Which players should the Atlanta Hawks look to move on from next?

Player the Atlanta Hawks should move on from No. 2: Wright isn’t providing good bang for the buck

Delon Wright has been a hot topic around these parts in recent weeks. The seven-year veteran came over in an offseason trade with the mission being to finally solve the Hawks backup point guard issues that have persisted since Young was drafted. While he has taken over lead guard duties for the second unit, it has been as much by default as anything else.

He’s averaging 4.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, with 2.5 assists while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from three.

The points and field-goal efficiency are the second-fewest he’s produced of his career while the assists are his third-lowest. His three-point efficiency would set a new career mark if it stands though.

Wright’s length and IQ can make him a problem when guarding opposing point guards.

His on-ball numbers aren’t great. But his on-off numbers show the opposing team’s offensive rating is 4.0 points better when he’s off of the floor while the Hawks offense is 3.8 points worse when he is playing.

Like Luwawu-Cabarrot, Wright’s raw numbers show he has been better in his four starts than in the 31 other appearances made coming off of the bench. He averages 12.3 points and 4.0 assists to go with 5.0 rebounds when among the first five out. Those numbers plummet to 3.1/2.3/2.7 when he is a backup.

Wright, unlike TLC, has been more efficient with more time, shooting 54.3 percent overall and 54.5 percent from outside as a start as opposed to 37.9 percent overall and 34.3 percent from long distance coming off of the bench.

The issue here, on top of his $8.5 million salary, is that despite him being solid and even useful in most areas, Wright isn’t breaking down many opponents off of the dribble.

When he does get to the cup on drives, he’s only finishing 35.4 percent of the time.

He currently ranks 146th out of 198 players with averaging at least 1.0 attempts in the restricted area per game.

While it’s not likely to happen while the Hawks are still vying for playoff relevance, they will eventually want Sharife Cooper in that spot. He provides a lot of what Young does – minus the range – but needs reps at the NBA level.