Teague, Korver, Carroll, Millsap and Horford will man the five starting positions admirably in 2014-15. His inexperience could hurt his starting chances as well. Most of Bazemore's career minutes have either come in blowouts (as a Golden State Warrior) or when his team had no chance to make the playoffs (as a Los Angeles Laker). But Sefolosha struggles to score (8.7 points per 36 minutes), which gives him a distinct disadvantage. Newcomers Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore may challenge for a starting wing spot with their defense and athletic ability. He also provides solid defense (1.5 steals) and rebounding (5.5 rebounds). Take a look at his YouTube highlights from a 105-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last November.Ĭarroll broke out last year, scoring a career-high 11.1 points per game as the Hawks' starting small forward. He has a high basketball IQ and handles the ball well (2.9 assists and 1.4 turnovers per game last season), but his beautiful three-point stroke and effective floor-spacing is why he starts. Korver puts the "shooting" in shooting guard. The remaining two spots are a little bit iffier, but Korver and Carroll still get the nod. If one of those three isn't on the floor for the Hawks in crunch time, it's because of an injury or foul trouble. 14 out of the NBA's 30 teams when combining the top three scorers from each squad. Those five will continue to start games for the Hawks in 2014-15.įirst of all, there is little debate that Horford, Millsap and Teague are the team's three best players. The trio combined for 53.0 points per game in 2013-14, good for No. That five-man unit was also the team's starting lineup before Horford went down on December 26. Last season, Atlanta's most-used lineup consisted of Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford, according to. If Horford is 100 percent healthy, expect a winning percentage a lot closer to the former record than the latter. With Horford, the Hawks were 16-13 in 2013-14. Take a look at his shooting splits by distance from last year. Particularly on the boards he was very good and then advancing the ball on the break and doing some of the little things that Al does that are unique and we appreciate.īy Atlanta's opener on October 29, we could be seeing vintage Horford.Īnd what can vintage Horford do? For starters, he's an elite scorer from several places on the floor. are a very physical team and for him to get in, come through it and fell confident was. I think he really made a noticeable step forward -his length and going and getting rebounds and extending, just looking comfortable. But he's making steady improvement.Īccording to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Hawks beat writer Chris Vivlamore, Budenholzer said Horford showed huge progress in Thursday's contest against the Chicago Bulls. So yes, Horford is still getting his sea legs back. Through his first three preseason games, the center was averaging 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16 minutes per game on 40.9 percent shooting, per ESPN.
Just last Tuesday, Horford was in action for the first time since his injury. The injury kept him out for the rest of the season. Horford played the Hawks' first 29 games in 2013-14, then tore his right pectoral muscle. After that, we'll hand out some premature team awards and predict the Hawks' record and end-of-season result in 2014-15. Let's take a look at the biggest question facing Atlanta this year, the club's best lineup and the impact the three newcomers will have.
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