The Atlanta Hawks offloaded recent first-round pick Kobe Bufkin this offseason. Now that he has been dumped by one of the worst teams in the NBA, his career is falling apart around him.
The Hawks were extremely high on Kobe Bufkin when they drafted him just two years ago. The 6'4" guard was a prolific scorer at Michigan and left the Wolverines after his sophomore season to enter the 2023 NBA Draft. His unique cadence and knockdown shot propelled him up draft boards, and the Hawks drafted him with the 15th pick.
Since then, his career has been dominated by injuries. Bufkin has played a mere 27 games in two seasons in the NBA, prevented entirely from making his mark or gaining any level of comfort in the league. All of the potential that he showed coming out of Michigan has failed to manifest -- but it's unlikely any player could have found their place in such small pockets of health.
The potential is still there. Bufkin only turned 22 years old last month; by contrast, Walter Clayton Jr. was born six months before Bufkin and was just drafted in the first round by the Utah Jazz. Shooting matters in the NBA, and Bufkin has a smooth jumper. He is the quintessential combo guard, with decent handling to play the point and decent size to defend at the 2 and play off-ball on offense. He has shown flashes of quick decision-making and craft in the lane.
Yet the Hawks had a roster crunch as they built what they hope is a contender in the Eastern Conference this season. They made the call to prioritize veteran options in the backcourt such as Luke Kennard and said goodbye to Bufkin, trading him to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Hawks said goodbye to Bufkin
The Nets are fully entering their rebuild this season and seemed like the perfect team to give Bufkin a shot. Even with his limited growth across two seasons he may have been their best option at point guard. The Nets didn't have anything else to do with their money.
Unfortunately for Bufkin, Brooklyn did have one thing in spades: young ball-handlers. They drafted a whopping five players in the first round of June's NBA Draft, including three on-ball guards and a point-center. If they want to give minutes and on-ball reps to their drafted guards, it left precious little space in a rotation for Bufkin.
Even so, it came as something of a surprise when it was announced that the Brooklyn Nets were waiving Kobe Bufkin. His pedigree and multiple seasons of team control made him seem like an obvious choice to keep around. Yet as the Nets collected prospects and veterans they decided that Bufkin was the odd man out.
Just two years after he was drafted in the first round, Kobe Bufkin is a free agent. It's a wild turn of events, especially since he hasn't proven to be a bad player yet. For Atlanta he was certainly a bust, but that was due to injury more than anything else. There could still be a good player waiting to break through the injury curses and establish himself in the league.
Clearing the hurdle of two teams in a row declaring that they do not want you, however, is a difficult proposition. Kobe Bufkin's career is falling apart around him.