Atlanta Hawks Team Storylines at the Halfway Point

As the 2017-18 season surpasses its halfway point, let’s take a look at some of the storylines shaping the Atlanta Hawks season starting with…

Injuries

Sadly, injuries have been one of the most important aspects of Atlanta’s season through the first 41 games. Even rotation stalwarts like Marco Belinelli have been hit by the injury bug, as he sat out the last game against the Nets with a sprained left ankle – his first missed game of the season.

DeAndre’ Bembry, who has bounced between the big club and the Erie BayHawks (the Hawks’ G-League affiliate) in his second season, has also missed the past 4 games with a groin injury and missed tons of time earlier in the season with a broken wrist.

It is only recently that the Hawks have gotten (almost) fully healthy. There was a point earlier in the season when the entire frontcourt rotation was injured: Dewanye Dedmon, John Collins, Mike Muscala and Ersan Ilyasova all missed substantial time earlier in the year, which was a major reason why Miles Plumlee and Tyler Cavanaugh were pressed into playing big minutes.

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In Cavanaugh’s case, that playing time helped him land a guaranteed contract with the Hawks, and for Plumlee it helped to make his immense contract not look like totally dead money.

Now with almost all players fully healthy, it’s probably time for the Hawks brass to start thinking about making some trades in order to accrue as many draft picks as possible.

Bud-Ball Continues

When head coach Mike Budenholzer took over in the 2013-14 season, he implemented a system in which ball movement and three-point shooting were paramount. The Hawks fully embraced this move to the perimeter, and they had perfect personnel to take full advantage of that system in the following season.

The Hawks were the darling of the NBA in the 2014-15 season, as they led the Eastern Conference in wins with a final record of 60-22 and rode that momentum all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Since those heady highs, the Hawks have lost that entire starting lineup from four seasons ago, but Coach Bud’s system remains – and the Hawks continue to enjoy success employing it.

The Hawks rank 5^th in three-point percentage at a strong 37.7% clip, but the problem is they’re only getting up 28.9 attempts per game – tied for 16^th with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Atlanta doesn’t have a true knockdown, deadeye shooter, but if Tyler Dorsey were to play more minutes, they would. Perhaps if some key trades are made, Dorsey and Tyler Cavanaugh (who is also most effective as a stretchy power forward) would help to increase the team’s three-point attempt rate.

Rising Rookies

As has been discussed elsewhere, John Collins has been excellent through the first 36 games of his career. Though he missed time early with an AC joint sprain in his shoulder, he has returned from that injury with energy – picking up right where he left off as one of the best rookies in the league.

JC is 1^st in offensive rebounds by more than 30, pacing Ben Simmons 102 to 69. Collins’s total rebounding is also stellar, as he is 5^th in total rebounds for a rookie with 246, behind only Ben Simmons, Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball.

Collins has had some highlight-reel dunks as well, especially since 42.5% (66 of 155) of his made field goals have been dunks.

JC was extremely foul-prone early in the season, but he has curtailed those tendencies to a certain degree and is also tied for 1^st among rookies with 40 blocked shots with the Warriors’ Jordan Bell.

Tyler Dorsey, the Hawks’ headlining second-round pick this offseason, has also been getting legitimate rotation minutes for the past few games, and dropped 9 points on 3 of 5 shooting from downtown against the Nets on Friday night.

Bench Contributions

With the Hawks suffering so many injuries early in the season, the bench has been a huge factor in the team’s fortunes. Marco Belinelli has been an offensive sparkplug for the team coming off the bench, as his willingness to get up shots with haste has been important for the team’s pace while the starters are off the floor.

John Collins has also done much of his work this year off the bench since he has only received 4 starts so far in his young career.

Statistically, the Hawks are averaging the 6^th-most minutes for bench players with 20, and those bench players are putting up the 7^th-most points at 39.7 directly behind the perennial bench powerhouse Spurs, who are getting 39.8 points per game from their bench.

Next: Three Players the Atlanta Hawks Should Trade

The Hawks are in pole position for the best overall odds to land the number-one overall draft pick with a league-worst 11-31 record, but don’t fret: The Atlanta Hawks might be going through some tough times right now, but this darkness will lead to a brighter future for the team.