Devin Carter is the odd man out in the Hawks guard room

Last season, the Atlanta Hawks had some problems at the guard position. It all started at the beginning of the year when Trae Young went down with a sprained MCL that kept him out for weeks. Once he came back, it was obvious hedidn't mesh with the team, and he was traded to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.

As soon as McCollum was inserted into the starting lineup, they went on their huge second-half run and climbed the standings. McCollumproved to be the shot creatorthe Hawks needed at the guard position, and it worked all the way until Game 4 of the first round against the New York Knicks. From there, it was obvious the Hawks needed more bodies at the guard position, and that's what they did this offseason.

One of the first moves they made was trading for Devin Carter, a guard who had been in Sacramento the first two seasons of his career but found it hard to find consistency. His best ball came at the end of last season, when injuries started to pile up for the Kings. Carter has also been known as a gritty guard who can make plays getting to the rim, while making it hard for his assignment on the other side of the ball.

That's something the Hawks could use on the team, and plus, they didn't give up much to acquire him. The thing for Carter is that the Hawks went out and added more competition in the guard room, drafting Kingston Flemings and acquiring Ryan Nembhard in a trade.

The Hawks have options at the guard position

Flemings has already shown to be one of the pure point guards currently on the team, which was a need for the team going into the offseason. In the Summer League, he flashed the ability toget players involvedwhile doing things that don't show up on the stat sheet that contribute to winning. Not only did he make an impact on defense, but his defense stood out as well.

That's not good news for Carter, who is known for his defense, but his offense is still a question mark early in his career. For Nembhard, his size may hurt when it comes to defense, but his playmaking for the Dallas Mavericks helped him stay on the court, which will also be valuable for the Hawks.

There's a good chance that McCollum will be the lead guard for the team heading into the season. That makes four guards in the room, and it would be a stretch for the Hawks to keep four on the roster. With what McCollum, Flemings, and Nembhard bring to the floor, Carter will have a tall hill to climb to prove he deserves a roster spot.

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