After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Eastern Conference · tip-off October 20

Atlanta Hawks

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

45 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 40 to 51 wins.

The market

44.3 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

46-36

2025-26 · net rating +2.3 (12th in the NBA)

Our estimate is 1.7 wins above the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 45 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 44.3 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 45, middle 80%: 40 to 51 Market 44.3

Where we think they finish in the East

Top 6: 59% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 39% Outside the top 10: 1.6%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
2095¢ 100¢ 98¢ 100%
2594¢ 100¢ 97¢ 100%
3090¢ 98¢ 94¢ 100%
3580¢ 87¢ 84¢ 99%
4064¢ 67¢ 66¢ 91%
4547¢ 48¢ 48¢ 58%
5018¢ 29¢ 24¢ 17%
552¢ 12¢ 7¢ 2%
600¢ 7¢ n/a 0%
650¢ 6¢ n/a 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 46-36 (11th in wins)

Points per game
118.56th
Allowed per game
116.018th
Offensive rating
114.214th
Defensive rating
111.911th
Net rating
+2.312th

2024-25 · 40-42 (16th in wins)

Points per game
118.25th
Allowed per game
119.327th
Offensive rating
112.618th
Defensive rating
113.718th
Net rating
-1.118th

2023-24 · 36-46 (21st in wins)

Points per game
118.35th
Allowed per game
120.528th
Offensive rating
115.112th
Defensive rating
117.327th
Net rating
-2.121st

Our preseason ratings

Offense
+1.585th
Defense
-0.3014th
Net, games only
+1.889th
Roster value
+1.86

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (7)

  • Luguentz Dortfrom OKC
    26.8 min, 8.3 pts a game
  • Aaron Wigginsfrom OKC
    21.8 min, 9.4 pts a game
  • Jalen Wilsonfrom BKN
    15.9 min, 6.4 pts a game
  • Dorian Finney-Smithfrom HOU
    16.7 min, 3.3 pts a game
3 moredepth and rookies
  • Henri VeesaarRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Kingston FlemingsRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Zuby EjioforRookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (4)

  • Zaccharie Risachernow with DAL
    22.4 min, 9.6 pts a game
  • Vit Krejcinow with POR
    22.3 min, 9.0 pts a game
  • Luke Kennardnow with PHX
    20.5 min, 7.9 pts a game
  • Keaton Wallacenot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    10.3 min, 3.6 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker G · age 28 · 34.8 projected min 2025-26: 78 g, 20.8 pts, 3.4 reb, 3.7 ast

2025-26 · ATL

78games
33.4min
20.8pts
3.4reb
FG45.9%548/1195
3P39.9%251/629
FT90.2%277/307

3.7 assists a game

2024-25 · MIN

82games
25.3min
9.4pts
3.2reb
FG43.8%270/616
3P38.1%141/370
FT78.0%92/118

2.7 assists a game

2023-24 · MIN

82games
23.5min
8.0pts
2.0reb
FG43.9%236/538
3P39.1%131/335
FT80.0%52/65

2.5 assists a game

Jalen Johnson F · age 24 · 33.7 projected min 2025-26: 72 g, 22.5 pts, 10.3 reb, 7.9 ast

2025-26 · ATL

72games
35.2min
22.5pts
10.3reb
FG48.9%600/1228
3P35.2%120/341
FT78.8%301/382

7.9 assists a game

2024-25 · ATL

36games
35.7min
18.9pts
10.0reb
FG50.0%271/542
3P31.2%44/141
FT74.6%94/126

5.0 assists a game

2023-24 · ATL

56games
33.7min
16.0pts
8.7reb
FG51.1%359/702
3P35.5%71/200
FT72.8%107/147

3.6 assists a game

Dyson Daniels G · age 23 · 32.6 projected min 2025-26: 76 g, 11.9 pts, 6.8 reb, 5.9 ast

2025-26 · ATL

76games
33.2min
11.9pts
6.8reb
FG51.7%402/777
3P18.8%22/117
FT61.5%75/122

5.9 assists a game

2024-25 · ATL

76games
33.9min
14.1pts
5.9reb
FG49.3%455/923
3P34.0%80/235
FT59.3%83/140

4.4 assists a game

2023-24 · NO

61games
22.3min
5.8pts
3.9reb
FG44.7%139/311
3P31.1%42/135
FT64.2%34/53

2.7 assists a game

Onyeka Okongwu C · age 25 · 30.4 projected min 2025-26: 74 g, 15.2 pts, 7.6 reb, 3.1 ast

2025-26 · ATL

74games
31.1min
15.2pts
7.6reb
FG48.0%413/860
3P37.6%144/383
FT75.7%153/202

3.1 assists a game

2024-25 · ATL

74games
27.8min
13.4pts
8.9reb
FG56.7%388/684
3P32.4%48/148
FT75.9%164/216

2.3 assists a game

2023-24 · ATL

55games
25.5min
10.2pts
6.8reb
FG61.1%223/365
3P33.3%23/69
FT79.3%92/116

1.3 assists a game

CJ McCollum G · age 35 · 29.6 projected min 2025-26: 76 g, 18.7 pts, 3.3 reb, 3.9 ast

2025-26 · ATL/WSH

76games
29.8min
18.7pts
3.3reb
FG45.5%525/1154
3P37.5%191/510
FT77.2%183/237

3.9 assists a game

2024-25 · NO

56games
32.8min
21.1pts
3.8reb
FG44.4%444/1000
3P37.3%171/459
FT71.7%124/173

4.1 assists a game

2023-24 · NO

66games
32.7min
20.0pts
4.3reb
FG45.9%484/1055
3P42.9%239/557
FT82.7%115/139

4.6 assists a game

Jalen Wilson New here F · age 25 · 23.7 projected min 2025-26: 54 g, 6.4 pts, 2.1 reb, 0.9 ast

2025-26 · BKN

54games
15.9min
6.4pts
2.1reb
FG39.6%110/278
3P35.5%54/152
FT71.9%69/96

0.9 assists a game

2024-25 · BKN

79games
25.7min
9.5pts
3.4reb
FG39.7%246/620
3P33.7%122/362
FT81.8%135/165

1.8 assists a game

2023-24 · BKN

42games
15.8min
5.1pts
3.1reb
FG42.5%76/179
3P32.4%24/74
FT82.6%38/46

1.1 assists a game

Luguentz Dort New here G · age 27 · 21.9 projected min 2025-26: 69 g, 8.3 pts, 3.6 reb, 1.2 ast

2025-26 · OKC

69games
26.8min
8.3pts
3.6reb
FG38.5%202/524
3P34.4%128/372
FT75.9%44/58

1.2 assists a game

2024-25 · OKC

71games
29.3min
10.1pts
4.1reb
FG43.5%258/593
3P41.2%170/413
FT71.7%33/46

1.6 assists a game

2023-24 · OKC

79games
28.4min
10.9pts
3.6reb
FG43.8%288/657
3P39.4%156/396
FT82.6%128/155

1.4 assists a game

Jock Landale C · age 30 · 21.0 projected min 2025-26: 68 g, 10.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 1.7 ast

2025-26 · ATL/MEM

68games
22.2min
10.6pts
5.7reb
FG51.5%282/548
3P38.3%74/193
FT63.5%80/126

1.7 assists a game

2024-25 · HOU

42games
11.9min
4.8pts
3.3reb
FG53.3%81/152
3P42.3%11/26
FT67.5%27/40

0.9 assists a game

2023-24 · HOU

56games
13.6min
4.9pts
3.1reb
FG51.5%106/206
3P25.0%10/40
FT80.0%52/65

1.2 assists a game

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.