When the Atlanta Hawks traded for Vit Krejci it had all the hallmarks of a salary dump. They traded Maurice Harkless and a second-round draft pick to the OKC Thunder for the second-year player. Krejci played for the Thunder last season after coming back from a knee injury.
There is a lot of potential for Krejci as he is another of the untapped European talents who have the potential and ability to do anything on the court. He is a good size being 6’8″ with excellent ball-handling skills. This is a tremendous asset for a team to have as a deep bench player.
The biggest issue for Krejci is his weight. Being a second-year player and not having the experience to be able to hold his own in the paint due to this size difference could present issues on the defensive end but as he showed in the New Orleans Pelicans game, he can get up vertically and block shots.
The Atlanta Hawks could use Vit Krejci in a secondary or tertiary playmaking role.
It seems that Krejci’s head is always on a swivel. He also seems to love driving into the paint. Once in there he has the ability to thread the needle for an assist, and will always pass up a good or bad shot for a better shot. Onyeka Okongwu was the beneficiary of a number of passes in the third preseason game.
Krejci can also shoot the 3-ball but he is not an elite shooter like Bogdan Bogdanovic so will not be taking many minutes from the Serbian Sharpshooter. He did not play a great deal in the Cleveland Cavaliers game but played decent time in the New Orleans Pelicans game.
However, in this game, Krejci had a negative impact on the box score, his 1-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc was a big cause of that. Still, he did some little things which mean that he could get some minutes at the end of quarters to help rest the starters.