Hawks fall to Memphis in the preseason opener: Flemings starts, and the bench leaks

This one isn't going in the trophy case, and nobody should let it. The Hawks opened the 2026-27 preseason at State Farm Arena on Monday night with a 132-123 loss to the Grizzlies — a game that told you almost nothing about the standings and almost everything about the two questions this roster actually has to answer: who's getting cut to get from 17 to 15, and whether the bench can defend a lead once the starters sit.

Never judge an October game by the box score. Judge it by the patterns. Here are the ones worth keeping.

Flemings gets the keys and holds up

Kingston Flemings — the No. 8 pick and the early favorite for the backup point-guard spot — started in place of a resting C.J. McCollum and didn't look like a rookie for most of his run. He hit his first career three early, moved the ball instead of forcing it, and played with the kind of composure that let him survive the fact that he was out there with grown men gunning for roster spots. He finished with 11 points and two assists in about 20 minutes, and the coaching staff rewarded him by keeping him on the floor with the first group into the second half.

That's the whole point of preseason for this team: give the young point guard real reps against a real NBA defense so October isn't his first exposure. Check that box. He also keeps making the case that when McCollum's back in the fold, Atlanta has a functional backup playmaker — which was not a sure thing heading into camp.

The bench was the problem, and it wasn't close

Here's the pattern that matters. When the starters were on the floor for the first quarter, Atlanta looked like the defense-first group the front office has advertised — decisive, physical, and connected. The Grizzlies couldn't move the ball, and the Hawks were right there.

Then the reserves came in gaggle. And it went sideways. Memphis outscored the Hawks by 23 in the second quarter, and the Hawks got outscored 49-26 in that frame as the bench unit that included Gavin Wiggins, Thor Klemenz and others got shredded on the defensive end. That group is exactly the one fighting for the 15th and 16th roster spots — the seats the front office has to make decisions on — and Monday was a reminder of why this cuts going to be uncomfortable.

Dorian Finney-Smith, Lu Dort and C.J. McCollum all sat, so this was a long look at the reserve wing rotation. Some nights the other guys are just better. Monday the other guys were, and they were a lot better.

The deep bench was actually the bright spot

The most encouraging minutes came from the guys fighting hardest. Asa Newell had 12 points and 12 rebounds and looked like someone who belongs on an NBA floor, not someone fighting off a two-way deal. Kingston Flemings hit doubles. The two-way kids — Keshon Gilbert, Zuby Ejiofor — played like they'd been told exactly what's at stakeanna, because they have been. That second-half group's fight was the only reason the final margin looked respectable.

What matters is that the players who will actually matter in October — Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Lu Dort, the starters — got their looks, stayed healthy, and the team learned which bench combinations fight and which ones fold. You can't hang a season on a preseason result either wayisson.

Bird Gang bottom line

Don't read anything into the final score. Read into this: the first unit works, the second unit doesn't, and the front office just watched the exact candidates for the 15th and 16th spots defend — or fail to defend — in real time. That's the roster crunch being answered in front of you. When the Hawks actually tip regular season, your pick'em league will have started, so don't skip this: lock in your early-season calls on Pick'em Baby and let the live leaderboard decide who actually read the room.

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