National Basketball Association

NBA 2016-17 Team Preview - Atlanta Hawks: Howard's New Home

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 27, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) protects the ball against Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13) during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

NBA 2016-17 Team Preview – Atlanta Hawks. Dwight Howard joins his fourth professional team seeking to find a fit akin to his early days in Orlando.

To prepare our readers for the regular season SCS offers a series entitled NBA 2016-17 Team Preview for each of the Houston Rockets’ 29 opponents. Who will return to the playoffs? Which team will fall from grace and who will be the Cinderella team?

Included in each profile:

NBA 2016-17 Team Previews now looks at the team Dwight Howard left Houston for the Southeast Division Atlanta Hawks.

NBA 2016-17 Team Preview: Atlanta Hawks

Our NBA 2016-17 Team Previews continue with the Southeast Division, next up the Atlanta Hawks:

2015-16 Record: 48-34

Playoffs:

Lost NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (0-4) versus Cleveland Cavaliers

2015-16 Key Stats:

Offensive Rank: 105.1 (22nd)

Defensive Rank: 103.6 (4th )

Pace: 97.1 (8th)

Points Per Game: 102.8 (12th)

Opponent Points Per Game: 99.2 (6th)

Three Point Rank: 35% (15th)

Rebounds: 42.1 (24th)

Assists: 25.6 (2nd)

Steals: 9.1 ( 3rd)

Blocks: 5.9 ( 5th)

Turnovers: 15 (22nd)

Oct 27, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) defended by Atlanta Hawks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 114-99. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

2017 Free Agents

Restricted:

Unrestricted:

All free agent updates confirmed via Basketball Reference and Sportrak

Future Draft Picks

See Real GM for full details:

Incoming:

Outgoing:

Average Age of Team: 28 years (as per Real GM)

Next: Off Season Moves

Oct 13, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Taurean Prince (12) drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Pistons defeated the Hawks 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Draft Picks

Round 1: Taurean Prince (12), DeAndre Bembry (21

Round 2: Isaia Cordinier (44)

Free Agency:

Incoming:

Exiting:

Re-upping:

Extended:

Next: Schedule, League Pass, Win Projection Rankings

Oct 29, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward DeAndre Bembry (95) looks to pass as Philadelphia 76ers guard Nik Stauskas (11) defends during the fourth quarter of the game at the Wells Fargo Center. The Atlanta Hawks won 104-72. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Vegas over-under for wins: 43.5

Schedule strength:

As ranked by ESPN: 26th with 2.75 extra wins

The Hawks are tied for the most back-to-backs (18) but rank high on the lists for overall long-rest games (16) and long-rest games on the road (nine).

Games versus Rockets:

Zach Lowe NBA League Pass Rank: 25th

What do they do now? On offense, they want to use the Dennis Schroder-Howard pick-and-roll to batter the rim — a fine style, but also one that robs the Hawks of what made them the Hawks.

Schroder’s slithery recklessness on the pick-and-roll is magnetic, even if he struggles to finish wild flails at the rim. Millsap is one of the league’s finest all-around players, but some of his best work is the stuff you miss on first watch — not exactly “change the channel!” material.

Of note: Zach Lowe got a little blue in his wording so I didn’t include the best part of this post (about Dwight), so those not offended by a bit or dirty humor please make sure to check out the entire post.

Oct 29, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) dribbles the ball during the third quarter of the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. The Atlanta Hawks won 104-72. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Committed Salary

2016: $98,479,494 – 16th ranked

2017: $83,872,280 – 13th ranked

Team Salary Ranking as per Hoops Hype, and team salary overview also via Hoops Hype

Starting 5:

Point Guard: Dennis Schroder – 11 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds

Shooting Guard: Kyle Korver – 9.2 points, 2.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds

Small Forward: Kent Bazemore – 11.6 points, 2.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds

Power Forward: Paul Millsap – 17.1 points, 3.3 assists, 9.0 rebounds

Center: Dwight Howard – 13.7points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks

Reserves:

Guards: Malcolm Delaney, Thabo Sefolosha

Wings: Tim Hardaway Jr., DeAndre’ Bembry, Taurean Prince, Mike Scott

Bigs: Mike Muscala, Kris Humphries, Tiago Splitter, Walter “Edy” Tavares

Injury News:

All injury news as per rotoworld

Oct 18, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer is shown on the sideline in the first quarter of their game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Strength:

Weakness:

Hidden Gem:

Likely to be traded first:

More from Space City Scoop

John Schuhman Notables:

Howard Files:

Through each of Dwight Howard’s moves he’s experienced a drop off in production. Undeniably his best days were in Orlando (2004 – 2012) where he averaged 18.4 points and 13 rebounds. His time in L.A. )2012-3013) was hampered by injury and an inability to get along with Kobe. Howard still produced reasonable numbers (17.1 points, 12.4 rebounds) in spite of coming off back surgery. And of course his days with the Houston Rockets say another dip in production (16 points, 11.7 rebounds), more injuries and the drama between himself and James Harden.

Prediction:

Best Case: Everything fits together seamlessly with Howard rediscovering his form. Schroder transfers to the starting point guard role and a couple of the bench players or youngsters have aggressive growth. If all these things happen Atlanta maybe gets the fifth seed.

Worst Case: Howard gets injured, Schroder has major growing pains and the franchise recognizes the roster is mismatched. Millsap privately asks to be traded and the Hawks go into full on rebuild as they miss the post season.

Notably the worse case scenario is far more likely to happen.

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Make sure to check out our entire NBA preview series.

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