The Atlanta Hawks have been very noisy this offseason and although it’s too early to tell, the future’s looking bright in the A. If you’ve been living under a rock or don’t pay much attention to the Hawks here is what you missed:
Hawks Trade Kent Bazemore for Evan Turner: From a business standpoint Bazemore needed to go and it was clear that Atlanta was heading in a different direction. In other words it is about time they moved him.
Evan Turner is a solid guard that plays both sides of the ball and essentially gives Atlanta a vet with some playoff experience to give them an edge heading into next season. With rookies like Hunter and Reddish coming in, Turner can mentor the two and pose as a solid bench player and at times a starter when needed.
For Bazemore the organization took a chance on him five years ago when he was bouncing in and out of the Golden State Warriors locker room. He couldn’t find his place in the league his first few seasons and Atlanta became his home.
His contract he signed had been 4 years/$70m which is a bit of stretch for a player of his caliber, but throughout his five year span Baze averaged 10.5 points, 2.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds on 41.8% shooting from the field. Not terrible numbers, but when you put the numbers and salary together it doesn’t match up.
Lastly, it was a good decision parting ways with Baze because his production wasn’t helping nor was it getting them to the postseason, which four years ago the Hawks thought he could bring them over that hump.
NBA Draft: Acquire DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish, and Bruno Fernando: Hunter is a solid two way player and brings a huge defensive presence to a shoot first lineup with Young and Huerter. His summer league numbers aren’t great, but with the trade accusations taking a long time his debut came late and the Hawks have a tendency to rest their draft picks. They show a lot of promise in the Virginia product, but only time will tell if he can live up to his draft stock.
With Reddish he’s a question mark because for one he’s injured and two he played sidekick to Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett and only put up 13.5 points on 35.6% shooting. Will he be ready by training camp? What role will he play? These are just some of the questions that he poses. For a guy like Reddish, not playing in the summer league is a major blow because it sets himself back with a 6 week time table.
On the contrary, injuries always strike a nerve in an organization, but at least he has time to get fully healthy. Moving forward, his role could be scarce heading into the 2019/20 NBA season
Bruno Fernando is essentially another John Collins with more athleticism down low. His 6’10 240lb build is a great addition to this young core. Putting up 13.6 points with a demanding 10.6 rebounds a game in Maryland, Fernando can play 3-5; giving Atlanta the option to fully commit to a small ball lineup.
Jabri Parker signs 2 year $13m deal: An interesting signing, but when you look at the logic behind it all it’s almost brilliant. Parker’s contract is one that is fair and when you look at how Travis Shclenk turned Omari Spellman into Jabari Parker your eyes might just start to perk up a bit. More importantly Parker wants to be in Atlanta and this is probably the biggest ‘rising’ star they’ve attracted in a very long time. Healthwise, Parker is feeling healthy and at his best Parker is a solid 14 and 6 guy.
As far as lineups go I have a few different rotations in mind:
Predicted starting 5:
1. Young
2. Huerter
3. Hunter
4. Collins
5. Len
Alternative Lineup:
1. Young
2. Huerter
3. Bembry
4. Collins
5. Len
Small Ball:
1. Young
2. Huerter
3. Hunter
4. Parker
5. Collins
Needless to say there are a number of lineups the hawks can part with. The depth the hawks have conspired is something that hasn’t been around since the Joe Johnson- Josh Smith era. In the next couple of years, don’t be surprised if Atlanta lands a superstar or two.
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