What should we expect from Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Terance Mann this season?
After laying dormant for the majority of the season, the Atlanta Hawks’ front office made a flurry of moves at last week’s NBA trade deadline – acquiring Terance Mann, ‘Bones’ Hyland, Caris LeVert and Georges Niang from the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers respectively, while bidding farewell to Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, Cody Zeller and David Roddy*.
While Hyland was subsequently waived last Friday*, Mann, Levert, and Niang were in the house for Atlanta’s come from behind victory over the Milwaukee Bucks and were all part of the rotation for the last two wins against the Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic.
*leaving Atlanta with an open roster spot
You can find the full details of the trades at the link provided here from RealGM, and I’ve included Atlanta’s updated multi-year cap sheet below.
I won’t be slapping a letter grade on any of the Hawks’ recent moves in this article, as the “winners” and “losers” of a deal can only be revealed with time. While I can empathize with the tepid initial reaction to these trades from the fanbase (Hunter and Bogdanovic were two of the longest-tenured Hawks and will certainly be missed), all three of the players that the Hawks brought in are seasoned NBA veterans who have proven their ability to positively contribute to winning environments.
I look forward to seeing how their skillsets mesh with the rest of the team going forward.
Without further ado, let’s get to know the newest members of the Atlanta Hawks.
Caris LeVert (30): 6’6”, 205 lbs
Strengths: On-Ball Offensive Creation, Perimeter Defense, Catch-and-Shoot Three-Point Shooting
Weaknesses: Rim Finishing, Free-Throw Shooting
Details: Caris LeVert is a 6’6” guard/wing with eight and a half seasons of NBA experience under his belt. LeVert began his career in Brooklyn, where he spent a little over four seasons and blossomed into a ‘microwave’ scorer before being dealt to Indiana as part of the James Harden trade that brought “The Beard” to Brooklyn.
After a productive one year stint with the Pacers, LeVert was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2022 trade deadline, where he served as a key cog off of the bench before being acquired by the Hawks. LeVert is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent in the offseason.
On offense, LeVert is comfortable operating both on and off the ball. His 19.5% usage rate* in Cleveland this season ranked in the 74th percentile amongst all wings per cleaningtheglass (which does not account for garbage time), and he has posted a usage rate north of 20% in six out of the nine seasons that he’s been in the league.
*The percentage of a team’s offensive possessions that end in a player shooting, assisting, or turning the ball over
LeVert averaged 3.7 assists per game in Cleveland (which ranked third on the team) and has always been an underrated playmaker. He is capable of operating as a pick-and-roll ball handler and generates 13 assist points per 75 possessions this season, which ranks in the 70th percentile relative to all guards/wings who average at least 20 minutes per game*. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a few more opportunities as the primary ball handler as he grows more comfortable in Atlanta.
*201 players in this subset, per BBall Index
As a scorer, while LeVert is more than capable of creating his own shot, over a third of his field goal attempts this season have been catch-and-shoot (C&S) threes, which he’s converted at a 39.6% clip*. His efficiency on these looks is no anomaly either, as he’s converted his C&S three-point attempts at a 38.5% rate over the past three seasons as well (albeit on a low volume) which bodes well for his offensive fit alongside Trae Young.
Still, while LeVert has been a fairly reliable threat from the perimeter over the past few seasons, his efficiency from inside the arc leaves a bit to be desired. His two-point field goal percentage in Cleveland this season (49.7%) ranked in just the 33rd percentile amongst all wings, and for his career, he is shooting just 60.1% at the rim* and 39.3% from floater distance**.
*FGA’s within 4-feet of the basket
**FGA’s from between 4-feet and 14-feet away from the basket
Given the pace that the Hawks play at, LeVert should be able to carve out some easier two-point opportunities for himself in transition, however his ability to score in the halfcourt (particularly with Young on the bench) will be an area to watch going forwards.
On the defensive side of the ball, LeVert can comfortably guard 1-through-3, and his size/length make him a versatile defender* on the whole. Additionally, he has posted strong steal and block rates over the course of his career, and ranked second on the Cavaliers in deflections per game (2.3), all of which should make him a nice fit on a Hawks’ defense that ranks fourth in opponent turnover percentage this season.
*LeVert ranks in the 74th percentile amongst all players this season in BBI’s ‘defensive positional versatility’ metric
LeVert is in an interesting situation given his impending free agency, however he should help provide some scoring, playmaking and defense off of the bench for Atlanta over the rest of the season.
Georges Niang (31): 6’7”, 230 lbs
Strengths: Three-Point Shooting, Floaters
Weaknesses: Defense, Rebounding
Details: Over the course of his nine-year NBA career, Georges Niang (aka “The G-Wagon”) has established himself as one of the league’s premier catch-and-shoot three-point assassins.
Niang is a career 39.8% three-point shooter, with a 67.6% three-point attempt rate and over 95% of his three-point makes being assisted by a teammate. He has shot 40% or better from the perimeter in six out of the past seven seasons, is a lethal shooter when given the time and space — knocking down 42.5% on his three-point attempts without a defender within 6-feet of him over this span*.
