As the Atlanta Hawks (11-10) get set to take on the Indiana Pacers (9-14), they will try to overcome several things working against them. Not the least of which are the injuries suffered by starting shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and top reserve swingman Cam Reddish.
The former will be out until around Christmas, per head coach Nate McMillan.
Reddish has a more optimistic prognosis that has him listed as day-to-day with a wrist injury that he was nursing entering the loss to the Knicks.
The Hawks will miss Reddish’s length and athleticism on the defensive end, especially with De’Andre Hunter still some ways out from returning from wrist surgery. The former Duke Blue Devil was just regaining his early-season offensive form before going down.
However, there is a skill that one of them possesses that the Hawks will miss more than others.
The Hawks lose a secondary ball-handler and playmaker with Bogdan Bogdanovic injured
Bogdanovic’s passing doesn’t garner much attention. Playing on a team with Trae Young will do that to anyone. But Bogdanovic is second on the team with 2.5 assists per game. He is only slightly ahead of Kevin Huerter, who is averaging 2.4 assists per contest. But he is doing so while averaging 2.2 points more per game.
The six-year NBA vet is also shooting the three-ball at a better rate than his teammate, knocking down 39.1 percent of his triples compared to 35 percent for Huerter.
It does bear mentioning that Huerter is shooting a better percentage overall.
What Huerter brings to the defensive end Bogdanovic has provided on the offensive end with his ability to handle the ball. Not just by setting up teammates, but also by allowing Young to play off of the ball more when defenses try to hone in.
We already know he can be a lethal scorer.
This isn’t to dismiss Huerter’s budding ability. We saw him raise his level of play during last season’s playoff run.
Over the Hawks winning streak, during which Huerter started all seven games, he and Bogdanovic tied with 3.0 assists per game. The former Maryland Terrapin also managed to close the gap in their scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game to Bogdanovic’s 12.0 points per contest.
‘Red Velvet’ was also the more efficient scorer, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and 48.3 percent from beyond the arc. That is compared to 45.6 percent overall and 43.2 percent from deep for Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic’s defense has left something to be desired this season but he is a big guard at 6-foot-6 and has tightened things up over the last couple of weeks.
Still, the Hawks can get defense from the guard spot from Delon Wright. They can get another scorer in Lou Williams. Huerter provides both of those things but he is still trying to get fully into a groove himself, let alone trying to pick up slack for anyone else.
Bogdanovic’s skill set is such that he provides aloof those things in meaningful ways that are difficult to replicate.