With John Collins out of action for at least the next two weeks, there are going to be rotation minutes up for grabs for the Atlanta Hawks. While Danilo Gallinari has stepped in for Collins admirably, his usual bench minutes need to be covered.
It looked that Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was out of the rotation after the Hawks received Kevin Knox in the Cam Reddish trade, The former New York Knicks forward embraced his role in the first few games that he played but then fell out of the rotation as the Hawks got their players back.
The Hawks will struggle to replace the production of Collins, particularly with his rim protection but they need a number of players to step up. If they can continue to get the level of production out of Luwawu-Cabarrot that they have over the last three games then they will have a better time getting through the remaining schedule which has become one of the easiest.
The Atlanta Hawks are preferring Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in the rotation
It started going better for Luwawu-Cabarrot in the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. He outplayed Knox, especially on the offensive end. He was solid in the loss to the Charlotte Hornets, scoring five points in both outings.
Then Luwawu-Cabarrot played one of his best team games for the season in the surprise win against the Memphis Grizzlies. Not only did he score seven points he also had five rebounds in an effort that was crucial for the win which could have got the Hawks’ season back on track.
Luwawu-Cabarrot is also playing for his future. He came into this season on a non-guaranteed contract which he converted to a full deal as the season when on. However, he is out of contract for next season and needs to perform at a level to interest either the Hawks or one of the other 29 teams in the league.
Hopefully, the Hawks will receive the benefits of this play. They are in a battle to try to get to the final playoff spot and need every player to step up.