Atlanta Hawks waive Jahlil Okafor after lacklustre preseason
The Atlanta Hawks appeared to be the lifeline that Jahlil Okafor needed to get back on an NBA roster after finishing out his contract with the Detroit Pistons last season. Okafor’s fall from being a former No. 3 pick to potentially out of the league has happened over six short seasons.
Okafor was signed to a non-guaranteed deal for training camp and has since played in two preseason games. He showed that he could hustle in the first game but was uninspiring to watch as his defense was nowhere near the standard the Hawks needed.
Okafor did not play in the second game with the Hawks coaching staff preferring to try out Johnny Hamilton as the backup for Gorgui Dieng. While Hamilton looked bad on the defensive end, the Hawks still used him as the backup option for Dieng in the third game.
The Atlanta Hawks gave Jahlil Okafor one last chance in the third preseason game.
The Hawks continued to have some bad luck with injury this preseason with Trae Young being out with a quad contusion. They have also had Delon Wright out with an ankle sprain, Clint Capela still recovering from his Achilles injury, and De’Andre Hunter experiencing soreness in his knee which is not great news. This is on top of Onyeka Okongwu being out for an extended period with his shoulder.
On top of this, the Hawks newly signed big man Dieng exiting the third preseason game with a sprain to his right hand which saw him exit the game prior to halftime, not to return. This meant that Okafor got some court time in the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Unfortunately, Okafor was not able to show his game, looking out of sync with the Hawks’ offense and defense. Hamilton showed that he had learned from his mistake the previous game whereas Okafor was unable to get much of a rhythm going with his teammates.
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As a result, the Hawks requested waivers on Okafor meaning that the hunt for the 15th roster spot is now down to three. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Hamilton, and DaQuan Jeffries all have a chance at making the roster. However, they need to watch out for two-way player Sharife Cooper who is showing that he is NBA-ready.