Atlanta Hawks make big addition to roster amid injury woes

A minor move could have much larger implications for the Atlanta Hawks (19-21) who agreed to a 10-day contract with free agent center Derrick Favors on Tuesday amid a lingering issue for starting center Clint Capela. Favors is a Georgia native and played his college ball in Atlanta at Georgia Tech.

Favors, 30, has not played yet this season after spending last year with the Oklahoma City Thunder but the 12-year veteran has played for four organizations including 10 years with the Utah Jazz after being traded for Deron Williams by the then-New Jersey Nets.

The 6-foot-9, 265-pound big man averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Thunder last season and 10.6 points, 7.1 boards, 1.2 blocks, and 1.1 assists in his career.

It is the implications of this signing, however, that may have the most significant impact.

Big man Derrick Favors adds size, and insurance for Atlanta Hawks

Favors averaged 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks at his peak, a six-year span from 2014 to 2019. He made 65 starts on average in that time with at least 70 starts in four of the years. His durability has not simply fallen off of a cliff, either, as Favors made 68 appearances as a reserve in 2021.

Durability has been quite an issue for the Hawks with the frontcourt particularly impacted.

They already had to deal with an eight-game absence from John Collins, a stretch that saw them go 3-5. The Hawks have also been without Capela for the last seven straight games and 11 of their last 13 overall.

Capela’s absence has shown up mostly on the boards with the Hawks falling from ninth in the league before this stretch to 23rd during it.

Head coach Nate McMillan has tried to remain optimistic about Capela’s outlook for a return.

Signing Favors to a 10-day contract does not speak volumes about Capela’s future. But it might say plenty about the bodies behind him, namely his fill-in Onyeka Okongwu and current second-stringer Frank Kaminsky.

Okongwu has averaged 11.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 1.0 steals in his 10 starts since Capela first suffered the injury. But, in addition to Okongwu being smaller, starting him also means weakening the bench. Interestingly, the bench ranked 23rd in net rating before Capela’s injury woes.

It has since risen to 12th over the last 13 games with their rating going from minus-2.2 before to plus-0.1 in that span.

McMillan praised Kaminsky’s efforts in the win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

But the Hawks have been mostly bad in his minutes this season while his game puts him on the perimeter quite a bit. That isn’t an issue with the paint-bound Favors and should help the Hawks in their battle on the boards.

Kaminsky has just two games with at least five rebounds despite seeing at least 11 minutes five times this season.

There is also second-year forward Jalen Johnson who offers arguably the most diverse skillset but, at just 21 years old, can still struggle with consistency from time to time. The Hawks have gotten solid run out of Collins but are still posting a minus-1.4 net efficiency differential when he is at center.

Factor in the constant trade rumors and it’s possible Collins is not even around by the time we get to the February 9 trade deadline.

It all serves to add another layer of intrigue to what is an otherwise minor signing of a backup big man.