Charles Lee will coach the Hawks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League next month.
The Hawks will again compete in the 24-team tournament from July 7-17 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV. Lee has been an assistant with the Hawks the past three seasons. This will be his first stint as summer league coach. Assistant coaches Darvin Ham and Taylor Jenkins have filled the role the past two seasons.
The Hawks will assemble a team that will consist mostly of first- and second-year players. Coach Mike Budenholzer said last month that he expects last year’s first-round draft picks Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry to play in the event. Prince and Bembry each said they also expect to play. There is also a chance that second-round pick Isaia Cordinier, who played in his native France this season, could play for the Hawks again. The Hawks hold three draft picks in the coming NBA Draft, at Nos. 19, 31 and 60, and those three players are expected to participate.
Lee played collegiately at Bucknell and was the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year. He ranks 25th on the school’s all-time scoring list. In 2015, Lee was named to the Patriot League’s 25th Anniversary team. He played professionally in Israel, Belgium and Germany before joining the Hawks coaching staff under Budenholzer.
Teams will compete in three preliminary games beginning July 7 before being seeded in a tournament that leads to a championship game July 17. Each team will play at least five games. ESPN and NBA TV will televise many of the total 67 games.
Eight of the teams with the top 10 picks in the NBA Draft on June 22 will compete in the tournament with the Celtics (No. 1), Lakers (No. 2), 76ers (No. 3), Suns (No. 4) and Kings (No. 5).
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