Vít Krejčí remained resilient through a season of ups and downs.
On August 16th of 2023, the Atlanta Hawks waived Vít Krejčí. He spent around a month with the Timberwolves before being waived again. In late December, the Hawks resigned him on a two-way contract in place of Miles Norris.
Krejčí quickly shined a spotlight on the College Park Skyhawks in the NBA G League. After spending some time with the Skyhawks, running point guard and honing in on defense, he was able to come up and fill a need with the big club.
As you may have watched, heard, or read a multitude of times, the College Park Skyhawks played incredible defense this past season. Quin Snyder referred to the team as a “defensive incubator,” and the results with Vít Krejčí were undeniable. He went down there and focused tremendously on two things: defense and decision-making. He was inserted into a stout defensive system, so it was only natural that he would pick up good habits.
He also ran point guard to help with his decision-making, and as he said himself, this helped him when he came back to play with the Hawks to finish the season. He mentioned in an interview that he knows he’s not going to play a lot of minutes, so every decision he makes in those minutes needs to be the right one. He averaged 8.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in College Park, thriving as a passer.
SILVA SLAMS pic.twitter.com/UjDaGKj6fW
— College Park Skyhawks (@CPSkyhawks) March 2, 2024
On March 1st, he finished with 10 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, and three steals in a win with College Park. Later that month, he was tasked with guarding Jayson Tatum in one of the best wins of the regular season, as they bested the Celtics twice in the same week. Krejčí even picked up Tatum full court at times, and Snyder had nothing but praise for him post game. He said this was something Krejčí did on his own, not by Snyder’s order.
With Johnson reaggravating his ankle and Saddiq Bey missing the rest of the season after an injury on March 10th, Krejčí filled a massive void. He excelled at bringing defensive intensity and becoming a connective wing— very adept at making the right pass and attacking when needed. He scored 16 points against the Celtics, then 18 versus the Bulls, followed by his now-career-high 19-point game against the Hornets.
In these three games, he knocked down 13 three-pointers, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the contest in Chicago. This is quite ironic, given this is the team that would eventually end the Atlanta Hawks’ season. It was clear that he was a huge lift for the Hawks down multiple pieces at seemingly every point in the year. Especially when his three-point shot was falling, he was a very valuable asset. Finishing with averages of 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, it was his 41.2 three-point percentage on 3.1 attempts per game that was a pleasant surprise. He knew he would find his way on the court playing defense, and I believe the confidence instilled in him in College Park may deserve some of the credit for his improved shot-making.
Rather than the two-way contract he was on, Krejčí would need to be on a traditional contract or he would not be able to play in the postseason. For whatever reason, he and the organization did not come to a deal, and he would not play in the play-in game against the Chicago Bulls. So, the Hawks still have a decision to make this offseason.
In his exit interview, Krejčí was asked about playing regularly and being a contributor for the last couple months of the season.
Considering where I started the season, where I had to get a surgery, and I was waived and all that, I was just really glad that I got the opportunity to play, you know, that’s all I really wanted to do, just get back out there and just show that I can play basketball… I’m really glad for the opportunity that I was presented and I just enjoyed every moment on the court.
He was then asked about the Hawks’ decision to not give him a standard contract to play in the postseason.
There’s a lot of difficult decisions that you go to make and we knew that, we both agreed that coaches like me and I love it here, so I’m just really excited for the future… I’m happy where we’re at right now, where I’m at right now.
To end his interview, he gave a pretty comprehensive thought on his season, as well as transition from Skyhawks to the Hawks.
I was definitely rusty for the first couple games, even with the Skyhawks and then with the Hawks, but after a couple games you’re going to (game after game) get more and more comfortable… it just started clicking and I think we we we showed everybody that when we play together like that we can we can beat anybody. That winning three we kind of had, you know it was a tough stretch. We showed that we can play against anybody.
I think it was just being more comfortable out there… I haven’t played a lot of games just because of either my injuries or I just didn’t play a lot so for me it was just getting more and more and more comfortable, and like I said each and every game I felt better and better and more comfortable. I was not, I want to say nervous, but just more comfortable out there on the course so that was the main part for me.
Would it be wrong to call Vít Krejčí the most pleasant surprise of the 2023-24 season?