After suffering a right knee bone bruise in the Atlanta Hawks loss to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, starting shooting guard Kent Bazemore will miss the rest of the season, according to a release from the team.
An @emoryhealthcare injury update:
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 12, 2018
Kent Bazemore will miss the rest of the season after suffering a bone bruise in his right knee yesterday. pic.twitter.com/p6ZrW7ymFg
The Hawks have suffered a rash of injuries lately, and especially in the Bulls game. Jaylen Morris, who recently signed his second 10-day contract with Atlanta, will also miss two weeks with an ankle injury he suffered on Sunday.
Baze and Morris join Tyler Cavanaugh (ankle), DeAndre’ Bembry (abdominal), Malcolm Delaney (ankle), Antonius Cleveland (ankle) and even Dennis Schröder (elbow) on the Hawks injury report, which continues to balloon to even higher numbers – especially since the Hawks nothing to play for after being officially eliminated from the playoffs.
Bazemore had been having a tremendous bounce-back season after an underwhelming campaign in 2016-17 after inking a massive 4-year/$70 million contract in the 2016 offseason with the Hawks.
Hawks have been eliminated from playoff race, ending 10-year streak. They'll be in draft lottery.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) March 12, 2018
HOU clinched playoffs, so their top-3 protected 1st rd pick conveys ATL.
MIN could still easily land between 3 and 10 in West. 1st rd pick conveys to ATL if they make playoffs. pic.twitter.com/wqU4RLZ9NX
While averaging career-highs per game of 12.9 points, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks, Baze was also lighting it up from deep by shooting an impressive, career-high 39.4 percent from downtown on 4.2 attempts per game (also a career-high).
Kent clearly came into the season having slimmed down and sped up, as his frame was more lean and sinewy, allowing him to serve as a primary ballhandler when Dennis Schröder is not on the court.
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That move paid off, as Baze tallied a career-high 228 total assists – shattering his previous high of 177. Baze was also a leader on defense, as his great hands and fleet feet led to a career-high 100 steals – which was among the league leaders at the time of his injury.
This move also allows the Hawks to trot out some extremely youthful and inexperienced lineups, further cementing the team’s place in the tanking hierarchy – which continues to showcase some extreme “competition” for a top pick in the stacked 2018 NBA draft in June.
The Hawks have a difficult remaining schedule full of playoff-bound teams jostling for playoff seeding on the docket. Combined with a young, beat-up team that’s just learning how to play together, and you have a clear recipe for tanking.
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Expect a lot of losses after this announcement, as Bazemore was a clear locker room leader for this team – though his excitement will certainly be palpable on the bench in the coming weeks as John Collins, Tyler Dorsey and Taurean Prince continue to grow before our eyes.