Keeping the offense going when Trae Young heads to the bench is a consistent problem for the Hawks, even after adding Rajon Rondo in free agency before this season.
So, although general manager Travis Schlenk didn’t plan to move Rajon Rondo heading into Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, when the right opportunity arose, he made a trade for Lou Williams, two second-round picks (2023, 2027) and cash considerations, sending Rondo to the Clippers. The Hawks get a hometown, veteran guard who can create shots and bring scoring pop off the bench, and the goal is for him to give the second unit a boost.
On Instagram, Williams, 34, said he considered retirement when he was traded, but added: “There’s plenty left in my tank and I’m privileged to continue my career in my backyard.”
“One of the things that we’re all aware of is when Trae has gone to the bench, we’ve struggled a little bit offensively,” Schlenk said Friday. “So the hope is, bringing in Will, as everyone knows, he’s one of, if not the best bench scorers in the history of the league, three-time Sixth Man of the Year, so we felt like that addressed one of the things that we saw that we could fix moving forward. And then the icing on the cake so to speak was the draft assets moving forward.”
Per Basketball Reference, the Hawks have a 118.8 offensive rating when Young is on the court, which falls to 106.1 when he’s off the court.
On paper, Williams is a good fit, as he can both run and score in pick-and-roll, which makes up a lot of the Hawks’ offense. He can play both on and off the ball. He’s not a pure point guard like Rondo, so the Hawks may have to get creative at the backup point guard spot, but they have several guards and wings who are good passers, including Kevin Huerter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and now Williams, who is more of a combo guard.
For now, Schlenk sees Williams as that primary backup point guard, but the Hawks may mix in other players in that lineup to generate more playmaking. Williams will not be available when the Hawks play in Golden State on Friday night, as paperwork still has to clear, he still has to pass a physical and eventually has to physically join the team, all of which is made a little more complicated because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
But he should be available at some point on this West Coast trip, per Schlenk.
“I think Lou can play there,” Schlenk said, adding that exactly how Williams will be utilized will be up to interim coach Nate McMillan. “I think you’ll see a lot of instances where he’ll be out there with Bogi or Kevin and those guys all have the ability, but I think Lou kind of has that right now.”
Trading for Williams was the only move the Hawks made at the deadline. After starting out 14-20 under Lloyd Pierce, the Hawks have been better under McMillan, winning eight of their past 10 games.
Schlenk didn’t feel the need to shake things up very much. But swapping Rondo for Williams could address one of the issues that’s still lingering.
“Honestly, going into it, as I was telling everybody around the league, we didn’t really want to go in there and mess things up,” Schlenk said. “Obviously, the team is getting healthy, been playing better. Sometimes the best moves you make are the ones you don’t do, so if we had the opportunity to address the bench a little bit, scoring punch, we were going to do it, and obviously that played out for us, and then also like I said, getting the future assets, you can never go wrong collecting those.”
Rondo had struggled on the court this season, averaging 3.9 points and 3.5 assists in 14.9 minutes per game, appearing in only 27 games as he experienced several nagging injuries. But, he brought valuable mentorship and basketball knowledge to a team whose core is still quite young.
Schlenk initially was hesitant to move Rondo, especially since he had gotten healthier recently and was playing a bit better, but the trade just made sense given Williams’ scoring ability, with the second-round picks sweetening the deal. With the Clippers this season, Williams averaged 12.1 points, 3.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds (42.1%, 37.8% from 3-point range, 86.6% FT), and last season he averaged 18.2 points, 5.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 65 games.
“We were reluctant to do it because we value what he brought to us both on and off the court. At the beginning of the season, he wasn’t quite healthy. You guys know he battled some nagging injuries. We just felt like he was just starting to get his legs underneath him, so we were certainly hesitant to do that. He was the biggest voice in our locker room, too. All of our guys respected him. He’s a two-time NBA champion.
“It gave us pause, but like I said, bringing in someone like Lou who has a ton of experience as well and is obviously extremely respected — his game is just a little bit different. We felt like that punch of scoring coming off (the bench) could benefit us down the stretch here. As I mention for the 15th time, getting those picks — those always get me, man. I’m a softie when people start throwing picks at me.”
The Hawks are losing Rondo’s leadership and veteran presence, but they’re also bringing in a player who will be a good locker room presence, Schlenk thinks.
“I personally have only spoken to him once last night, so I don’t know him, but a lot of the folks that are here worked here when he was there, or when he was here earlier,” Schlenk said, referencing Williams’ first stint with the Hawks from 2012-14. “... I’ve never heard anyone have anything negative to say about Lou as a person. From all the intel, he’s very straightforward in the locker room, he’s very black and white, direct about how he sees things, and those are positives. So we’re excited to add him to the roster.”
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