Atlanta Hawks Team Awards at the Quarter-Season Mark

Defensive Player of the Year – Kent Bazemore

This was the most difficult category to choose, as the Hawks 29^th-ranked defensive rating of 111.2 doesn’t leave one with many choices for “best” defensive player.

Three Hawks have defensive ratings below 110 per 100 possessions: Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins.

While Dewayne Dedmon has been a deterrent in the paint and John Collins’s springy athleticism leads to many positive defensive plays, Kent Bazemore is the Hawks’ Defensive Player of the Year so far.

As the starting two guard, Kent is asked to defend many score-first guards that try to victimize him with their speed and athleticism, but Baze has acquitted himself well. He is second on the team in defensive rebounding (with a total of 119) and second on the team in blocks (with 17).

Kent’s major skill this season has been using his quick hands to force a lot of steals – he is tied for 4^th in the league with 53 takeaways, tied for 8^th with 1.8 steals per game and 5^th in the NBA with a 3.1% steal percentage.

Kent is able to leverage his length and quickness to fly around the court and wreak havoc on the defensive end, especially against more lumbering players that have no answer for Kent’s constant activity on that end.

While the Hawks are lacking any real defensive talents, Kent Bazemore has some of the better stats on the team, and is thus the Hawks Defensive Player of the Year through a quarter of the season.