Efficiency is the Name of the Game for the Hawks in 2025

Jalen Johnson poses for the Hawks 2025-26 Media Day as the team welcomes in many new faces (Image via @ATLHawks/X)
By: Lucas Kochevar

A common theme seemed to pop up during the Hawks official 2025-26 Media Day as multiple players took the podium. Efficiency was the word of the day as head coach Quin Snyder and Trae Young referenced the word. From all levels, it was a word that indicates a simple, but precise style of play that the Hawks look to utilize with many new faces in the mix. Snyder and Young talked last week leading up to the start of the season with training camp and preseason around the corner and the messaging between the two was clear 

“The key word for Trae is efficiency,” Snyder said. “He wants to get better every year… To me, his leadership is about him being efficient and doing things on the court to help our team win.”

The word ‘efficiency’ can be interpreted a number of different ways in NBA circles. The beauty of efficiency is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, in the statistician. One of the most common stats that measures efficiency is PER (player efficiency rating), which is described by former NBA exec. and current columnist John Hollinger, as “the rating of a player’s per-minute productivity.” It’s a stat that uses formulas to measure a player’s successes and failures on the court. Regardless, Young claims to be the one to initiate that word into his conversations with Snyder last week.

“I think I was the first one to bring up efficiency in our conversation,” Young said with a grin. “As high as he wants to set the bar for me, I want to set it even higher. For me, I’m excited about this team.”

The talk surrounding Young seems to focus on his inefficiency. With a high usage rate, Young is forced, in a way, to shoulder the responsibilities that lead to stats that don't favor Young. Despite the noise, Young has managed to increase his assists every season, including a league-high 11.6 assists per game last season. Snyder mentioned during his presser that Young is ‘one of the NBA’s best at hit-ahead passes’ but even with that, Snyder wants ‘more’ of those passes from him. 

Young wasn’t the only player to mention efficiency from his presser as second-year starter Zaccharie Risacher stated his  intentions at media day.

“My goal is really to be efficient. As soon as I step on the court I want to be the best version of myself so that we can win games,” Risacher said about his goals for improvement. “My main strength is that I’m a versatile player so I’m ready to do whatever it takes [to win games].” 

The sentiment felt clear from the early quotes from media day. The Hawks expectations are high, but there will be a learning and feeling out process among the players and coaches. As most teams work, the Hawks will look to their head coach and point guard to gather all the guys together to play winning basketball. The veterans are here to help speed up the young guys' winning process, as multiple Hawks players' noted, they have the third youngest roster in the league. Playing efficient basketball will be an early key for the Hawks to grab some easy wins while learning to play together.