The Atlanta Hawks entered this season with hopes of competing to make the playoffs this spring. Those hopes were dashed with the suspension of their starting power forward, early season injury to their starting shooting guard and their inability to consistently defend. Those unfortunate happenings have put a damper on a stellar sophomore season by the Hawks starting lead guard With a trade to add depth to their backcourt and then to their front court at the trade deadline, and a solid stretch of home games to finish out this season, there is some optimism in the ATL for better days ahead.
The Hawks (15-41), who the second half of the season on Thursday night versus the Southeast Division rival the Miami Heat (39-15) have not had a lot to cheer about this season. But the one bright spot has been the play of second-year floor general Trae Young.
Last season, the No. 5 overall pick out of the University of Oklahoma, whose draft rights were acquired on the night in the June 2018 draft by the Hawks from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for No. 3 overall pick Luka Doncic has increased his numbers going from averages of 19.1 points, and 8.1 assists making 1.9 three-pointers per game on an average of 32.4 percent as a rookie last season to 29.7 points (No. 3 in NBA) and 9.2 assists (No. 2 in NBA), making 3.5 three-pointers per game on an average of 36.9 percent. Young is also No. 2 in free throws made per game at 7.8 and in fourth quarter points at 8.7 per game.
The first time All-Star selection, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Team Giannis in the 69th annual NBA All-Star Game on Sunday has had 27 games scoring 30 points or more, including an Eastern Conference leading nine games scoring 40-plus. He has registered 21 double-doubles so far this season, including two triple-doubles.
“I just think the game has slowed down a lot for me,” Young said on Feb. 13 to the “NBA: The Jump” crew of Rachel Nichols, Scottie Pippen, and Tracy McGrady. “Things that I was able to see in my first year. Just able to really reflect on myself this offseason. I knew going into my second year what to work on.”
“Coming in as a rookie, you don’t necessarily know what to work on going into your first year. But the game has slowed down for me and it’s definitely elevated my game.”
One of the big reasons early on is the fact that they did not have the other half of their one-two punch in John Collins for a 25-game suspension by the league for violating the anti-drug policy. The Hawks, who were 2-3 at the time of Collins suspension went 4-21 without him and basically saw their playoff dreams go up in smoke.
He has since his return from the suspension been terrific averaging 27.6 points and 12.2 rebounds on 64.9 percent from the field the last 11 games.
The team also lost sharp shooting second-year guard Kevin Huerter for 11 straight games from the middle of November to early December 2019 due to a left rotator cuff strain. Reserve guard DeAndre Bembry has been on the shelf in recent games because of right hand neuritis.
On Jan. 16 Hawks GM Travis Schlenk added some necessary depth and veteran presence in the Hawks locker room in unrestricted free agent to be in guard Jeff Teague, who played for the Hawks from 2009-16 and is No. 5 on their all-time list in assists.
Teague’s addition will the Hawks to get better guard play when Young is taken a breather on the bench.
At the Feb. 6 trade deadline, the Hawks added another young guard to groom in Derrick Walton, Jr.
The Hawks also added at the trade deadline depth to their front court first with the acquisition of first Skal Labissiere from the Portland Trail Blazers along with cash considerations. Then acquired center Clint Capela from the Rockets and center Dewayne Dedmon, his second stint with the Hawks, along a couple of Second-Round pick for Jabari Parker and Alex Len.
In Capela, the Hawks get a young big man who has averaged a double-double the last three seasons while shooting over 60 percent from the field four consecutive seasons. He is averaging 13.9 points, 13.8 rebounds (No. 4 in NBA) and a career-high 1.8 blocks in 39 games with the Rockets on 62.9 percent shooting.
“(Young) puts a lot of rhythm on the offense,” Capela said about playing with Young last week upon his arrival to the Hawks. “It’s definitely the way I like to play. We definitely should be able to make some magic together.
Both Labissiere and Capela are out now with plantar fasciitis in his heel and a left knee injury respectably, and Capela will miss two more weeks with that aforementioned injury.
The Hawks say that Capela, who has not played in a game since Jan. 29 while with the Rockets because of the injury began “participating in modified shooting while continuing non-impact conditioning and strength work as part of his rehabilitation.”
Hawks also said that Labissiere, who has been on the shelf since Dec. 28, 2019 while with the Trail Blazers will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
“It’s going to be big for us,” Young said to the NBA on TNT crew before the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago Sunday night about the acquisitions at the trade deadline, especially of Capela. “Two things we’ve struggled at this year is on the defensive end and rebounding. So, that’s two of the main things Clin can really add for us. He’s gonna be a really good piece for us.”
Dedmon began his second stint with the Hawks producing 10 points, eight boards and five block shots off the bench in the 140-135 win versus the New York Knicks (17-38) on Feb. 9. He followed that up with 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the 135-126 loss at the Orlando Magic (24-31) the next night. He had seven points, four rebounds, three blocks, three steals in the 127-105 loss at the Cleveland Cavaliers (14-40) on Wednesday right before the All-Star break.
“It’s a good feeling coming back to somewhere I’m familiar with the coaching staff,” Dedmon told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution last week. “I’m excited.”
What these moves have shown is that the Hawks’ front office is that they want to put themselves in a much better position to get back to the playoffs and hopefully a championship in the future led by Young, Collins, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, and DeAndre Hunter.
They will a great opportunity to build momentum for next season with 15 of their final 26 games of the 2019-20 season at State Farm Arena, including six of their final seven games where a number of Draft Lottery combinations could be up for grabs as in those final six games will have the Hawks going up against the Hornets twice, the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We’re all trying to figure out a way to help this team, this organization get better,” Young said to the “NBA: The Jump” crew of Rachel Nichols, Scottie Pippen, and Tracy McGrady on Feb. 13 at NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, IL. “So, I trust our front office in making the moves and they made some moves already.”
“Obviously it’s been a tough season, I mean, last year and this year so far-we’ve haven’t been able to really find that edge to help us win and a lot of people are going to look at the fact that, I mean, we’re super young,” Young said to Nichols, Pippen, and McGrady. “But I mean, I’m just trying to help our team win. Trying to figure out a way and it will come.”
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/16/2020 www.nba.com story “2019-20 Midseason Report Cards: Eastern Conference,” by Sekou Smith; https://www.nba.com/games/20190209/NYKATL#/preview/recap; 2/13/2020 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Michael Wilbon, Scottie Pippen, Paul Pierce, and Tracy McGrady; 2/16/2020 6 p.m. NBA on TNT “NBA: Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; https://www.espn.com/nba/standings; https://www.nba.com/2019-20-trade-tracker; 2/19/2020 www.nba.com story, “Schedule Analysis: Breaking Down The Final 2 Months for Every Team,” by John Schuhmann; 2/20/2020 7:30 p.m. “Miami Heat versus Atlanta Hawks,” on FOX Sports Southeast with Bob Rathbun, Dominique Wilkins, and Andre Aldridge; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2580913/dewayne-dedmon; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4066372/kevin-huerter; https://www.espn.com/nba/players/gamelog/_/id/3908845/john-collins; and https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4277905/trae-young.
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