Young Atlanta Hawks set to get invaluable postseason experience

The Atlanta Hawks (42-38) converted second-year guard Skylar Mays’ two-way contract into a standard one as the team gears up for the postseason, per the team’s website. Their tilt versus Miami on Friday has tremendous seeding implications with the Heat listing several players as questionable on their latest injury report.

None of them were the top dogs – Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, or Kyle Lowry – though, so this won’t be a “gimme” by any stretch.

Miami secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference going 12-7since the All-Star break.

This postseason is critical for a number of reasons from the long-term outlook of this group to the people around them. Still, the experience alone is going to be more than worth it for a couple of important Hawks.

Being around a playoff atmosphere will pay off for the first and second-year Atlanta Hawks

For Mays, this will be his second go-round in the “second season” after he saw action in seven of the Hawks 18 playoff contests maxing out at 6:41 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He had just two points in that outing but did manage to come away with a pair of steals, but the Hawks were blown out 125-91.

This season, Mays has appeared in 27 of the Hawks 80 games with five starts as they battled through COVID issues throughout December. He’s averaging 3.0 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.6 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from three-point range.

The other major benefactor is Jalen Johnson, the 20th overall pick in last June’s NBA Draft.

Johnson has been on mop-up duty with the Hawks healthy after he missed three contests in concussion protocols.

Before that, though, he posted back-to-back outings (with a DNP in between) of double-digit points averaging 11.5 points on 64.0 percent shooting, 4.0 boards, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals in just under 21 minutes per night. It is not at all surprising that he performed at his best when given an extended opportunity.

He’s averaging 2.5 points and 1.2 boards on 53.7 percent from the floor on the season.

Both players have spent time with the College Park Skyhawks, who reached the G-League Playoffs on an 11-game win streak, with Johnson seeing 11 games to Mays’ two. Despite being up with the big club so much this season, it has been impossible to crack this rotation.

That was the plan all along, especially for Johnson and fellow rookie Sharife Cooper.

Cooper did not have his two-way deal converted, meaning he is ineligible for the postseason, but was transferred to the Hawks following the end of the Skyhawks postseason.

Neither Johnson nor Mays are expected to get much run in the playoffs anyway barring some catastrophic string of injuries or a blowout. Still, simply being around an environment where the best of the best are going at it over a multi-game series is truly invaluable just from a preparation standpoint.

Soon enough, it will be their turn to make a name for themselves on the grandest stages. For now, though, they need to continue being sponges while remaining ready to contribute at a moment’s notice.