Should The Atlanta Hawks Re-Sign John Jenkins?

By John Buhler | Jun 14, 2015

The Atlanta Hawks other sharpshooter SG John Jenkins enters free agency this summer if his club does not exercise his team option ($2,228,025). Jenkins has rarely played for the Hawks the last two seasons, appearing in just 37 combined games for Atlanta. Other than injuries it has been defensive inefficiencies that has kept Jenkins out of Coach Bud’s rotation these last two years. But when he does play, John Jenkins shoots well from anywhere on the floor (.495 FG%, .404 3P%, .596 2P%, and .842 FT% in 2014-15). Should the Atlanta Hawks look into re-signing John Jenkins?

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Jenkins was a former first round pick out of Vanderbilt University in 2012 by the Hawks. He actually played a lot during his rookie season in 2012-13 for then HC Larry Drew (902 minutes played). 2013-14 was injury riddled for Jenkins, as he only played in 13 games due to a bothersome nerve in his left leg.

Perhaps last year was really just his first year learning Coach Bud’s system so that could explain his lack of playing time in 2014-15. Could exercising that Jenkins team option be a diamond in the rough option for the Hawks? Atlanta should look for low-risk, high-reward signings this summer to keep payroll flexible for this new ownership group that takes over on June 24th.

I think Atlanta needs to at least see how Jenkins plays for them in 2015-16 before letting him enter unrestricted free agency next summer when the salary cap expands. His effective field goal percentage of .601 is too good to just let him walk out of town. I think with Kyle Korver and Shelvin Mack recovering from serious injuries, John Jenkins will have more opportunities to play for the Hawks until the team’s other shooting guards get physically caught up to speed this fall.

His smooth stroke from the outside should keep Jenkins in the NBA for at least the next few seasons but he needs to become a more complete ball player. I think Kyle Korver is a tremendous teacher for Jenkins who was just a sharpshooter for several years. Korver improved his all-around game to become an All-Star in 2015, his 11th season in the NBA. I don’t think his team option is too expensive and wouldn’t it be a shame if John Jenkins puts it all together for someone else this winter?

Atlanta would be wise to extend Jenkins his team option for this upcoming season so that he can bet on himself to have a breakout year in 2016 for the Hawks. If Atlanta prides itself on now being a strong organization in player development, it should try to unleash all of John Jenkins’ potential one last time just to play it safe.

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