*Nearly 1200 3PA’s in this subset.
Looking at the chart below, which shows where Niang has placed each season in C&S three-point accuracy amongst all players who have taken at least six C&S three-point attempts per 75 possessions since the 2018-19 season, the consistency is remarkable.
Given his offensive skillset, Niang is primarily used in spot-up/pick-and-pop situations, which can lead to a lot of aggressive closeouts from the defense. In these instances, while Niang’s playmaking ability is a tad suspect*, he can fall back on a reliable mid-range game, having shot 47.8% from floater distance for his career on nearly one attempt per game.
*To be fair, Niang is not a bad passer, and typically makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, however I wouldn’t call playmaking a strength of his
On the defensive end, though Niang is a smart player who has been a part of some strong defensive lineups over the years, he has undoubtedly benefited from sharing the court with some high-level paint protectors*, and has never really been viewed as an average defender at the NBA level.
*Niang has played alongside Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in his career
While he has the size to wall some players off in the post, Niang lacks the agility to stick with quicker players on the perimeter, and struggles when he gets isolated against.
Additionally, his athletic limitations can also put him in a tough position on the defensive glass, and even though his individual defensive rebounding numbers haven’t been too bad over the past few seasons*, the lineups that he’s been a part of typically do not do well on the defensive glass.
*Amongst forwards, Niang has ranked in the top half of the league in defensive rebounding percentage in each of the past two seasons per cleaningtheglass.
While Niang should certainly have a positive impact on Atlanta’s offense, and will undoubtedly help raise the potency of their three-point attack this season, I do have some concerns about the Hawks ability to make up for his shortcomings on the defensive end of the floor.
Terance Mann (28): 6’5”, 215 lbs
Strengths: Rim-Finishing, Perimeter Defense
Weaknesses: On-Ball Offensive Creation
Details: The 48th overall pick in the 2019 Draft, Terance Mann spent the first five and a half seasons of his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he established himself as a jack of all trades capable of slotting into a variety of different lineups before being dealt to Atlanta at last week’s trade deadline.
On the offensive end, while Mann began his career as more of an on-ball player*, he’s slid into more of an off-ball role over the past few seasons, and his usage rate for the Clippers this year (13.5%) ranked in just the 25th percentile amongst all wings per cleaningtheglass.
*Mann’s 19.3% assist percentage from his rookie season is still the highest mark of his career
That being said, despite the lower usage rate, Mann has rated quite highly in BBI’s ‘passing creation quality’* metric in each of the past two seasons and with a strong, 2.46:1 assist to turnover ratio for his career, I’m not ready to call it quits on his playmaking ability. Mann makes good decisions, and can be a high-level connector on the offensive end.
*From BBall Index, an estimate of expected efficiency on shots created for teammates, factoring in location and other key factors
I’m curious to see if the Hawks look to use him as a pick-and-roll partner for Trae Young or one of their other ball handlers to try and tap into some of his passing ability out of the short-roll.
As a scorer, Mann’s greatest strength is his ability to finish at the rim. Nearly 40% of his career field goal attempts have come from this area of the floor, and he’s converted them at a stellar 70% rate. Given that the Hawks currently rank 21st in rim field goal percentage (64.7%), Mann’s finishing ability will be a welcome addition.
While Mann has nice touch around the basket, his three-point shooting ability is less reliable. Though he’s shot a respectable 37.3% from the perimeter for his career (including a 39.2% clip on catch-and-shoot three-point attempts), this efficiency hasn’t come on a particularly high volume of attempts (2.1 per game, 34.1% three-point attempt rate) and he has gone through a couple of dry spells in his career.
That being said, Mann is converting his C&S three-point attempts at a 47.1% rate this season (1.3 attempts per game), so he is trending in the right direction, however, for him to truly cement himself as a key part of the Atlanta’s future, he needs to up the volume of these attempts without sacrificing the efficiency.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mann is a feisty defender who primarily guards opposing team’s ball handlers. While he hasn’t rack up a ton of steals and blocks in his career, he plays with smarts on the less glamorous end of the floor, and is tough to get by one-on-one – having ranked in the 86th percentile or better in BBI’s ‘perimeter isolation defense’* metric in each year since his rookie season.
*From BBall Index, a measure of how well a defender lowers shot quality and suppresses attempts within perimeter isolation defense, adjusted for the average skill level of the offensive players guarded.
Given his skillset and history of contributing on high-level Clippers’ teams, Mann is perhaps the most interesting out of the three players that the Hawks acquired at the deadline. His talent is obvious, but given how hell bent the Clippers have been on maximizing their star power, it seemed like his development had been shunted over the past few seasons. Now, with a fresh start in a lower stakes environment in Atlanta, he can try to recapture some of the promise on display at the beginning of his career.
Mann will turn 29 in October, so it’s not like he has an unlimited amount of time to work with (though he is under contract through the 2027-28 season), but given how good of a job Atlanta has done with their player development over the past few seasons, he might just be in the perfect place to get his swagger back.
All statistics/videos used in this article are from cleaningtheglass.com, pbpstats.com, nba.com/stats, bball-index.com, or dunksandthrees.com