Free Agency

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PHOTOS: The Best of Damian Jones

ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has signed guard R.J. Hunter, it was announced today.

Hunter has played in 44 career regular season games (one start) in three seasons with Boston, Chicago and Houston, averaging 2.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.4 minutes.

Last season, he appeared in five contests on a two-way contract for the Rockets, starting one, averaging 3.8 points and 1.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes. In 45 games (28 starts) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League, he put up 20.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 30.8 minutes (.443 FG%, .377 3FG%, .803 FT%).

Hunter was originally selected in the first round (28th overall) of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Celtics as an early-entry candidate. He was a two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year at Georgia State, where he played under his father, head coach Ron Hunter. He is the Panthers’ all-time scoring leader (1,819) in three seasons.

Hunter is a native of Indianapolis, IN (Pike High School).

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Atlanta Hawks Sign R.J. Hunter

ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has signed forward Thomas Robinson, it was announced today.

Robinson has played in 313 career games (12 starts) with the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 13.4 minutes (.470 FG%).

He spent last season with Khimki (Russia), where he averaged 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 15.8 minutes in 28 games (.487 FG%).

Originally selected fifth overall by Sacramento in the 2012 NBA Draft, Robinson was a consensus First Team All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year following his junior season at Kansas, where he played three seasons. He is a native of Washington, DC.

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Atlanta Hawks Sign Thomas Robinson

Author: Kevin L. Chouinard (@KLChouinard)

ATLANTA -- Vince Carter plans to use his experience to lead the Atlanta Hawks by example. 

As he enters his 21st season, Carter has scored 24,868 NBA points – a total that surpasses the combined career output of the other 14 players on the Hawks' young roster. 

To wit, the Toronto Raptors selected Carter with the 5th overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft. Later that summer, Hawks Kevin Huerter and Trae Young (the 5th pick of 2018 Draft) were born. 

Has it ever gotten awkward for Carter to join up with teammates who are young enough to be his kids?

"For the last couple of years, it has been a little weird," the 41-year-old quipped. "On my previous team, there were a couple of guys who were like two months old when I was drafted. I was like, 'Man, I could be your dad.' I would never say that (out loud), but I think they get it."

At times, the age gap has pronounced itself off the court, too.

"They're like, 'Do you want to come through and play Fortnite?'", Carter laughed. "And I'm like, 'What?'"

Despite whatever natural discrepancy has existed in their age-appropriate activities, Carter has shown a willingness to share his wisdom with less experienced teammates 

"We'll figure it out," Carter said. "I'm speaking off of last year. With a lot of the young guys there, they would come in my room, or we would go in the lobby and talk. I'll be like, 'Let's put the game down and let's talk our profession, our business.' And we would have a lot of conversations, and it was mostly started by the young guys." 

When Carter enters a regular-season game for the Hawks this season, he will join Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Robert Parish as the only NBA players to have played 21 seasons. Dirk Nowitzki will also join the group with an appearance in a game this season. Of that group of five players, four are big men. In essence, Carter is making history as the first perimeter player to play as long as he has. 

"It's great to have a job, plain and simple, at this age," Carter said. 

In 58 games with the Sacramento Kings last season, Carter averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. He shot 40.3 percent from the field and made 57 threes. For a fourth consecutive season, Carter accumulated more steals than turnovers, an efficient feat for any player, but especially one of his age. 

Carter wants to share his knowledge and floor vision, and he noted that he wants to be an extension of the coaching staff.

"Being on the court, being able to lead by example, is something that I enjoy doing," he said, before later adding, "I want to get to a point where a guy is on the court and I'm like, 'What did you see there?' How can I accomplish this goal in that moment?"

Carter stated that the goal for the season is progress. He said that he wants to savor the experience of taking a team and making it better. 

"Everything is moving forward," he said. "For diehard fans, they need to understand the big picture. You're trying to get better. You're trying to get to the mountaintop where the team used to be. You have to take steps. Sometimes we want to skip to get to the end of the story but won't take the time to get to the meat and potatoes of it. And this is it. This is that part, developing these guys to get to the promised land at some point."

While Carter acknowledged that he is near the end of his career, he would not commit to saying whether or not this season would be his final one. He said that the biggest challenge is the tremendous level of commitment that it takes to stay conditioned in the offseason.

"Every year, I gauge it off how I feel at the end of the year," he said before cracking a wide grin. "The problem is that I feel good at the end of every year."

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Vince Carter Is Ready to Fit the Role of Leading By Example

ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has signed guard/forward Vince Carter, it was announced today.

Carter played in 58 games (four starts) last season with Sacramento, where he averaged 5.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.7 minutes (.403 FG%, .345 3FG%, .757 FT%).

