Did the Hawks Get Better? Grading Atlanta’s Signing of Luke Kennard

So what kind of grade do the Hawks get for signing Kennard?

The Atlanta Hawks are seen as serious contenders now, following an offseason of change within the front office and organization. Compared to years past, the Hawks have made significant changes to their roster and have been focusing on building an attractive, winning organization compared to the rest of the league. In his introductory press conference, Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh stated the following:

"Yeah, I think a cool thing about like when you look at like OKC, I think when you build a culture and have a program in place, that's really important to players. Like the city for sure, I think we have a clear competitive advantage with our city of Atlanta, but you have to have a foundation and stability within the organization to get that. Players care about that stuff, and I think people just think it's like big market or whatnot, but you know there's, there's guys that end up going to OKC because it made sense for them. And now they're NBA champions. So that's where we're getting to, like building, controlling what we control internally, develop how we want to develop, get the guys to be the best version of themselves, and add to that."

While the Hawks haven't been able to compete with other franchises around the league in terms of attracting top free agents over the years, this year has been different, as they've been able to address the team's needs this offseason with the two free agency signings of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard.

I like this move for the Hawks, as it gives them more floor spacing. They finished shooting 35.8% from three-point range, which ranks them 18th in the NBA for three-point shooting percentage. While not horrible, this was a glaring issue down the stretch of the season, as it cost them games, especially in the Play-In Tournament, where they shot 19% from three-point range against Orlando and 34% from three-point range against Miami.

While Kennard doesn't offer much outside of shooting, he can be a huge spark plug off the Hawks bench and be hidden at times on defense based on the team's overall size and will likely get many open opportunites off double teams and pick-and-rolls from Trae Young that will create openings for him to make easy shots.

Overall Grade: B+

More Atlanta Hawks News:

NBA Free Agency Grades: ESPN Gives Atlanta A High Grade For Early Moves

Early Winners of the Offseason? The NBA World is Buzzing About the Atlanta Hawks on First Day of Free Agency

Atlanta Hawks Sign Timberwolves Guard Nickeil Alexander Walker to Four-Year $62 Million Deal