Atlanta Hawks: Ranking the 12 Best Fits in Free Agency

#5. Malcolm Brogdon

With a steely gaze and a nickname like The President, one would expect Malcolm Brogdon of the Milwaukee Bucks to be cool, calm and collected at all times. So far in the 2019 NBA Playoffs, that has been the case for the third-year guard.

Brogdon, who snuck in a Rookie of the Year award in 2016-17 due to Joel Embiid’s injury-truncated season, has been extremely consistent in the playoff crucible throughout his career. He knows his role, and he is also a tremendously smart player who knows how to leverage his strength on defense.

By all accounts, Brogdon had a tremendous, career year for the best team in the Eastern Conference, as he produced career-highs per Basketball Reference in points per game (15.6), rebounds per game (4.5), true shooting percentage (61.4%), player efficiency rating (17.8), usage rate (20.7%), win shares (6.5) and box plus/minus (+1.5).

Furthermore, Brogdon actually led the Bucks in effective field goal percentage per Cleaning the Glass with a lofty 57.5 eFG%, which was in the 98th percentile among guards in the NBA in the 2018-19 season.

Now, Brogdon will be a restricted free agent this offseason, which means the Bucks will be able to match any offer sheet he gets in free agency. With ample cap space, the Atlanta Hawks should be willing to throw a fairly attractive offer sheet his way for a player that would greatly help the Hawks’ team defense, while providing steady backup PG or off guard play for Trae Young.