The Atlanta Hawks got an historically great shooting season from a journeyman wing a few years ago, even if it was easy to forget. Now Tony Snell has moved on and signed with a new team to continue his career overseas.
The lanky Tony Snell grew up in California and entered the NBA courtesy of the New Mexico Lobos. The Chicago Bulls drafted him 20th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft and he spent the first seven years of his career on the Great Lakes, playing for the Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons.
In November of 2020, the Pistons sent Snell to the Atlanta Hawks for big man Dewayne Dedmon. The deal cleared future salary off of the Hawks' ledgers and brought in a two-way wing in the process. Snell had a track record of reasonable perimeter defense and a consistent 3-point shot, which is the recipe for a rotation wing.
What happened next was entirely unexpected. Snell missed the start of the season recovering from an injury, but once he returned he proceeded to shoot the leather off of the basketball. He couldn't miss! While his role was somewhat limited, when Snell was passed the ball, he shot and made his shots at an unheard of rate.
That isn't meant to be hyperbole; statistically, Tony Snell had one of the greatest shooting seasons in NBA history. Per Stathead, in the thousands of player seasons where an NBA player attempted at least 100 3-pointers, only 10 times has a player shot at least 50 percent. And at the top of the list is unheralded Tony Snell at 56.9 percent for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2020-21 season.
The names on that list are some of the most accurate shooters in NBA history. Kyle Korver, Steve Kerr, Jason Kapono, Tim Legler, Luke Kennard. It wasn't a high-volume shooting display, but it wasn't a tiny sample, either. Over 109 attempts Tony Snell shot 57 percent from long-range.
The Hawks moved on from Tony Snell
The following summer, however, the Atlanta Hawks made the decision not to bring back Tony Snell. From their own depth at the position to his limitations on offense beyond being an absolute sniper, the Hawks went in a different direction. Snell signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, played an extremely limited role, and was tossed into the trade that brought CJ McCollum and future Atlanta big Larry Nance Jr. to the New Orleans Pelicans.
After a handful of games in the Big Easy, Snell's time in the NBA came to a close. He stayed close, playing with the Maine Celtics and the Sioux Falls Skyforce the last two seasons in the G League, but without a call-up to an NBA roster.
Now Snell has moved on. He took his sharpshooting hands across the pond to join Boulazac Basket Dordogne in the top league in France. Boulazac just won the second dicision championship last season and won promotion up into the LNB Elite. Now Snell can help them continue growing as a franchise.
The impact of a sharpshooter like Snell can be significant in the European game, and he has the potential to make a real difference for Boulazac and earn a chance to continue his career. He may never shoot at historic levels again, but no one can take away the statistical marval that was his single season with the Atlanta Hawks.