Bufkin will miss Summer League with a shoulder injury.
In the past 36 hours or so, there have been a number of pieces of Hawks-related news to break. I covered a chunk of them through mid-evening last night here, including Vit Krejci returning on a four-year contract and Bruno Fernando’s guarantee date being pushed out once again.
Late last evening however, the Hawks learned the fate of unrestricted free agent Saddiq Bey. After acquiring him in February 2023 for a quintet of second-round picks, he played 88 games — starting 58 of those — across a season-plus of action, averaging 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds on 56.1% true shooting.
However, his 2023-24 season brought struggles shooting from deep, where he finished 32% from three and 29% from the short corner. Additionally, a fluke ACL injury in early March brought his season to an early close just before he was set to hit restricted free agency. With Bey out for a lengthy portion of the upcoming season, the Hawks opted not to tender him an $8.5 million qualifying offer meaning that Bey entered the offseason an unrestricted free agent.
Then yesterday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the report that Bey decided to sign with division rivals Washington Wizards on a three-year, $20 million contract — a move that logically brings his short Atlanta tenure to an abrupt end.
Free agent F Saddiq Bey has agreed on a three-year, $20 million contract with the Washington Wizards, his agents James Dunleavy and Jordan Gertler of @Excelbasketball tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/aO8gETuGzN
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 11, 2024
The move means that Atlanta will have to rely on Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Hunter (barring a trade), and Zaccharie Risacher to man the forward positions in the upcoming seasons, with guys like Mouhamed Gueye and recent addition E.J. Liddell looking to break into the rotation off the bench.
The other bit of unfortunate news was the announcement that Kobe Bufkin suffered a shoulder injury during a practice leading up to the 2024 Las Vegas Summer League, and the subsequent MRI results meant that Bufkin would have to miss the summer action out west.
An @emoryhealthcare injury update:
Kobe Bufkin injured his right shoulder during Tuesday evening’s summer league practice.
An MRI taken at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex revealed findings consistent with a right shoulder subluxation.
He will not play in the Las Vegas Summer… pic.twitter.com/Cidm0BCUSh
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) July 11, 2024
Jarkel Joiner and Keaton Wallace will be next in line at point guard for the summer Hawks in the competition with all 30 teams in the upcoming weeks. Here’s to Bufkin returning to full health by training camp this fall.