Atlanta Hawks swingman Kent Bazemore recently re-signed with the Atlanta Hawks on a four-year deal worth $70 million. Bazemore is excited about this year’s Hawks team, he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:
“I think obviously losing Al [Horford] and Jeff [Teague] – two All-Stars – is a blow, but from an organization standpoint, I know they were looking to head in a new direction. Jeff and I had been here the longest out of everybody on the team, but they felt it was time to make a change. They’re going with a younger point guard, Dennis Schroder, who is defensive-oriented. They brought in Dwight Howard, who is one of the most dominant centers of all-time and poised for a breakout year. He seems super hungry. I’ve chatted with him a few times and he seems like he’s ready to get after it. It’s a situation for him where, unlike in L.A. and unlike in Houston, this is going to be his team. We’ll work off of him. We understand that he’s been to the NBA Finals and played on some great teams. We’re looking for him to be a leader for us, and I think he can do it. Him coming back home and being comfortable here, I think that makes a world of a difference.
Saying that this will be Howard’s team is… interesting, to say the least. Howard’s average of 13.7 points per game last season was the lowest since his rookie year. His averages of 11.8 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game are both impressive, but are still below his career averages of 12.7 and 2.1, respectively. You can argue that Howard’s decline is due to his fit in Houston, but at least part of the blame has to be attributed to his injuries. Based on their performances in recent years, one would expect this to be Paul Millsap’s team. Bazemore did give a shoutout to Millsap as well, along with the team’s rookies, and a couple of role players:
Then, of course, we have Paul Millsap, who is really special and does what he does on a nightly basis. He’s so consistent. We have some rookies who I’m really excited about; Taurean Prince is a big body and DeAndre Bembry is a play-maker with some good size. Then we have guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. and, of course, Jarrett Jack, who is one of the most vocal leaders in the entire league. He’s someone who I learned a lot of my leadership skills from back when we played together in Golden State. I could go on and on about this team. We have a good team all around – a solid mix of young guys and veterans – so it’s going to be a good year.”
