Though the NBA’s offseason is still bubbling over with rumors and news about where players might end up, the Atlanta Hawks have been quite quiet so far in making moves.
So far, the Atlanta Hawks have only signed its three first-round picks – Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman – to multi-year deals this offseason, but that doesn’t mean the team won’t make moves as the offseason progresses.
As we wait for those moves to come though, we decided to delve into the Atlanta Hawks depth charts at each position, starting with perhaps the most notable: Point Guard.
PG Depth Chart:
Jeremy Lin
Trae Young
Jaylen Adams
The Hawks made huge headlines when they opted to trade down in the draft in order to take Trae Young with the 5th overall pick – sending the rights to Slovenian phenom Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks.
More recently, the team picked up a brand new option at point guard: Jeremy Lin of the Brooklyn Nets.
Though Lin’s salary is fairly prohibitive, the team clearly values his skill set, as they only received two future second round picks as compensation for taking the one remaining year of his deal.
Though Young is clearly the team’s best bet at the point guard position going forward, for next season the team will likely start the year with Lin as the Hawks’ number-one choice as the team’s primary ballhandler.
Dennis Schroder had a strong season as the Hawks’ primary backstop in 2017-18, but his offseason interviews made it clear that he was unhappy playing through a rebuild in Atlanta, and he was always Coach Mike Budenholzer‘s “guy,” and with Bud gone, there was little question that DS17 would follow (even though he is, as of this writing, still on the team).
Lin should make for an interesting new face at the point guard position for the Hawks, and he is someone who can provide a bit more long-distance spacing from three-point land than Schröd who was notorious for focusing on straight-line drives to the basket and finishing around players with his speed rather than anything else.
Though Linsanity comes with some defensive question marks, much like Schröd, the team is picking him up for his clout as well as locker-room veteran qualifications. As long as Lin is healthy, which he hopefully should be if the Hawks were willing to take him on and move on from Schröder, then Atlanta will have a new face at point guard in the 2018-19 season.
Lin’s defensive limitations are further compounded by the Hawks drafting Trae Young – perhaps the least-talented defensive prospect in the entire 2018 NBA Draft class. Of course, Trae’s offensive upside is almost limitless – perhaps the highest in this entire draft class, which was something that GM Travis Schlenk was clearly willing to gamble on.
Young has had an up-and-down Summer League, though he has seemingly gotten more comfortable as he’s gotten more reps, and he will likely be playing alongside his fellow rookies and younger players such as Kevin Huerter, Tyler Dorsey, Omari Spellman and Second Team All-Rookie member John Collins on second units.
Beyond that, two-way point guard Jaylen Adams will likely be the team’s third-string point guard. Adams was undrafted out of St. Bonaventure and was signed soon after the draft ended.
The Hawks’ future at point guard looks bright, no matter if Dennis Schröder is on the roster to start the season or not. Since Lin is now in the fold to give the Hawks a versatile scoring punch at the PG spot right off the bat, and then giving way to the projected long-range bombing of Trae Young as his backup, the Hawks are looking at the one in the 2018-19 season.
Next: Hawks Projected Starting Lineup for 18-19 Season
Either way, the 2018-19 Atlanta Hawks are definitely going to be more fun to watch than the 2017-18 rendition.