2018–19 Atlanta Hawks season

2018–19 Atlanta Hawks season
Head coach	Lloyd Pierce
General manager	Travis Schlenk
Owner(s)	Tony Ressler
Arena	State Farm Arena
Results
Record	29–53 (.354)
Place	Division: 5th (Southeast) Conference: 12th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports South
Radio	92.9 FM "The Game"

The 2018–19 Atlanta Hawks season was the 69th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the 51st in Atlanta. On April 25, 2018, the Hawks and Mike Budenholzer mutually agreed to part ways. On May 11, 2018, the Hawks hired Lloyd Pierce as head coach. Four days later, the Hawks won the #3 pick in the 2018 NBA draft (though they later traded down to #5 on the night of the draft), as well as enter draft night with four total draft picks over a month later in June.

During the offseason, the Hawks signed veteran Vince Carter, the 8th team that he has played for in his 21-year career. Carter signed with the Hawks despite massive speculation he would make a return to his two original teams; the Toronto Raptors (where Carter played his first 7 seasons with) or the Golden State Warriors (whom drafted Carter in 1998). This season also produced the team's highest scoring game with 161 points in a 168–161 quadruple overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 1, 2019. It was also the third-highest scoring game in NBA history, as well as the third game where both teams scoring broke through the 160 point barrier in the same game. However, this brought the Hawks to another losing season as they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season after a loss to the Houston Rockets on March 19.

Draft picks

Main article: 2018 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
1	5	Trae Young	PG	United States	Oklahoma
1	19	Kevin Huerter	SF	United States	Maryland
1	30	Omari Spellman	PF	United States	Villanova

Entering draft night, the Hawks would have four draft picks, three of which being in the first round. Their first of three first round picks rose up into the Top 3 of the NBA Draft after tying the Dallas Mavericks with the third-worst record of the season the previous season. The next first round pick was had by trading Adreian Payne to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for their lottery-protected first round pick, which barely conveyed to them that season thanks to a do-or-die game at the end of that season against the Denver Nuggets. After that, their last first round pick was had by trading with the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets, acquiring the Houston Rockets' first round pick from this season in relation to the Clippers' blockbuster trade in their removal of Chris Paul, as well as Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone, and cash considerations from the Clippers and giving up the Washington Wizards' 2019 second round pick to Denver. Finally, their sole second round pick would be had by losing their first round tiebreaker with Dallas.

Ironically, the Hawks would trade their third pick (which became Luka Dončić) to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a protected 2019 first round pick and the fifth pick of the draft, which became Trae Young from the University of Oklahoma. Young was a player that, before the start of the previous season, was projected to be a second round pick. However, Young grew to be a star point guard for the Sooners, to the point where he became the first ever player in NCAA history to lead the league in both points and assists in the same season in his sole season with Oklahoma. For their second first round pick of the draft, the Hawks drafted sophomore shooting guard Kevin Huerter from the University of Maryland as the 19th pick of the draft. Finally, with their last first round pick of the year, the Hawks selected freshman power forward Omari Spellman from Villanova University, who was a prominent member of the team under their championship run last season.

Roster

2018–19 Atlanta Hawks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 10 Adams, Jaylen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996–05–04 St. Bonaventure G/F 1 Anderson, Justin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1993–11–19 Virginia G 24 Bazemore, Kent 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 1989–07–01 Old Dominion F 95 Bembry, DeAndre' 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1994–07–04 Saint Joseph's G/F 15 Carter, Vince 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1977–01–26 North Carolina F/C 20 Collins, John 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1997–09–23 Wake Forest F 4 Davis, Deyonta 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 237 lb (108 kg) 1996–12–26 Michigan State C 14 Dedmon, Dewayne 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1989–08–12 Southern California G 3 Huerter, Kevin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998–08–27 Maryland C 8 Humphries, Isaac 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1998–01–05 Kentucky C 25 Len, Alex 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1993–06–16 Maryland C 18 Plumlee, Miles  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 249 lb (113 kg) 1988–09–01 Duke F 22 Poythress, Alex  (TW) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1993–09–06 Kentucky F 12 Prince, Taurean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1994–03–22 Baylor F 6 Spellman, Omari  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1997–07–21 Villanova G 11 Young, Trae 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1998–09–19 Oklahoma	Head coach Lloyd Pierce Assistant coach(es) Greg Foster Marlon Garnett Matt Hill Melvin Hunt Chris Jent Pete Radulovic (player development) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2019–03–08

Standings

Division

Southeast Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div	GP
y – Orlando Magic	42	40	.512	0.0	25–16	17–24	10–6	82
Charlotte Hornets	39	43	.476	3.0	25–16	14–27	10–6	82
Miami Heat	39	43	.476	3.0	19–22	20–21	7–9	82
Washington Wizards	32	50	.390	10.0	22–19	10–31	7–9	82
Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	13.0	17–24	12–29	6–10	82

Conference

Eastern Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	z – Milwaukee Bucks *	60	22	.732	–	82
2	y – Toronto Raptors *	58	24	.707	2.0	82
3	x – Philadelphia 76ers	51	31	.622	9.0	82
4	x – Boston Celtics	49	33	.598	11.0	82
5	x – Indiana Pacers	48	34	.585	12.0	82
6	x – Brooklyn Nets	42	40	.512	18.0	82
7	y – Orlando Magic *	42	40	.512	18.0	82
8	x – Detroit Pistons	41	41	.500	19.0	82
9	Charlotte Hornets	39	43	.476	21.0	82
10	Miami Heat	39	43	.476	21.0	82
11	Washington Wizards	32	50	.390	28.0	82
12	Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	31.0	82
13	Chicago Bulls	22	60	.268	38.0	82
14	Cleveland Cavaliers	19	63	.232	41.0	82
15	New York Knicks	17	65	.207	43.0	82

