Do The Atlanta Hawks Have Enough Guard Depth?

When the Atlanta Hawks traded Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kipsert, they were not only sending out the face of the franchise, but they were losing one of the best passers and playmakers in the NBA. McCollum still does a lot of things well entering his age-35 season, but passing and playmaking have never been his strong suit.

Atlanta's presumed starting lineup consists of McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Dyson Daniels, three players who are considered guards, though Daniels is more of a combo forward/guard who can guard a number of different positions.

One of the questions about this Hawks coming into training camp was about their depth at the guard position. This question faced even more scrutiny when the Hawks opted not only to waive Devin Carter but also to trade Ryan Nembhard. Yes, the Hawks drafted Kingston Flemings, but the guard position looks a little bit thin as training camp goes on.

Should they be concerned about this?

Here are the current guards on the Hawks roster:

• Dyson Daniels
• CJ McCollum
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker
• Aaron Wiggins
• Kingston Flemings
• Keshon Gilbert (Two-Way)
• RayJ Dennis (Two-Way)

Is that enough depth?

I am as high as anyone on Dennis and Gilbert, as both were great players last season for the College Park Skyhawks, but to ask them to play meaningful minutes in any NBA game this season might be a bit of a stretch, not to mention that two-way players cannot play in the playoffs.

Will Wiggins and Flemings be enough?

I think that Wiggins might be able to unlock a new level this season, especially on the ball and as a playmaker. With the Thunder, Wiggins was just asked to hit open threes, handle the ball sparingly, and play defense. With the lack of guards on the bench and the fact that Flemings is a rookie, it would make a lot of sense to give Wiggins this kind of responsibility and see if it works.

If it doesn't and he is nothing more than a 3-and-D wing (which is nothing to sneeze at), then a lot of pressure might be on Flemings to be an impact player as a rookie.

When asked about the guard spot during his preseason media availability, Hawks President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh said that he is confident in his team's depth at the spot:

"Yeah, like we're really excited about our guards. We feel like we're pretty deep at that position in a lot of ways. Like, when you look at, you know, CJ, Nickeil, Dyson, Kingston, Aaron could handle a lot too. Jalen's a primary handler a lot of times as well. So we feel like we have enough ball handlers and guys to initiate offense. Then like we have a couple two-way guys that are pretty good and you guys saw with summer league during some stretches but like he's Keshon and RayJ have been phenomenal for us."

Assuming that the starters play at a similar or higher level to start the season, Flemings and Wiggins are going to have a lot of pressure on them to be valuable depth pieces at guard. Rookies struggle and Wiggins has not played this kind of role before, so those are far from sure things.

The talent and opportunity is there for the Hawks guards, but there is a downside there that needs to be acknowledged if these guys struggle.