The Atlanta Hawks have seen some good players come through the franchise on the 10-day hardship deals they have had to sign due to the Covid-19 crisis. Some of these, like Lance Stephenson, did not work out and the Hawks were right to move on from him as he did not show enough during his time with the franchise.
They have seen the emergence of Malcolm Hill who has been incredibly impressive due to the energy and effort he bought to the court. Unfortunately, Hill was another victim of the Hawks’ Covid crisis and after a couple of good games, had to enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Another player who played well for the Hawks was Wes Iwundu who the Hawks signed as one of the first of their 10-day hardship contracts back on December the 23rd. He played one game and then went into the health and safety protocols.
Why the Atlanta Hawks should re-sign Wes Iwundu to another 10-day deal.
Iwundu came back and played extremely well during the last two games of his deal. He had eight points, two rebounds, and a steal in the loss against the Chicago Bulls but was a real bright spot in the game for the Hawks.
Then against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Iwundu’s heads-up play and skill were crucial in the Hawks comeback win. He finished the night with 12 points and six rebounds. He did have five fouls but spent the night playing against the bigger Cavaliers frontcourt.
While the Hawks received a large number of their core group back they are still missing some key pieces. At 6’6″ Iwundu is a good size and can play multiple positions, filling in for Bogdan Bogdanovic at the guard position or even John Collins and Jalen Johnson in the frontcourt if needed.
This will also give the Hawks coaching staff another few games to assess Iwundu. Hopefully, they will get back Bogdanovic, Collins, Johnson, and De’Andre Hunter during this current road trip. Iwundu will see his minutes dry up if this happens but it always pays to be prepared.