2 min read • December 29, 2021
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The Hawks placed 3 more players, including Bodgan Bogdanovic, in health and safety protocols on Tuesday, bringing their league-high total to 13. The transactions leave Atlanta with only 3 players – Trae Young, Clint Capela, and Cam Reddish – who had played at least 20 minutes for the team before Dec. 22.
Those 13 (currently) unavailable Hawks are, in no particular order: John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, Danilo Gallinari, Onyeka Okongwu, Lou Williams, Delon Wright, Gorgui Dieng, Jalen Johnson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Sharife Cooper, Wes Iwundu, and Malik Ellison.
In addition, 2 other key rotation pieces – DeAndre Hunter and Solomon Hill – are out for the near future with serious injuries.
That begs the question: barring a last-minute postponement due to more positive tests, who will be playing for the 15-18 Hawks against the now-replenished Bulls Wednesday night?
Skylar Mays and Chaundee Brown Jr. will likely start at the shooting guard and small forward slots. Mays is in his second season with the Hawks and is averaging 10.3 points and 4 rebounds in 24.3 minutes the last 3 games after having played 8 games in garbage time heading into last week. Brown Jr., meanwhile, was signed to a 10-day hardship contract on Dec. 27 and subsequently started Monday night, scoring 10 points on 1-7 from the field. Brown went undrafted out of Michigan earlier this year (not to be confused with Charlie Brown Jr., who signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Mavericks on Dec. 23).
One recognizable name is Lance Stephenson, who has played for 8 teams in 9 NBA seasons, but last played for Lakers in 2018-19. Stephenson was signed to a hardship contract on Dec. 22.
Also signed on the 22nd was Malcolm Hill, who scored his first career NBA points on Monday and was as recently as May 5, 2021 playing for Hapoel Jerusalem of The Israeli Basketball Premier League.
Twenty-seven-year-old guard Cat Barber signed on Dec. 25, and 25-year-old power forward Justin Tillman on Dec. 28, neither of whom have played a minute in the league before Christmas.
The Hawks could conceivably get more players back from protocols, but there have been no reports of negative tests today.
Atlanta is an 8.5-point underdog vs the Bulls tomorrow, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, in what would be one of the more impressive wins of the season.
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