NBA Survey: Hawks have had best offseason, insiders say

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps asked 20 coaches, scouts and executives to weigh in on which team had the best offseason. The winner? Well, you guessed it … none other than the Hawks, who ran away with the top spot.

The Votes

• Atlanta Hawks: 7

• Denver Nuggets: 4

• Houston Rockets: 3

• Oklahoma City Thunder: 2

• Orlando Magic: 2

• LA Clippers: 1

• Los Angeles Lakers: 1

After a few years of flying under the radar since their 2021 conference finals run, the Hawks made a splash. They landed Kristaps Porzingis, signed Nickeil Alexander-Walker and snagged what insiders view as one of the NBA’s most valuable trade chips: a future Pelicans pick that projects to land in the lottery.

“I think they’ll be one of the best teams in the East and they utilized every tool in their toolbox,” one executive told Bontemps.

Denver came in second thanks to a depth makeover around Nikola Jokic, adding Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas, while also flipping Michael Porter Jr. for Cameron Johnson.

Houston got credit for the biggest swing of all — pulling Kevin Durant out of Phoenix.

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