As is customary with every newly anointed king of the league, it seems that the vast majority of NBA teams are working tirelessly to better position themselves to dethrone the reigning champion New York Knicks come next season.
Across the association, there have been a bevy of splashy moves made this summer, ranging from superstar migrations to depth chart sell-offs, all in the name of ball clubs pushing for ultimate glory in 2026-27.
While teams like the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers may be getting the most attention for their offseason stockpiling, hiding in their shadows is an under-the-radar Eastern Conference threat from last season who, with their recent moves, has somehow managed to get even more menacing.
Hawks now an even more dangerous threat to Knicks after Lu Dort trade
Among all the teams the Knicks faced in the 2026 playoffs on their way to the NBA Championship, the one that gave them a real run for their money was the Hawks.
In many ways, the adversity New York faced during their first-round series against Atlanta gave them the much-needed edge and confidence to go on their historic title run.
Now, since then, they've only become even more dangerous with their low-risk, high-reward offseason moves, particularly the ones made with the OKC Thunder.
By trading for wing Aaron Wiggins earlier this month, Atlanta has now added a reliable spark plug scoring weapon (averaged 10.8 points on 37.1 percent shooting from deep over the last two seasons) to help improve upon their middle-of-the-pack second-unit offense that ranked just 17 in points per game (36.6) and 21 in offensive rating (55.4) during last year's campaign.
The recent addition of veteran Lu Dort, meanwhile, is only bound to make their already grueling efforts on the less glamorous side of the ball even more imposing, as they just ranked in the top-10 in defensive rating (112.9). Bringing on an established All-Defensive talent with experience anchoring the league's top-ranked defense under his belt is certainly a welcome add-on for the club.
As they were constructed last season, the Hawks handed the Knicks more postseason losses than guys like Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell, and Victor Wembanyama did combined.
Now, simply by adding two stellar role players with built-in knowledge of what it takes to win a championship to their arsenal, there's a case to be made that the biggest threat to last year's championship run for New York has found a way to get even better ahead of their defense tour.
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