Mike Scott has found his game.
The former Hawks draft pick and forward has left some troubling times – on and off the court – behind him in his first season with the Wizards.
Scott returned to Atlanta with his new team for Wednesday’s game. Wizards coach Scott Brooks had nothing but glowing remarks about Scott before the game.
“There is no question that he had some great years here and he loved it here,” Brooks said. “But that is behind him. We are happy to have him. He’s been terrific for us. He’s been a great teammate. He’s so easy to coach. He is low maintenance. That is probably not low enough. He never says much. He just comes in and does his work. You can never not have enough guys like that. I love coaching him.”
Scott has appeared in 31 games for the Wizards and is averaging 9.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19 minutes. He is shooting .423 (30 of 71) from 3-point range.
The Hawks drafted Scott in the second round (No. 43) in the 2012 NBA draft. He was a valuable bench contributor but struggled last season.
Scott started the last season injured and did not played well in limited opportunities. He averaged a career-low 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes over 18 games. In addition to the on-court issues, Scott was arrested on felony drug charges in July of 2015. The case was dismissed in May of 2017 as an illegal arrest as a judge determined Scott was a target of racial profiling.
The Hawks traded Scott to the Suns at the trade deadline. He was waived the following day and out of basketball until the Wizards signed him in July to a one-year, $1.7 million minimum deal.
“I did not know much about him except when I coached against him he always seemed to have a good spark off the bench,” Brooks said. “I did not know how serious he was and how professional he was, how diligent he was in his work. That’s great. I love guys who do the same thing every day. You don’t all of a sudden work hard because you haven’t made a shot in three games. Whether he makes every shot, and he seems to be doing that lately, or comes in and does the say work, to me that’s the key to being a professional.”
Scott is averaging 13.7 points over the past 11 games and is 16 of 33 from 3-point range. He has six double-digit scoring games in the span, including a season-high 24 points.
Brooks joked with Washington reporters it wouldn’t be snitching if he called out Hawks plays during his return.
