Atlanta Hawks: Complete 2017 offseason grades

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Atlanta Hawks trade for center Miles Plumlee and guard Marco Belinelli

Previous Team: Charlotte Hornets

Plumlee 2016-17 Statistics: 2.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.3 BPG

Belinelli 2016-17 Statistics: 0.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG. 2.0 APG

The Hawks have three players competing for minutes at the center position, but all are largely unproven after Dwight Howard was quickly removed from the roster.

Howard was benched for extended stints during the playoffs and with Atlanta entering a rebuilding period, the front office decided to move on from the 31-year-old center.

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The trade of Howard wasn’t just a salary dump, as Miles Plumlee was included in the deal primarily because of his $12.4 million salary this season — one Atlanta will have to pay for the next two years.

The 6’11” center split time between Milwaukee and the Hornets a year ago, but failed to make a major impact at either stop. Plumlee lost his starting position with the Bucks just nine games into the season and never cracked the starting lineup during his brief tenure in Charlotte.

Since being selected with the 26th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, Atlanta will be the fifth different stop for Plumlee, and he has averaged over 16 minutes per game just once in his career.

Marco Belinelli was brought in to give the team some much-needed depth at the shooting guard position.

The 31-year-old guard is playing on an expiring contract, giving him an opportunity to prove himself as a viable long range threat off the bench for the Hawks, but if he doesn’t pan out, the team can simply move on next summer.

Belinelli connected two or more times from three-point range 29 times in 74 appearances for Charlotte last season, and he finished with over 100 makes from beyond the arc for the fourth time in his career.

Grade: C-

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