Hawks believe in their guard depth heading into the new season

The Atlanta Hawks are set to ramp things up as training camp begins this week, and everyone seems to feel this will be a competitive roster this season. After theseveral additions they madeduring the offseason, there is an expectation that they will be better than they were last season, and they have the right talent on the team to do so.

One area where the Hawks seemed to improve was at guard; it was obvious that they needed an upgrade at the position after watching the postseason. CJ McCollum helped lead the team to two wins against the New York Knicks in the first round, but after they made adjustments, it was hard for him or the Hawks to get anything going offensively. That was because they lacked shot creation, but they went out and fixed that this offseason.

The Hawks fixed their guard depth this offseason

One of the first things they did wasselect Kingston Flemings in the draft, and he was probably the best playmaker in his class. Not only that, but he can create his own shot, and that should help the Hawks' second unit this season. The Hawks did add more guard depth throughout the offseason, trading for Devin Carter and Ryan Nembhard, but they eventually moved on from them before training camp.

During Onsi Saleh's preseason media availability, he was asked about the guard room heading into the season, and it's safe to say that he's not worried.

""We're really excited about our guards. We feel like we're pretty deep at that position in a lot of ways. CJ, Nickeil [Alexander-Walker], Dyson [Daniels] and Kingston. Aaron [Wiggins] can handle a lot too. Jalen [Johnson] is a primary handler a lot of times as well. We feel like we have enough ball handlers and guys who can initiate offense.""

Onsi Saleh

The Hawks have a variety of players who can make plays with the ball, and that will be important for them this season if they want their offense to reach another level. It'll be even more imperative for them to have ball handlers in the playoffs, as the game slows down and every position is more important than the other.

It'll be interesting to see how Flemings develops during his rookie season and how the Hawks decide to use him. With the movement of guards such as Carter and Nembhard, that means that he'll have a bigger role coming into the season, and the second unit may lean on him to initiate the offense. As the season goes on, there should be more clarity on what the team actually wants from him, and his skill set should allow him to make a real impact on the team.

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