For the first time in team history, the Atlanta Hawks will participate in 2 summer leagues this offseason.
The first is in Utah and occurs the first week of July with only 4 teams (Hawks included) participating.
The second is the larger, NBA flagship summer league that occurs in Las Vegas, Nevada with all 30 NBA teams participating.
The Hawks schedule in the Las Vegas Summer League showcase is as follows:
July 7: vs. Knicks, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
July 8: vs. Trail Blazers, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
July 10: vs. Bulls, 6 p.m. (NBA TV)
Following these games, each team in the league will be seeded based on record and will participate in a tournament to dub the team “Summer League champion.” This guarantees each team two more games. Stay tuned after the Hawks play their first three games to see when they will play next.
Last year, the Los Angeles Lakers won the Vegas Summer League tournament on the back of Summer League MVP Lonzo Ball and future First Team All-Rookie Member Kyle Kuzma.
John Collins, who was named to First Team All-Summer League as well as Second Team All-Rookie, will play in both the Utah and Vegas tournaments along with his 2017 draft classmate Tyler Dorsey.
Most (if not all) of the Hawks picks in the 2018 Draft should also be making their professional debuts at the Utah Summer league as well – including facing off against the number 4 overall pick when the team plays the Grizzlies.
So far, these are the Summer League games (in both Utah and Vegas) that have been announced for the Hawks:
Hawks schedule for Summer League (so far):
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) June 13, 2018
Utah:
7/2 - Hawks/Grizz (7:00 pm ET)
7/3 - Hawks/Spurs (7:00 pm ET)
7/5 - Hawks/Jazz (9:00 pm ET)
Vegas:
7/7 - Hawks/Knicks (5:30 pm ET)
7/8 - Hawks/Blazers (5:30 pm ET)
7/10 - Hawks/Bulls (6:00 pm ET)
It makes sense for the Hawks to participate in both Summer Leagues this year, as the team is nearly starting from scratch with only a few players expected to remain on the roster from last year going forward.
Allowing the young players obtained in the 2018 Draft the chance to almost immediately start honing their game at the NBA level by participating in Summer League is a shrewd move.
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Also, new head coach Lloyd Pierce, who recently rounded out his coaching staff, has already stated that he will coach the Summer League teams – meaning both the new coach and many new players will be making their debuts in July.