What happened: Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder avoided playing perimeter defenders Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker at the same time during the team's preseason dress rehearsal, per @KLChouinard. Instead, Snyder staggered his rotations to keep two of the three wings on the court together throughout the contest.

Why it matters: A defensive drop-off emerged whenever Dort went to the bench and left Daniels as the lone point-of-attack stopper on the floor. Having paired Dyson Daniels and Lu Dort as a defensive duo after acquiring Dort from Oklahoma City in July, Atlanta can eliminate those solo-Daniels stretches in the 2026-27 regular season by extending Dort's workload from 22 to 25 minutes per game.

What to watch: With preseason complete and camp cuts Cameron Corhen, Kobe Johnson, and Giorgi Bezhanishvili waived, Snyder's regular-season rotation will test whether Dort's workload reaches the 25-minute threshold.