Atlanta Hawks: Grading Vince Carter’s 2019-2020 season

Continuing our player grades with the Atlanta Hawks veteran forward… Vince Carter. Let’s review how he looked in what is likely his final season.

Vince Carter may have played his last game for the Atlanta Hawks and likely his last game in the NBA. Considering Carter was playing in his 22nd NBA season the expectations for his production wasn’t high and even still Carter had difficulty living up to them.

It’s hard to be critical of a guy who played at an elite level for 22 years and was still productive at the age of 42, but unfortunately, he just wasn’t very productive at the age of 43. Despite Carter’s lack of impact on the floor, his impact in the locker room can’t be overstated.

Carter had an incredible career amassing eight All-Star appearances and two All-NBA selections, Carter is a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. However, he may have stayed one year too long.

In what is likely his final season, Vince Carter averaged a mere 5.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game on shooting splits of .352/.302/.793. These are certainly less than impressive numbers and are significantly worse, especially in terms of efficiency, than what he was putting up just last season.

Last season Carter averaged 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, still below average counting stats, however, he was much more efficient. He was shooting 41.9 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three and 71.2 percent from the free-throw line in his age 42 season. These are clearly much more impressive numbers than his age 43 season.

While Carter’s role was pretty much diminished to spot minutes at the end of games, his lockerroom presence has never wavered. Many of the young guys on the Atlanta Hawks see Carter as an extra assistant coach and the respect he has from his younger teammates is still immense.

While this season is far from Vince Carter’s brightest moment, it will certainly be something to remember for Hawks fans. A long and impactful career that began in Toronto ended in Atlanta and the impact Carter had all along the way was incredible.

Considering the fact that Vince Carter is likely retiring, it will be exciting to see what he does next. Will he head to the bench as a coach? Into the booth as a broadcaster or analyst? Maybe even the front office? Or will he simply step away from basketball for a while (this one seems unlikely)?

Either way, the NBA world isn’t done with Vince Carter. Let’s hope Vince Carter isn’t done with the NBA.

Vince Carter’s impact on the NBA, as mentioned, is incredibly valuable, however, this grade is solely based on his impact this season. Unfortunately, it was by far the worst season of Vince’s career, which is saying something because it was likely a better season then many will ever have.

Final Grade: C-