Who starts at shooting guard for the Hawks next season?
By Nile Goodwyn
The Atlanta Hawks have great depth at the wing positions with a mix of youth and experience. Who will end up being the starter at shooting guard?
With the hype of free agency dying down, the Hawks’ roster seems close to its’ final appearance. There are currently six wings on the roster, not including Isaia Cordiner, who isn’t expected to play NBA basketball until the 2016-17 season.
The collection of wings under contract includes the likes of Kyle Korver, the starter for the 2015-16 season, and Tim Hardaway Jr., who is expected to take a step forward during his second season in Atlanta. Taurean Prince, who projects to be a small forward, is expected to get adequate playing time in his rookie season, though likley not as a shooting guard. Deandre Bembry .
Finally, either Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha, who routinely played small forward last season, could start for the Hawks at shooting guard, though it is unlikely, to say the least.
By Opening Night, Coach Budenholzer and the rest of the Hawks’ staff will select the player that will give the team the best chance to win. Some of the aforementioned players are much more likley to start at shooting guard than others,
Thabo Sefolosha
2015-16 Stats: 6.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.4 APG in 23.4 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 3%
Sefolosha played 0% of his minutes at shooting guard during the 2015-16 season, and with the influx of wing talent coming into Atlanta for the upcoming season, there is reason to believe he won’t see any minutes at shooting guard in 2016-17 either.
Deandre Bembry
2015-16 Stats (at Saint Josephs): 17.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 37.3 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 10%
Bembry has shown the versatility that compelled the Hawks’ front office to pick him at #21 during his Summer League run, where he averaged 10 points, along with 4.7 assists and rebounds, while leading the Hawks to a 2-1 record before tournament play began. Bembry likley won’t start in his rookie season as a Hawk, as Coach Bud rarely has started rookies in his time as the Hawks’ coach. In fact, only one rookie Hawk has started a game for the Hawks since 2013, Budenholzer first year as a Hawk. And at the age of 31, not many would call the hulking Macedonian Pero Antic a “rookie”.
Taurean Prince
2015-16 Stats (at Baylor): 16.6 PPG, 6 RPG, 2.3 APG in 30.6 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 10%
Prince is more likley to start at the three than at shooting guard next season, and this shouldn’t surprise any Hawks fans. Prince was drafted to fill a hole at small forward that was left when Demarre Carroll left for Toronto last offseason. If Coach Bud is looking to make the starting lineup bigger, Prince could surely see time at shooting guard. That is likley the only the way he starts at 2 guard, though.
Kent Bazemore
2016-16 Stats: 11.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.3 APG in 27.8 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 27%
Bazemore played 20% of his minutes at shooting guard last season, and his tenacity at small forward, even when guarding players much bigger and stronger than him, got him paid in the offseason. The Hawks agreed to a four year, 70 million dollar deal with the former Old Dominion standout on July 7th, and it would make sense for him to start at small forward next season, unless Coach Bud thinks that highly of Taurean Prince, which, though possible, is unlikely.
Kyle Korver
2015-16 Stats: 9.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 3.3 APG in 30 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 24.9%
Throughout Korver’s time as a Hawk, he has started 284 of his 300 games (.953). This number could be in jeopardy if he continues his decline. Two seasons ago, Korver was selected by the coaches to be a All-Star reserve. Korver embarked on one of the most legendary shooting seasons basketball had ever seen, shooting a 47/47/93 line, just barely missing out on being the inaugural member of the 50-50-90 Club. If Korver can bring back the extreme shooting mastery Hawks fans know he has, there is little question that he could start for the Hawks. If he disappoints in training camp, the Hawks have his replacement waiting in the shadows.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
2015-16 Stats: 6.4 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1 APG in 17 minutes per game
Likelihood to start at shooting guard next season: 25.1%
Hardaway Jr. only played in 51 games last season, and saw sparing playing time in most of those games. In the one game he started last season, he played one of the most well-rounded games by any Hawk all season; he scored 21 points (on 55/50/87.5 shooting), grabbed 8 boards, and had 4 assists. If Hardaway starts next season, it’s hard to expect him to put up numbers like that on a nightly basis, but if he put up numbers remotely close, the Hawks would have a sufficient player alongside Kent Bazemore on the wing.