NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with 2017-18 early season trends

Atlanta Hawks

Marco Belinelli is the No. 2 scoring option: Trick

Coming off a breakout 2016-17 campaign, Dennis Schroder is quite clearly the new No. 1 for an Atlanta Hawks team that lost Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard over the summer. The question is, who will step up as the team’s No. 2 option on a roster lacking established talent?

There are several candidates, but so far the answer has been Marco Belinelli. Through the first seven games of the season, the 10-year veteran is averaging 14.6 points per game on an explosive 55 percent shooting from 3-point range, providing a steady scoring punch off the bench.

However, as much as having that veteran presence helps the younger core, at some point this season, Belinelli’s red-hot shooting will cool — even in a Mike Budenholzer system — and someone like Taurean Prince or John Collins will step up as the new No. 2.