When the Atlanta Hawks traded Cam Reddish there was no telling that they would have been able to have accomplish without him. Well, thanks to the tremendous play of Delon Wright since he has been left to run the second unit they have managed to qualify for the playoffs.
Unfortunately at the time of writing the Hawks just went down 1-3 in their first-round series against the Miami Heat. This has certainly not been the fault of Wright who has had his fingers all over the last up win by the Hawks.
In fact, Wright’s defense has been stellar since he fought his way into the rotation. Since the Reddish trade Wright has played with a level of confidence which only happens if you are given a role and know how to play it. This is something that he could not do when he was playing alongside Reddish.
The Atlanta Hawks need to re-sign Delon Wright
Since Reddish was traded, Wright has been on another level, especially defensively. Reddish was seen to be the player on the roster who was able to get into passing lanes given his 7’2″ wingspan. However, the Hawks were being hurt by his over playing on the defensive end which led to more open shots for the opposition.
On top of this, Reddish was taking ill advised shots which were also costing the Hawks momentum. When Wright started leading the second unit it started performing at a much higher level. Part of this was due to the fact that Wright went from 0.7 steale to 1.6 steals per game, and that is not counting the deflections.
If the Hawks are going to make their way back up to the heights where they belong then they need to find a way to re-sign Wright. While they need to put a star next to Young, a role-player like Wright to take some of the load is crucial.
This is also Wright’s best ever playoff series with a high in points (9.0 per game), assists (3.0 per game), and rebounds (3.3 per game). He has turned a potential loss to a win already this series. It is this kind of play which will help the Hawks next season.