawks ended the second half of the year with the second-best defense in the league, behind the Thunder.

They’ve added some strong pieces with Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, as well as rookie guard Kingston Flemings.

But they’ll consistently have to play the collective defense coach Quin Snyder stresses.

That defense will, of course, allow them to get out in transition and play fast, another principle in the team’s general game plan.

Bench mob

The Hawks’ bench was dealt major blows at the start of last season and again heading into the postseason.

But starting off the year, the team is relatively healthy, with injuries to just a couple of players: Mouhamed Gueye and rookie Henri Veesaar.

The Hawks get a little bit of depth relief in the next week, with Gueye set for re-evaluation on a foot injury from the summer. Veesaar likely would have spent much of his first year in the league with the Skyhawks, the team’s G League affiliate.

With the majority of the Hawks’ rotation healthy, the team will want to see their second unit really make an impact.

During the preseason, Wiggins, Flemings, Corey Kispert and center Jock Landale had some breakout moments. The team will need them, as well as some of their other young talent, to find their moments.

Making leaps

Last season, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each took big steps in their careers.

Johnson earned his first NBA All-Star nod and a place on the All-NBA third team. Alexander-Walker earned Most Improved Player honors.

The Hawks would benefit from the 24-year-old and 27-year-old, respectively, making another jump.