Simone Edgewood: The Hawks Drafted Trae Young's Opposite. That Is the Point.

There is a moment in every franchise's life when it tells you what it actually believes. Not at the press conference. In the quiet room where the picks are made.

The Hawks told you Thursday night.

Kingston Flemings is six-foot-three, 183 pounds. His player comps, according to SI, are Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry -- floor generals whose greatness is measured in how much better everyone else looks. He averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 assists, and 1.5 steals as a freshman at Houston on 47.6 percent shooting and a 2.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. Second-fastest shuttle at the combine. Peachtree Hoops called him the best defender, the best passer, and the highest-feel player in the top guard group.

None of that is the story.

The story is that the Hawks traded Trae Young -- the most electrifying Hawk since Dominique, a player whose crossovers turned State Farm Arena into a concert venue -- and then drafted his philosophical opposite. Trae was brilliance concentrated in one body. Flemings is brilliance distributed through everyone else's.

That is not a roster decision. That is a confession of values.

I wrote yesterday about what the Hawks are asking of the city. But the Flemings pick is about what they are asking of themselves. It only makes sense if you believe basketball is won by connection, not isolation. And this franchise spent five years building around the most beautiful isolation scorer of his generation.

Consider what Atlanta is choosing. A city that loves spectacle -- Outkast at Stankonia, Dominique's windmill, the Dirty South's whole aesthetic of being louder than anywhere else -- is investing in a player whose greatest skill is the simple, correct pass. Flemings's 32.6 percent assist rate ranked in the 83rd percentile nationally. His midrange converts at 44.3 percent, 84th percentile. He does not dunk on you. He finds the open man before you realize the open man exists.

This is the DNA Onsi Saleh is building. Not one brilliant player surrounded by role players. Five connected players who trust the system more than they trust their own talent. Flemings, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu -- a young core averaging under 23 years old. None of them will be the most exciting player on any highlight reel. All of them can be the reason you win in April.

The tension is real. Flemings's three-point shot has been called streaky with questionable mechanics. His 57.2 percent rim efficiency ranked just 34th percentile nationally. The Hawks also drafted Zuby Ejiofor at 23, a Big East Defensive Player of the Year who cannot shoot from three, compounding the spacing question I raised after draft night. Henri Veesaar at 52 -- a seven-footer shooting 42.6 percent from deep at UNC -- partially answers that, but partially is doing heavy lifting.

Tomorrow the Kuminga question resolves. His $24.3 million team option is due June 29. John Hollinger's valuation model pegs Kuminga at $9.4 million -- a gap of nearly $15 million. The expectation is that the Hawks decline and renegotiate, which is itself a statement: they trust their own math more than they fear the market. Robert Williams III, the primary center target in free agency, would address the interior crisis the Knicks exposed -- Atlanta finished second-to-last in second-chance points and paint points allowed in the playoffs.

Every move points the same direction. Patience over panic. Connective players over explosive ones. The longer play.

Atlanta has never been comfortable with quiet basketball. The franchise's greatest moments are all volume -- Dominique's duels with Bird, Trae shushing Madison Square Garden, the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run. Quiet basketball asks the city to notice the extra pass instead of the poster dunk.

Flemings said after the draft that he is ready to work for Atlanta. Work. Not perform, not entertain, not dazzle. That word choice matters, because it is the word this franchise keeps choosing.

The Hawks told you who they want to become on Thursday night. A team that wins because five players move as one, not because one player moves like no one else. Whether Atlanta can love that version of basketball is the question now.

Soundtrack: Goodie Mob -- "Cell Therapy"