- New Hawks center Dwight Howard says he already has a “great connection” with coach Mike Budenholzer, relays Chris Vivlamore of The Journal Constitution. Howard, who signed a three-year, $70.5MM deal to return to his hometown this summer, is averaging 15.2 points and 12.4 rebounds through the first nine games. “I love having him as a coach,” Howard said. “From the first time I met him until now, we’ve had a great connection. We want to continue that. I love how he holds me accountable every single day to be the guy for the team to lead them in the right direction. When I’m not doing the right things, he is on me. When I am doing the right things, he pushes me to do more. It’s just a great feeling.”
- The offseason addition of Dwight Howard has helped the Hawks become of the NBA’s best shooting teams, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Journal Constitution. Howard is third in the league at .622, joining teammates Mike Muscala and Thabo Sefolosha in the top five. Overall, Atlanta is second in shooting at .478. “I think it’s just sharing the ball,” Muscala said. “A lot of it’s getting more offensive rebounds, getting some steals, pushing it in transition, getting those easy buckets. It all helps in getting in a good rhythm. It’s about not overthinking it. It’s about finding the open guy because we do have good shooters, we have good finishers.”
The addition of center Dwight Howard and a change in coach Mike Budenholzer’s approach has dramatically improved the Hawks’ offensive rebounding, KL Chouinard of the team’s website relays. The Hawks ranked at the bottom in the NBA in that category last season but sit No. 3 in the early going. Howard leads the league with a 4.9 offensive rebounding average, as the Hawks’ bigs have been given greater freedom to pursue those caroms, Chouinard adds. “I would call it a slight tweak or an emphasis, but not at the expense of transition defense,” Budenholzer told Chouinard. “[It’s] an emphasis of ‘Can we be better on the offensive boards? Can we take advantage of who we have and be more committed there?’ I think the guys have done a nice job of doing that and they have been rewarded.”
In other news regarding the Hawks:
- CEO Steve Koonin signed a new three-year contract with the team this summer, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Koonin signed a contract with the previous ownership group in April 2014. Principal owner Tony Ressler, who purchased the team in June 2015, decided to keep Koonin on board. He oversees the team’s business, financial and strategic operations, Vivlamore adds.
- The Hawks didn’t spend heavily on their reserves but that unit is paying big dividends, Vivlamore writes in a separate story. Swingman Thabo Sefolosha ($3.85MM salary this season) ranks second in the league in steals (2.6 per game), sixth in field goal percentage (60.0) and sixth in plus/minus rating (plus-78) despite averaging 25 minutes per game. Big man Mike Muscala ($1MM) leads the league in field goal percentage at 66%, while guards Malcolm Delaney ($2.5MM) and Tim Hardaway Jr. rank among the top 20 in plus/minus rating. “Everyone on this team can play, a guy in the starting five, a guy from the bench, everybody can contribute big time,” Sefolosha told Vivlamore. “Different night, different guy steps up.”
The Hawks, along with the city of College Park, are set to make a major announcement at a Thursday afternoon press conference, the team confirmed today in a press release. According to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter), the franchise is set to announce that it will purchase and control a D-League affiliate, which will play in College Park.
Currently, 22 NBA teams are affiliated with D-League squads. The remaining eight NBA clubs, including the Hawks, can still assign players to the D-League, but they don’t have control over which team of those 22 affiliates their players are sent to, and don’t have the opportunity to closely monitor and coach those players. It is expected that all 30 teams will eventually own and operate their own D-League affiliates, though that’s probably still at least a few years away.
[RELATED: NBA D-League Affiliations For 2016/17]
In addition to the Hawks, the teams without their own D-League affiliates include the Nuggets, Clippers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Wizards. Those eight clubs were unable to designate affiliate players from among their training camp invitees earlier this month.
Because the city of College Park doesn’t have an arena ready to be used immediately, the Hawks’ D-League team isn’t expected to begin play until the 2019/20 season, after a new arena is built.
