Walter Tavares to join Tim Hardaway, Jr. in D-League
By John Buhler
Walter Tavares will play Wednesday night for the Austin Spurs in the D-League with Atlanta Hawks teammate Tim Hardaway, Jr. The Hawks have four days off.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Atlanta Hawks rookie center Walter Tavares will make have another stint in the NBA’s D-League, joining teammate third-year wing Tim Hardaway, Jr. with the Austin Spurs Wednesday night.
The Hawks have assigned Edy Tavares to the D-League. He will play with Austin, along with Tim Hardaway Jr., tonight.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) December 30, 2015
Hardaway and Tavares are the 14th and 15th men in head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation in Atlanta, meaning most nights they are inactive. Since the Atlanta Hawks will have four days between games, this is a great opportunity for Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Walter Tavares to play some minutes before the Hawks’ next game at home on Sunday afternoon against the New York Knicks.
Vivlamore reports that Hardaway had a great game Tuesday night for Austin, scoring 30 points in 25 minutes for the San Antonio Spurs’ D-League affiliate.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 30 points (11 of 17), including six 3-pointers, in 25 minutes in D-League assignment game with Austin last night.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) December 30, 2015
Walter Tavares played his best game to date with the Atlanta Hawks in Houston on Tuesday night. Tavares needed to play as center Tiago Splitter wasn’t able to go due to a leg injury.
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Walter Tavares played 10 minutes and 15 seconds in the game, scoring six points on 3-5 shooting, collecting six rebounds, and one steal. Coach Bud need Tavares to step up in the first half as the Rockets couldn’t miss from the field, having to go to Hack-a-Dwight early and often in this road victory over a Western Conference foe.
Atlanta is extremely particular with is player development program. Players often find themselves buried on depth charts and stuck on the bench during the Mike Budenholzer era in Atlanta. For a contending team like the Atlanta Hawks, this is understandable as the team is playing for playoff seeding to hopefully orchestrate another deep run in this year’s Eastern Conference Playoffs.
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Walter Tavares looked exponentially better on Tuesday night than he had in any of his five previous games for the Atlanta Hawks. In those games, Tavares played sparsely even in garbage time. He will likely play big minutes for the Austin Spurs on Wednesday night alongside Atlanta Hawks teammate wing Tim Hardaway, Jr. Let’s Go Hawks!