Atlanta Hawks: Grading Tony Snell’s season

When the Atlanta Hawks traded Dewayne Dedmon to the Detroit Pistons, they were simply looking to do a salary dump for the 2021-22 season. Dedmon was going to earn $13.3 million in 2020-21 and the same number the following season. Tony Snell, who the Hawks traded for was only due $12.1 million for the 2020-21 season.

The fact that Snell averaged 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 21.1 minutes per game means that his contract was one of the worst in the NBA. However, the Hawks would not have minded this too much, their focus was always on this current offseason.

With that being said, Snell did play last season, albeit with a delayed start due to an ankle injury. When he did make it on the court it took a while for the head coach of the time, Lloyd Pierce to get him into the rotation. When he did break in, thanks to injury, he stepped up as a veteran presence, at least for a while.

The Atlanta Hawks benefitted from Tony Snell’s shot selection.

Snell has always been a low-volume, high percentage kind of shooter. This season was no exception. In fact, Snell had one of the most incredible seasons in terms of percentages seen for a long time. He hit 56.9 percent of his 2.3 attempts from beyond the arc this season.

This meant that Snell was able to hit 51.5 percent of his 3.6 field goal attempts for the season as well. Snell was also perfect from the line this season, however, he only took 11 free throws for the entire season. This is where percentages do not tell the whole story.