Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks remained active on the free agency front, re-signing another one of their own late last night. Ersan Illyasova, whose rights were renounced by the Hawks last week, signed a one-year deal to stay in Atlanta.
Free agent Ersan Ilyasova has agreed to a one-year, $6M deal with the Atlanta Hawks, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 13, 2017
And according to Marc Spears of ESPN, they are not done either. Atlanta is actively talking to shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad.
Free agent forward Shabazz Muhammad is receiving interest from the Hawks, Nets, Bucks and Knicks, a source says.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) July 13, 2017
But in a little bit of bad news, the Hawks summer league team lost in the first game of the summer league tournament. They fell to the New Orleans Pelicans, 105-95, after just missing out on bye, going 2-1 in the seeding games.
That does not mean there were not some young shining stars though, specifically John Collins, who rose up for this ridiculous slam dunk over two defenders.
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/885252747607425025
That is something special, and it happened on a regular basis for Collins during summer league. He was dominant again Wednesday, scoring 25 points and collecting 9 rebounds. It’s only summer league, so it means nothing right, but Collins is already catching eyes from around the league.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves finally return from the All-Star break tomorrow, but there was some exciting news going on in the farm yesterday.
The organization called up third-base prospect Austin Riley to AA Mississippi.
Austin Riley to Double A
— (Prospects Braves) (@ProspectsBraves) July 12, 2017
Riley is one of best and youngest power bats the Braves have, but maybe some of the most exciting news of the entire season, 19-year old Ronald Acuna was promoted to AAA Gwinnett.
Braves to promote outfield prospect Ronald Acuna to Triple-A Gwinnett – https://t.co/xUxJp2aNs0
— BillShanks (@BillShanks) July 13, 2017
Acuna has rose through the ranks faster than anyone could have imagined, and at just 19 years of age, he could be Atlanta’s next superstar. Do not be surprised to see him in the majors before season’s end.
Atlanta Falcons
The ESPYS took place yesterday, hosted by Peyton Manning. And as we have all come to know, no athlete is safe at the ESPYS. That played true for the Falcons, who were the butt of a few of Manning’s jokes during his opening monologue.
“I believe in the Falcons,” Manning said. “I believe in Matt Ryan and Dan Quinn and I know in my heart the Falcons will be back. I wanted the Falcons to hear that from me now, at the beginning of the show, because they’re going to stop paying attention three-quarters of the way in. Because that’s what they seem to do.”
Manning, like so many host before him, killed the opening. But as Falcons fans, the Super Bowl was so yesterday, and nobody is ready for the start of the 2017 season like the Falcons and this city.