Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks might be the quietest team in NBA free agency so far, but that might be changing very soon. Chris Vivlamore of the AJC reported yesterday that Atlanta is in several negotiations and looking to add a few players
Hawks in negotiations with several players. Look for another point guard, power forward and at least one center.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) July 10, 2017
There are not very many big splashes available, and even if there were, the Hawks probably would not be in the market for them. Look for these additions to be undervalued guys with some potential to blossom under the Hawks player development group.
That player development team is currently out West working with some of the Hawks young guys in summer league. Atlanta had their third summer league game yesterday and saw a lot of impressive things on their way to a 75-55 route of the Chicago Bulls.
Once again, DeAndre Bembry and John Collins were the standouts. Bembry finished with 17 points and 4 assists, but perhaps the most promising part of his game was his three-point shooting, where he was 2-3 on the day. Bembry has been working long and hard on that shot from behind the arc, and if he can develop that shot consistently, he could be something special in the NBA.
The rookie John Collins has been a superstar so far in summer league. He is already much stronger than many of the other young front court players and has been using that size to his advantage, dominating in the low post. Collins posted another double-double on Monday with 15 points and 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes.
The one sore spot for Atlanta was Taurean Prince. The Hawks are likely planning on starting Prince at small forward like they did in the playoffs last season, but he is going to have to look much better than his 1-10 outing yesterday if that is the case.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves are currently in the midst of the All-Star break. They will return to action on Friday for a weekend series with the Diamondbacks. If you are wondering what the rotation will look like for the second half of the season, the Braves announced that R.A Dickey will get the ball in the first game back from the break.
The rest of the rotation is as follows.
#Braves rotation post-break: Dickey, Folty, Garcia, Teheran, Newcomb. Gonna split up the lefties.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 9, 2017
Atlanta Falcons
It is that time of the year for football fans, where we are just looking for something, anything to talk about. Well yesterday, that topic was the NFL’s future power rankings. ESPN recently wrote an article ranking all 32-teams according to possible future success. Number three on that list was the Atlanta Falcons.
The two teams coming in ahead of them on that list were the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. While both of these organizations have been terrific for years, I think ESPN may have missed tho boat on this one. Tom Brady is 40 and not getting any younger, and while Russell Wilson has proved to be a valuable NFL quarterback, he is no Matt Ryan. Not to mention, Atlanta has the most loaded roster outside of the quarterback position and nearly all of their players under contract for multiple seasons. It’s safe to say the Falcons are beginning to be recognized for their success, but people are still sleeping on the future of this organization.