While Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela will almost certainly make up two-thirds of the Hawks‘ starting frontcourt, the other starting forward spot remains up for grabs, according to Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who looks at six possible candidates for that role.
De’Andre Hunter looks like the best bet among the contenders for the job, but he was more effective off the bench than in the starting five last season, Williams notes, having made 49.1% of his shots and 42.0% of his three-pointers in 20 games as a reserve.
No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher and newly acquired guard Dyson Daniels are among the other options Williams examines. Daniels figures to spend most of his playing time in the backcourt, but could make sense at small forward if Atlanta starts Bogdan Bogdanovic alongside Trae Young in the backcourt and wants to complement them with an elite wing defender.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times explores some of the top storylines to watch in the Bulls‘ training camp this fall, including Patrick Williams‘ and Matas Buzelis‘ roles, Lonzo Ball‘s comeback from multiple knee surgeries, and which player will become the ninth man in Billy Donovan‘s rotation. Cowley projects Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Williams as starters, with Ayo Dosunmu, Jalen Smith, and Buzelis rounding out the top eight, which would leave Torrey Craig, Dalen Terry, Chris Duarte, and Julian Phillips fighting for regular playing time.
- In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Stefan Bondy identifies six centers who may be available for trade before February’s deadline and could make sense for the Knicks. Some of the hypothetical targets Bondy lists (such as Nick Richards) are more realistic than others (like Deandre Ayton).
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic outlines five lineups he’d like to see the Bucks employ this season, including a small-ball unit featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo at center and a floor-spacing group that includes Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., and A.J. Green.
RIP Sankara
Trae/Dyson/Dre/Jalen/Clint w/ Bufkin/Bogdan/Zacch/Onyeka filling out the rotation. Vit, GMatthews, Roddy & Jr Nance all capable of competing for rotation mins &/or stepping in when injuries occur… Dre should obv start. Only reason he wasn’t starting last season was bc we had 2 scoring guards in the starting lineup & having him come off the bench helped balance our offense. Having our best defenders out there with Trae just makes sense.
Trae, Hunter, Johnson, Okongwu, Capela.
Is what I do ……. IMO this team is a mess. Management is clueless on building on a team.
The Center position is being overdone with Knicks. Mitch is the starting center. Sims is the backup. And they can go small ball with Achiuwa at C. There is no panic here. We can see where this goes. And still be a top 4 team in East.
Knicks have time to address the C position. I’d like to get it done before the TD. IHart had a great yr. But it was his fit. That made it work. Not so much his stats. I believe in Mitch. Just do what you do well.
You really believe Sims can be the backup C? I see him as a 3rd string C. Precious at 6’8 isn’t tall enough but this is the modern SBA
I would panic
Trade Dadiet, Ariel with the draft rights to Rokas, Lessort and Vaulet for a back up C
Dadiet doesn’t fit this team
Also if Mitch gets hurt then what
Any line up that has Patrick Williams as a 4 is a complete failure before it even takes the court. Just shows how stupid Donovan really is.
ATL needs to change their identity to encompass defense. It’s not about one guy, but it would advance their cause if Daniels were to ascend into a core rotation player (30 mpg). For that reason, I’d give him the short path to the starting job next to TY, and hope he seizes it. His success might comes down to whether he can find an effective enough offensive role to stay on the court (there is no doubt that he can defend 1-3 at a high level). It won’t be as a shooter, so TY will have to accommodate him as a co-facilitator.
Bondy is just filling space. NYK have some excellent C fits for Thibs’ system. They’ll likely look for one more piece mostly because Mitch is injury prone. They are not looking to reconfigure their roster, or change the way they play, by acquiring a C.
The east still has a long way to go to catch up to the West…