Game log

Preseason

2018–19 game log
Preseason: 2–3 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 1 New Orleans W 116–102 DeAndre' Bembry (20) Alex Len (8) Trae Young (8) McCamish Pavilion 6,619 1–0 2 October 5 @ Memphis L 110–120 Tyler Dorsey (18) Omari Spellman (9) Trae Young (5) FedEx Forum 10,492 1–1 3 October 7 @ Oklahoma City L 94–113 Alex Len (18) Omari Spellman (7) Taurean Prince (4) Chesapeake Energy Arena 14,470 1–2 4 October 10 San Antonio W 130–127 Taurean Prince (25) Alex Len (10) Trae Young (7) McCamish Pavilion 7,433 2–2 5 October 12 @ Miami L 113–119 Jeremy Lin (20) Alex Poythress (8) Trae Young (5) American Airlines Arena 19,600 2–3
2018–19 season schedule

Player statistics

Player	Pos.	GP	GS	MP	Reb.	Ast.	Stl.	Blk.	Pts.
Jaylen Adams	PG	34	1	428	60	65	14	5	108
Justin Anderson	SF	48	4	463	84	23	22	13	178
Kent Bazemore	SG	67	35	1,643	261	152	89	42	779
DeAndre' Bembry	SG	82	15	1,931	358	202	105	41	687
Vince Carter	SF	76	9	1,330	194	87	44	27	562
John Collins	PF	61	59	1,829	595	121	22	39	1,188
Deyonta Davis‡	C	9	0	118	36	5	3	5	36
Dewayne Dedmon	C	64	52	1,609	480	90	69	71	693
Tyler Dorsey†	SG	27	0	251	43	17	7	1	90
Daniel Hamilton‡	SG	19	3	204	47	22	6	1	57
Kevin Huerter	SG	75	59	2,048	245	214	65	25	727
Isaac Humphries†	C	5	1	56	11	0	1	0	15
B. J. Johnson†	SF	6	0	43	8	0	2	0	21
Alex Len	C	77	31	1,544	424	86	27	69	854
Jeremy Lin‡	PG	51	1	1,003	119	181	38	7	546
Miles Plumlee	C	18	0	173	39	17	6	4	80
Alex Poythress	PF	21	1	305	76	17	4	10	107
Jordan Sibert	SG	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	3
Omari Spellman	PF	46	11	805	194	47	26	25	272
Taurean Prince	SF	55	47	1,552	199	118	53	19	742
Trae Young	PG	81	81	2,503	301	653	72	15	1,549
Tyler Zeller†	C	2	0	11	6	1	0	0	0

After all games.
^‡Waived during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season

Transactions

Main article: List of 2018–19 NBA season transactions

Trades

June 21, 2018	To Atlanta Hawks Draft rights to Trae Young 2019 Dallas protected first-round pick	To Dallas Mavericks Draft rights to Luka Dončić
June 21, 2018	To Atlanta Hawks 2019 Second Round Pick 2023 Second Round Pick	To Charlotte Hornets Draft rights to Devonte' Graham
July 13, 2018	To Atlanta Hawks Jeremy Lin 2025 second-round pick Right to swap 2023 second round pick	To Brooklyn Nets 2020 protected second-round pick Draft rights to Isaia Cordinier
July 25, 2018	To Atlanta Hawks Carmelo Anthony (from Oklahoma City) Justin Anderson (from Philadelphia) 2022 protected first-round pick (from Oklahoma City)	To Oklahoma City Thunder Dennis Schröder (from Atlanta) Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot (from Philadelphia)
	To Philadelphia 76ers Mike Muscala (from Atlanta)

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Jaylen Adams	Two-way contract	St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Alex Len	August 3, 2018	Phoenix Suns
Daniel Hamilton	August 20, 2018	Oklahoma City Thunder
Alex Poythress	Two-way contract	Indiana Pacers
Vince Carter	August 24, 2018	Sacramento Kings
Thomas Robinson	August 30, 2018	BC Khimki
R. J. Hunter	September 7, 2018	Houston Rockets
Cole Aldrich	September 18, 2018	Minnesota Timberwolves
Isaac Humphries	October 8, 2018	KK FMP Beograd
C. J. Anderson	October 9, 2018	UMass Minutemen

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Tyler Cavanaugh	Waived	Utah Jazz
Isaiah Taylor	Waived	Cleveland Cavaliers
Damion Lee	Unrestricted free agent	Golden State Warriors
Jaylen Morris	Waived	Milwaukee Bucks
Antonius Cleveland	Waived	Chicago Bulls
Josh Magette	Unrestricted free agent	KK Cedevita
Malcolm Delaney	Unrestricted free agent	Guangdong Southern Tigers
Carmelo Anthony	Waived	Houston Rockets
Cole Aldrich	Waived	Tianjin Gold Lions
Thomas Robinson	Waived	Beikong Fly Dragons
R. J. Hunter	Waived
C. J. Anderson	Waived