In 20 NBA seasons with Toronto, New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis and Sacramento, Carter possesses career averages of 17.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 31.4 minutes (.437 FG%, .373 3FG%, .799 FT%), appearing in 1405 regular season games (973 starts). In 88 playoff contests (66 starts), he’s averaged 18.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.5 minutes (.416 FG%, .338 3FG%, .796 FT%).

Carter was the 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year, has been named All-NBA twice (second team in 2001 and third team in 2000), is an eight-time All-Star and finished in the Top 10 in scoring six times. He won the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest in 2000, also taking home a gold medal that same year as part of the United States Men’s Basketball team in Sydney, Australia.

Originally the fifth overall selection in the 1998 NBA Draft by Golden State, Carter ranks third among active players in games played, fourth in scoring (24,868) and minutes (44,161), fifth in three-pointers made (2,106), sixth in steals (1,463), 14th in assists (4,579) and 15th in rebounds (6,288). He ranks eighth in NBA history in three-pointers made and 22nd in scoring. He is one of seven players in NBA history to complete 20 seasons, and this season will become one of five to play in 21 seasons (joining Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki – also entering his 21st, Robert Parish and former Hawk Kevin Willis).

Carter played three collegiate seasons at North Carolina, where he helped lead the Tar Heels to back-to-back final four appearances (1997, 1998), and was a consensus Second-Team All-American as a junior after posting 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 38 games (.591 FG%, .411 3FG%, .680 FT%).

Born in Daytona Beach, FL, Carter attended Mainland High School, where he was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American. He will wear No. 15.

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Atlanta Hawks Sign Vince Carter

atljwilson

Luke Babbitt met with members of the media Wednesday in Atlanta after officially signing his contract with us.

Take a look at what the sharpshooting forward had to say about joining the Club:

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Luke Babbitt Addresses Media After Signing

Story by KL Chouinard Twitter: @KLChouinard

On the day that he officially signed with the Atlanta Hawks, Dewayne Dedmon took a moment to appreciate the journey that took him to this point.

"It has definitely been a blessing," the 7-foot center said. "I went the D-League route, got called up, got sent back down. Just to be able to say that I'm in my fifth season in the NBA, it's definitely a blessing."

Dedmon's winding NBA path to this point in his career began in Golden State when he was last player cut from the Warriors before the 2013-14 season. Even though he didn't make the team, Dedmon caught on with the Warriors' developmental league affiliate in Santa Cruz, before getting called up later in the season. 

Back in 2013, current Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk was the assistant GM for the Warriors, so he knows Dedmon's game well.

“Dewayne is an improving and athletic big man who can protect the rim and run the floor,” Schlenk said in a written statement. “He played a valuable role for a very good team last season, and we’re pleased to bring him to Atlanta.”

Dedmon averaged 5.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in the 76 games that he played for the San Antonio Spurs last season, but to get a feel for his true value on the court, one has to dig a little deeper into the numbers. 

For starters, Dedmon posted his numbers in just 17.5 minutes per game. San Antonio used a tag-team tandem of Dedmon and future Hall-of-Famer Pau Gasol at center, with Dedmon giving the 62-win Spurs a combination of elite rebounding and rim protection. 

Among players who averaged 15 or more minutes per game, Dedmon finished in the top 10 in defensive rebounding percentage (30.3 percent).  And among players who also defended four or more shots at the rim, Dedmon ranked in the top 10 at defensive field goal percentage allowed at the rim (44.5 percent). 

To put it another way, the Spurs had the best defensive rating in the NBA last season, and their defense was substantially better with Dedmon on the court.  Head Coach Gregg Popovich raved about his productivity after a 17-point, 17-rebound performance in February.

“Dewayne Dedmon was the star of the show,” he told media after the Feb. 10 win over Detroit.  “He’s a young colt, just learning the game really.”

He also drew praise from fellow big man and former All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge after the performance.

“Dewayne set the tone for us on the board, battling the big fella (Andre Drummond) down there, and I thought everyone followed his lead,” Aldridge told the San Antonio Express-News.

Dedmon said he chose Atlanta because the Hawks were the best fit. He liked that the Hawks ran a system similar to the one that the Spurs use, and he thinks that the familiarity will give him a leg up on adjusting to his new home. 

"I came from San Antonio, and Atlanta is kind of like the baby San Antonio," Dedmon said. "There are a lot of people that were working under Pop who are here now. It's kind of the same philosophy."

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Dedmon Already Comfortable In "Baby San Antonio"

Check out the latest reports on our Club:

Peachtree HoopsThe VerticalESPNBleacher ReportAtlanta Journal-ConstitutionPeachtree Hoops