It has been 20 long months since the Atlanta Hawks affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks played a game of basketball. They chose not to participate in the G-League bubble last season after the league requested that only 20 teams play for ease of logistics.
The Skyhawks not playing had a massive impact on the team’s ability to develop their two-way players last season. Nathan Knight, who had some very nice games for the Hawks, was not able to develop as they or he would have wanted. As such the Hawks let him go and he signed a two-way deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, the Hawks saw some true potential in Skylar Mays and as such, extended him a two-way qualifying offer. He and Sharife Coope are the Hawks’ two-way players this season and as such the Skyhawks have a good backcourt to build around.
Atlanta Hawks affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks play in November.
The Skyhawks open their season with four straight games at home, starting on November 5th. In an effort to lower the level of travel, they play the Maine Celtics twice and then the Delaware Blue Coats twice. They will then travel to Washington to play the Capital City Go-Go twice.
This would be a perfect time to play Jalen Johnson as he could get a decent amount of court time with the Skyhawks and still be available for any home games that the varsity squad plays. The development of Johnson, is one of the keys of this season, outside the quest for the championship that is. The Skyhawks are going to be crucial for this development given that he will struggle to get minutes with the varsity squad.
The start of the season is also important in that it will determine which teams get to play in the expanded G-League Cup. If Johnson plays then this will give the Skyhawks their best chance of making this tournament which has a cash prize attached to it.
We now have to wait until the G-League draft on the 23rd of September to find out the rest of the Skyhawks roster. However, with the players the Skyhawks already have, it is going to be an exciting season to watch.