- The Hawks have pushed back the targeted return of ticketed fans at State Farm Arena to January 26 due to COVID-19 concerns, according to a team press release. The Hawks will open at 10% capacity (approximately 1,700 tickets) before gradually increasing throughout the season, pending adequate conditions.
Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic has sustained an avulsion fracture in his right knee, along with associated soft tissue inflammation and a bone bruise, the team announced in a press release. The fourth-year guard underwent an MRI earlier today.
Bogdanovic suffered the injury during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Charlotte, later being listed as “doubtful” to return. He was ruled out a short time later.
While a recovery timeline for Bogdanovic has yet to be announced, an extended absence seems likely. His treatment plan will be reviewed and updated later this week, the team said.
Bogdanovic, 28, has averaged 9.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 23.7 minutes per game this season, shooting 38.5% from the floor and 36% from deep in nine contests. He signed a four-year, $72MM offer sheet to join the Hawks in free agency after spending his first three seasons with Sacramento.
One of several veteran free agents signed by Atlanta in the fall, Bogdanovic has now joined most of his fellow newcomers on the injury list. Kris Dunn (ankle), Danilo Gallinari (ankle), and Rajon Rondo (knee) are also out.
Atlanta has upcoming games scheduled against the Sixers on Monday and Suns on Wednesday. The team currently holds a 4-5 record through nine contests, having dropped four straight games.
After Hawks power forward John Collins reportedly voiced his frustration with the way the club has been running its offense through All-Star point guard Trae Young, Young addressed their issues with a measured response.
“I know me and John have set the bar high for ourselves, but we’re still 22 and 23 years old,” Young said of their early Hawks tenure, per Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). “There’s a lot we can get better at. There’s going to be times where we are going to talk and there’s going to be times when teammates are going to talk about what we see.”
The revamped Hawks are currently 4-4, good for the No. 9 seed in the East.
During a film session on Tuesday following a disappointing loss to New York, Hawks big man John Collins expressed some displeasure with the way the team’s offense has been operating and the way Trae Young has been running it, according to Chris Kirschner and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Sources tell The Athletic that Collins talked about wanting to get into offensive sets faster and reduce early shot-clock attempts. He also said he wants to be more involved in the offense and would like to see more ball movement and flow.
Although there was no direct back-and-forth between Collins and Young, Collins’ criticism “caught the attention of the room,” per Kirschner and Amick, who report that Young later made it clear to others that he strongly disagreed with his teammate’s take.
“Trae is my brother regardless,” Collins said via text message when The Athletic asked him about the situation.
Some Hawks have agreed with Collins’ stance and believe that when he – and the team’s other offensive weapons – are featured more, the results are better, according to Kirschner and Amick.
However, The Athletic’s duo says there’s a belief that Collins’ frustration stems not only from a desire to maximize the Hawks’ talent, but from his contract situation. According to Kirschner and Amick, the 23-year-old – who believes he’s a maximum-salary caliber player – passed last month on a contract extension offer worth over $90MM. He’s hoping to prove this season ahead of restricted free agency that he’s worth the max, and may need the ball in his hands more to do so.
Here’s more on the Hawks from Kirschner and Amick:
- Clint Capela had a private discussion with Young following Tuesday’s film session and pointed to his time alongside James Harden and Dwight Howard in Houston as a cautionary tale. Howard’s desire for more touches and Harden’s reluctance to give up the ball contributed to the dissolution of that union.
- One Hawks player told The Athletic that he believes Young’s uninspiring performance on Wednesday stemmed from Tuesday’s film session. Head coach Lloyd Pierce called Young’s Wednesday performance (seven points on 2-of-9 shooting, with seven turnovers) “uncharacteristic,” while Kirschner and Amick suggest the star guard appeared “disinterested.”
- Some Hawks players last season indicated that Young has room to improve as a vocal leader, and Pierce has encouraged growth in that area, per Kirschner and Amick. However, the “basketball relationship” between the coach and his star guard is still worth monitoring. A report last May suggested Young and Pierce haven’t always been on the same page, and multiple sources tell The Athletic that disconnect remains an issue.
- Pierce, whose in-game decisions have been questioned at times by players since he was hired in 2018, is in a contract year, as his team option for 2021/22 hasn’t yet been picked up. However, a source with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletic that Pierce’s job isn’t in any immediate danger.
- In a wide-ranging new mailbag, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic ponders the possibility of a Hawks trade to clear up roster minutes for the club’s many solid players, among other hot topics. Kirschner notes that GM Travis Schlenk and owner Tony Ressler would need to both think making a move could significantly improve the roster for a deal to get done.
Hawks guard Rajon Rondo will enter a period of rest and rehabilitation to strengthen his right knee, the team tweets. He will miss at least the next three games and be reviewed prior to the team’s three-game West Coast trip. That journey begins January 13 in Phoenix.
Rondo has been battling issues with both knees this season. He missed two games with left knee soreness and was medically cleared for Monday’s game against New York but did not play.
Rondo has appeared in only two regular-season games since signing a two-year, $15MM contract with the Hawks.
With Rondo out, Brandon Goodwin will likely be the primary backup to Trae Young. Goodwin has averaged 12.6 MPG in five appearances this season.
Rondo joins two other high-profile free agent signees, Danilo Gallinari and Kris Dunn, on the sidelines. Gallinari will miss at least two weeks with an ankle sprain, while Dunn underwent ankle surgery on New Year’s Eve and will be reevaluated in mid-January.
