Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young as Starting Point Guard is Right Choice

However, after those shoo-ins, three unlikely starters were named in the final three positions. Admittedly, two of them are due to injuries and the other is for optics, but still… it makes for interesting water cooler talk.

The first two injury replacement starters are Vince Carter at power forward with second-year player John Collins out with an ankle issue and 25-year-old Alex Len starting over Dewayne Dedmon, who is still working his way back from a fractured left ankle.

Vince Carter is an NBA legend, so it will be nice to see him starting at the four in his (ahem) 21st season in the league, though he is unlikely able to handle the minutes loads of previous years past. Still, watching him play the game he has pretty much mastered at this point – especially surrounded by young players who will be making lots of mistakes – will be both humorous and impossible to dislike.

Alex Len as the starting center makes perfect sense, as the Hawks don’t really have much in the way of a replacement for Dedmon at this point beyond Omari Spellman, who is inexperienced and raw at this point. The Atlanta Hawks signed Len to a two-year deal in the offseason, so penciling Len in as the starter immediately validates General Manager Travis Schlenk’s decision to sign Len.