NBA Free Agency is always a fascinating time, and the Atlanta Hawks signed Vince Carter to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal on July 26 per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Free agent Vince Carter has agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks, league source tells ESPN. Hawks want Carter around its young locker room.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2018
After taking it easy for the early portion of NBA Free Agency, the Atlanta Hawks have turned up the heat in recent weeks on that front.
While most of the big names landed elsewhere, the Hawks have signed a Two-Way player (Alex Poythress), a backup center after the departure of Mike Muscala in a trade (Alex Len) and, now, the Hawks have added perhaps one of the most beloved veterans in the league.
Vinsanity himself, Vince Carter, will join the Hawks as a 41-year-old veteran wing to play alongside a supremely youthful Hawks squad.
While clearly more of a ticket-selling decision from Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, we’ve outlined three reasons why signing Vince Carter to a one-year deal was an awesome move by the Hawks’ front office.
Leadership
The main reason the Hawks signed Carter, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, was to have him “around its young locker room,” and that’s certainly a stellar reason to have VC on the team.
Now in the latter portion of his career, Carter has recently been part of youthful locker rooms such as in Sacramento last season alongside electric rookie point guard De’Aaron Fox. Vince will now be able to support new Hawks point guard Trae Young both on and off the court.
With both Jeremy Lin, Kent Bazemore and Carter all in the fold, Young and his fellow rookies Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman have strong leaders to look up to regarding how high-quality players carry themselves on and off the court. Second-year players such as Second Team All-Rookie member John Collins and Tyler Dorsey will also benefit from their time with VC.
The 2018-19 season will be Carter’s 21st in the league. An astonishing achievement in its own right, Carter was drafted 4 months before Trae Young was even born, and was born 8 months before Trae Young’s father was even born (let that sink in for a minute).
Vince Carter was drafted 3 months before new Hawks teammate @TheTraeYoung was BORN. pic.twitter.com/Mw8ZJJrJTb
— ESPN (@espn) July 25, 2018
With ample experience, it seems Vince is prepared to serve as more of a player/coach than anything – as the Hawks will not be looking to immediately topple the Celtics and 76ers for Eastern Conference dominance anytime soon.