Atlanta Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic has been a gift for Nate McMillan
The injury issues of the Atlanta Hawks have been well-documented all season. One of the strangest was Bogdan Bogdanovic who went down mid-court in a strange manner against the Charlotte Hornets in early January.
He appeared to trip over himself and fell to the ground. When the news was released that he was going to be out indefinitely due to the resulting fracture, it was surprising, to say the least. It also had a detrimental impact on the rotation.
It also impacted the Hawks’ ability to space the floor as Bogdanovic is a tremendous shooter. Despite struggling early on this season with his shot, he has such shooting ability that teams are still going to respect him, no matter what percentage he is shooting on the season.
How the Atlanta Hawks are benefitting from the return of Bogdan Bogdanovic
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Bogdanovic has only been back for two games, and both of the games have been wins. A big reason for these wins has been Trae Young and his incredible offensive play. However, there has been a drop-off when the superstar point guard has been off the court all season.
When Bogdanovic is on the court, he changes the opposition defense meaning that other Hawks players get more space. Rajon Rondo has looked a lot more dangerous as he is able to share the ball-handling duties with Bogdanovic.
While Rondo does not pose a huge threat as an off-ball shooter, he is able to survey the floor without the ball. This means that Rondo has already seen the pass he wants to make before he gets the ball. All he has to do is make said pass which he certainly has the ability to do so.
Bogdanovic is also able to free up the shooting of Danilo Gallinari when they play together. Gallinari is hard to stop one-on-one, and with Bogdanovic on the floor, you can’t cheat by keeping a second player near Gallinari.
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The other huge benefit for the Hawks is that they finally have some help on the wing. They are without De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish for a number of games. They have been starting Tony Snell and Kevin Huerter in the wing positions. Having the ability of Bogdanovic coming off the bench allows the Hawks to continue their momentum.