Rondo played an important role in helping the Lakers capture the NBA title last season despite suffering a fractured right thumb shortly after arriving at Orlando for the restart. He came back to average 8.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 6.6 APG off the bench in 16 postseason games.
- Danilo Gallinari was acquired by the Hawks in a sign-and-trade with the Thunder and made a three-year commitment. However, he’s already thinking about his long-term future, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. In an interview by La Repubblica, Gallinari said he’d like to eventually finish his career by returning to Italy’s Olimpia Milano. “Playing with Olimpia, in a team as strong and ambitious as this season, is a dream for me,” he said.
Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic about his recent experience in free agency, Bogdan Bogdanovic said he learned about the apparent sign-and-trade agreement between the Kings and Bucks (that would have sent him to Milwaukee) on Twitter, reading about it at the same time everyone else did.
“When the news came out, we were like, ‘What the f–k?'” Bogdanovic told Amick. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
As Bogdanovic explains, he had been told during the summer that the Kings wanted to keep him, so when word of the alleged sign-and-trade broke, he was caught off guard for two reasons: He hadn’t agreed to join the Bucks and he didn’t realize Sacramento was looking to trade him. The veteran swingman had been expecting to either negotiate with the Kings or to sign an offer sheet when free agency opened.
“I was like, ‘OK, we wait for the market,’ and I was ready for that,” Bogdanovic said. “Like, OK, wait for the market and let’s see what’s going to happen. In the end, (the Kings) decided to not tell me about nothing, about what was going on with Milwaukee. I really didn’t know nothing. Yes, I’m friends with Thanasis (Antetokounmpo) mostly — (Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s) brother — but we didn’t know what was going on. It was really on Twitter.
“Now, people are making stories off of it. … I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I didn’t know what was going on. And then, two days later, the NBA investigation (began), and no one called me from the Kings yet. I just got a text, like, ‘Thanks for being part of the team,’ and that’s it.”
[RELATED: Bucks Lose 2022 Second-Round Pick For Early Pursuit Of Bogdanovic]
Bogdanovic’s wide-ranging discussion with Amick goes into more detail on his reaction to learning of the reported agreement between the Kings and Bucks and what it meant for his impending free agency. However, the interview – which is worth checking out in full – also touches on several other topics, including his pivot to Atlanta, his new role with the Hawks, and testing positive for COVID-19.
Here are some of the highlights from the conversation:
On dealing with a positive coronavirus test at the same time as he navigated free agency:
“Yeah, I had it. I had it, and I recovered and I started working out back in Serbia and I was fine. I didn’t have any crazy symptoms or anything like that, but it was all stressful, you know? You’re thinking about coming back and being ready and in shape, you know? It was really stressful. That two, three weeks? Whoo.”
On having to find a new deal in restricted free agency after the Bucks-related drama:
“At that point, when free agency opens up, I was just focused on one thing, you know? And Atlanta called first. The Kings actually called me like 15 minutes after, and I liked what they (the Hawks) offered me. … I think, in the end, I was lucky and I end up being in the perfect situation in terms of contract and a team.”
On whether he thoughts the Kings would match his offer sheet with the Hawks:
“I was scared for that (because) at that point I wanted to leave. At that point, when they traded me already and they didn’t want to talk to me about it, I was like, ‘OK, they really want me out of here.’ So I was like, ‘OK.’
“We end up signing the offer sheet, so I was thinking like, ‘Damn, in the end, they’re going to match this.’ I was confused. It’s not really free agency, because you are not free. And yes, you’re restricted — you’re really restricted. It’s restricted agency. It’s not free agency.”
On how he feels about his new role coming off the bench in Atlanta:
“I feel fine. I feel fine about it. I think coach (Lloyd Pierce) is putting me in situations to kind of run the second unit, you know? And be like the sixth man of the unit. And when you play with Trae (Young), it’s so easy. He always draws so much attention on him, and that’s what gives me a lot of open shots. Not just me, but everyone else.
“… We are still figuring it out, and I think from this point we can just get better. It’s so much talent. And we have a lot of guys who can get off one night, so that’s a really good problem to have on a team. … I like it so far. We really have a pretty good group, a mix of young (players) and veterans — which is really nice; energy and experience. So it’s really nice to be here. It’s really fun.”
Hawks forward Danilo Gallinari has a sprained right ankle that will keep him out of action for at least two weeks, the team announced on Twitter. His condition was confirmed this morning by an MRI.
Gallinari suffered the injury in Wednesday’s game with the Nets, leaving after just three minutes. He has played just two games for Atlanta due to the effects of a left foot contusion he received in the season opener.
Injuries have been a frequent concern for Gallinari, who hasn’t played 70 games in a season since 2012/13. The Hawks acquired him in November from the Thunder in exchange for cash and a 2025 second-round pick.
- Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said he had promising reports regarding guard Kris Dunn‘s arthroscopic right ankle surgery on Tuesday, according to Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Dunn is wearing a walking boot and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. The former Bull has yet to make his Atlanta debut. “It sounds as if everything went well, as well as the surgery can go, and he’s staying here at the hotel,” Pierce said. “But he’s post-op and laying low.”
- Hawks free agent acquisition Bogdan Bogdanovic has averaged 15.3 PPG on 42.9% shooting from deep but Pierce says his value goes beyond perimeter shooting, Spencer writes in a separate story. “He hasn’t had any bad games,” Pierce said. “Bad games aren’t ‘make or miss.’ He’s taking those shots, I’ll live with them…. I trust his work. I’ve been praising the fact that he’s probably our hardest post-practice worker.”