Another player that is an unrestricted free agent on the Atlanta Hawks roster is 42-year-old Vince Carter. Vince has had an astonishing season with the Hawks this year, and as Hawks play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun is fond of saying, Vince is playing a “half-man, half-his-age” kind of season.
Carter is defying the passage of time with some throwback dunks that often shock the opposition, and he is, somehow, at the ripe old NBA age of 42, the best three-point shooter on the entire Atlanta Hawks roster per Basketball Reference.
That’s right, Vince Carter, who was playing in the NBA before quite a few rookies playing this season were even born, is leading the Hawks in three-point shooting percentage at 40.1 percent from deep.
That production from outside is his highest three-point percentage since his age-36 season in 2012-13, when he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks. That year, he shot 40.6 percent on the year.
In terms of on-court importance, Carter is among the smartest defenders on the entire Atlanta Hawks roster, but in terms of his role next year at age 43, it would seem likely that his on-court role would be diminished as the team gets another wave of young talent in via the draft.
However, wouldn’t it be advantageous for those young guns to learn from one of the biggest stars of his era, who has dealt with pretty much everything the NBA world can throw at him over the course of his legendary 20-year career?
Let’s hope Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk thinks the answer to that question is yes, and that the expected low cost of keeping both Vince and Anderson on the roster next year outweighs the need for roster turnover.