Atlanta Hawks Team Awards at the All-Star Break
By Chris Guest
Defensive Player of the Year: Kent Bazemore
The Hawks currently own a 110.8 defensive rating, which is 25th in the NBA, so this was never going to be an easy choice.
But overall, though John Collins has some impressive individual defensive statistics, he can get beasted on the block by players with superior size – something that definitely affected his candidacy for this team award.
In the end, Kent Bazemore’s overall effectiveness on the less glamorous end – and his career-high steals numbers – pushed him over the edge as the Hawks’ Defensive Player of the Year at the All-Star Break.
Though Baze is similarly undersized as a 3-and-D wing option, he is often tasked with defending other teams’ best offensive players, and with good reason, as Baze’s stellar speed and quick hands make a supremely effective perimeter defender.
Baze uses his length and quickness to drape himself all over slower players (which is almost everyone). Bazemore has clearly lost some weight and has become more lean and chiseled, making him a swift defender with great instincts. He scurries around screens with ease and jumps passing like with expertise.
Kent is only 5 steals away from his career-high of 98, which he set in the 2015-16 season. Baze has been a terror on defense, and he is only one of three players with at least 90 steals and 40 blocks – All-Star Victor Oladipo and possible Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons are the others.
Bazemore has truly showcased his gift for stealing the basketball as he ranks highly league-wide in many steals stats. He is 6th in steal percentage with 2.8%, 11th overall in steals per game with 1.6, and 8th overall with 93 steals.
His knack for poking away unaware ballhandlers has been one of his major strengths this year, and when combined with overall defensive skill set, Kent Bazemore has been the Hawks’ Defensive Player of the Year at the All-Star break.