- Hawks guard Kent Bazemore is off to a rocky start after signing a four-year, $70MM contract this summer, notes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. He shot just 28% from the floor during the team’s first five games and is trying to find other ways to contribute until his scoring touch returns. “That’s one of the main reasons they brought me back, my tenacity and my love and passion for the game,” Bazemore said. “At times I’ve gotten a little down on myself. I’m human. It’s good that I can finally recognize that there is a time and place for everything and the middle of a game is not the time to get down on yourself.”
Hawks small forward Kent Bazemore rejected the Lakers’ four-year, $72MM contract offer this summer in part because the Lakers declined his $1.1MM qualifying offer in 2014, Mark Medina of the Orange County Register reports. Bazemore re-signed with the Hawks on a four-year, $70MM deal. After the Lakers sent him packing two years ago, he agreed to a two-year, $6MM contract with Atlanta, then emerged as a starter last season. “One thing you want in this league is to be wanted. They didn’t pick it up for that little amount of money,” Bazemore told Medina. “So that showed how much they believed in me and my abilities. That closed that chapter.”
- Ryan Kelly, who re-signed with the Hawks on Monday, got a two-year deal from the team, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical. It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum salary contract for Kelly, so he likely won’t be assured of a roster spot through January 10.
The 2016/17 NBA season is now eight days old, and already 25 teams have suffered at least one loss, leaving just five undefeated teams. The Thunder, Clippers, Bulls, and Hawks are 3-0, while the Cavaliers are 4-0.
Of those five clubs, the Cavaliers and Clippers were expected to be title contenders this year, so their hot starts don’t come as a real surprise. However, the other three remaining undefeated franchises had more question marks entering the season. The Thunder and Hawks lost top free agents this summer, in Kevin Durant and Al Horford, and the Bulls’ roster construction led many observers to question whether they’d have enough shooting and spacing to be effective on offense.
While three or four games is hardly enough of a sample size to draw definitive conclusions about any NBA team, it’s worth keeping an eye out for early signs of potential surprises. So today’s Community Shootaround discussion questions center around these five clubs.
Which of the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams do you think will continue to rank among the league’s elite? Are the Cavs and Clippers still the only safe bets among the group, or do the Thunder, Hawks, and Bulls have a good chance to keep up their hot starts and outperform expectations? Are any of these clubs mediocre squads that have been helped in the early going by soft schedules?
Weigh in below in our comments section with your thoughts on which of the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams are for real, and which ones you expect to come back down to earth soon.
The Hawks and the city of Atlanta issued a joint press release today announcing plans to renovate Philips Arena. The team and the city reached an agreement to put toward $192.5MM toward the project, with Mayor Kasim Reed committing $142.5MM from the city, while the Hawks will pay the remaining $50MM. Along with the renovations, the Hawks extended their lease extension by an additional 18 years, committing to remaining in downtown Atlanta through 2046.
“I want to thank Tony Ressler and the Atlanta Hawks’ ownership for committing to this deal that will keep the NBA in our City and help re-imagine downtown for the millions of residents, visitors and tourists who come to Atlanta each year,” Mayor Reed said in a statement.
- Dennis Schroder‘s new four-year deal with the Hawks has a base value of $62MM, but it can be worth up to $70MM if the point guard gets an All-Star nod or if Atlanta plays in the NBA Finals, says Bobby Marks of The Vertical.
- While Schroder got a new deal with the Hawks, Tim Hardaway Jr. remains unsigned, despite having several conversations with the club leading up to Monday’s deadline. As Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, Hardaway says he’s still “excited” to be in Atlanta and both sides are optimistic about striking a deal next summer.
Edy Tavares, who was waived earlier today by the Hawks, may not be out of work for long. The Spanish club FC Barcelona is interested in the center, according to Marca.com (h/t Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype). The team has already reached out to the big man’s representatives, according to the report. The 43rd overall pick in the 2014 draft, Tavares joined the Hawks last season, appearing in just 11 games and averaging 6.6 minutes per contest. The 24-year-old also made 29 D-League appearances, averaging 9.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 3.3 BPG in 21.6 minutes per game.