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Atlanta Hawks: Did the competition catch up in free agency?

By Joshua Buckhalter

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 28: Delon Wright #55 of the Detroit Pistons blocks a shot by Cam Reddish #22 of the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at State Farm Arena on December 28, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 28: Delon Wright #55 of the Detroit Pistons blocks a shot by Cam Reddish #22 of the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at State Farm Arena on December 28, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Atlanta Hawks: Grading the competition No. 3: The Wizards are banking on a deeper team being better

Russell Westbrook is a polarizing player. Whether you like that he plays hard every game or feel like he can be a liability with his shooting and decision-making late in games, you’re right. The question is whether or not the Washington Wizards are any better with the number of players they added this offseason.

Spencer Dinwiddie comes over on a sign-and-trade deal that will pay him $62 million over three years. He joins Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who came over in the Westbrook trade that also yielded Aaron Holiday from the Pacers.

Those are a lot of names and not one as consistent as Westbrook. For the record, Dinwiddie is a consistent scorer when healthy. He is coming off of ACL surgery and has a fairly sizeable injury history which obviously adds to the concern.

Of course, Kevin Durant just led the USA to gold in the Olympics in his first year back from a torn Achilles.

To quote Kevin Garnett, anything’s possible.

There’s a lot more faith in him than Kuzma and Harrell. Kuzma’s struggles with consistency are why he was available in the first place. Harrell is a former Sixth-Man of the Year but has had issues in the last two locker rooms he’s been in.

Caldwell-Pope was just a guy before being an integral part of the Lakers title run in the bubble and Holiday is young enough to still be intriguing.

The Wizards will also get last year’s first-round pick Deni Avidja back and added Corey Kispert in this year’s draft. But that doesn’t help their free agency grade. They get a ‘B’ for the sheer volume they turned Westbrook into.

It’s hard to imagine that turning into meaningful improvement based on the strength of their pieces. But maybe they’ll be greater than the sum of their parts.