Exactly nine months after the Hawks played their last game of the 2019-20 season (March 11) before it was cut short because of the coronavirus, they’ll finally play their first exhibition game of the 2020-21 season Friday night vs. the Magic at State Farm Arena.
The majority of the roster hasn’t played in an NBA game since March, or earlier. There’s one addition, Danilo Gallinari, who played with Oklahoma City until the Thunder lost to Houston in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, which finished Sept. 2, and two (Solomon Hill with the Heat and Rajon Rondo with the Lakers) who played in the NBA Finals, which concluded Oct. 11. With the Kings, Bogdan Bogdanovic made the Orlando bubble and played as recently as Aug. 13.
So, with nine new players to incorporate, some guys perhaps a little rusty and others needing simply to learn a new team, the Hawks will use their exhibition slate to work out any kinks, figure out which lineups are effective and get back in game shape.
“That’s exactly the mindset, is we have a lot of new faces, still have a lot of young guys and new pieces, and that’s exactly what the preseason is for, to get our legs back under us, get some chemistry going, see who works with who,” power forward John Collins said.
“That’s a great starting point for us. Obviously this whole preseason up until now has been a mess, so preseason can help us out.”
Indeed, this process has been quite delayed, given last season’s schedule upheaval. The only team activity the Hawks were allowed this offseason (as one of eight teams that didn’t qualify for the Orlando bubble) was a minicamp that began Sept. 21, but the franchise was so active in free agency that it’s essentially a whole new group now. Exhibition games always can help teams get organized, but they’ll be particularly helpful for the Hawks as they sort through all the new faces and talent they’ve added.
“Just having game experience, even though it’s preseason, just being able to play with each other in a game, seeing each other’s strong suits and seeing what each other likes to do, it’s definitely going to help build (in games),” wing De’Andre Hunter said.
To help players acclimate, coach Lloyd Pierce will try to keep everyone limited to 24-25 minutes of play.
“I want to maximize their effort in a limited amount of time,” Pierce said. “Because I think that’s more important than just seeing a bunch of guys on the court for long periods of time and seeing (sloppiness). If I can get maximum effort from everybody, and really just help ourselves, we’re in training camp, it’s a preseason game and we need to be really efficient at a high level when we’re out there, and not overdo it.”
Kris Dunn, Tony Snell and Onyeka Okongwu will not be available as they recover from injuries. But, even though it’s only preseason, this will perhaps be the first time Clint Capela will play in a Hawks jersey (he’s listed as questionable with right ankle soreness on Friday evening’s injury report), as well as new additions in Gallinari and Bogdanovic. Rondo is listed as doubtful on the injury report with right knee soreness.
They also added Hill and two-way players Nathan Knight and Skylar Mays.
After spending most of last season extremely thin, with few options for lineups, Pierce now has more flexibility, thanks to the depth the Hawks have added.
As the Hawks look to make the playoffs and see significant turnaround from their 20-47 record last season, Piece will spend much of the preseason figuring out which lineups can make that happen, and who meshes well with who. That includes returning players, as even the Hawks’ “Core Five” lineup from last season, consisting of Trae Young, Collins, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish and Hunter, played in only 23 games together, or 205 minutes (offensive rating of 117.9, defensive rating of 111.8, net of 6.1) as Collins was suspended for 25 games and injuries got in the way.
“Although it was positive, still small sample size,” Pierce said. “We would like to see that at some point, we would also like to integrate the new guys and learn what combinations are working well offensively, what combinations are working well defensively. All of that’s on the table, and all of that is up to myself and my staff to figure out, and even some of the guys, the dynamics of who can empower other guys, who plays well, creates that synergy.
“You see certain teams throughout the league where they just have synergy. There’s just certain groups coming off the bench and certain starting lineups that have great synergy together, and hopefully we find a group that is capable of doing that and then we find another group that’s capable in creating their own synergy.”
Finding synergy won’t be important only when it comes to starters and a second unit, Pierce added, but in finding varying groups who can thrive together and pump energy into games when called upon. He praised the Grizzlies’ strong second unit from last season, which often included Brandon Clarke, De’Anthony Melton and Tyus Jones.
“I think sometimes when you’re in the flow of it, you find a group that you can play from time to time that it’s just different and creates a different kind of energy or momentum,” Pierce said. “I thought Memphis did that last year with their second unit; just kind of like a bomb squad. They were outworking, offensive rebounding and playing in transition the whole time.
“Ours may look different, ours may be the same, who knows, but we’re definitely going to try and find some kind of synergy groups that we can play from time to time.”
As far as conditioning goes, the Hawks will view the exhibition games as an extension of team practice, leading to their regular-season opener Dec. 23 in Chicago. It may seem like the players who haven’t played since March are at a disadvantage, considering the long layoff, but the flip side is the players whose bodies may still be tired from a deep playoff run with minimal down time before starting again.
Still, though, the preseason will help the team get to know each other’s tendencies and prepare for when games start to count.
“It’s going to help us. … We’re still in training camp and those games, we’re going to use them as practice to get back in shape, to get back in game shape,” Capela said. “We’re maybe not there yet, so we’re definitely going to use those games to get our chemistry together and get our game shape better.”
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