Atlanta Hawks: 7 Takeaways from First Week of Preseason

Interesting Center Rotation

Speaking of Alex Len, the Atlanta Hawks have a rather interesting center rotation to start the season with Dewayne Dedmon injured and John Collins seemingly slotted in as the team’s incumbent starting power forward.

With Omari Spellman likely getting a lot of minutes at the five as well, it would seem that Alex Len is the de facto starting center to begin the Atlanta Hawks regular season.

While his newfound three-point shooting prowess is interesting, as well as the fact that he led the Hawks in scoring (18) and was a +14 in a game the team lost by 19 against the Thunder, his foul-heavy defense is concerning if the Hawks want to at least have the semblance of a hulking big man on the court.

Beyond Len, Miles Plumlee has actually looked quite good in the preseason. Returning from surgery last season, Plumlee was pretty stiff and ground-bound last season. So far in the preseason, he looks far more active and in generally better shape, which should help the Hawks’ big man rotation going forward. For one thing, he was able to yam on Grizzlies rookie Yuta Watanabe in the team’s second game:

With Dewayne Dedmon likely out for the first 1-2 weeks of the regular season, Atlanta Hawks fans will get cordially acquainted with both Len and Plumlee at the five going forward.