Former first-round pick and newly-acquired Hawks big man Damian Jones is looking to show off his talent in a way he wasn’t able to on a loaded Warriors’ roster, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Jones, who says he is 100 percent recovered from last season’s injury, sees himself being able to provide Atlanta with rim protection, defense and a lob option around the basket.
“I haven’t really gotten a chance to show what I can do,” Jones said Friday at his introductory news conference. “… I still have more to prove.”
There’s more news out of Atlanta this afternoon from Vivlamore:
- After waiving point guard Jaylen Adams, the Hawks now have a roster of 13 players and will look to sign another veteran to the roster and a second two-way player alongside Charlie Brown, per Vivlamore (link). Because Trae Young is now the lone point guard on the team, one of those signings will almost certainly be a point guard. As for the final standard roster spot, Atlanta plans to leave that vacant for the start of the season.
- One of those 13 players is former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker. Parker, who saw his $20MM team option declined by the Wizards earlier this summer before signing with the Hawks on a two-year, $13MM deal earlier this week, says one the reasons he signed with Atlanta is because of the team’s medical staff and Parker’s confidence in them working with his twice surgically repaired left knee (Twitter link from Vivlamore).
- As we relayed earlier this weekend, Young, big man John Collins , and rookie lottery selections De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish will all see “a lot” of playing time during the 2019/20 season, per general manager Travis Schlenk.
Exciting time for hawks fans no doubt!
Good young lineup for them. Does Huerter start at SG or Reddish? I’d go with Huerter. Reddish can back up Hunter and Crabbe can back up Huerter.
I think Reddish will be ready before Hunter; and Hunter can also back up Collins. The third forward. It would be a mistake to play Parker over Hunter but it cannot be ruled out.
I really don’t c y they shouldn’t just start Young, Huerter, Reddish, Hunter and Collins and let the young dudes grow together. Use the vets as a second unit or support for the young guys. The only way to go in my opinion. U drafted well. Now let them grow together. I think that’s the biggest mistake some teams make is to not just go young and hopefully they turn into a solid unit and compete down the road.